KENARIO escocia

Techno / House / Electronica

Edinburgh, SCO

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About

"OUR BEATS WEREN'T FAT - THEY WERE MORBIDLY OBESE..."

"The groove of one DJ skratching in the wilderness..."
I was first introduced to House music during a Maths lesson at school, when I probably should've been learning Pi... As it happens, I discovered something more valuable. It was 1987, and my old pal, Shanghai Ultra, let me hear a track on his walkman ("Jack Your Body" by Steve 'Silk' Hurley).

I've been writing off-and-on since the moment I got home that day; initially on my brother's Casio HT-700 synth, my ma's electric piano, and a 2nd hand Roland TR-505.

A couple of years later I developed an unhealthy fascination with wax, inspired by some old DMC footage of Cutmaster Swift and latterly DJ David; plus watching Kid Capri and DJ Premier live on Yo MTV Raps. Between '90 and '92 I was making beats and DJing in a underground Hip Hop project with lyricist MC Digby; and recorded 2 Techno/House albums with Shanghai Ultra and another old friend, Alan Clark. Those were good days - nothing to do but come home from school and make choons!

When I left high school I went on to study Sound Engineering at the School of Audio Engineering in Coatbridge (now located in Glasgow). Afterwards, I did a bit of freelance work at REL Studios, in Edinburgh.

'94 saw the birth of Mass Energy (a fresh collaboration with the afore-mentioned Shanghai Ultra, aka Technoid), an Underground, Hard Acid/Techno partnership which rode the crest of the '90s Scottish rave wave. We released the first underground Hardcore Techno tracks out of Scotland; contrasting the notoriety of our Nation's hard-boiled bouncy sound. Our beats weren't fat - they were MORBIDLY OBESE. Our 1st vinyl, "Futurizer", was the last ever record played at the last ever Rezerection (that is, until it was 'resurrected' in the noughties). But as the zenith of the Scottish Rave scene began to diminish, Mass Energy disbanded, and Shanghai and I went off to pursue separate activities. He stayed true to his roots, though, and now runs an minimalist techno night in his adopted land of China.

I began to get right into a lot of Electronica, Down-Tempo and Latin music. I've been a fan of Brazilian culture and football since my teenage years, and the deal was sealed in 2003 when I met a special senhorita in São Paulo a few years ago. She took me to an obscure 2nd hand record shop downtown, and opened my ears to a whole new world of vintage Brazilian Funk, Jazz and something called Samba Rock. I got a bit carried away buying vinyl, though, and the airline hit me with an extra £70 luggage weight fee just to get back to Edinburgh!!! (sair wan!) But a year later - I married the girl!

Back in the late 90s I messed around with John Doe and the Masters of the Groovyverse - a bizarre live Latin/Funk/House/Rock'n'Roll hybrid combo with some quality players from my local neighbourhood (sunny Saline - the Paradise of Fife). Like a lot of bands, we found it hard to keep up a unified effort; and when it inevitably fizzled out, I spent a couple of years playing drums in another east coast live band called Fade.

Despite catching the bug early on, I was always far too self-indulgent to carve out a DJing career in the club scene - but maybe that's a blessing in disguise, as I really value my hearing! Tinnitus and sound engineering just don't mix (no pun intended). I'm quite content to meddle around in the raw, experimental art-form of it all, anyway. I like to have 3 or 4 decks at my disposal (or a drum machine, keyboard, groovebox, sampler - whatever's handy), and like to be constantly active somewhere in the mix. I keep underground, and although I did play some minor gigs every now and then, I prefer to keep my vinyl in the Studio.

For the past 5 years or so, I’ve been so distracted with being an 'adult' (getting hitched, paying a mortgage, renovating a house, etc., etc.) that I’ve had precious little time for the music. I’m currently working on a couple of projects, though:

MUSIC FOR THE SOUL :: Engineering and producing an album of instrumental/soundtrack music by a very gifted Scottish-based composer and pianist, Janet Melville McBride, which we hope will be complete by the end of summer. Check out the MySpace.com/MusicForTheSoul

AN ELECTRONIC MUSICAL PARAPHRASE OF THE BOOK “COSMIC CODES” :: Just a personal project of mine, inspired by the writings of an American Engineer with an Evangelistic calling, Chuck Missler. The book just blew my mind. If the beats, basslines, samples and skratching on this 12-track album have just HALF the impact on listeners as Cosmic Codes had on me – it’ll be well worthwhile. It'll be available as a FREE download when completed (expected around about Autumn ’09).

Thanks for reading! Peace & God bless