Tag Archives: Lenny Dee

A native New Yorker, Lenny Dee is an American DJ and producer who first specialized in rave music but went on to become one of the hardcore techno scene’s biggest names. Starting his career in 1984, at the young age of 17, Lenny Dee was DJing at a local Brooklyn disco and went on to become one of New York’s most important musical pioneers.

It’s when he meets legendary Tommy Musto that his career takes a dramatic leap. He and Tommy make more than 20 records under Tommy’s label Fourth Floor and become famous in the British underground scene. After that, Lenny Dee storms through the UK’s underground scene and becomes one of the few artists who truly bring a change to Techno music. That’s when the style Hardcore Techno sees the light for the first time.

In 1989, thanks to his unique sounds, Lenny Dee becomes the best international DJ in many European countries, such as Germany, Scotland, France and Switzerland. After that, he starts performing all over the world, from his home country, the US, to farther countries like Australia and even Japan.

In 1991, Denny Lee launches Industrial Strength Records, the first Hardcore Techno label in the world and goes on to work with many world-acclaimed artists, like Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and the French band Daft Punk.

Here are 5 kickin’ Lenny Dee tracks, enjoy them!

As Long As I Got You:

We’re starting strong with this one. This collaboration between Lenny Dee and Frankie Bones has the perfect New Yorkish vibes to it. Very techno, very smooth, but also extremely dance-y, this song will make you move!

Fucking Hostile:

This track is different from the first one. More on the hardcore side, it starts quick and turns dark in the middle. The beat is what we can call sick, and we can all imagine this being played in some dark thriller.

Everything Bamboo:

Be ready to dance with this one! The track gives of an extremely Blackstreet vibe and you will definitely move while listening to it. The beat is soft and enjoyable, even for people who normally don’t listen to this type of music. This shows how versatile Lenny Dee can be as an artist and producer.

Gonne Take You Higher:

If you listen to this and don’t even move your head with the music, we’re afraid there’s something wrong with you. Your body instinctively follows the music, and for a good reason: it’s just that catchy!

Microtronic:

Strong sounds for a strong ending. This track is pure Lenny Dee, techno with a pinch of that original Lenny magic to it.

From 1984 to these days, Lenny Dee has been gifting us with unique sounds, both as a DJ and as a producer. Having worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, he is a force to reckon with in the hardcore and gabber scene.

To know more about him, check out his Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/DjLennyDee/

Announcements, Articles, Events, Interviews, Reviews

The EDC You Didn’t See

July 19, 2016 DJ Deadly Buda 1 Comment

Just when you thought you knew about everything that happened at EDC this year, we bring you the most overlooked, but perhaps most exciting development that happened under everyone’s nose. Fortunately, former Earache USA whirlwind and now ANOMIEdia’s CEO, Jim Welch, was on hand to give us the eyewitness account of what went down.

Lenny Dee and Rob Gee at EDC – photo by Jim Welch

It was a big year for the harder styles at Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival. A stocked hardstyle line-up and a closing set on the Basscon: Wasteland stage by hardcore power Angerfist attested to the magnetic draw of the hard electronic. But there was another significant disruption of the status quo that went practically unnoticed even by the tea-leaf readers and crystal ball gazers who make a career out of divining Insomniac’s next moves…

Rob Gee rocking EDC hard! -photo by Jim Welch

Calliope was the Greek Muse of heroic poetry, and puttering along the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s terra firma on EDC Day 2 was the apt-named Kalliope Art Car. This otherwise cute and unassuming converted bus actually packs a 70,000 watt sound system, and this night carried three old school legends that have steadfastly dedicated themselves to furthering the art of the rave. These heroes have continued to promote new and underground music ceaselessly for decades and were seemingly snuck into the party in the dead of night… a portent of things to come? I speak in order of appearance, Lenny Dee, Rob Gee, and Frankie Bones.

Lenny Dee lays down the hard electronic at EDC. – photo by Jim Welch

Despite the old school credibility all three of these artists bring to the table and their bona fide historical significance to the American rave scene going back to the early 1990’s, they have been surprisingly absent from the larger American festivals. In some ways, it might be because they still have never slowed down. Each has in his own way, like true artists, continued to pursue their art. So, they didn’t really fit into EDC’s usual “old school” area, the Upside Down Room, and were still a little too edgy for Basscon or Bassrush. Enter: Kalliope! and kudos to Insomniac for figuring out how to bring these guys to the attention of a new breed of ravers.

That said, I, like many of you, was stuck in the massive traffic jam that night and missed this part of the rave I wanted to hear and see most. As most of us didn’t have the privilege of following the Art Cart, we have tried our best to recreate the experience for you. Check out Jim Welch’s recount, and we’ve posted a re-creation of Lenny Dee’s set that he made for us. Frankie Bones actually managed to record his set, and we hope to get something from Rob Gee soon. At the end is my interview with Frankie Bones preceding the fateful night. Enjoy and look to the midnight horizon!

Articles, Reviews

Field Report 7: Trauma Live’s Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

February 29, 2016 DJ Deadly Buda

The final stop of Trauma’s Harder Styles Tour touched down in Brooklyn Saturday night. As anticipated, the venue was packed with attendees bouncing off the walls. Right off the bat is was amazing to see Lenny Dee and Rob Gee on their home turf, in the borough that made them worldwide names. Rob Gee played his greatest set on the entire tour, and frankly it might have been the single most uplifting and inspiring set –of all sets—on the tour. Rob Gee has always had something special with audiences, but Saturday night in particular he hit a resonant melody with the audience who were 100% in sync with his hardcore vibe.

Dj Deadly Buda at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn — DJ Deadly Buda at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

But, I’m getting ahead of myself, literally. Yours truly got to open up the night, and thankfully the sound-system was 100% on point, and there was already a crowd ready to rock. I got a chance to bust out some of my favorite tracks from the Next Cyclone label, which are rarely played, and the crowd was well into it. I also got to spin on 4 decks at once, an infrequent pleasure at hardcore shows where oftentimes we are lucky to even be using modern CD-Js!

DJ Stefanie at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

After I did my stuff, Reactor and Pulsators hit the decks and rocked the crowd with some hardstyle, leading up to the night’s headliner, DJ Stefanie. Basically, she tore it up, showing the USA why she is a big favorite in Europe and even showcased one of her latest tracks. I had the pleasure of filming her live feed on Facebook for the first half hour too. Most of her set it could be seen worldwide!

Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Next up was Lenny Dee. As always, it’s a pleasure to see Lenny Dee rocking it in his own backyard. The tough industrial sounds had the ravers rocking to and fro. Hardcore historians know that Lenny Dee might be considered the original hardcore DJ of which we know in the modern era, and to see him in his element, where the sounds were heard that would later inspire the world, was truly moving. He was followed by his frequent partner-in-cacophony, Rob Gee.

Tim Shopp at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Satronica then hit the decks and continued the holiday of hardcore that had taken over Brooklyn’s legendary club Verboten, leading to up-and-coming, Tim Shopp, who did double duty on the main stage and the second room, keeping the crowd busy the entire night. Tim tore the cap off a shaken pop-bottle of speedcore madness that drove the crowd wild, giving a sneak preview of the coming wave of American Hardcore.

Rob Gee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Initially looking back on the tour at this early stage of reflection, I think there were tremendous gains made for the American hardcore EDM/Techno scene. Whereas the crowds were not sell-outs, they were decent and more importantly, everyone had a great, and sometimes life changing time. Dealing with music so much on an everyday basis, we music insiders often lose track of how important finding that new sound is to the concert goer… as we count the beans and talk the numbers. Sure, it’s an aspect that cannot be ignored, but ultimately life is remembered in experiences, and Trauma Live made sure to give people an experience they’ll never forget, and I can’t wait to see what happens to this scene next.

DJ Stefanie and Lenny Dee at Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016: Brooklyn

Articles, Interviews

Lenny Dee: The Trauma Harder Styles Tour 2016 Interview

February 7, 2016 Brandon Caballero

Lenny Dee, you’re playing the Brooklyn, NY stop on the Trauma Harder Styles Tour, I have to say it’s an honor to be conducting an interview with such a legend! From pioneering the NY scene back in the 80’s, to dominating the charts in the UK, and developing the early hardcore and industrial sounds that has evolved into modern hardcore- how does all that happen? Who was your biggest inspiration in the early part of your career?

I was inspired by the evolution of electronic music itself. This hunger lead me into doing all the styles so this was the next step along my musical journey. Right before the hardcore, I was doing disco, house, techno, industrial, Dnb breaks, rave, hardtechno, and I kept on rolling with the flow of the music which I felt was getting harder each party.

When I met Marc Arcadipane in the early 90’s, his tracks were the definitive sound of the style. He made the sounds of the core in the studio which had not been done yet and we released it on Industrial Strength Records. 25 years later – we are still pumping out the most underground artist and styles of Hard Electronic music.

What important changes have you witnessed from the time you got into the scene, until now?

The sonics of the music have changed in a big way, analog gone – digital in. Also social media.

Some DJs coming up don’t know how to beatmatch and really DJ which is a shame as I think it’s a real artform, and some don’t even make their own music. That’s the bad side, but there are a lot of talented new guys coming up too. I like to support guys with real core attitude. I still have faith in the new, unexplored roads. I’m not the “safe bet” / “every track sounds the same” kind of label guy.

What projects are you working on right now that we should be looking out for?

I just finished 3 tracks on Mr. Madness’ new LP, I’m also working on a few remixes Tymon & Stormtrooper.

The big one is our 25 years of ISR project this year, which will include a vinyl release, and we’re also doing parties around the world to celebrate.I’m also wrapping up some solo music and collabs with Tieum and A-Kriv, which I am excited about – some cool vibes cooking up. I also signed with Footworxx Bookings for Europe who are awesome!

I am super excited about our new Kaos Engine Kick Drum instrument collection we are doing with ‘5KRO’ and ‘Industrial Strength Samples’

This custom instrument will give new artists loads of hardcore kicks, with the power of a custom NI Kontakt Gui. This is a real studio tool to help make the hardest part of the style – the kicks! We are set to release it in April.

This Trauma tour is a big thing for the North American hardcore scene, featuring some of the biggest names in hardcore today. Have any of the other artists on the Trauma tour ever inspired your work? If so, how?

Yes, the Trauma guys doing the tour – they give me inspiration that there might be more hope for this music here. Hats off to them for giving this style of music a real tour.

All the artists give me inspiration for sure. I love all the music they make, plus I have worked with many of them over the years too.

What are your top 3 favorite tracks of all time? Why?

I kinda flip around with this question a lot :

Mescaline United – first ISR -First core track – this has a place in my heart forever

Euromasters Rotterdamn 01 – killer core for sure – really took it up a notch

Extreme Terror – ISR – thee most bad ass track around – Nuff said, really!

Lastly (see our interview with Rob Gee for Rob’s answer here) who would win in a pie eating contest between you and Rob Gee?

Haha! Well I am not sure. I like pie – but i am not a super sugar freak – now if we are taking about smoking …… I think I am the winner 🙂

If there’s anything we haven’t asked, what else would you like to say to the readers of The Hard Data?

This music was a USA grown music style. Industrial Strength Records was the first Hardcore Label ever, here our of Brooklyn and I was the first hardcore DJ back in the day, so the USA is the real birth of this music. But it still needs some support here – so lets ass kick it!

www.industrialstrengthrecords.com

www.facebook.com/DJLennyDee

www.youtube.com/IndustrialStrengthNY