Tag Archives: Vortex

The Making of King of Style

“King of Style” is a techno track that took three decades to make. As many of you know, the track is made from audio and video samples from what is regarded as the first Hip Hop Documentary, Style Wars, a movie that mesmerized me from the day I saw it and echoes in my head to this day. From 1983 onward, the movie had catalyzed millions of Hip Hop lovers around the globe. When I started producing rave music in 1994, one of the first things I wanted to do was sample Style Wars and make it into a rave track. But, because I loved the movie so much, I agonized over every detail. In my mind, every attempt I made was never good enough. Slowly but surely though, life (or more accurately) the realization that life could quickly end, would bring the project into being.

The first time I saw Style Wars was 1985, when it appeared on PBS, WQED Channel 13 in Pittsburgh, PA. I already had heard about the film, and “recorded” it as best I could, with an audio cassette deck. At the time, VHS and Betamax television recorders were still expensive and my family didn’t have one. From that day on, me and my graffiti friends would listen to the audio cassette over and over as we practiced our lettering and character styles. We could practically recite the entire movie if asked. I was always obsessed with lettering styles, and so Kase 2, the graffiti artist that invented “computer rock” style was my favorite graffiti writer in the movie. I loved everything he said in the movie, and me and my friends would pepper our everyday language with his seemingly random extra-galactic vernacular. We called each other, “The fresh extra-tellestrial (sic) brothers”, and called things “super-duty-tuff-work” on a regular basis.

But in retrospect, the thing that resonated most with me about Kase 2 was his dedication to inventing new lettering styles. That simple love of innovation in the visual arts, or anywhere in life, that joy in creation, is what inspired me. Sure, like many male dominated fields, graffiti was competitive, and I liked that, but at its heart it was constructive. It was making something, and wanting to make something good, for goodness’s sake. That was the goal. This felt natural to me.

In the mid-80’s there was an airline called “People’s Express”. For $49 Round-trip you could fly from Pittsburgh to New York and Boston, and me and my graffiti crew, Badassest, often did so to paint in each other’s city. During this time I would frequent Henry Chalfant’s studio in Soho, where famous graffiti artists would congregate. Making acquaintance and befriending some, I would develop my own lettering style, later known as “monster rock”. I would constantly bug the heck out of everyone asking them, “What do you think of this style?” after every twitch of my pencil.

One day, as Chalfant was on his way to photograph a wall for his upcoming book “Spray Can Art” book, I tagged along with who would become an internationally famous graffiti writer, T-Kid 170. During that trip, T-Kid gave me the “Wildstyle Card”. This was a membership to one of New York’s biggest and most legendary graffiti crews, started by Tracy 168. But, that was not all. At one point in the journey we had to make a stop to see Kase 2. I was thrilled as you could imagine and once he got in the car I immediately started drawing my version of computer rock. But, since I was so rushed and nervous meeting one of my all-time heroes, it came out kind-of-wack. Kase was like, “um…”, and frankly seemed to have his mind on other things than graffiti, anyway. But, nonetheless, I got to tell him how great I thought he was. So, though not a perfect experience, I look back at it with a lot of fondness.

In the course of hanging out with all these graffiti writers, I invariably would hear background stories of beefs, collaborations, history, and behind-the-scenes goings on during the filming of Style Wars. Some of these stories would eventually influence the way I edited the “King of Style” video, decades later.

For example, though Cap comes off in the movie as some sort of racist thug, he actually did pieces and whole car paintings. One of which was filmed during the making of the movie, seen at 2:54 in the King of Style video. Basically, showing anything but Cap’s throw-ups didn’t fit the narrative of the original story, and this footage can only be seen in the outtakes. So, I wanted to give a bit of the “other side” of the story after all these years. Also, something most people won’t realize today, is that back then in New York, everyone in the graffiti scene used the word “nigger” to describe friend and foe alike, be they black, white or otherwise. I believe I heard that Cap even used to piece with Kase occasionally! So, to some degree Cap’s dialogue wasn’t as racist as modern viewers, and viewers outside of New York in the 1980’s, might think.

At 3:37 in King of Style… see that kid all the way to the left, in the white sweater and gloves making the hand move? Well, the story with him is that Mom was so worried he would be dressed right for the filming, she kept him in too long prepping him. He never made it on time and missed the prime shooting window! So, I wanted to make sure his Mom’s hard work was finally appreciated!

When selecting the train footage, I tried my best to get examples of wildstyle lettering on the trains. Usually the public sees more of the glossy work by Seen, Lee and Dondi from this period, but what I remember going on at that time was skinny, angular wild styles by crews like FBA (Fast Breakin’ Artists) and I tried to salvage as many examples as I could from the outtakes. And, just an aside, I think one of the things I like most about the Style Wars outtake footage, is that it reminds me of those hot, humid summers in 1980’s New York. There was freedom in the air then with its own distinct character. I wonder if younger viewers can see that in the film, as I do. I wonder if it registers as being any different than their current experience.

Many songs and tracks have sampled Style Wars, but usually the samples floated in the background of the music. I wanted my samples to be upfront and bold, as if they were lyrics to a song, and in the back of my mind, I always wanted the original video to be featured in some way. So, around 2011, when I was able to help with the film’s restoration project, in passing I mentioned to Public Art Films that I could make an electronic remix of the footage, and no one said, “no.” So, that encouraged me to keep poking away at ideas on how I would feature the material in an electronic dance music track.

Ultimately the catalyst that made me finally commit to finishing the track was a tragedy that happened in my life. A fire destroyed virtually everything I owned, my records, art, letters… all gone. Being present during the fire, I realized that in a split second, everything can change, and if I ever wanted to finally make the track that had been banging in the back of my mind, now was the time. Fortunately, following the chaos of the New York stop on the Trauma Live Tour,  I ran into my old rave friend, Lenny Dee, who was interested in the possibilities of the track (and eventually tweaked it for mass consumption, the original mix appears in world’s first blockchained DJ mix, “Rock the Blockchain“) and encouraged me to go forward. He even gave me advance samples from his upcoming audio sample packs (Industrial Strength Samples) that I made sure to use in the track. Much as Kase 2, Tracy 168, Lee, T-Kid, A-1, Daze or Phase 2 were inspirations to me in graffiti, Lenny has always been someone I listen to before creating my music. He’s a master that can’t help but share his experience and can easily be judged by the myriad of artists and tracks he has launched and showcased over the decades.

I would spend much of the summer of 2016 working on the track. The one aspect that I wanted to incorporate, that I felt needed in the track, was horns. Horns or saxophone like in the Jimmy Castor Bunch’s “It’s Just Begun.” I’ll never forget the time I heard Marley Marl scratching up two copies of “It’s Just Begun” on his Saturday night WBLS mix show in New York. The “transformer scratch” technique had just come out, and Marley Marl made sure to “transform” just about every jam he played that night. I was lucky enough to record him slicing up two copies of “It’s Just Begun” and I listened to it all summer. Of course, “It’s Just Begun” was already dated by the time I heard it as a teenager, but until this day, no song captures the spirit and the youthful vitality of the New York City summer for me, and represents one of the critical sparks to what would one day become Hip Hop.

One of the feelings I wanted to recreate also, was the original spirit of Hip Hop that Style Wars represented back in 1983. It was a spirit of creativity and living in the moment, using what was at hand to make the world a better place, a fun place. And sadly, and I pre-apologize for being kind of a bummer here… that I felt Hip Hop had abandoned as early as about 1987. Like many early Hip Hop adopters, I found solace in its creativity, but the world at large could have cared less. Many truly hated the sound back then! And, at some point it was decided that Hip Hop would no longer promote creativity, but it would promote the acquisition of money, status symbols, and eventually degenerate into misogyny, misanthropy and greed for its own sake. As a somewhat nerdy, middle-class kid, I frankly couldn’t understand the attraction to those topics. And, I wonder to this day how much of that was forced on the public, rather than accepted. Regardless, I had felt somewhat betrayed by Hip Hop, and from 1987 to 1991 bounced around aimlessly from music genre to music genre hoping one day I would find the same joy I found in original Hip Hop.

That joy was rekindled when my friend Neil Keating sent me a tape from London that had two tracks I’ll never forget, Final Exposure’s Vortex, and Lennie De Ice’s “We are I.e.” and from that point, I never looked back. The rave era began for me. That joy of sonic

exploration and do-it-yourself fun was back, and I think because many of us remembered what happened to Hip Hop, we called the first manifestations of rave music “hardcore” and proclaimed it would never die. So, that is why King of Style thumps with the big distorted kick drums and flanged breakbeats of hardcore techno and drum and bass, two styles that I saw carrying original Hip Hop’s early promise. King of Style is my tribute to that feeling, to the joy of creation for its own sake, and enjoying it with your friends. It’s when you put your mind and body into whatever you’re doing, whether its graffiti, knitting, pottery, gaming, heck, even aerobics…whatever you like to do! It’s when you lock into that zone and know for that moment, you’re the “King of Style.”

Kase2 memorial. RIP

Posted by Terrible Tkid 170 on Monday, August 14, 2017

Scene Report: Northeast Ohio & Southwest Pennsylvania

Growing up in Akron, Ohio, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by a great music scene. Whether it be The Black Keys & The Pretenders from Akron, or heavy metal mainstays like Mushroomhead, Chimaira, Marilyn Manson, or Filter from Cleveland, drawing inspiration from home was easy. However, it wasn’t until my late teens that I began to hear some of what the region’s underground dance music scene had to offer.

My first ever show was a small weekly booking at The Vortex, a popular local club in Akron. My buddy Nate Woodruff, whom also comes from an instrumental background, booked me for this gig. I had been producing a few years prior but I felt it was my time to give DJing a go. Sadly, there was a steady learning curve I had to endure. As time went by, I not only began to learn the nuances of DJing, but also learned the lay of the land. Akron is an interesting city when it comes to underground dance music. First, you have many young bucks looking to take on the scene, promoting parties that tip the cap to modern dance music, with breakneck bass and steady aggressive sounds. But when one takes a step back, they can see that Akron is also a scene of thriving vintage and avant garde producers and promoters alike.

When an outsider asks of Akron and dance music, the first thing many people will tell them about is an event series called Contrive. This series has been around for years and showcases some of the best local DJs the scene has to offer. Primarily centered around the house genre (although other four on the floor sub-genres have been featured), these parties take you back to the nostalgic sounds of Brooklyn, Chicago, and Detroit. Ran by Mark Roscoe, these shows have a cult following of both new and old heads from the region. Featuring great DJs such as Justin Bailey, Joshua Gilliland (of Rubber City Promotions), Ricky Spanish and more, integrity is an abundant trait at this event.

Live set up for Contrive in Akron, Ohio. Credit: Rubber City Promotions

If house isn’t your taste, that’s ok. Another event that has popped up in the scene in recent years has been one of my own, Audio Arena. Once an outsider of the rave scene, it took a long time for me to comprehend what all of the fuss was about. When I would go to metal shows, it was an experience. People didn’t just stand and watch, and if they did, the band always gave it their all to keep everyone entertained. From there to watching one, or sometimes two people DJing…it was a tough transition. Because of this, I wanted to host parties that weren’t just a basic rave environment. In some way, shape, or form, these parties had to keep the attendees involved.

My first rule about Audio Arena is always featuring DJs of many different sub-genres on one bill. I have always believed that music variety is paramount in appreciating your own strengths, so whether it be house, trance, breakbeat, trap, dubstep, drum & bass, UK hardcore, hardstyle, or anything else that engages the mind, there is a place for it at my shows. But what makes my shows more unique is the location. Albeit stressful and expensive, we have been able to pull off three parties at laser tag arenas. They all went seamlessly, yet, I still wanted to break more barriers. In January of 2017, I threw the regions first ever trampoline park rave at Sky Zone in Boston Heights, Ohio. I was worried about many factors, but we ended up breaking an attendance record and by the end of the night, many were saying how it was one of the best parties they have ever been to.

Audio Arena 4.0 – Trampoline Park Edition, Boston Heights, OH. Credit: Maddeax Khole

But enough about me. Let’s continue. There are other promoters I want to give a shout out to, including Nick Baker of Kosmik Kahuna and Joseph Ryan of Druidic Productions, who throw events with style. I also want to make sure I mention two prominent local labels who have made huge imprints on the national and international scene. First, Sweetdrop Digital is a label ran by Justin Hachat AKA Justin David. This label specializes in the sounds of progressive trance, as well as working with other melodic sub-genres. Second, Crowsnest Audio is a label ran by Tyler Swan AKA Lord Swan3x, whom actually attended my high school alma mater. This label is known for its heavy bass music and has amassed great street teams in Canada and even overseas. Also worth mentioning is Crankdat, who is a rising star out of McDonald, Ohio by way of Kent State University. He rose to fame almost overnight and is now touring the country.

Before we move on, we would be remiss to leave out our neighbors to the north. Cleveland, Ohio has always had a vibrant scene, and it’s dance music scene is one you would expect from a major city. In the center of it all is Cumulus Entertainment, ran by Eric Weinart and Shaun Malone, respectively. This duo puts together phenomenal productions multiple times a year that rival most major events in places like Miami and Las Vegas. Their hallmark shows, Winter Warm Up & Radiate Festival, are thrown at the legendary Agora Theater & Ballroom and draw thousands of people every time Cumulus has an event.

Winter Warm Up 2016, Agora Theater, Cleveland, Ohio. Credit: Cumulus Entertainment

Another household promoter in Cleveland is Tru Events, headed by Michael Mellon. Tru Events would be the company known for bringing in all of the A list DJs on their major North American tours. Their venue of choice is Liquid, a club on West 6th Street in Downtown Cleveland. This venue is one of the best the city has to offer, with a 21st century feel, 360 bar, and industry-standard sound. It is very clear that if you find yourself in the confines of Northeast Ohio, and you feel the need to dance, you will most certainly find what you are looking for.

This is not where the story ends; not by a long shot. Only a short 111 miles away is the metropolis of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a melting pot of some of the best underground music in the United States. By nature, Pittsburgh has one of the oldest rave scenes in the nation, and as The Hard Data Founder DJ Deadly Buda can attest to, is still going as strong as ever. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, a group of DJs were inseparable, and little did they know that they were all destined for greatness. Turbo Zen Records was the name of the game, and these DJs ruled the land. Known then (and some now) as DJ Deadly Buda, +FX (now DJ Virus), Dieselboy, Richie Hawtin, and a few others, these performers took part in some of the more legendary parties in midwest raver lore, including Soul, High Voltage, and Power Rave 92′. Also in the house scene came a DJ who is still very much in the game. Known as Euphoria, Eric “DJ Strobe” Cohen was one of the leaders of the house movement in the city.

Fast forward to today and not much has changed, which is a very good thing. Pittsburgh is thriving with tons of promoters and DJs, all whom bring their own special signature to the scene. Let’s begin with Hardstyle Family, which is ran by Eric Wade. It’s not difficult to figure out what kind of parties that this company throws, but if you are THAT dense, they organize some of the better Hardstyle and Hardcore parties in the region. Although their long running series Rave So Hard is wildly successful, nothing can match the pure ferocity of Fantasyland Festival. This open air festival has been held in Ford City, PA for the last couple of years and features a main stage which is designed to visually jaw-drop each attendee. When the night gets darkest, a separate stage is open for silent disco, a very popular trend in the scene.

Fantasyland Festival 2016, Ford City, PA. Credit: ArcaneRaver23

If harder styles isn’t your thing, feel free to check out an event by 1UP Productions. This company is mainly ran by Ron “Rizzo” Gianfrancesco. These events are generally as multi-genre as you will find in the scene and include some of the most creative themes in the region, making for an always entertaining experience. Head down to their home venue, The Braddock Elks, for a great underground feel. Another great promoter is BC1 Productions, manned by T.J. Harris, whom like myself, gathers inspiration from the old school and brings it to the new. Although they don’t throw many shows annually, when they do, they pull out all the stops.

One of the more paramount promotional companies in Pittsburgh would have to be 1337. This company is fronted by the duo of Robert Burton and Justin Doverspike. Generally throwing a handful of events a year, they pride themselves on a well-executed marketing plan, outstanding visuals, and a lineup that is bested by very few. Over the years, 1337 has become the front-and-center company of Pittsburgh underground raving, and their promotional efforts don’t go unnoticed by anyone.

1337 “Era” NYE 2016 Party, Pittsburgh, PA. Credit: Jeff Poole

Last summer, I was fortunate to be a part of Shipwrecked Festival, which was held at Club Changes just north of Pittsburgh in New Castle, PA. This was the second Shipwrecked Festival and was ran by G.O.D. Audio/Visual Productions, in conjunction with Dirty Ramen. These companies are ran with loads of experience by Ben Bridegum and Sean Lush, respectively. If you are looking for that essential variety we all crave, both of these promoters know what it’s all about and bring it to the masses.

Last but not least, we have some fresh promoters in the business, although one would not know it at first glance. Bass Technology is ran by Sammy Padgett and has thrown some of 2016’s most memorable events. Leading this is the event series, Invaders of Outer Bass, which in the Fall of 2016 was thrown at Cruze Bar. With some of the best club sound I have heard in Pittsburgh, this show drew hundreds of people and reminded us that the Pittsburgh scene will be thriving for generations to come. Also relatively fresh to the scene is Bassburgh Promotions, ran by the three-headed monster of Kevin Petted, Seth Hoover, and Chris Stankay. This trio throws events more frequently than some of the aforementioned promoters, and they still manage to do so with superb precision, locking down headliners and a very solid supporting cast.

Although these seem to be the names to remember in the underground, there are still many other niches in the Pittsburgh scene. For instance, 2step Tuesdays is a weekly get together at the Tiki Lounge, which is one of the most unique bars I have ever been to. Headed by Miaa Rigby, this weekday party is a nice change of pace, generally featuring more downtempo music that still gives an electronic edge. Hot Mass is another major gathering of likeminded folks. This nightclub in the heart of Pittsburgh shows that techno, house, and other smooth sounding rhythms are very much welcome in the scene. Some of the DJs featured at this club are of legendary reputation. If you want to see a true art form, this is where you would go. Last but not least is a show series called Lazercrunk, which is organized by Geoff Maddock. This event series focuses on avant garde genres, specifically breakcore, and is currently hosted at Belvederes Ultra-Dive. National and international acts come from all parts of the globe to participate in this one of a kind party.

There are so many other people and places I am leaving out in this midwestern gold mine of music, but I have run out of time. I will leave that for you to discover. After all, some of the best treasures are found, not given. So if you are looking to breakdance to breakbeat, shuffle to hardstyle, twerk to trap, or do whatever your heart desires, you would be foolish to find yourself out of options in this Mid-American masterpiece.