John Beltran

May 12, 2010 Artists

John Beltran is one of those producers that always seems to elude being pinned to any one category. His early work on Carl Craig’s seminal Retroactive imprint sculpted a Detroit classic with hints of Derrick May, world music, and Jazz vibrations.

He followed up in 1996 on Peacefrog with arguably one of the most sought after techno classics “Ten Days of Blue,” which is still John’s most successfully licensed music with songs like “Collage of Dreams” being used in the Miramax film Human Traffic and the HBO hit Six Feet Under. His next project was entitled “The Cry” under the Placid Angles guise which MixMaster Morris charted as one of his favourite albums ever.

http://www.myspace.com/johnbeltran1

http://www.discogs.com/artist/John+Beltran

Tags: John Beltran

Riverside

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

Born in Washington D.C., Riverside ’s early influences were Rare Groove, Fusion, as well as Deep House from New York , Chicago , and Detroit. In the mid-90’s, this eager newcomer would make weekly visits to New York City’s Soho, and Mid-town, to listen to Qool DJ Marv, who was a household name in the Village. After listening to his style of music selection, mixing, and amazing ability to move the crowd, Riverside decided it was time to tap into his soul and do what came naturally, DJ. Listening and playing different styles of music from all around the world, Riverside began to lean towards the broken beat sounds from West London.

In 1999, he heard Neon Phusion “Future Aint, the Same as it used 2Be”, and it would prove to be the turning point in his young career. When asked, Riverside attributes his unique style of mixing to DJ’s like Orin Walters (Afronaught), Seiji, Philly’s own Argo, from Broken Beat Radio. “These guys inspired me to mix, and helped me develop my style of rhythm and soulful sounds,” says Riverside .

In 2004 after relocating to Orlando, Florida, Riverside co-founded the DJ collective FastFWD with Myrna and Mr. Marley. This crew threw gigs bringing top DJs and artists from the Broken Beat and Deep House culture. Over the next several years, he played at a number of establishments around his new home as well as various places along the East coast. He has opened up for acts such as Jeremy Ellis, John Arnold, and mixed along side the likes of, JustOne, Kai Alce, QBurns Abstract Message, and Julius “The Mad Thinker.”

In the winter of 2007, Riverside transformed FastFWD into an official record label with the help of Sandman and Chairman Hao. This newly developed label concentrates on original, deep, broken, Afro-Latin influenced rhythms, as well as deep soulful house. Riverside has recently been busy in the studio producing tunes and remix projects for the new label.
In the summer of 2007, he was inducted into JHI, a deep house collective run and founded by Jay Oliva.

Tags: Riverside

Sandman

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

The music maestro of the crew as well co-owner of the record label.
He is fluent on keys, bass, and guitar. He plays all instruments on “LatinFire” as well as for remixes of MGA-

”Leavin” and Rob Slac’s “Goddess of Groove.”

more info coming soon…
Click Here for SandMan@Myspace

Tags: Sandman

HT Zero

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan in the mid 60’s Harold was exposed to the sites and sounds of Motown. Music’s best and brightest artists cut their teeth on the concrete streets of the Motor City. The second youngest of 7 siblings he along with his older brother aspired to be musicians. Longing to be apart of his brother’s basement band Harold would practice playing the trumpet day in and day out learning and rehearsing a single sheet of music. His determination although did not give him entry in to the band, did set the tone for things to come. The creator had other plans for his musical gift and his persistence would eventually give way to inspiration in the form of keys.

Some of his musical influences are, Stevie Wonder, George Duke, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, EWF, Jimmy Smith, David Sanbourn, James Cleveland, Rudolph Stanfield, Mattie Moss Clark, Herbie Hancock, Ricky Rouse, and Ovella Maples just to name a few. Although influenced by these great musicians, it was his natural gift to play by ear and eventually with sheet music that Harold would find himself playing as lead keyboardist at churches, directing choirs and providing vocal training in various cities up and down the eastern seaboard. Never giving up his gospel roots he would attend concerts of such greats as Stevie Wonder and even saw the mother ship land in George Clinton’s hay day! All these experience motivated Harold musically to push the boundaries of his talents. The definitive moment would come one fateful evening in viewing Billy Preston play the national anthem on a Hammond B3. “I knew then that I could play things my way as long as I gave the listener a hint of what they were supposed to hear.” From this point Harold would take on the keyboard as his primary instrument of choice, unashamed and unafraid to charter new waters and used his gospel influences and inspiration from those who’ve come before him to venture into the genre of House music. Detroit, arguably, is the birth place of techno and a hotbed for some of the earliest genres of House music. Harold latched on to House because he could still hold on to his gospel roots while amalgamating and evoking the spirit of dance that House is so known for. With friends from the neighborhood such as the likes of Delano Smith, Darryl Shannon, Kevin Dysard, Mike Huckabee, and close friends like Shirley, and Theresa Hill, Harold had the opportunity to frequent the famed house parties at Western Michigan University, The Sentinel, and The Music Institute. In 1995 on a contract job Harold found himself traveling to Atlanta for business and later found himself relocating for good. Some years later after acclimating himself with the Atlanta house scene and honing his craft he would later link up with the legendary Kai Alce and over drum beats and keys a hit was created.

Session 201 has been banging everywhere from Handzonradio.fm, SWEAT, to Rawsoul Entertainment’s House.

Currently Harold is in the studio working on vocals for his next track entitled “Genuine Love” with the world renowned Dj Kemit. “Session 201” is set to be released mid March 2008 on FastFWD records. It is not uncommon to find Harold at a party enjoying the vibrations of the night. To this day Harold can be found throwing a basement party with famed djs such as Ron Pullman, Mike Music, Yusef, and Kai Alce. And nothing compares to the look of contentment and humility that exudes from him when a dj drops one of his tracks and the dancers go crazy on the dance floor.

Tags: HT Zero

Dr. UM

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

John Drum is Dr. Um.

Currently he is an architectural design intern working with Associated Florida Architects (www.afarch.com) while working towards his masters in architecture at the University of Florida in Gainesville. John has a BFA in sculpture and BS in Art Education and taught sculpture and drafting classes at University High School in Orlando and pottery at a summer enrichment program for children at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

Nearly a decade ago, he was roommates with Qburn’s Abstract Message and worked for him at his record store Bad Mood. John started djing in 1997 out of a desire to make music for films that were and still are floating around in his head. He had been collecting acid jazz and more traditional jazz artists. This led to the often difficult to label, “downtempo” genre and he found a love for all sorts of jazz and percussion based music. Maybe it was the last name? His sound is like a generous pot of gumbo: funk, jazz, soul, electronica, hip hop, sound samples, latin-afro house, acid jazz, dnb and broken beats. If you dig Gilles Peterson, we know you’re gonna dig this.

The formula is in constant flux, yet one thing remains the same, each yet shares a story, a flash, a glimpse of what is jazz: yesterday, today and tomorrow…the Past, The Present, the Future…

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Chairman Hao

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

Chairman Hao is the performance moniker of Orlando resident Hao Xuan Do. Born in Vietnam in May 1974, he and his family immigrated to the United States when he was still a young child. As a young Florida teen, he became exposed to his older brother’s punk, ska and reggae collection on vinyl 45s, which would later influence his ambition of working with music and his love of vinyl.

In the mid-nineties, Hao started working at Bad Mood Records, owned by Michael Donaldson (aka Q-Burns Abstract Message). In this modest record store in downtown Orlando, Hao developed connections with numerous musicians and producers who eventually provided him his first gigs as a DJ. The experience would later provide fuel for his evolution into being a record producer and studio-engineer.

In the year 2000, Hao opened another independent record shop called Echo Echo, but the store was short-lived. Since then, Hao has continued working in the studio and as a DJ in Florida, performing in cities such as Gainesville and Miami, as well as his hometown of Orlando.

Chairman Hao has opened for local and international artists such as Kool Keith, James Lavelle (UNKLE), Drums & Tuba, Sol.iLLaquists Of Sound, DJ BMF, Fort Knox Five, MachineDrum, Cyne, Sneaker Pimps, dead prez, Eyedea & Abilities, R_Garcia, Mic Mell, Swamburger, SPS, Jalima, Thunderball and Greyboy. This list provides an idea of the genres of music he touches on: hip-hop, funk and experimental electronic grooves.

Affiliations: Bastard Jazz Records, Nonsense Records, Future Funk Collective and FastFWD Records.

Tags: Chairman Hao

Myrna

Jun 2, 2009 Artists

Birthplace: Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

Started DJing: January 2002 (in her bedroom)
Memorable Opening Sets & Guest Spots: Spacek (The Social-Orlando), Bugz in the Attic (The Bank Vault-Orlando), 100 Nights Celebration w/ Dr. Um (Speakeasy-Gainesville, Florida), CHRY 105.5 FM’s Best Kept Secret radio show (Toronto, Canada)
Always on Rotation: Fertile Ground, Cinematic Orchestra, Beady Belle, Julie Dexter, Abida Parveen, Roots Manuva, NuYorica—Totally Wired – Jazzbizniz Compilations, The Cure, Mongo Santamaria, Eddie Palmieri, PJ Harvey and probably a few others
Influences & Inspirations: DJs: Sirka, Gilles Peterson, Khali, Riverside
Vocalists/Musicians: Bembe Segue, PJ Harvey, Betty Carter, Karen Carpenter, Bjork, Izzi Dunn, Beady Belle, Navasha Daya, Thom Yorke, Kathleen Hanna, ig culture, Tito Puente, Gloria Estefan (last two during her childhood) Artists/Revolutionaries: Barbara Kruger, Chuck Close, Frida Kahlo, Fela Kuti, Hugo Chavez
Other Affiliations: WPRK 91.5fm (October 95-Present), “Sound Travels� Radio Show (Jan 2002-Present), FloridaFutureJazz Collective (Founder, Jan 2002), League of Pissed Off Voters
Other Interests: Independent films (especially Spanish language & other international), antiglobalization/genderqueer/peace & justice movements, international travel, classic latin vinyl, scarabs, oceans, veggie food, learning to play bass, singing to her own beats
Special Radio Show Guests: Tortured Soul, DJ Spinna
One of Her Favorite Quotes: “If I can’t dance, it’s not my revolution.” – Emma Goldman

Tags: Myrna