Chill Syndicate Bios
The Captain has been following electronica since he was first introduced to 808State back in 1989. Later he would have his first introduction to the rave scene by joining up with the Stargaze Family where he would soon began spinning downtempo at parties for the first time. In 2006 he co-founded The Chill Syndicate with DJ Skyebaby as a non-profit, commercial free outlet to promote chill DJ talent though podcasting. A recent addition to the Ambient Mafia, the Captain has a special love for groovey sounds with a distinct brazilian twist, acid jazz, and especially the occational polka remix or cheesey show tune. He so old that some say that he was DJing before DJing was even invented. Some say that he invented chairs. But most believe that his stuffed monkey collection is superior, and he causes all of the gnomes on the floor to get loose. Website: http://people.tribe.net/ms7330
DJ Skye (aka Skyebaby) started spinning in 1997, focusing primarily on dark trance and jungle. And then she stumbled upon children's records and nifty mixers with effects. Layers upon layers of ambient with twisted samples from anything under the moon (and above it for that matter). That led to downtempo, and her friend with no pants (aka Red Stickman) said, "Hey Skyebaby!" and she was all, "Hi." Everything after that is a blur. A link to her website: http://www.skyebaby.com
Addison has been DJing since his senior year in college when he began to dabble in electronic music. Realizing that mere mixing of beats wouldn't satisfy his needs. He began reworking existing tracks such at Cream by Blank and Jones (PVD mix) and Underworld's, Born Slippy. Eventually producing his very first track, Summersong, which he played out at various parties and events. Recently he joined with DJ Paul Ephonic and DJ Colin Day to create Trance Tuesday, a fresh mix of trance in all it's glorious forms. While doing this, he realized that wanted a way to share his various unreleased mixed sets. It was at that point he came up with the idea of Trance Rotation, enabling him to create a bi-weekly set to be shared with those who would enjoy the tunes he enjoyed. While considered mostly a mainstream Trance DJ (well nobody's perfect), Addison isn't afraid to break out some groovy chillin beats now and then. In fact, some of his best tracks featured on Chill Syndicate are downtempo remixes of his favorite trance artist. They can do that?!? A link to his website: http://www.djaddison.com
A raver since 1995, Paul got immediately hooked on the music, dancing, and sense of community of these parties. He didn't start DJing until 2000, and it took him a few years to finally get his own decks and start practicing. He got his first set of DJ equipment shortly after moving to San Francisco in early 2004, but its been just in the past couple years that he really started taking a serious interest in the mixing of music while crediting DJs Colin and Addison as being a influence on his growth as a DJ. Paul's main musical interest has been in psytrance, but he appreciates good trance of all kinds and hopes that his involvement in tranceportal.org will help turn some of the progressive trance audience onto more psychedelic sounds. Paul also enjoys bringing this "gift of psytrance" feel to all of his chill sets. A link to his website: http://waxdj.com/djs/680/
Colin first discovered the rave scene while living in Southern Califorina. Having had never listened to electronic music before, he instantly fell in love with it. A veteran of the SoCal desert rave scene, Colin's inspiration was actually to produce rather than DJ. Colin joined the Stargaze family and moved to San Francisco where he would meet DJ Ephonic, DJ Addison, The Captain, DJ Skye, and many other talented DJs. Though his first love is creating and spinning progressive trance, Colin is also an exceptional Chill DJ. A link to his website: http://www.colinday.net/
Squelchy has been making noise in the Bay Area for the past decade as both a musician and a dj. Since stepping behind the decks publicly in 2000 with the monthly "Code Green" downtempo night at Sublounge. Squelchy has spread his love of funky, fun and hard-to-classify music as regluar dj at The Extra Credit's "Beats and Boardgames" events and as a frequent contributor to the Chill Syndicate podcast series. Website: http://www.myspace.com/djsquelchy Checkout his mixes at http://www.digitrash.com and his orginal music at http://www.vocoid.com
Fortunate to have attended some of the first parties in the bay area in 1989, Michael the Redstickman has seen the dance community from all different facets. As a clubber, go-go dancer, promoter, setup/cleanup monkey, party planner/organizer, DJ, remixer, and co-producer, Michael has done it all. He founded the infamous Ambient Mafia in November of 1999, and they've taken over chillrooms in the Bay Area by storm with their chunky and funky downtempo beats. Known for their imbibatory excesses as well as excellence in DJ ability, Michael and the Mafia can be found at their weekly residency at Anu, first Fridays of the month with Flow Fridays. Versatility being second-nature, Michael has been known to spin downtempo, techno, ghettotech, disco house, funky dubby house, deep house, tech house, breaks, midtempo, bossa nova, ambient, and dub. If he's really toasted, he'll mash-up some obscure 80s song on the fly. A link to his website: http://www.redstickman.com Syndicate Guest DJ's:
On February 18, the Chill Syndicate and the Ambient Mafia lost a dear friend and contributing member, Matt Jakes. Matt was a sweet guy whose giving, engaging nature touched many, with a smile that was open and contagious. Many knew Matt as a DJ and promoter in the Bay Area for many years. For us, he was a brother, and we'll deeply miss him. You can download Matt's last recorded set with the Ambient Mafia on New Year's Eve 2007 here.
Ari went to his first underground in 1994 and became quickly obsessed with the passionate audiogasms that make the booty shake and the heart skip a beat or two. Having joined the Ambient Mafia in 2003, he brings an aural delight of ambient soundscapes layered with a tweaked glitchy chunky-style peanut butter, smoothed out with dubby undertones and hints of clav_e'. Ari is currently dabbling in music production, but will throw down some dated vinyl from time to time. He has also been a key contributor in the industrial design of a variety of audiophile gear for clients such as M-Audio and Niveus. A link to his website: http://www.hallucidations.com
Andrew Rothman is a singer, drummer, guitarist and computer musician, and has performed in various bands as well as solo. His original music has been featured at the Shafran Planetarium at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, by the educational group Kulture Kids, as well as in various theatrical productions at professional and amateur theatres, including Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, where he is a member of the Board of Directors. Andrew has produced remixes for the Game Junkie store, Atman, DJ Drunken Master and others. He currently makes his living as a web/graphic designer and multimedia developer in Cleveland, OH and earned a BFA in Electronic Media from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Website: www.arothman.com
As an Ambient Mafia founding member, drop started dabbling as a selector in 1995. He's helluv old. He likes chunky midtempo and really, really old reggae. Oh, and cadbury eggs and beer, but not at the same time... usually. Website: http://www.cosmicblatherings.org
Still a freshman to the electronic/dance music culture, Brian caught the Thump Radio wave just as it started gaining momentum. After 5 years of promoting for the monthly Thump events, on the Thump Radio airwaves at KUSF, and online as an Assistant Radio Producer for ThumpRadio dot com, Peek found jazzy, funky, psychedelic downtempo grooves. Peek finally began DJing outside the bedroom when Masonic and Sinukus asked him to be the opening resident for their successful Friday weekly Happy Hour called "Thump Chill" that welcomed guests such as Jondi & Spesh, Garth, Didje Kelli, Felix The Dog, Jonathan Ojeda, Ben Doren, Kaya Project, Ambient Mafia and many more... Since "ThumpChill," Peek has teamed with the Quid Pro & the Ambient Mafia to keep bringing the downbeat funkness to their weekly Happy Hour called "Flow Fridays." Website: www.myspace.com/brianpeek
DJ Lloyd Bourne has been recording and making music for over two years, the latest under the moniker Headphonaut. At fifteen he started playing guitar and experimented with styles until he became interested electronic music. Implementing electronic drum beats and synths he created Headphonaut. A one man band, he is writing music for "Masca In The Ziggurat" his first full, soon to be released, CD. Website: www.myspace.com/headphonautband |