Submitted By: trocknroll

Genre: Hardcore / Breakcore

Date of Set: Apr 2003

Filesize: 70.16 MB

Total Downloads: 1

Some DJs will recount days of listening to electronica while still in their diapers. The first electronica Ryan ever heard was Prodigy's Fat of the Land, released in 1997 when he was a junior in high school. The singles 'Firestarter' and 'Breathe' were catchy and struck Ryan as they did the rest of the nation, but the album was nothing special to him. His first love in electronica was soon to become Daft Punk's single 'Around the World,' released that same year on their album Homework. 'The video for [Around the World] came on MTV one day, and I was off doing something on my computer. The beat caught my interest, and I turned towards the TV to see what the video was,' he remembers. 'The pattern and rhythm of the dancers immediately hooked me. It was one of those videos where you stare at the screen the whole time so you don't miss the artist info that comes on at the end!' The next day, Ryan went out and bought Homework. He played the CD so much that it became scratched and had to be discarded.

It wasn't until Ryan turned 18 in December of 1999 that he truly fell into electronica and the parties surrounding it. At a friend's New Year's Eve party, he discovered the art of beatmatching and mixing via Dieselboy's 611 Mix Sessions Vol. 1. That was a new point of understanding for Ryan, and over the course of that break he went to his first two raves in Baltimore, thrown by Family Productions.

Upon returning to Virginia Tech for the spring semester, Ryan figured there wouldn't be any parties to attend and that his new-found love for electronica would fade. A friend quickly proved him wrong with the notice that Bad Boy Bill would be performing in Roanoke the following month. Of course Ryan went to the party, and the ball started rolling. He quickly became electronica's newest evangelist, spreading his love of parties and music to as many people as he could interact with. He made friends with the local DJ and party-kid population and attended Starscape in the summer of 2000. Ryan was definitely hooked on the scene.

To make an already long story short, Ryan became immersed in UK Hard House and Nu-NRG after downloading DJ Number Nine's Engine Engine from Napster. He soon noticed the lack of hard house in both the VA and DC party scenes. Determined to do something about this, he picked up a beginner set of turntables (Gemini XL-100s) and started learning how to mix. Because of space constraints in his college dorm room, Ryan couldn't practice regularly until October of 2001 when he moved into an apartment. 'The main reason I started spinning was because I just felt this intense love for hard house, and nobody around here was getting exposed to it,' he explains. 'I felt I had something to contribute to the scene, so I started up from scratch. It sounds very melodramatic and idealistic, but it's true.'

His first set in front of people was at a house party in January of 2002, and his first club gig was in May that same year. Since then, Ryan has truly connected the state of Virginia with his sound: clubs in Blacksburg, Roanoke, Richmond, and Virginia Beach have all played host to his sound. He's rocked gigs in Washington DC and even New York. A dedication to the music he loves ensures that he regularly drives 5 hours to perform an hour-long set. He's recorded three demo CDs that increasingly showcase his mixing talent and track selecting ability. Ryan's musical performances remain diverse: he drifts in between various forms of UK Hard House and Nu-NRG while splicing elements of hard trance and techno into each of his sets. Never one to be content with simply beatmatching, Ryan will often get out of the DJ booth and dance to his own music. 'First and foremost, I'm a party kid. That fact influences every decision I make, from the records I buy to the way I perform live. Watching someone sit there, look bored, and mix records is dull and kills the vibe,' he notes. 'Everyone who sees me play will see the passion and intensity I have for electronica, UK hard house, and this party scene we're all in.'

DJ Notes:
Synaesthesia is my second planned out (like Q17) mix CD. The word itself refers to when the senses combine, like when a person hears a sound that stimulates a color in their vision. I chose the tracks to reflect the darker, more evil-sounding, synth-tinged element of hard house that is gaining popularity these days. This style is a change for me, because I've typically been associated with the bouncier, upbeat style of hard house. Synaesthesia proves that I can handle the gritty side of my genre just as well - these tracks are just as energetic to me as all the tracks on my previous two CDs.

Technically, the mixes are longer and more solid than in either of my previous CDs. I feel that Synaesthesia reflects well on my spinning ability and shows that I can swing an hour-long set from happy to moody (and possibly back again) in just a few tracks. Overall, I'm really proud of how this CD turned out.

Time: 73:05

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