Submitted By: antonbanks

Genre: Techno

Date of Set: Aug 1st, 2007

Filesize: 84.88 MB

Total Downloads: 13

By day, Anton works as an Engineer in the aerospace industry for a company that produces jet aircraft engines. He graduated from Central Connecticut State University in May, 2000 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering Technology and is currently pursuing a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Hartford. In his free time, Anton is a DJ and aspiring techno music producer.

In 1993 Anton Banks was a student at the University of Rochester and was into hip-hop and euro-dance pop music. He especially liked the beats and rhythms found in this music but became increasingly disinterested in the lyrics. Looking for something different, Anton borrowed a compilation CD from a friend. That CD was the seminal 'Moove Your Body' release on Tribal America Artists. Soon he was obsessed with all forms of underground dance music and broke all ties to the pop music scene. Anton found himself buying all the rave and house music he could find at a store called 'The Record Archive'. Also at about the same time Anton started going to a club in Rochester called 'Heaven' which was a stripped down version of New York City's infamous super club , the Limelight, as it was also built out of an old church. He only knew that he liked the music but it would be almost a year and a half later before Anton realized that he had been listening to early techno in it's heyday in the form of tracks like The Goodmen's 'Give it up', Jaydee's 'Plastic Dreams' and an assortment of music from early Detroit and Plus 8. The turning point came in 1994 when Anton first heard 'Psychotrance', a mixed CD by Mr. C on Moonshine Music. This CD and his experiences at 'Heaven' gave him a desire to learn to spin records.

In 1995 Anton transferred to Central Connecticut State University and joined the school's radio station, 107.7FM WFCS, as the student engineer shortly after that. As the engineer he had 24 hour access to turntables and an audience and used this opportunity to learn to mix records by taking advantage of dead air (which was and still is often at WFCS) to practice mixing. Through WFCS Anton met other people such as DJ Rockphonics- founder of Equinox and O.L.- the third hillbilly on 'Hillbilly House', who showed him the ropes and got me bookings. In 1996 Anton got his first booking at the now legendary Equinox weekly (Webster Theater in Hartford, CT from 1996 to 97). This turned into his first residency which gave him the opportunity to open for many touring DJs from New York City, Boston, and beyond.

Anton's first radio show, 'Spatial Distortion', was first heard on WFCS on January 18, 1995 and was on the air until May of 2000. In July, '99 Anton started a second show, 'Vault Radio', that now airs on 88.1FM WESU (Wesleyan University), as an offshoot of 'Spatial Distortion'. Anton is now one of a small number of people promoting non-commercial electronic music in Connecticut on a station that covers most of the state.

It has now been over 10 years since Anton began DJing and he has become one of the most versatile acts around. He has built up a musical repertoire of several thousand records that span from minimal house to techno to industrial and most styles in between.

Submitted By: antonbanks

Genre: Techno

Date of Set: Aug 1st, 2007

Filesize: 84.88 MB

Total Downloads: 13

Way back in 1988 Samuel bought his first mixer and a pair of regular turntables. That was his first step into the music business. Mixing everything from hiphop, house and techno he began to explore the phenomenon of mixing. In 1991 he formed a party organization with his friend Max Reich, and started to pull off parties around Gothenburg. During the same time Samuel also started spinning the wheels of steel outside his bedroom.

When Max got a proper studio in 1995, he felt it was time to take a step further, so he asked Max to teach him the basics about producing. A couple of months after that they formed Solid Beat, a techno label distributed by Neuton. As time went by Samuels skills became more and more polished, so he felt he was ready to move on by him self. Samuel needed to start something of his own.

So, 1997 was the year when the first Cycle came out in the shops. Titled 'Techno Soul Pt 1', it contained laidback grooves for cool out corners. In the first two years he only released three, but in late spring of 1999 he decided to really have a go on it.

And that's when things really took off for Samuel. 'In Your Box' became his breakthrough record. Being played by people like Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Umek among others, people out there really started to take notice of him. The following release, 'Check Out This I Bring' made him even shinier as a wider range of jockeys span his wax. The phone started to ring more and more frequently, asking for his services regarding spinning, remixing and releasing.

Before he put Cycle on a break in 2001 to form SLS, eleven releases had seen the light of day. Now with SLS on hand he felt trying out other parts of the spectrum .'New Soil' became the first one, a double pack filled with warm, more melodic grooves. The first track, 'Velvet', became a hit on the floors and were later being remixed by Safety Session and FunkDVoid. Since then, there has been records made and remixed by various people such as Slam, Andreas Saag, Hertz and Oliver Ho.

To sum up the history so far its been some thrilling years, and the last chapter is not even in sight as he is still in demand to spread that techfunk around the planet.