Anton Banks - The Vault Radio Show - Vault Radio on 88.1FM - Nov 2007

Biography of Anton Banks

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.

Lee Burridge - The Vault Radio Show - Vault Radio on 88.1FM - Nov 2007

Biography of Lee Burridge

It’s 1985 in the idyllic backwaters of rural England and a young Lee Burridge has just embarked on what will become a very colorful DJ career. Currently though he’s playing appalling music at birthdays, weddings and the odd funeral. Sadly for the deceased, but luckily for us, with aspirations of playing the kind of music he’s been hearing at acid house parties, Lee has a quick look at his life and decides a change is needed, so he moves from Dorset… to Hong Kong. As you do.

The caliber of Lees early parties ensured that scores of world-class djs played, and these sometimes chaotic, often unforgettable nights helped lay the foundation for Hong Kong’s now thriving underground house scene.

It wasn’t all fun though, during his 6 years at the forefront off Asia’s dance music scene, Lee and his cohorts also endured grueling periods hanging about on the beaches of Thailand, as they brought dance music to the legendary full moon parties for the first time.

2 djs who passed through Hong Kong were Sasha and Craig Richards, and these guys later fashioned together a partnership called Tyrant. In 1998 they lured Lee back to the UK, using carrots, to become part of the Tyrant Soundsystem.

As Tyrant, Lee and Craig have now released 2 compilations and, luckily for them, each has been respected and loved by djs and clubbers alike. Listening carefully you’ll hear tracks with a progressive edge, techy grooves, deep house and some breaks thrown in for good measure. The colossal Pete Tong named the first release his ‘album of the year’. Urban legend has it that, on hearing the news, Lee got drunk on shandy to celebrate.

Like the albums, Lees sound is versatile and unique. He’s comfortable playing warm-up and peak time slots, or both if the vibe’s right. Not satisfied with holding down residencies at Fabric in London and The Bomb in Nottingham, his travels take him across the globe from Romania to Argentina, Asia to America.

In 2002 Lee Burridge was voted No.10 in the DJ Magazine Top 100 poll… although Lee’s still struggling to think of 9 djs who are actually better than him.

So there you have it… a summary of 18 years worth of music and dj-ing. But just forget all and remember this. Lee Burridge likes to party with the best of us, reads a crowd like no other, and plays some of the most mind-boggling, genre bending and jaw-dropping records you’re ever likely to hear. Period.