Freaky Flow - La Selva X-Mas Party - May 2001

Biography of Freaky Flow

Freaky Flow, originally from Philadelphia, PA, moved with his family to Toronto before reaching four years of age. He first took a serious interest in music at the age of eleven, mesmerized by soul jazz, garage house, and hiphop. Four years later, he purchased his first set of turntables and started spinning hiphop with his skilled partner, D-Wreck. Through this genre, Freaky learned the basics – scratching, cutting, and mixing – in just that prioritized order.

Jungle, drumandbass, and the underground music culture soon captured his attention; Flow, in turn, transferred his knowledge of hiphop into this new, captivating music. He found that scratching and cutting had unique properties in accompaniment with jungle. Party-going patrons worldwide quickly caught on to this sound. Consequently, Freaky Flow today plays on a regular basis at major events throughout Canada, the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Austria, England, and most recently, Slovenia, making him the most booked drumandbass DJ in Canada. Notably, for years, all of Flow’s sets featured lyrical-mastermind, MC Flipside, on the microphone, but with Flipside’s mid-2004 decision to quit touring with Flow and focus on his own stage show and studio work, Flow now finds himself rocking crowds again all on his own, just like back in the day.

The transition from DJ to producer was only logical; Freaky wanted to be throwing down his own dubplates. With his then-partner in crime, MC Flipside, Freaky Flow oversaw the operation of Placebo Recordings (distributed by Stickman Records) between 1996 and 1999. The label led Flow to work with many acclaimed artists, including The Soul Grabber (Aquarius/Stickman), The Rascalz (ViK/BMG), and others. With his extremely busy schedule, however, Flow soon found it impossible to go to school full time, manage the Special Projects department at Stickman Records, DJ across the world, and direct and produce for a record label. Thus, to the dismay of many, Placebo Recordings’ release schedule and Freaky Flow’s studio production both came to an abrupt halt at the end of ‘99.

Only now, after completing a film degree at the University of Toronto, and retiring from his position at Stickman (both in 2001), has Freaky Flow been able to return to the studio. And his ideas are already starting to explode back onto vinyl. Within the last two years, he has already done remix work for 311 (Volcano/Zomba/BMG), Choclair (Virgin/EMI), Pressure Rise (Aspect), Type One (GFS/Sound Gizmo), and others. New original tracks have been completed, as well, and still others are in the works.

Flow is no stranger to the mix CD, either. The “Obscene Underground – Volume 1” compilation (on Stickman Records) has thus far sold nearly 20,000 units in Canada alone. Freaky Flow’s second CD, aptly entitled “World Domination” (on Moonshine Music), was released in May 2001, and surpassed his first disc in sales, hurdling over the 20,000 unit mark, making Freaky Flow the highest CD-selling drumandbass DJ of all time in Canada. A third CD – the first ever live CD that Flow has recorded – entitled “Keep It Live” (released 2002), features MC Flipside on the microphone, while his fourth mix CD, 'The Envy' (Topaz Records, 2003) continues to sell well. A fifth mix CD, “Flashback” is currently in the works. Fans can also get their fix by visiting the newly refurbished www.djfreakyflow.com, which features charts, games, and everything you ever wanted to know about The Flow.

Yet even with all of these endeavours keeping him so busy, Flow has not lost sight of why he began to DJ in the first place. He simply possesses new tools to bring his art to more people. Indeed, the music is still his top priority. For Freaky Flow is still known as one of the most versatile and technically skilled producer/DJ's in North America, and still labeled ‘Toronto's Jungle Scratchmaster’ by promoters, producers, and partygoers alike. Swarms of partiers may consistently be found huddled around the DJ booth when Flow is on the decks, watching his every move.