: DJ Shank : Shane Knapp : nuclearFerret.com : DJ and mp3 page :
* local robot resistance freedom fighter, chapter 408 *
* subtle soundwave manipulation through intricate crossfader slamming *
* the regular Shane *
* coded with emacs using vanilla HTML *
some current projects:
* computers and water don't mix... or do they? my forays in to watercooling: the previous and current systems *
* put me in a machine shop, and destructive little machines get built, and sometimes fight! *
: DJing and music :
My most active affiliation is as a resident/original member of the Ambient Mafia, a collection of Bay Area downtempo, trip-hop and ambient DJs. We never play in the main room, but we rock the chill soundsystem to it's knees! :) Besides trip-hop and downtempo, I retain a massif ammount of love and respek for the music that got me DJing back in 1998: Jungle. There really is nothing quite like throwing down some hard-ass Techstep and watching the room go berserk! Back in the day (2001-2004), I mainly played Electro. This was to tide me over as Jungle went through some growing pains, and I still occasionally break these records out for a whirl... It's a fun genre to play. Slow enough to not scare people away, and big enough bass to cause booties to shake uncontrollably. ...return to the top!
: What I've Accomplished :
As a DJ, one of the best things that can happen is getting a
"residency". Back in July 2001, I was asked to become a founding
member of :CODE at the DNA Lounge. I worked with a lot
of good people in SF to give unto you the best live acts and DJs in
the San Francisco Bay Area. Amen.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end and :CODE (the event) was no
exception. After two and a half years, we finally decided to call it
quits and take a break from throwing parties. It's more than a full
time job, and while rewarding, the pay is non-existent.
However, :CODE was very successful, culminating with a 2003 SF Examiner
Editor's "Best of the Bay" award for Best Place to See
an Electronic Duo Score 'My Dinner with Andre'. Besides that,
we've been mentioned multiple times in the San Francisco Examiner:
January, 2003: here
(scroll down and look for "fresh code"), and here!
Just to see the scale of what we did at :CODE, take a look at the past event listing.
Over 270 artists, performers, DJs and bands graced the stage at the
DNA Lounge and kicked out some amazing music for us.
I have also guest-lectured (with Amber) on DJing and the electronic
music scene for a 700 person post-graduate class on Musicology
at UCLA (for a class taught by Robert
Fink).
For some more nuts-and-bolts information about me as a DJ (and some
images!), here is my basic blurb/booking
info and my bio (in M$ Word and text)
Please note that all of these recordings were done live at various
parties, clubs or internet radio stations in and around the SF Bay
area. These aren't processed studio recordings... They're raw:
everything you hear here is a live performance with absolutely no
planning or scripting of the sets. I believe that all a DJ needs is a
crate of records, a damn good feel for the crowd and the ability to
tap in to that "energy source" and make people lose their minds. In
the "Your Mother the Monkey" set, you can sometimes hear the crowd
reaction through the microphone and needles!
: Mixes :
There's nothing quite like spinning a set at 10am, before heading in to work!
* meadowBass, recorded live at 6700 feet, at the
rEvolution
campout (4th of July weekend 2005).
Add one (1) part tech-step, one (1) part mountain meadow in the Sierra Nevadas, stir vigorously and place next to a burbling mountain stream. Plug final creation in to 12,000 watts of sound, chill and enjoy.
* unenC0DE , recorded live at the final
:C0DE, August 28th 2003.
This was recorded at the final :C0DE, the event I threw at the DNA lounge for two and a half years... It was a great set at a great party and a wonderful finale to the night.
* ::gearHead; , recorded live at the
Friends and Family campout, 7.31.02
I was finally given the honor of playing at the annual Friends and Family campout, in Willits CA. This weekend long party, in a gorgeous campsite in the mountains, has always been one of my favorite events to go to and to finally be able to perform was nearly a dream come true. This set is a mix of hard breaks and electro, played with extra crossfader slamming and with additional spooky bits... 24 tracks that the whole family will enjoy! Well, maybe not the *whole* family... At the very least the Angry Teenager will love it! >8^) News flash: track listing coming soon! ...return to the top!
* spookytek, recorded live at the DNA lounge on 02.27.03
Ah, techno... I ended up being booked for three techno gigs in two weeks, and given that I hadn't played a full-on techno set for a couple of years my concerns were many. However, it turns out that these concerns weren't warranted. I love my techno records, and had a blast playing this set. It turned out great! ...return to the top!
* electr0sol, recorded live at the DNA lounge on 10.12.01
electr0sol is flavored with a darker, faster electro. It sometimes has a light character, but the nutty aftertaste is divine! Included free of charge are a few techno and sythny retro pieces. I am *especially* fond of the little filter thingie I do at 22 mins in to the mix (halfway through track 11)... >8^) I tend to wander all over the place when I spin techno and electro, but I made an honest effort to stick with one main style. The levels aren't perfect (it's live!), and there are a couple of loose mixes. Damn the torpedoes, and full speed ahead! I was having too much fun to really care. 8^) Plus, you get a whopping 27 songs in only 74 minutes!!!11 Now, isn't that a deal...? If you call within the next 10 minutes, you could be our next lucky prizewinner!!!11 Track Listing:
...return to the top!
* Electrotek, a mix of electro and techno. Recorded live at liveDJs.com
This is a nice mix of different styles of electro and techno, and it is a very good indiciation of what I currently like to spin.
* Ambient Mafia mash-up. Recorded live at liveDJs.com
This is the middle two hours of a four hour tag team between Amber, Harken, Yarr and myself (we are all part of the Ambient Mafia). This recording starts out with Amber and myself, and the last half of the second track is Harken and myself, with Amber replacing me for the last 20 minutes or so.
* weirdJungle. Recorded live at liveDJs.com.
This set contained even more of my really weird Jungle that I dug out of my record collection. The first part of this set is some pretty dark, abstract headspace music. I gradually got the tempo up, and brought out my harder stuff towards the end.
* Amber vs. Shane: Recorded live at "Your Mother, the Monkey", an event in the Santa Cruz Yoga Center.
This is a free-form set, covering many different genres and moods.
With four turntables, a CD player, an effects box with Amber singing
through a guitar pedal (towards the latter part of the set). This set
is, by far, one of the best that I'd spun up until that point in my DJ
"career". Talk about rocking a chill room to it's knees!
* KZSU Jungle: Recorded live from the radio!
Want to hear the first ever set I had recorded? Heh. This is me after spinning for about 3 months (recorded in april of '99)... Jungle of the tech-steppy sort. A friend of mine recorded this off of the radio and ripped an mp3 for me. Kick ass!
Dub. I love it. I also love this track, and it's the best work I've done so far. I mostly wrote this track with headphones, and that grating synth line has permanently scarred my psyche!
* The Jackal
This is what happens when you date an acid trance DJ: You write acid trance. I rather like acid trance, and making this track was pretty challenging; trance it not like techno at all. It's a completely different song structure (trance songs are more "songs" than techno tracks... techno tends to give you a piece of a song, rather than the whole thing).
And, me being me, the song has a strange "tilt" to it. hehe 8^)
* The Aime is the Earth
Well, I finally figured out how to use the sampler and loop player... Samples are fun. The sampled voice plays out in the very beginning in the proper word order. As the song progresses, I start swapping around the order of the sentence and get some rather interesting results. My hi-hats are neat!
I really like the synth line, too. It's amazing what noises one can squeeze out of their computer.
* Breathe the Whinde
After my friend passed down some knowledge, again for Reason, I wrote this. He was showing me some neat things about the Subtractor, and I decided that our "scratchpad" of noises needed to be used. So, I added some drums and voila! Yum.
* Chigger, my first ever electronic music track (awww!)
I borrowed a friend's copy of Reason, and while learning it this song came out. It's techno with some electro hooks in it. Chigger is not in it's final form, but I like it so much I decided to put it up for your enjoyment. Up until using Reason, I had only played with "real" instruments (tuba, guitar, bass, piano, etc). Needless to say, I am both very pleased and surprised with the ease of which I learned it and how good my first track came out.
: Fin : First off, congratulations for reading down this far! If you liked what you hear, and would be interested in booking me, or you would just like to chat about music (or anything) please contact me (Shane) at the following email address: incomplete . at . gmail dot com You can also check out my DJ info page for more (yep, you guessed it) info! |