http://www.star-tv.com/vault/bio.asp?artist=624 eye - 11.08.01
The DJs may get the bodies movin', but shaping the sound and style of Toronto club culture requires more than just solid turntable skills. What's needed is a bit of that enigmatic force known as influence, which can come in many different forms. Some say it's all about who's got the money; others believe it's more about street cred -- people who've turned down the big bucks and still make their presence known through their artistic endeavours.
As with June's Best DJ poll, the eye Beat staff once again turned to the dance-music community -- everyone from big-money players to the avant-garde fringe-dwellers -- to help us define the key figures in the Toronto scene: the DJs, promoters, clubs, shops and media outlets that have taken Toronto's club scene from a tight-knit group of electronic enthusiasts to a can't-miss stop on the global DJ circuit. We hereby present Toronto's most powerful party people...
MOVEMENT
As Toronto's premiere jazz and funk collective, the five-man crew of Aki Abe, A Man Called Warwick, John Kong, Dee Jay Nav and Jason Palma began throwing their Movement parties three years ago in the humble confines of the Rivoli, but they've since graduated to the multi-room Roxy Blu. Now a monthly institution, Movement specializes in Afro, Latin, jazz and Brazilian grooves and is synonymous with bringing in quality out-of-towners such as Phil Asher, Russ Dewbury and Kyoto Jazz Massive's Shuya Okino.
And there's no shortage of side activity in the days between events. Kong makes the masses groove at his Do Right! parties. December marks the one-year anniversary of Nav and Palma's Shifting Gears Saturday nights at Una Mas (a club established by Aki), which provide house fans with eclectic sets featuring fewer 4/4 beats and more classic disco and rare groove while still leaning in a nu-jazz and deep house direction. Recently, Nav and Palma have set up shop as co-owners of Play de Record, joining Aki (who rules the roost at rare-jazz hotbed Cosmos Records) in the realm of record-store proprietorship. And, as voter Jane Tattersall of Zomba Records notes, "A Man Called Warwick is influential because he has a sandwich named after him at XXX Diner."
Props: "These guys have brought an alternative to the club scene in Toronto. They have brought the focus back to the music, when the whole scene was headed toward a 'big room' type of atmosphere where the music was hardly organic or soulful." (Andrew Allsgood, DJ, Glide)
CHARLES KHABOUTH
How many club owners rise to the top and then go under? The Guvernment's Charles Khabouth has been on the scene for years and he's still on the edge of pop culture. Before turning the Guvernment into the city's most popular dance club -- routinely attracting the biggest superstar DJs in the world -- he first opened the original Stilife club in the late-'80s where Fluid now stands, and this was at a time when there was no definable club district in Toronto. Charles was also among the first to bring in a designer to create a space; at the time, nobody went that far for decor. He was -- and still is -- a very forward-thinking club-owner.
This is a guy who has not let time pass him by. He's out there with everybody. He knows the scene, the fashion and the people. Charles has a knack for finding the right people for his team -- he knows where that edge is. Charles isn't sitting in his office in an ivory tower. He's right in the jungle working every step of the way with his people. On any given weekend he's on the Guvernment front lines with his staff, making sure everything is running smoothly. He is driven to do the job the best he can. He is without a doubt one of the most successful club owners and entrepreneurs in the scene.
DENISE BENSON
Before the word nepotism creeps into your head (Denise is, of course, eye's Extended Play/Beats Per Week columnist), tireless booster DB is the very deserving top vote-getter in our poll, as her extensive, 14-year resumé attests. Her DJ appearances are anchored by her weekly Glide gig at Gypsy Co-op with partner Andrew Allsgood; and homebodies can catch Benson's soulful, organic house grooves on her Mental Chatter radio show on CKLN every Monday from 11am to 2pm. Between time on the turntables, she's just as busy on the keyboard, keeping the city in the know about the local scene with her extensive Beats Per Week page and writing articles for eye and Exclaim! And now you can add "movie star" to the list, with her appearance in the recent Spinsters documentary.
Props: "With her various residencies, Toronto's most-checked radio show and the corner she controls at eye, it's a wonder Denise isn't peddling her influence in a U.K. style and Pete Tonging it all the way to the bank." (Morgan Gerard, Managing Editor, Peace Magazine)
MILK
DJs Felix Bianchini and Gani Shqueir, along with Gani's brother Izzy handling promotions, make up the powerhouse trio behind Milk. Recently celebrating their fourth anniversary, the house-centric Milk parties began as word-of-mouth parties in Kensington Market and peaked with a record-setting 2,400 person Dimitri From Paris show at the Warehouse last year. Aiding in their escalation was their use of minimal but effective black-and-white posters, one of the more unique street-ad campaigns in Toronto. Milk has imported many of the world's top house DJs, including Jazzanova, Howie B, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Kid Loco and even Perry Farrell. Although official Milk happenings have become more sporadic of late, Felix and Gani are still out every Saturday spinning at Fez Batik and hosting their own Internet radio show on 2kool4radio.
MOST WANTED ENTERTAINMENT
This booking agency, run by Ronnie Ferszt, represents some of the top talent in North America and the U.K. -- Cajmere (a.k.a. Green Velvet), Dave Clarke and local stars Freaky Flow and Kenny Glasgow.
Ronnie's booking career took off in the early '90s; at the time he was checking the warehouse scene and recognized that it had the potential to be taken to the next level. So he started throwing the Escape warehouse parties (first Saturday of every month!) with Ben Ferguson and Neil C, bringing in people like Ten City, Roger Sanchez and Armand Van Helden for their first Toronto appearances.
"I found the space that was known as Buzz at 480 Spadina," Ronnie reminisces. "I threw a few parties there, although it wasn't a 'warehouse.' Then I decided it was a good spot to do a regular thing."
Ronnie brought new marketing strategies onto the scene with his flyers; everybody else seemed to be getting by on word of mouth. He was on the street, in front of clubs pumping Buzz and pushing more of a corporate-style advertising with an underground approach to catch people's attention.
At that point, relations with the leaseholder of the space began to fall apart, but Matt C and Gavin Bryan were on board. Ronnie got a lead and found the Industry space. And the rest, as they say, is history.
1GROOVE.COM
1groove.com is where dance music and the Internet meet. This local online radio station -- run by music director Michael Dury -- features a vast array of dance music genres and sub-genres and programming that ranges from profiles on the roots of electronic music to up-to-the-minute new releases in trance, house, drum 'n' bass, ambient and hardcore. Hosting these shows (which are archived for one week) are many of our finest local DJs, such as Dr. Trance and Anabolic Frolic, as well as international names like Coldcut, New York's DJ Nicole and Jon the Dentist. Those lacking Net access can catch 1groove.com's music, interviews, news and info about local and international dance music culture on CIUT 89.5 FM every night from midnight to 6am.
MATT C
Teen DJ prodigy, workaholic and unyielding optimist, Matt C is perhaps best known as a co-owner and general manager of Industry, Toronto's club mecca. Due to money woes and other intangible factors, Industry shut its doors just over a year ago, but Matt remains an active player in the city's club scene. He keeps a foot inside the door of club proprietorship as a co-owner of Queen Street's NASA Dance Pub and holds down numerous residencies in town including Tuesdays at Bamboo, Sundays at It and, until wrapping up for the summer, the outdoor South Beach Sundays at the Docks. These days Matt's busy schedule also includes consulting for Toronto's first International Smirnoff Fashion Awards, working with various charity and environmental groups and producing his own "positive, uplifting" music. His full-length debut album, Family, is due out early in the new year.
GREG CLOW
Greg Clow has been an active participant in the electronic-music scene since "warehouse party" meant sneaking into an abandoned building and using a blowtorch to make music. As a DJ, radio host, journalist and concert promoter, Clow trolls the underground for the newest and most challenging sounds, from ambient noise to IDM. His Feedback Monitor show on CIUT has been going strong since 1996, showcasing local and international acts on the leading edge (or quite over it) that wouldn't otherwise be heard. His appetite for making downright inaccessible records accessible to listeners doesn't come with an elitist dismissal of major acts, either; he'll spin Aphex Twin next to Fridge. For over five years, his company Stained Productions has specialized in bringing fringe acts like David Kristian and Dead Hollywood Stars to town, and it is a hub of the growing laptop scene. This month, Stained hosts a Sunday-night series of intimate gigs at the Now Lounge, including Thomas Jirku and Polmo Polpo. And as a proud Web geek, Clow always keeps his sites www.feedbackmonitor.com and www.stainedproductions.com packed with useful info.
DAVID COOPER
Not one to get caught up in the politics or the la-la land of club life, David Cooper -- one of the most recognizable faces at the Play de Record store -- is well-respected for his keen knowledge of music across the dance spectrum. For veterans and amateurs alike who flock to PDR every Thursday, Dave has always been there to assist vinyl enthusiasts in their quest for the latest beats. With his company Round Table Distribution (formed in 1999), Dave moves Canuck beats to other distributors around the world, including such imprints as Public Transit Recordings, Killer Recordings and Chair Recordings. His show Clear Radio is broadcast on www.beats.to every Wednesday (8-10pm), serving up a collage of label profiles, guest DJs, white-label previews and interviews with his mixed sets.
Props: "Dave is the man with the plan who is striving to give Toronto producers a collective voice rather than have them become cogs in the empires of other distributors. Round Table is a local necessity that does much more for our local headz than unnamed mega-clubs bringing in the flavour-of-the-week superstar DJ." (Greg Smith, promoter, Clonk)
COSMIC SESSIONS
As the spearhead of Benson & Hedges' ubiquitous clubland campaign, Cosmic Sessions, along with the Jet to Ibiza and Big DJ Small Club series, has hosted special local gigs by Boy George (at Fluid), Danny Tenaglia (the Living Room), Seb Fontaine (Plastique Lounge) and Ritchie Hawtin (Madbar). Working in tandem with local promoters and superstar talent, the Cosmic crew offer club-goers a truly unique experience: the chance to see big-time DJs in intimate venues at a low, low price.
DESTINY PRODUCTIONS
With origins dating back to early 1993, Destiny Productions head honchos Ryan Kruger and Erik Sands navigate Canada's longest-running rave-production company. They're responsible for the massive World Electronic Music Festival, which attracts some of the top names in trance, hard house, progressive house and techno (Paul Oakenfold was a recent headliner) as well as upward of 10,000 people from across the continent to the sticks north of Toronto every summer. In the meantime, MBA holder Kruger runs frequent Destiny parties and operates a 40-plus artist booking agency that includes trance faves and WEMF regulars Commander Tom, Chris Liberator and Jon the Dentist. Kruger is also a touring DJ and a producer under the handle OS/2. His collaboration with Chris Liberator, "The Key," concluded the mixed album he put out last year as a part of Topaz's Nokturnal Mix Sessions series.
Props: "Ryan Kruger has been in the scene since day one and continues to run Destiny Productions, Ascension and WEMF as well as being an international recording artist and DJ. He was also an organizer of iDance and an integral part of other community initiatives." (Elisa Landale, Damn Management)
EASTERN BLOC RECORDS
Adelaide West's Eastern Bloc Records is ground zero for the underground sounds of house, jungle, trance, drum 'n' bass, breaks and techno. On a mission to dominate the aforementioned scenes, owner Paul Walker enlists help from employees and top local DJs like Deko-ze, Tim Patrick, Jelo, D-Monic and Vinyl Syndicate's Mystical Influence and Sniper. Since 1997, Eastern Bloc's Fully Loaded Distribution has acted as a launching pad for North America, importing the newest drum 'n' bass releases from the U.K. and spreading them over the continent. Also contributing to the cause is the store's new label, Eastern Bloc Recordings.
Props: "Every DJ needs a day job, and as owner of Eastern Bloc Records, Paul Walker provides Toronto's hottest DJs with the paycheques that allow them to spend their nights spinning vinyl." (Chris Shulgan, Neksis)
ELECTRIC CIRCUS
If club life is a fantasyland and the weekend escape for most, then Electric Circus would be like the teeny bopper's watered-down playschool version (with no booze and cigarette smoke). Sure, a lot of you might think EC is a joke, but you have to give this long-running CITY-TV institution credit for showcasing some great international performers as well as broadcasting local talent all over the world. Now hosted by Nadine Ramkinson -- who started off as a dancer on the show -- EC, for all its inherent cheese factor, has the reach and power to break an artist on an international scale. With all those Le Château-clad dancers lip-synching the words to the flavour of the week and hamming it up for the cameras, EC can be a painful viewing experience, but at the same time you're sort of mesmerized. You could say it's a love-hate kind of thing.
http://googlism.com/who_is/e/electric_circus/
― deathnight, Wednesday, 20 August 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)