gotta start somewhere

O K here we go. I don't know how long I,ll keep this up . I normaly lose interest in this kind of thing after a while but "hey" who know's I might really get into it?
So do you like electronic experimental dance music? I love it. I,m in a band called Lumukanda. Me and my mate Dan have released 3 C D under this name. Go see if you can find some of our music on the web. For sure some little bastard will be givin it away.
I have been D Jing since 1985. My First ever payed gig was @ my local roller skating rink (Skate-way Mt Gavatt). It was the only unlicensed venue in Brisbane @ that time with 1200's and I knew @ an early stage of my d jing "career" that I should get to know them well. Then in 1989 it was confirmed that I knew the 1200's well enough to win the Queensland Heat of the Australian D M C (wikeewikeewik). By the time I was 20 I had played in every nightclub in Brisbane and was a member of a 10 piece Funk/Rock outfit called US and the BEAT.
US and the Beat released one single on the 1990 FM104 Homegrown compilation. I loved this band so much. It was my first step over to the other side, rock and or roll. I played Samples on a Roland S-10 and scratched with 2 turntables and had lots of little percussion toys to play with when I wasn't sampling or scratching. Unfortunately sampling and scratching in a 10 piece funk band @ that time in Brisbane was totally unexceptable (by the masses). No one from overseas had done it yet so.......I,m so glad it's accepted now it took along time but Turntables can be and are excepted as instruments.
I was suffering in Brisbane From Big fish small pond syndrome so I took off to London. I lived there '90 to mid '91 in Tottenham (go spurs).
I worked @ TOWER RECORDS Piccadilly store and was the hip hop and dance 12-inch buyer there. Was it fun? You bet! It was a good time to be in London. To be truthfull I only D Jed a few times while I lived there. The Hard Club, The Brain, The Torture Garden and a couple of no name Squatter type parties. Hey what would Skippy know about dance music?
From London I moved to Arizona. On the way I made a small detour so I could play a couple of sets on the Canary Islands. Lovely.
Nothing much was happening in Arizona. I hung there for a few months then gave up trying to get gigs and just enjoyed the sights. The AZ Desert is beautiful. I loved Sedona. Finally I ran out of money and had to return to Australia.
Now I had a dilemma. After traveling and living in London I did not want to go back to Brisbane. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with that place. I grew up in a southern suburb called Acacia Ridge and went to school in The Valley. Most of my mob are up there scattered between Lismore and Brisso. It's my stompin' ground, my home land, rainbow country and I know I'll end up back up there one day but for now MELBOURNE is the place to be for me.
When I got to Melbourne (end of 91) . I met Daniel Wittenberg and Arthur Arkin. We worked on a project called The Tomorrow People. One four track E P for the then starting Label Viscious Vynal. This music is quite possably the most commercial thing I have ever been involved in. Train-spotters beware it's pretty cheesy. It was a dash for cash. After that little project Arthur went back to Denmark and Daniel and myself started the now legendary LUMUKANDA.
The first Lumukanda Album is called Argalin and was the 3rd release on the now well established PSY-HARMONICS label. Araglin was also picked up by Belgian label Nova Zembla an off shoot to KK record. We then toured Europe. 20 dates, 10 countries in 2 months. That was mid 94. We were the first Aussie techno artist (for lack of a better word) to tour Europe. Yes it was fun and a great learning experience.
After that we came home and started writing our second Album BANTEER. Banteer was only released in Australia on PSY-HARMONICS.
We didn't have a European Label any more because we discovered Nova Zembla were ripping us off so we relied totally on export. Our 3rd Album, THAT WAS ZEN THIS TAO is released on Finnish Label Karelia records. I spent a little time in Helsinki promoting this album. Helsinki in Summer time. The place blew me away and I picked up a severe Sauna habit. Daniel liked it so much he married a Lovely Finnish Lass, bought an apartment and now lives there permanently. On average LUMUKANDA release a new Album every 3 or 4 years so it must be about time for another one? By the way if you're going to check out Finnish electronic music try Exogenic and Surreal Audio as well as Karelia.
D Jing in Melbourne and the bush. I could really carry on here but I,m not. Although I do want you to know this. I played @ every EARTHCORE from the time they began until '97. EVERY EARTHCORE.
Wow full on ,,,,,I,m really startting to carry on a bit aren't I.
O K I,ll give it a rest. The next installment will have to be about my radio station I work for.