BUMPIN' THE NIGHT

Oct 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Chris Gill

It seems apropos that the East Coast Boogiemen played their debut gig at a Halloween party. But the only scary thing about the Washington, D.C.-based funky-house duo of Ken Christensen and Juan Zapata is their terrifying mixing skills. Using a live DJ setup that consists of six turntables, two mixers and several crates of vinyl, the East Coast Boogiemen seamlessly mix together so many tracks that it's hard to tell where any particular record ends and the next begins.

According to Zapata, mental telepathy is the secret to mixing as many as six records at once without creating a horrifying train wreck. “Ken is my best friend,” he says about his partner, whom he's worked with for more than six years. “We have the same taste in music, and we really know how to listen to each other. Sometimes, it's like we're reading each other's mind.”

“You have to think about all of the instruments on a record and the keys that they're playing in,” says Christensen. “By adjusting the EQ on each channel, you can make certain parts stand out and cut out parts that might clash. We might play an old record that people know really well and cut everything out of it except for the midrange to make the vocal stand out. It's like creating a new remix every time we play a set.”

That mixing approach inspired the ECB breakthrough track “Marrying Janie,” which originally featured a sample of Freddie Mercury's vocal and the bass line from Queen's “Another One Bites the Dust.” Unfortunately, Christensen and Zapata couldn't clear the samples, so they had to cut a new version with their own vocalist and play the bass line themselves. The track ended up on Moonshine's Nocturnal Wonderland (2001) CD and was also the first 12-inch single released by Moonshine's vinyl-only RGB imprint.

Since that single's release, Christensen and Zapata have issued several other successful EPs and remixes, including the Upside Ya Head (2002) EP on France's Brique Rouge label, the Scratch 'n' Sniff (2002) EP on Belgium's Aroma label and a remix of Neon Lights' “Gumbo.” The duo is currently working on a full-length artist album, merging their Mac- and PC-based home studios into a single workplace filled with electric and bass guitars, acoustic drums and classic synths.

The duo prefers to combine old and new technology to create their distinctive brand of deep, funky house. “House music uses a lot of classic sounds, but you can use new technology to take it somewhere else,” says Christensen. “It's more important to have a clever concept than a bunch of parts. When you keep adding tracks, you limit the spectrum each sound can occupy if you want to hear each instrument clearly. Simple is better when you want to make everything sound huge. To keep things interesting, I'll create percussion parts from odd sounds I've recorded from TV with my VCR or from female vocals that I've cut up severely.”

Fortunately, sounds are the only things that get mutilated in the East Coast Boogiemen's lab. So don't be alarmed if you hear shrieks from the dancefloor at one of their gigs: It's just some house-music freaks losing their minds to the mix.

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