Ken Christensen, well known as part of the ecb duo, opened for Common in Chicago this January. New City Chicago Interview below!
for more on Ken check out: http://aptentertainment.com/html/ken.htm
Spin Control
For Christensen’s Sake
Jenn Danko
Ken Christensen’s recent move to Chicago is garnering him a diverse
share of gigs, as the D.C. native spun an opening set for Common
several weeks ago at the House of Blues.
“Chicago seems to
churn out talent in all realms,” he says, working from his studio in
Uptown. “[There is] something I have always admired about this city and
I am happy to be a part of it now.”
Not that Christensen
needed much boost. He began his DJ career in 1987, thanks to a pair of
turntables he inherited from a cousin in New Jersey. By 1996 he was
DJing six-deck sets with Juan Zapata; the duo’s ten-year partnership as
East Coast Boogiemen would go on to shape the underground club vibe of
D.C. in the late nineties and early two-thousands.
“The sets sound crazy
with all the layering and we could flip through records much faster
creating a lot more energy on the dance floor,” he says. “We also did
tricks, turntablism, doubling up records, flares, scratching up all
that jazz—we had a nice little show.”
Despite a string of
successful residencies—including a monthly at the seminal Tracks
Nightclub in D.C.—splitting time in the studio proved harder than
playing. Christensen churned out tracks under the ECB moniker, with
occasional collaborations from Zapata. By 2006, ECB called it quits,
but Christensen continued his groove. Shunning genre-defining labels,
his production style runs the gamut of rock, R&B and house.
“I am predominately
known for house music of course, and I do not have a style. I think
those who classify themselves as funky house DJ or jazzy house DJ would
probably bore the shit out of a crowd,” he says.
Christensen keeps
tracks equally engaging on his Alphabet label, a European label
distributed by the Belgium-renowned N.E.W.S. Distribution. He and
partner Aaron Sparks operate both the label and a forthcoming online
house-music boutique.
In his own production,
Christensen has no creative limits. “I am doing a mid-tempo jazzy break
track with Vancouver’s Ingrid Hakanson on vocals…it’s got a ‘Bugz in
the Attic’ sort of feel to it,” he says. “I also did a hip-house track
with her called ‘No Fries with My Shake,’ [which is] still in the
works.”
What works for him?
Live sets at intimate venues. “I think the perfect situation is when
you have a big system in a club that holds 300 people or less,” he
says.
Link to Interview: http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/7390.html
