Alain Macklovitch aka DJ A-Trak was 13 when he scratched his first record. The year was 1995, the turntable was his father’s, and the mixer… well, he didn’t have a mixer yet. But that problem was remedied soon enough, when he used his freshly earned Bar Mitzvah money to buy himself a used Technics 1200 turntable and, you guessed it, a mixer. In the months that followed, while the other kids were busy playing sports and watching Full House, he spent most of his after-school time locked up in his basement, practicing, listening to Pete Rock, DJ Premier and Jazzy Jeff records, studying videotapes and showing his new scratches to his big brother Dave.
"When I was 13 I took my bar mitzvah money and bought myself some turntables and a mixer. I practiced for about 18 hours a day. Then I came out of my basement, packed my lunch and won a bunch of world championships. Joy! I formed a DJ crew called the Allies with Craze and friends. We toured the world for a while... I guess I've been touring for the last 11 years. Time flies.
In the late 90's my brother and I ran an indie hip hop label called Audio Research. Most of you now know my brother as the mustachioed half of Chromeo. But I digress. In 2004 Kanye West hired me as his official tour DJ and I've worked closely with him ever since, both on stage and off. Then last year Nick Catchdubs and I founded a new record label: Fool's Gold, dedicated to bringing you the crème de la crop in club music. I also produced a bunch of tracks for Kid Sister and did a string of remixes for various gentlefolk. Expect some more A-Trak releases this year and I foresee an album in ze pipeline. Now let's boogie woogie."
All of A-Trak’s worldwide advenctures have been captured on video and are compiled on his DVD entitled Sunglasses Is A Must, to be released in early 2006. He is also in the midst of recording his first album, which will showcase his distinctive style of scratch-based and sample-heavy production as well as cameos from some of his favorite emcees, from the Dipset to MF Doom. A-Trak is one of the only DJs to truly reconcile technical experimentation with cold getting dumb on the dancefloor. And by all accounts, the best has yet to come.
Contact
North America bookings:
Brad Owen at The Windish Agency
brad@windishagency.com
Europe bookings:
Belinda Law at Elastic Artists
belinda@elasticartists.net
Management: Oli Isaacs
oli@thisismusicltd.com
Press: Kathryn Frazier at Biz3 Publicity
kathryn@biz3.net
Website:
http://www.myspace.com/djatrak
http://www.djatrak.com
http://www.foolsgoldrecs.com/blog/
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