by Blogbot
This Thursday, December 18th on SuicideGirls Radio, Moxi Suicide and special guest co-host Charmaine Suicide will be joined by two legends of the Los Angeles music scene: Five-time Grammy nominated music supervisor and noted KCRW DJ Gary Calamar, who’s just release his debut solo EP “You Are What You listen To” and internationally renowned music maker and party promoter Gary Richards a.k.a. Destructo, who also has a new EP out entitled “West Coast.”
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About Gary Calemar
Five-time Grammy nominated music supervisor and noted KCRW DJ Gary Calamar released his debut EP “You Are What You listen To” on October 14 via Atlantic Records. It’s a collection of gloriously catchy, sparkly rock & roll songs, filled with abundant wit and melody. Drawing inspiration from his rock heroes, his tunes alternately crunch as well as caress. Produced by John Would (Fiona Apple), the six songs that compromise the EP jam their way directly into your head.
So how does one go from music industry soldier to simply musician? Well, it’s actually more like an evolution than a career change. Known primarily as a five-time Grammy nominated music supervisor on shows like True Blood, Dexter, Six Feet Under as well as a KCRW DJ, Gary Calamar has always been a songwriter. None other than Iggy Pop recorded his tune “Let’s Boot and Rally” and encouraged him to keep churning out the songs. So after years of being a closeted songwriter with no time to record, up stepped Atlantic Records who heard a few demo tracks and asked to put the record out. And here we are, “You Are What You Listen To.”
Gary’s humble beginnings in the music business began behind the counter at LA’s finest record stores: Licorice Pizza (RIP), Moby Disc (RIP) and Rhino (RIP). He managed the criminally underrated LA band, The Balancing Act, who released three indie classics on IRS Records. From there he was offered a job at one of the world’s most influential radio stations, KCRW. He also co-authored the book Record Store Days: From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again. But all the while he’s been entertaining his inner circle of music pals with his own compositions — glorious bursts of rock and roll mischief and majesty.
For more information visit GaryCalamar.com/.
About Gary Richards a.k.a. Destructo
“I think we’ve got something special. I’m so excited for this record and this sound we’re creating,” stresses Destructo passionately when discussing the journey that led to the making of the “West Coast” EP, his six-track release for Insomniac Records/Interscope that brings together the after-hours energy of dance music with the streetwise wordplay of contemporary hip-hop hit-makers including Ty Dolla $ign, YG and Problem. The collection also boasts a trio of genuine rap legends Too $hort, Warren G and Kurupt on this genre-smashing EP that announces a bold new direction for the producer/DJ.
After finding success with the “Technology” EP and the “Higher” EP, Destructo (a.k.a. Southern California-based promoter Gary Richards, famous for the influential HARD events around the globe) was ready to do something dramatic and inspired, setting himself apart from the sea of established and emerging producers on the dance music scene.
“I wanted to make music that no one else was really doing. I started really digging into new music on the internet and started hearing these tracks that were like house, but with heavy hip-hop samples from Biggie and Tupac mixed in,” Destructo explains of the genesis of his “G-House 2.0” sound.
“Originally, I wasn’t even thinking of making tracks, but for tracks to play in cool DJ sets that blended the two sounds. The only problem was that I couldn’t find enough of those tracks to make a full set, so I just thought the next time I went into the studio, I’d try my hand at producing some of my own.”
The results of that first studio session — along with Australian producer Wax Motif who joins Destructo on the entire EP as co-writer and co-producer — was the track “West Coast.” It found Destructo incorporating samples from Dr. Dre’s “The Next Episode” over a driving house beat to spin during DJ sets.
Already eyeing even more marquee rappers to create with on his forthcoming debut album, Destructo sees his music-making career as a direct reflection of the eclectic and inspired mix he always strives to attain at his HARD parties, where artists ranging from Flosstradamus to DJ Mustard to Jack U to Pusha T play to a panoramic audience that can connect to all of it.
“In production and throwing events, it all comes from my gut. I just go with what I like. I’ve always loved hip-hop, rock, dance music, I’ve loved it all. Mixing hip-hop with dance music is like peanut butter and jelly. It just feels like we’re really hitting on something good and I can’t wait to see how far we can take it.”
For more information on Destructo, visit his Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Soundcloud pages.
