http://www.spacedjz.com
BOGRAPHIE
The Space DJz are Ben Long and Jamie Bissmire. As youngsters, the two friends were into graffiti, skateboarding, BMXes, and breakdancing to early hip hop and electro. This B Boy attitude and the discovery of Detroit techno eventually inspired them to enter the studio and experiment with breakbeats and techno. Before coming together to form the Space DJz, Jamie founded the excellent dub techno outfit "Bandulu" along with John O'Connell and Lucien Thomson.
The friends started making music together seven years ago and since then their sound has mutated into a fusion of no holds barred techno, electro, hip hop and breakbeats. The production equipment they use includes a combination of digital and analogue based synths as well as the usual ingredients of techno — Roland 808, 909 and various samplers. Their live extravaganza sees them manipulating four turntables, two mixers and a 909 drum machine with dynamic turntable skills which result in an aural explosion of beats, scratching and turbo funk. They describe their style as "Fatt, Funky, Far out and Full of Flavour." With their unique performance they have travelled the globe including all over west and eastern Europe, Japan, Australia and Canada.
Their early releases were on the now highly collectable Infonet Records with "The Space DJz EP" in 1993. Aside from Soma they have produced material for "Reload", "Ongaku" and "NovaMute". Individually they have also had very successful production careers. Ben has his own cutting edge label "Potential" and Jamie also has his own highly sought after label "Ground". Both of these labels were set up to serve as an outlet for their solo material but they have featured the remix talents of some of techno's finest producers. Potential has hosted reworks from The Advent, Chris McCormick, Oliver Ho, Indigo Kennedy, Gaetek, Umek and Ade Fenton while "Ground" has shown the talents of Chris McCormick and Claude Young.
Making their Soma debut in 1996, the Space DJz graced our presence with their fine blend of blazing techno, firing beats and hot hiphop breaks. Their single "Lights" was known to obliterate dancefloors all over. More recently the guys have returned to Soma to release their second single. The chaotic charm of "Solaris" received great reactions from DJ's. Their debut album "On Patrol" is a finely crafted hybrid of different styles which manages to encompass the varied influences and backgrounds of the individuals behind it. There is no evidence of over indulgence and a perfect harmony is created with a good balance of dancefloor stormers and experimental tracks. Of their relationship with Soma the boys say "Soma means quality dance music from across the board."
The boys have recently been on tour of the UK and Europe with their live show and they predict that the Space DJz will "go to new sonic heights never reached by mortal man before."
