Turbotic

When I was about 15, 16, me and my friends were more into indy, punk, and straight-edge. We used to make bands and organize shows at different park shelters, halls, college basements, wherever we could. Looking back, even though the cultures were so different, there were many parallels that could be drawn. As far as DJing, I fell in love with the music in 94, so i picked up a cheap beat-box, an effects processor, and a 4 track. Adonis Childs, Jaime Kallend, and a couple people around town showed me how to use everything and start making tracks. I got wrapped up in the electronic music culture and there was all this new stuff coming out and old stuff I wanted, but it was mostly available only on vinyl. I started picking up wax from different places and Gramaphone. I was gonna need a turntable so I picked up a shitty second hand Technics with a wheel pitch adjust. That got the ball rolling and soon I picked up another shitty Technic (with a knob adjust) and a cheap Radio Shack mixer. This was early 95. Trust me, you learn how to mix on shitty equipment, you can mix anything. Some of my friends (Bryan Balli, Jack Larson) were also learning how to DJ so we kept learning off each other. This is when we started the True Love Family Unit. There was always lots of college and townie parties going on in my town so it was easy to play out once we knew how to keep a beat. Things grew into parties and clubs. Balli's family owned a restaurant with a closed-down bar in the basement so we would set up decks, invite friends, drink massive amounts of beer, and eat tortilla chips until the sun came up. That ended when his uncle found footprints on the bar from dancing the night before. Having opportunities to play either with friends or new people definitely keeps things fresh and fun. You start to meet people that share that same enthusiasm. Things started to blow up in 99 when we threw Divine at a roller rink in DeKalb. We had a paid attendance of about 1,300 people. Since then we threw many, many parties and clubs. I'll let the flyer archive tell those stories. Jack moved to Colorado, while Balli and I moved to Chicago. Adonis had already been living up there for some time. This gave us an incredible opportunity to meet all kinds of people involved in the scene. Rave promoters came and went, and this was a tough time for parties. Police were cracking down and the media found new fodder for its readers: the evil Rave scene. Since then parties have been more or less "forced back underground" underneath the radar. Even though it is still possible to have legitimate raves, the scene has turned more into intimate loft venues, back-door alley way entrances, VIP lists, and word-of-mouth.

Playing live is what I feed off of. Here are some major events, club nights and parties (a very) incomplete) list: We started on Divine because this was our first "major" rave breakthrough that we did on our own, although we did many smaller parties and collaborated on others before this. 1999 Jan 09 1999 / Divine / DeKalb / Hollywood Connection rollerrink (now a Borders Bookstore) / Craig Alexander, Halo, Kid Clone, Linus, Joe Finn, John Krylon, Bryan Balli, Jack Larson May 14 1999 / True Family Friday / Cafe near Harvey Expo (shut down early due to owner's of cafe not renewing license) / Trax, Turbotic, Bryan Balli, Kevin McSwain, Acidman, DJ Kolor, John Krylon, Tiba, Al Jackson Jul 03 1999 / Intervention / Chicago / Route 66 Roller rink, on 66th St. and Martin Luther King Drive / Craig Alexander, Davey Dave, Linus, E-Tones, Bryan Balli, Dave Gandy, Ryan Tinsley, Adonis Childs, Napalm, Analogic, Spencer, Turbotic Dec xx 1999 Nick of Time / Chicago / Harvey Expo / Paul Johnson, Translucent, Turbotic, Bryan Balli 2000 Jan 08 2000 / Divine 2 - The Digital Orgasm (busted, beginning of Anti-rave legislation) / Chicago / Route 66 Roller rink / Robbie Hardkiss, Bernard Badie, Mike Dearborn, RP Smack, Baby Pop, Justin Long, Nosmo, Robert Armani, Geoffrey, Ms Bio Booster, Link, Adonis Childs, Bryan Balli, Turbotic, Tiba, Jack Larson, Atari, DJ Mic, Jun xx 2000 / Pride (first rave thrown inside Chicago city limits since ban) / Chicago / Rainbo Rollerrink, 1/2 block north of corner of Clark and Lawrence (torn down in 2003 to make way for condo's) / Barbara Tucker, Terry Hunter, Chris Fortier, Alexi Delano, Mark Grant, Traxx, Jevon Jackson, Justin Long, Silver, Turbotic, Adonis Childs, RP Smack, Freddie Bain Aug 15 2000 / Rapture Tuesday / Chicago / Rapture / Angel Alanis (surprise guest appearance), Turbotic, Bryan Balli, Matt Lawton, Adonis Childs, Atari, DJ Kolor, HAL 9000 Aug 27 2000 / Free For All / Rockford / free outdoor park (day party afterhours for Tetsuo 303) / Trax (surprise guest appearance), Paul Norman, Ms. Bio-booster, Joe Finn, Bryan Balli, Adonis Childs, Turbotic, Jes One, Mike Hawk, Atari, Fern Alvarado, Michael James (DJ Mic), Delphi, Drama, Deadly Sin, Chyna, Bumblebee, Matt Lawton Oct 13 2000 / Just House / Chicago / Wicker Park / DJ Pap, Paul Johnson (surprise guest appearance), Delphi, Bernard Badie, Bryan Balli, Michael James, Atari, Alex Zelenka, twins Tony and Tim 2001 Jan 20 2001 / Move / DeKalb / Eduardo's / Jes One, DJ Mic, Bryan Balli, Adonis Childs, Turbotic Mar 03 2001 / Digital Orgasm, the 3rd Coming / Chicago / Route 66 Roller rink / Robert Armani, Paul Johnson (surprise guest appearance), RP Smack, AC Adapter (Adonis Childs), Fern Alvarado, Nosmo, Jes One, Bryan Balli, Turbotic, HAL 9000, Atari, Ryan Tinsley, Chyna, Matt Lawton, Silver, Dimitri Nocturnal Spring 2001 / Begining of Club Eden Wednesday nights / Chicago / Turbotic, Eric Atwood, Gumby, DJ Drama Aug 29 2001 / True Family Unit CD Release Party / DeKalb / Otto's / Adonis Childs, Bryan Balli, Turbotic Sep 15 2001 / DJ Turbotic / DeKalb / Amnesia's / Turbotic, Bryan Balli, Eric Atwood, Chris Hamilton Oct 13 2001 / Otto's Niteclub Presents... / DeKalb / Otto's / Robert Armani, Jason Middle, Bryan Balli, Adonis Childs, Turbotic, Eric Atwood Oct 15 2001 / Liquid Wednesdays / DeKalb / Otto's / Turbotic, Soulphreak, Ajax, Mike Funkadelic 2002 Jan xx 2002 / Cold Chillen 2 / DeKalb / Greenbriar St. / Bryan Balli, Jason Middle, Turbotic, Phybar Optek, Eric Atwood Jan 26 2002 / Luscious / DeKalb / Otto's / Turbotic, DJ Mic, Bryan Balli (start of Luscious Thursdays weekly event) Apr 09 2002 / 19th & Morgan Record Release / DeKalb / The House / 19th & Morgan, Bryan Balli, Turbotic Jun 15 2002 / Big Drag and True Family Unit / DeKalb / Otto's / Big Drag (band), Turbotic, Bryan Balli Jun 28 2002 / Pride 2002 / Chicago / Rainbo Rollerrink / Gene Hunt, DJ Jes, Dajae, 19th & Morgan, Robert Armani, Lester Fitzpatrick, Feedback, Bryan Balli, Adonis Childs, Mystic Bill, Turbotic, RP Smack, Mista Mashup, Connor K, Alex Zelenka, Andrew Emil, Darkstar, Epitaph Fall 2002 / Era of the Skateshop Parties / DeKalb / too many damn DJ's to list BillyO, Turbotic, Misteries, K Squared, Alex Zelenka, Jason Michaels, United Crew, Bryan Balli, DJ Release, DJ RISC, Fall 2002 / Era of the Michigan St. loft parties / Chicago / too many damn parties and DJ's to list/ Aug xx 2002 / Switch to Tuesday Nights at Otto's Sep 01 2002 / $5 Underground / Chicago / State St. Loft / Davey Dave, Acidman, Bryan Balli Sep 07 2002 / $5 Underground / Chicago / State St. Loft / Paul Johnson, Stacey Kidd, Bryan Balli, Derek Flaum Dec 07 2002 / Loft Livin' / Rockford / State St. loft / Jes One, Acidman, Bryan Balli, Turbotic, Adonis Childs, Alex Zelenka, BillyO, Misteries, DJ Shy, DJ Release Dec xx 2002 / Chilled Out 3 / DeKalb / Otto's / Justin Long, Slapinfunk, Jason M

MPC2000, 303, distortion pedals, effects, mics, whatever makes nice sounds