The Beat Counselor is an emerging electronic dance music producer/DJ based in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area.  He can currently be found working at Reverb Records at the end of upper Haight Street in San Francisco.

“As a producer, I make electronic dance music. Electronica. Keyboards, synthesizers, computers and stuff. The main thrust of what I make is definitely breakbeat. Breakbeat. I love breakbeats. Big Beat. Chemical. Nu-school. Old-school. I love it all.

“On my first album, ‘There Is No Here’ I use a wide range of tempos and have a large sound pallette. It all works together. It gets pretty techy and experimental but it can get funky too. My productions are largely instrumental --like my DJ sets--and although they're more song based than the average DJ track, they're made to rock the dance floor.”

Four tracks from “There Is No Here” have been pressed up on limited edition vinyl.

“Currently, I’m at the mastering stage of my second album, ‘Paradigm Shift.’  Although my breakbeat roots are still apparent, this album is a slight departure from the first, as it veers into dubstep, electrohouse and techno.  It’s less rock, less funk, and way more electronic.”



The Early Years

“I first started making mixed tapes back in 1990. I was buying quite a bit of music for a kid.  I would take the train up into Berkeley and shop Telegraph Avenue way before I could drive.  I would make mix-tape compilations of r&b, hip-hop and later on, rock for my friends.”

"When I started driving, I got hooked on the hi-fi, competition car-stereo scene.  I worked at several custom shops and learned the trade from a guy that built sound systems for Rockford Fosgate and Sony.  Eventually, I was hired to open up Fry's Electronics' first car-stereo installation department.  

“I wasn't one of those basshead guys you could hear coming from a mile away.  I was all about sound quality.  I used to read those car-stereo magazines religiously.  I used to get called out by my teacher because I'd be reading car stereo magazines instead of paying attention and taking notes.  

"Because cars are such an awkward space for acoustics, there are tons of articles in those magazines about the physics of sound, EQing, soundstaging and all that type of stuff.  Physically installing stereos got me into the more tangible things about sound like wiring, electricity and just seeing the effect of how different speakers sounded in different environments.



The Audio Anarchy Years

“At the end of '96 I fell in love with the whole electronic dance music scene and became addicted to vinyl. My first party was a massive at Homebase.  The party was called, 'Tribal Funk.'  DJ Dan spun that night, which is appropriate since he was my DJ god early on.  Back then he was playing breakbeats.  I've listened to his 'Loose Caboose' mix CD hundreds of times, literally.  It changed my life.  But at that first party I didn't know what I was listening to, ya know?  It was all just so new and different and INTENSE!  I just didn't know it was possible for music to make me feel like that.  Those walls of speakers changed my life completely.  1997 was great year.  Those beats got into my soul!

“Eventually I got a job at a record store and learned the art of mixing records from a couple of veteran house jocks. Matt Mau taught me the intricacies of house music, how to program sets and how to blend records with precision.  Bernard Cabigon taught me about music structure and the more improvisational side of DJing.  

“That following year, I finally got my very own set of Technics turntables. The first mix I recorded on those tables, I sent to Mixer magazine and in their millennium issue, they selected me as one of three ‘Next School of DJs.’”  

“I used to call my sound, ‘ProgressiveTechBeat’ which encompassed breakbeat, progressive house, trip-hop, techno and electronica.  After awhile though, I found that a little too limiting for what I was doing.   I was exploring a lot of musical genres and the combinations I came up with couldn't be pigeon-holed all that neatly.”

Later on the name of his monthly mix show, “Audio Anarchy” might have been a better way to describe his eclectic style and his blatant disregard for genre purity.  Currently on episode #27, these mixes have evolved from the original ‘ProgressiveTechBeat’ blueprint to include electro house, dubstep, minimal, trance, chill, drum ‘n bass and his own original productions.

Having followed dance music as a whole since 1997, he has cultivated an intimate understanding of the various genres of electronic dance music.  “I love them all and can often find a thread of commonality that runs through them.”  His DJ mixes reflect an open-mindedness that has lead to a breaking down and a fusing of genres.

"But lately I've been moved to focus my energy into the more techy side of nu-skool breakbeats fused with breakbeat influenced dubstep.  Dubstep has been exploring that dark vibe that breakbeat hasn't really delved into much since 1997.  It's inspiring to hear.  Also, I've noticed that breakbeat gives me the most freedom when I dance.  The tempo and vibe just let me get that much more funky when I'm gettin' down.  I think I want to chase that feeling."

 “The proper sound of the underground…layers beats like a master craftsman…
would rock even the Fifth Annual Convention of Lead-Footed Zombies. Fierce.”

          -URB Magazine

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