DJ SHAKEY
Back in the day, before Hip Hop records even existed, DJ’s glued Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” 45 to old Barry Manilow albums so they could scratch them easier and DJ Shakey was in the basement watching it all go down. She was born in New York City on the same block as the infamous Save the Robots after-hours club, which she spent a good deal of time in years later. In high school she played the bass drum in the marching band, a sign of things to come, her nickname was “Boom Boom”.
Shakey began seriously collecting vinyl when she was a bartender at the legendary Milky Way and Payday hip hop clubs, witnessing and being influenced by the “Golden Era” acts that performed there like De La Soul, Ultramagnetic MC’s, Jungle Brothers, and DJ’s like Red Alert, Dr. Dre (Yo! MTV Raps), and LiL Louis Vega. She currently owns over 10,000 vinyl records and has been a full-time DJ in the NY / Metro area for 17 years.
She continues to nurture vinyl culture by throwing “Shakey’s Record Fair”, the only 7” fair in NYC. In addition,10 years ago she started NY’s largest electronic music showcase “The Warper Party” and she continues to explore modern technology, performance concepts, and synthesized sounds. She brings these two worlds together with her productions for Empire Breaks.
Shakey has releases on Cotopaxi Music, Boogie Boutique, and Party Time Society. She has performed at Burning Man for 14 years and is part of the Plug 4 Hip Hop culture camp, BMIR radio Dj team, and the Balloon Chain crew. She taught djing at Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls for 5 years and currently teaches Ableton Live audio production at the Lower East Side Girls Club.
DJ Shakey at: Mixcloud | Soundcloud | Instagram | Facebook | Facebook Artist Page | Twitter | Youtube
ILLEXXANDRA
Brooklyn-based DJ/producer ILLEXXANDRA (http://illexxandra.com) brings a consistently fun party vibe, drawing from the worlds of funk, UK future sound, global bass, electro swing, and classic club culture. Her sets draw you in with innocent joy, smack you around with raw ferocity, and then set you down gently with deep musical knowledge. She’ll kill it with an hour of bangers, or take you on a five-hour journey into sound.
ILLEXXANDRA has played all over the world, from the East Coast’s best underground parties (Thunder Gumbo, House of Yes, Gemini & Scorpio, BangOn, Winkel & Balktick, Bangarang, No Man’s Land, the JunXion), to major international venues (including The Room in Tokyo; Sound Channel and Union in Osaka; the Button Factory in Dublin; Club Love, Space Ibiza NY, Pacha, the Ace Hotel, Verboten, Glasslands, Slake, and APT in NYC; the Rock & Roll Hotel and Tropicalia in DC; the Parish and the Enchanted Forest in Austin; 1015 Folsom, DNA Lounge, the Elbo Room, and Public Works in San Francisco; King King, The Echo, and El Cid in LA; the Freakeasy in Chicago; the Coronet Theatre, the Dogstar, Shelter, and the Club Popozuda afterparty for Notting Hill Carnival in London among many others), and festivals (SXSW, Gathering of the Vibes, Mysteryland, Long Beach Funk Festival, Return to Roots, and the ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica). She has DJ’d in the NYC Dance Parade, Coney Island Mermaid Parade, and NYC Halloween Parade.
She has released tracks and remixes for Party Time Society, Rot10 Muzik, Peligrosa, Boogie Boutique, Cast-A-Blast Records/Mishkin, MC Zulu, Feral aka MC Kinky, Jon Kwest, Kuenta i Tambu, Gato Preto, DJ Tack & DJ Tamalero, and Jaymay, and numerous cult-classic bootlegs. Her tracks were named best track of 2011 by TropicalBass.com, one of 2011’s Most Underrated Music by Marcus Dowling, and featured on BBC Radio 1. She has released mixtapes with Afropop Worldwide, Brooklyn Radio, Space Cowboys RIPEcast, the Armory Podcast, Brousse FM, Homoground, and RVA Magazine.
ILLEXXANDRA has shared stages (played immediately alongside, before, or after) with artists as diverse as Big Freedia, An-ten-nae, Fort Knox Five, MC Zulu, Lyrics Born, J Boogie, Ali B, Kraddy, Hank Shocklee, DJ Zinc, Deekline, DJ Icey, ill.Gates, Feral / MC Kinky, Love & Light, Stanton Warriors, DJ Dan, Diva Danielle, Syd Gris, Thomas Blondet, Joro Boro, DJ Orion, Zuzuka Poderosa, Sonido Martines, Heyoka, Marty Party, Quantic, Brooklyn Shanti, DJ Ageishi, Hellfire Machina, Zach Moore, QDUP, Motion Potion, Jubilee, DJ Manny, and Ursula 1000.
She has played all over the Burning Man festival, including the coliseum at Root Society, Funky Town, Dustfish, Basshenge, PEX, Kostume Kult, Disorient, Nexus, Burners Without Borders, BMIR, Dirty Beetles/Black 22s, Black Rock Boutique, Tsunami Bass Experience, Pedal Bump, and Brulee, as well as the arts cars the Janky Barge, Icarus, the Bump Bed, A Cavallo, the Dodo, and the Nautilus. She has played prominent sets at regional Burning Man-related events including Transformus, PEX Summer Festival, Playa del Fuego, Frostburn, Freeform Festival, Decompression in NYC/Chicago/London, and Figment NYC and DC.
ILLEXXANDRA plays for LGBTQ advocacy events, most recently at the Southern Comfort Conference in Florida, for the IHI Therapy Center Masquerade Ball Fundraiser, and for the Stonewall Community Development Corporation which facilitates housing for LGBTQ seniors. She plays for women’s events, including Pussypower in Brooklyn, Hot Rabbit in Manhattan, and the Athena Collective. She plays for sex-positive events such as Wonderland NYC, and as a resident DJ for Chemistry NYC. She teaches music production at the Lower Eastside Girls Club, and coaches bands at the Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls.
ILLEXXANDRA is a resident DJ at Vitamin B, New York’s longest running regular breakbeat party, and at Tropic of Bass in Washington, DC. She plays regularly at the Heath at the McKittrick Hotel with the all-star Heathens band. She is also a resident of the infamous and long-running Rubulad party, an enthusiastic co-conspirator with the Party Liberation Front (PLF) in Richmond, VA, a core DJ of the Mischief DC crew, and member of the Plug 4 camp at Burning Man.
Illexxandra at: Mixcloud | Soundcloud | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter