Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community -- a lot more than just musicians, but of course they're in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link.
Last year, at the Houston Press Music Awards Afterparty at Jet Lounge, I had the pleasure to meet DJ Remix and see him in action for the first time. In the recap of the night, I wrote the following:
Mister Remix is a maniac. [His] style is Girl Talk-ish, mixing at warp speed, but smooth enough to grind to. He can drop Bone Thugz's "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" after "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five, and you will just nod your head in approval. He keeps it street, except when he's keeping it reggae or soul. He earned major points for the Z-Ro and Slim Thug tribute, inciting some girl-on-girl action in front of the stage.
We catch up with Remix for this edition of the Rocks Off 100.
Who? "My name is Remix" says the 29-year-old music junkie. "I started DJing around 1996 when I was in high school, but I was really just into the whole DMC / battle djing / turntablism thing back then. Eventually I got into doing house parties, then moved on to doing local HipHop shows, joined a rap group or two, and eventually just struck out on my own and did parties, events, exhibitions, and clubs."
"I started djing because my older sister Judith got me into music. Growing up, she'd have me listening to Erasure, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, and Depeche Mode. Then she got me into bands like Ministry, Primus, then she'd turn around and let me listen to NWA, Beastie Boys, De La Soul, then turned into me listening to Electronica like Future Sound Of London, 808 State, Orbital. When she started getting me hooked into House and Trance, I figured it was about time I started looking at where she was getting all this music.
"When I was like 11, she'd take me out like every weekend to Soundwaves, Cactus Records, Record Rack (rest in peace!) and a few other spots. Then she'd bring home tapes from guys like Michael DeGrace from Some, and I needed to figure out what the hell they were doing. In high school, I found another dude who was into music, and we started hanging out and talking about more Hip-Hop, and both talked about wanting to learn how to DJ, so we'd go to Guitar Center every weekend and just stay there all day long and learn how to scratch and DJ. Then our school gave us access to the internet, and we discovered DMC battles and turntablism, and that's what we went after, to be like guys like Q-Bert and Shortkut and Craze. I'm proud to say I'm a part of the generation of kids who were the first to get access to the internet. And I used it to look up DJs. Is that weird?"
Home Base: "Houston, TX born and raised, but I get out of town as much as I possibly can. I do a lot of private events and random guest spots, but for now, I'm at Winston's on Washington (5111 Washington Ave) every Saturday night. The rest of the week I'm bouncing around either playing parties with friends, covering gigs for cats, or crashing a party. I guess you can say I mostly exist on the internet. So catch me there."
Why do you stay in Houston? "The weather. No, the freeway systems. No no, the very progressive political scene. Oh who am I kidding, all of the above! No, my mom and dad are here. I'm a Houstonian all day. I love Houston. I get tired of it here and there, but Houston is home. One day though, I'll have to leave. But not today. Maybe next year when I'm 30, I'll be "that guy from Texas" in L.A., but not today."
War Story: "I'm a peaceful dude. I don't have any war stories... Ok, I got a lot, I admit. I just thought about three different stories and thought "Oooh, noooooo, I can't say that! No no no..." I will say this, I was once called a "motherf*cker" by Ice T. How cool is that?!?!"
Best Show Ever:
I got a lot of memorable ones that I've attended, like The Police a couple of years ago with Elvis Costello in the Woodlands, or catching Reverend Horton Heat in D.C., but I think the one I was the most surprised with was at SXSW two tears ago, when I helped my friends over at RappersIKnow.com put on their show, and we had Just Blaze headline, out nowhere Talib Kweli comes out and performs, Freeway, Pharaoh Monch, Evidence showed up to hang out, Jake One was in the crowd hanging out, Jean Grae performed, and then at the end, Just Blaze and The Alchemist had a soundclash battle on stage. I was a total HipHop fan boy that night. And the greatest thing was that it was a free show, not an official SXSW show, and most of those guys were being paid to be down the street that night, but they came by to hang out and see each other, and it just turned into a memorable night. It got so packed, they wouldn't let Eminem in the venue.
What is the next show/project that your are promoting?
I got a project / party thing in the works wit DJ Cashless, unless he still hates me. (We got into a tiff this week.) Also, myself and DJ Klinch have been talking about starting up a new night, so I'm scouting for a venue for that. Other than that, I'm working on music videos for K-Otix's new album coming out, stuff for a group called Hustle Skwad which is INSANE, and I'm starting a new monthly party with DJ Big Reeks over at Fox Hollow once a month. If not that, then catch me at Winston's Saturday nights, or follow my adventures on the internet.
See who else has joined The Rocks Off 100 this year on the next page.
THE ROCKS OFF 100 2013 ALUMNI
DJ Ill Set, Enemy of Wack Tracks
Shane Tuttle, Updog Owner and Album-Cover Designer
Electric Attitude, Renegades of Funk
Sama'an Ashrawi, Trill Gladiator
Recon Naissance, A Rap While Matt's Guitar Gently Weeps
DJ Klinch Asks, "Can You Dig It?"
Jose "Chapy" Luna, Percussionist Con Corazón
Love Dominique, Wicked Heart R&B Chanteuse
Chris Gerhardt, Mastermind of Giant Battle Monster
The Jobe Wilson Band, the Boys From Chambers County
Kimberly M'Carver, Missouri City's Nightingale
DJ Panchitron, Stirring the Cumbia/Moombahton Melting Pot
D.R.I's Kurt Brecht, Thrash Zone Supervisor
Sloan Robley, The Last Houstonian Banshee
Jack Saunders, Dealer of Grit & Jangle
Richard Ramirez, Noise God and Black Leather Jesus
Mike Meegz, Scoremore's Houston Lieutenant
Jacqui Sutton, Houston's "Jazzgrass Lady"
Robin Kirby, Silk and Sandpaper Songwriter
Billy Dorsey, Grammy-Winning MARATHON Runner
David DeLaGarza, Don of Tejano Stars La Mafia
Jason Puffer, Your Psychedelic Sex Panther
Tobin Harvell, Fitzgerald's Unflappable Floor Manager
Walter Suhr, the Straw That Stirs Mango Punch!
Tony Garza, La Orquesta Salmerum Founder
OG Ron C, Chopstar King of the Purple Dome
Football, etc., Giving Emo Back Its Good Name
Angela Jae, Renaissance Artist
Shellee Coley, Voice of the Northern Woods
Blaggards, Houston's St. Paddy's Day House Band
DJ Meshak, Hongree Records' Sound Selecter
K-Rino, South Park Coalition's Southside Maven
DJ Candlestick, One Niceguy and a Very Busy DJ
Danielle Renee, Only Beast's Destroyer of Walls
Felipe Galvan of Los Skarnales
Kristine Mills, Houston's Brassiest Voice
Brian Davis, Punk Drummer, Horror Composer
Elroy Boogie, Top-Notch Turntablist
Alyssa Rubich, Angel of Instability
Alphonso "Fonz" Lovelace, Righteous Drummer
Frank Zweback, Funkmaster General
OG Bobby Trill, Bombon Beatmaker
Beau Beasley, Organist for the End of Time
Dwight Taylor Lee, the Wandering Bufalero
Coline Creuzot, Soulful Pop/R&B Singer
Cristina Acuna, Cactus Music's Twitter Fingers
Clint Broussard, Blues In Hi-Fi Man Now Back On FM
Nortnii Rose, Houston Ska's Greatest Hope
Ramblin' Chase Hamblin, the Man Who Will Be Paid
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