soulphonetics

by Sandra A. Treviño | trad. Víctor Flores

Si usted es amante de la música, muy probablemente notó la variedad de colectivos de música para escoger. Sin embargo, en caso de que usted no haya tenido tiempo o inclinación a investigar un poco, estamos aquí para ayudarle. Desde lo ecléctico a los sonidos originales que definen a Chicago, compartiremos información de los colectivos de música que mantienen a esta ciudad sobre sus pies. Con eso en mente, hablamos con Christian Vera para darnos idea de lo que es su colectivo, Soulphonetics, y lo que usted puede esperar en sus eventos.

Vera de 30, originario de Chihuahua, México, creció en el barrio Logan Square de Chicago. Como niño en los 80s creciendo en una familia mexicana, lo primero que él recuerda (y se sonríe) al preguntarle sus influencias musicales, son las fiestas familiares a las que él iba, donde lo forzaban a bailar con todas sus primas, ya que era el único varón disponible.

“Bailábamos de todo… desde Los Rieleros del Norte hasta La Sonora Dinamita. Por supuesto, también se oía Michael Jackson y practicábamos su caminata en la luna, luego algo de breakdancing”, dijo él.

Su amor por la música creció en secundaria, llevándolo eventualmente a organizar fiestas caseras. Las fiestas probaron ser esenciales a su éxito actual con Soulphonetics a causa de la diversidad de música que sus amigos DJs tocaban.

“En un cuarto oían entonces hip-hop y acababan en otro cuarto bailando house”, explicó él. También incorporó actuaciones en vivo y remiscencias de eventos que compartió con bandas como Uno de Más, que lo introdujeron a la comunidad del rock en Español. Al crecer sus fiestas también creció su amor por la música y empezó a ir a algunos sitios de conciertos en la ciudad buscando nuevos sonidos.

Su determinación le permitió a él conocer gente como Dave Chávez, James Caswell y Cordell Johnson, quienes organizaban eventos en lugares como Kinetic Playground y HotHouse, ambos pináculos de la comunidad de música alternativa de Chicago.

“Conocí a Dave en el barrio y él me invitaba a chequear toda tipo de bandas de las que nunca oí”, señaló Vera. “Tocaban afro-beat, jazz latino, brasileña… mucha, no popular. Era un poco de todo. Esto abrió en definitiva mis horizontes con la música”.

Su búsqueda de más de esos sonidos lo llevaron a unirse a Soulphonetics, colectivo de productores y DJs que “trabajaban diligentemente para empujar los sentidos sonidos de house, jazz y toda forma de ritmos afrolatinos al tejido de la conciencia social”.

Vera considera a colectivos de DJs parte importante de cualquier comunidad de música ya que usualmente son los primeros en compartir una pista nueva de un artista que agrade o de alguien que uno ni siquiera sabía que le gustaba”, acotó él. Él anima a todos a ir a sus fiestas mensuales que actualmente tienen lugar el último sábado de mes en Taxim en Wicker Park.

“Nuestra meta es empujar buena música. Buscamos tocar cosas nunca antes oídas haciendo que usted quiera más”, afirmó él. “Es como cuando un mago hace un nuevo truco que nadie ha hecho, pero una vez visto, todos desean saber cómo sucedió. Tratamos de mantener las cosas frescas, dando siempre el siguiente paso”. Él extiende también su invitación a unirse a otros eventos de colectivos de DJs en Chicago, citando como ejemplos a (((SONORAMA))), Foreign Exchange (FEx) y The People’s Collective.

* Taxim se ubica en el 1558 N. Av. Milwaukee. Actualícese de todo evento de Soulphonetics en Twitter @soulphonetics. …

If you’re a music lover, you’ve likely noticed the variety of music collectives available to choose from. However, in case you haven’t had the time or inclination to do some research, we’re here to help. From the eclectic to the original sounds that define Chicago, we will be sharing information about the music collectives that keep this city on its toes. With that in mind, we spoke to Christian Vera for some insight on what his collective, Soulphonetics, is all about and what you can expect at their events.

Vera, 30, originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, grew up in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. As a kid of the 80s growing up in a Mexican household, the first thing he remembers (and giggles about) when asked about his musical influences, are the family parties he would attend where he was forced to dance with all his girl cousins, since he was the only male around.

“We would dance to anything…from Los Rieleros del Norte to La Sonora Dinamita. Of course, Michael Jackson would get in there as well and we’d practice our moonwalks, then some break dancing,” he said.

His love of music grew while in high school eventually leading him to organize house parties. These parties proved essential to his now current success with Soulphonetics because of the diversity of music his DJ friends would play.

“In one room you’d hear underground hip hop then end up in another room dancing to house,” he explained. He also incorporated live performances and reminisces about events he shared with bands like Uno De Mas, who introduced him to the rock en español community. As his parties grew so did his love for music and he began hitting some of the city’s concert venues looking for new sounds. …

His determination allowed him to meet people like Dave Chavez , James Caswell and Cordell Johnson, who organized events at places like Kinetic Playground and HotHouse, both pinnacle venues for Chicago’s alternative music community.

“I knew Dave from the neighborhood and he would invite me to check out all sorts of bands that I’d never heard of,” Vera said. “They were playing Afro-beat, Latin jazz, Brazilian… most of it non-mainstream. It was a little bit of everything. This definitely opened up my horizons with music.”

His search for more of these sounds led him to join Soulphonetics, a collective of producers and DJs who “work diligently to push the soulful sounds of house, jazz and all forms of Afro-Latin rhythms into the fabric of social consciousness.”

Vera considers DJ collectives an important part of any music community because they are usually first to share a new track from an artist you like or from someone you didn’t even know you liked. He encourages everyone to join their monthly dance parties which currently take place the last Saturday of the month at Taxim in Wicker Park.

“Our goal is to push good music. We strive to play things you’ve never heard that make you want to hear more,” he said. “It’s like when a magician does a new trick that nobody has ever done, but once you see it everyone wants to know how it happened. We try to keep things fresh, always taking that next step.”

He also extends this invite to join other Chicago DJ collective events, citing as examples (((SONORAMA))), Foreign Exchange (FEx) and The People’s Collective.

*Taxim is located at 1558 N. Milwaukee. Keep updated to all Soulphonetics events on Twitter @soulphonetics …

Feb 25

Saturday FEB 25th
SOULPHONETICS present:

DANCE SYNDROME
(last Saturday of every month)

Come and experience a night where your mind, body and soul will be throbbing and wanting more as we take you through the latin influenced experience of total coolness.

#Latin Jazz #Samba #Bossa #Break Beats #Baile Funk #Salsa Dura #Batucada #Afro Beat #Disco #Deep House #Cumbia #Dub #Reggae #Reggaeton #Tropical Bass #Carioca Funk #Moombahton #Hip-Hop #NuCumbia #Boogie #Boogalu

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w/guests:

△ DJ REYNA
(CHICAGO)

Weaver of sound waves. Beater of electronic drums. Skilled BOMP technician. Chicago School certified. House music archivist. Purveyor of Fine Jack.
Reyna, an 80s baby and Chicago native, lives for THE DANCE.
www.soundcloud.com/reyna
www.facebook.com/pages/ DJ-Reyna/256971060982601

&

▽ ALVIN BLACK III
(Chicago)

Artist. Designer. DJ. salsero, traveller. part of the @figmedia crew. Evangelist for good music & proud Chicagoan!
http://www.alvinthethird.com/
http://soundcloud.com/alvinthethird

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resident DJ & HOST:

△▽ ⊿ SOULPHONETICS
(CHICAGO | MEXICO | BELIZE)

Soulphonetics is a producer/dj collective formed by Christian Vera & Caswell James that work diligently to push the soulful sounds of House, Hip-Hop, Jazz and all forms of Afro-Latin & Electronic rythms into the fabric of social consciousness.
They strongly believe that music is an essential element of daily life as is the nourishment of the mind, body and soul.
www.soulphonetics.com
www.facebook.com/soulphonetics
www.twitter.com/soulphonetics
www.myspace.com/soulphoneticsmusic
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@ TAXIM
1558 North Milwaukee Ave
NO COVER!
10pm-3am | 21+
http://www.taximchicago.com/

www.soulphonetics.com
www.myspace.com/soulphoneticsmusic
www.facebook.com/soulphonetics
www.twitter.com/soulphonetics

Feb 07

Feb 04

Feb 01

Friday February 10th:
Soulphonetics presents:

\\ Christian’s Quinceañero Banger. vol.2 ///

It’s a celebration bitches, come out as we celebrate the lighter shaded half of Soulphonetics’, Christian Vera’s 30th birthday with some of Chicago best djs, an international carioca bass queen and an up & coming hip hop crew.

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live performance by:
♥ ZUZUKA PODEROSA ♥
(Brooklyn / NYC / Brazil)

Zuzuka Poderosa drops Brazilian bred, BK-based swagger like no other. A stylistic blend of Funk Carioca Bass and NYC rumble add a breath of fresh air to today’s international music scene.

www.facebook.com/zuzukapoderosa

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SOUND CULTURE
(Chicago / El Salvador)

Born and raised in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood DJ Sound Culture has always had a great affinity for world cultures and deep music. His passion for both has to a large extent laid the path in front of him for most of his life. In the dj booth DJ Sound Culture is somewhat of an ethno-musicologist or rhythmic cultural chemist of sorts, exploring the world’s sounds and finding the threads that tie us all together globally. From Bhangra to Balkan Beat, African Soukous to Latin House, he knows how to navigate your auditory senses. His live mixes are both dynamic and cohesive, whether you’re a world music enthusiast or dance floor regular, he keeps things interesting and moving smoothly.

Accolades include: Twice featured DJ at World Music Festival Chicago – the longest running world music festival in the country, featured world music DJ at Folk and Roots Festival Chicago 2011, featured DJ at Nomadic World Music Festival 2010, Voted favorite dj by CHIRemezcla representing Chicago’s cutting edge latin music scene for the national En Tu Cuidad campaign.

http://soundculturechicago.com/
http://soundcloud.com/sound-culture

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“VoodooKiller” DJ NewLife
(CHICAGO)

Born and bred in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, DJ NewLife was surrounded by music since birth. As the son of a musician/vocalist and an artist, he has always been described as someone who never fell into the modes of traditional thought. This carries over into his diverse brand of music and the styles of beats that just seem to choose themselves while he’s on the decks. As the creator of the Foreign Exchange party (FEx) in Chicago, he has helped to bring global music and presence to the forefront of Chicago night life for the past two years.

http://djnewlife.podomatic.com/
http://djnewlife.tumblr.com/
http://soundcloud.com/voodoo-killer

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hosted by:
SOULPHONETICS
(CHICAGO | MEXICO | BELIZE)

Soulphonetics is a producer/dj collective formed by Christian Vera & Caswell James that work diligently to push the soulful sounds of House, Hip-Hop, Jazz and all forms of Afro-Latin & Electronic rythms into the fabric of social consciousness.
They strongly believe that music is an essential element of daily life as is the nourishment of the mind, body and soul.

www.soulphonetics.com
www.facebook.com/soulphonetics
www.twitter.com/soulphonetics

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featuring performance by:
PRESTON & JOEY PURPS
(CHICAGO)

http://soundcloud.com/thewavegod
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRIK6Y9QQV8&feature=share

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BEAUTY BAR
1444 W Chicago Ave.
21+ | 9pm-2am
$5 cover.
www.thebeautybar.com
$5 glasses of champagne & $3 old style
As per usual get a $10 Martini & you get a free Manicure!

Hosted Jack Daniels Honey 9pm - 10pm w/ RSVP here;
http://do312.com/event/2012/02/10/quincea%C3%B1ero-banger-vol-2

more info at www.soulphonetics.com

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Big THANKS to our promotional sponsors:

ESTRELLA NEGRA RESTAURANT
www.estrellanegra.com