John Keys is the result of the meeting between Dandy Jack (Perlon, Ruta 5, Contexterrior) and Andrès Garcia (Helvet Underground, Logistic, Num) – two passionate and talented musicians, who each bring to this project their own experience, rich and diverse.
Martin Schopf, aka Dandy Jack, is renowned in Chile and Germany as much for his musical productions as for his organizational work in the electronic music movement. In Santiago de Chile he created the Microman club together with Adrian Schopf. Today he is a leading force behind Mutek Chile, the southern version of Canada’s most interesting electronic music festival.
As a musician he has released a number of tracks as part of different projects, including Dandy Jack and the Cosmic Trousers in 1997, Dandy Jack and the Plastic Woman in 1998 (both on Ratherinteresting), Dandy Jack and the Latin Lava in 2001 and 2004 (Perlon), and Dandy Jack and the Latin Elvis (Contexterrior).
Schopf has also explored a wide range of musical styles throughout his career, proof of his genial passion for electronic sounds. He has often teamed up with other artists, forming diverse projects such as Gon together with Uwe Schmidt (Atom Heart, Lisa Carbon), Amp with Peter Namlook, Sieg über die Sonne with Pink Elln, Gonzalo Martinez with Jorge Gonzalez, Ric y Martin with Ricardo Villalobos and Junction SM with Sonja Moonear. His intuitive and distinguished album Los siete castigos (Perlon), with seven tracks all dedicated to friends like Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos, offers the full rush of Perlon’s great past.
Andrès Garcìa has been working as a professional musician since 1992, composing for theater (Omar Porras « Teatro Malandro », Oskar Gomez Mata « LAlakran »), contemporary dance (Guilherme Botelho « Alias », Kylie Walters), film (Fragile by Laurent Nègre, Chroniques by Pierre Maillard, with Hanna Shygulla) and for other musicians and artists in contemporary art.
Unlike many other artists in the electronic scene, Andrès has years of formal training in classical piano, jazz, improvised music and electroacoustic music. He has participated in a variety of musical projects and bands of all kinds, including jazz, rock, pop and Latin music. In 1992 he founded the I Mericani group, a subversive melting pot of musical styles. Andres toured extensively with I Mericani throughout Europe and Canada until 2003, and produced with them four albums and an EP. In the past three years, Andrès has dedicated all his energy and creativity to composing and producing electronic music for such leading labels as Logistic, Num, Helvet Underground, Synchrovision, Imploz, Mental Groove and Toys for Boys. He has worked in collaboration with renowned electronic artists, including Quenum, Paris the Black Fu and Lee Van Dowski.
When Dandy Jack first arrived in Geneva, in 2002, he settled in Andrès Garcìa’s studio, where he worked for about a year on remixes and other commitments. That is where both musicians realized that they shared a common passion for funky and melodious grooves, which have become their signature style. Clearly, they both complement each other. They are endowed with a great sense of spontaneity, one more attracted by melody and improvisation of funk riffs, the other more focused on creating innovative rhythms and counterpoints. They distill a groovy style of minimal techno, funky with a Latin touch –in their live shows they are known for grabbing the accordeon and the MPC to play electro cumbias, to the delight of the frenzied crowd.
They are hitting the scene with their high-spirited and sophisticated music. Their first EP together, Who is Afraid of Virginia Tsedong (Crosstown Rebels), includes three tracks from a new repertory to be disclosed in 2007.
Hey, we just wanted to drop by to let you know that we have posted our Fall issue of Artistic Pursuit magazine on our website at artisticpursuit. org. It has some of our favorite Myspace and Artistic Pursuit artists spotlighted. Please check it out and support your fellow independent and amateur artists. We also have listed the top artists for the month of November. Be sure to check to see if you're one of them. Here's a video about our Magazine and winners.
Thanks for the add/request! I appreciate it. Please be sure to check out my 1/2 hour mix, and my latest track, "The Sun Will Rise", available on my page!
