Roots and Wires Hi-Fi is a multi-talented crew of two headed by Special Agent K and the one Andy G. Born out of a synchronistic meeting over 10 years ago, Root and Wires Hi-Fi has since traveled a varied sonic path. The sounds humble beginnings grew through an endless stream of one off parties, warehouse sessions, club gigs, and raves from Texas to California and back again. Slowly but surely, Special Agent K and Andy G have built up their dubwise knowledge and sound skills. Now based in San Francisco, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi continue to spread their dubwise gospel via events such as the monthly Stateless.
Through the peaks and valleys of bass resonation Roots and Wires specialize in the ruffest and freshest sounds from vintage Jamaican dubwise and contemporary UK Steppers to original Drum & Bass Junglist vibes and Asian-inflected Breakbeats. Never merely content with just deejaying, Roots and Wires Hi-Fi gigs take on the vibe of a live performance. At the hands of Special Agent K and Andy G, Rootical outernational beats get manipulated through the Wires of modern laptop technology, outboard effects, syndrums, and the like.
The Special Agent K is versed in the technologies of analogue and digital dubwise manipulation. Studying tabla under Ustad Vishal Nagar, he likes to drop distorted tabla bhols over fierce breakbeats. His echotone inflected mixology alongside his deft abilities at selecting the best in classical Indian pieces, drum and bass, asian underground, roots/dub, dubstep and glitchy blips and bleeps make him a formidable soundclash opponent when the Roots and Wires Hi-Fi finds itself in session. Sonic Shuriken style! Where the forces of the Bass and the societal superstructure meet in the macro moments of daily life, Special Agent K is a Psychiatrist and a Jungian psychoanalyst in training. Known in close circles as the Doctor, Special Agent K blends the worlds of music and archetypal psychology like a spiritual cook constantly seeking out for higher heights of knowing. One such manifestation was his deep involvement with the underground arts scene in Seattle, Washington. While living in the Pacific Northwest, Special Agent K helped to organize a number of sonic and visual performance art events under the banner NAATÂ.
For his part, Andy G is an analog turtle to Special Agent Ks digital hare. He started as a college radio reggae dj in early 1990s Austin, Texas. Since then, Andy G has amassed a long list of sound gigs that have seen him select rhythms in clubs throughout Europe and the United States. He has shared the stage with many a vintage reggae artist including Culture, Michael Rose, the Twinkle Brothers, Lee Scratch Perry, Mad Professor, Eek-a-Mouse, and the Wailers Band. Sonically, Andy Gs selections are deeply rooted in his love for UK sound system culture. He has a particular love for the sounds of early UK artists like Aswad, Matumbi, Black Slate, Black Roots, Pablo Gad, and Ras Imhru Asher. Coupled with his constant homage to both early Jamaican and UK roots reggae artists, Andy G is always expanding his catalogue of contemporary dub and roots from the UK, Japan, and other outernational outposts of the dub diaspora. Sounds such as Jah Shaka, Manasseh, King Shiloh, Jah Tubbys, Boom Shaka Lacka, Iration Steppas, Aba Shanti I, Entebbe, and Freedom Masses have and continue to be his teachers. In session, Andy G is known to blow melodica melodies over top of tuff dubwise selections or to pierce the air with sounds of his humble, but always trustworthy siren unit.
So check it! Roots and Wires Hi-Fi is here to turn the my into I&I space. Peek at these pages frequently for gig updates and jump over to our website at www.rootsandwires.com and our blog at http://rootsandwires.blogspot.com/
Peace.
Clip 1 - Roots and Wires + Vishal Nagar Live @ STATELESS 1.12.07 - Dubwise Tabla Solo
Clip 2 - Roots and Wires + Vishal Nagar Live @ STATELESS 1.12.07 - Tabla Ragga Jungle Style!
Clip 3 - Roots and Wires + Vishal Nagar Live @ STATELESS 1.12.07 - Hope and Dread Live (Tabla Dubstep)
Clip 4 - Roots and Wires Live @ STATELESS 3.10.07 - Original Steppers
Dub Version Live (Digital Steppers)
Clip 5 - Filastine Live @ STATELESS 3.10.07 - With Special Agent K (Roots and Wires) on the Visuals!
NEW!!! Clip 6 - Roots and Wires Live @ STATELESS 6.10.07 - Tiger Meditation Live (Original Production in Progress)
NEW!!! Clip 7 - The Worker Droppin' Some Heavy Dubstep @ STATELESS 6.10.07 - With Special Agent K (Roots and Wires) on the Visuals!
Pama Intl-Happenstance is the first of 3 singles to be taken from Pama Intl's much anticipated forthcoming album Pama Outernational (scheduled for a Oct/Nov'09 release)
The honor of your company is requested at Kokoy’s birthday party on Saturday April 18 at the Artery (5401 Jackson at Prospect in Houston’s museum district). The event is a concert to benefit the Houston Institute for Culture’s youth development programs, featuring Trio Nazim from Kazakhstan, Mayan hip-hop poet Kiawitl Xochitl and kayumanggi Pinoy rock band. It will be a live video shoot by the Artery Media Project. Doors open at 7:30 pm with a suggested donation at the gate.
The Houston Institute for Culture is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization which conducts workshops for economically disadvantaged youth in area schools, engaging them in cultural exchange and community sustainability service projects, building innovative skills critical to social change. More information at www.houstonculture.org.
A landmark in Houston’s cultural landscape, The Artery is a space designed to facilitate exchange, where natural forms and human-made forms exist in harmony, compelling visitors and presenters toward collaborations and relationships to pursue civic and artistic purpose. More information at www.arteryhouston.org.
Directions to the Artery from wherever you might be originating within the Greater Houston area:
get on 288 and exit Binz, turn west on Binz towards the museum district, turn right on Jackson (before you reach the Children’s Museum), turn right on Prospect. The gate will be on the right. Park in the street.
The very next day on April 19, kayumanggi Pinoy rock band performs at the annual Houston International Festival, 1:30 pm on the steps of City Hall, downtown. Complete schedule and more information: www.ifest.org.
The honor of your presence is requested at Kokoy’s birthday party on Saturday April 18 at the Artery (5401 Jackson at Prospect in Houston’s museum district). The event is a concert to benefit the Houston Institute for Culture’s youth development programs, featuring Trio Nazim from Kazakhstan, Mayan hip-hop poet Kiawitl Xochitl and kayumanggi Pinoy rock band. It will be a live video shoot by the Artery Media Project. Doors open at 7:30 pm with a suggested donation at the gate.
The Houston Institute for Culture is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization which conducts workshops for economically disadvantaged youth in area schools, engaging them in cultural exchange and community sustainability service projects, building innovative skills critical to social change. More information at www.houstonculture.org.
A landmark in Houston’s cultural landscape, The Artery is a space designed to facilitate exchange, where natural forms and human-made forms exist in harmony, compelling visitors and presenters toward collaborations and relationships to pursue civic and artistic purpose. More information at www.arteryhouston.org.
Directions to the Artery from wherever you might be originating within the Greater Houston area:
get on 288 and exit Binz, turn west on Binz towards the museum district, turn right on Jackson (before you reach the Children’s Museum), turn right on Prospect. The gate will be on the right. Park in the street.
The very next day on April 19, kayumanggi Pinoy rock band performs at the annual Houston International Festival, 1:30 pm on the steps of City Hall, downtown. Complete schedule and more information: www.ifest.org.
DIVAS OF THE WORLD UNITE! ON MUSIC BEYOND BORDERS KPFT 90. 1FM Houston
Greetings from Houston, Texas and happy International Women’s Month!
Please tune in to KPFT 90. 1FM Houston or www. kpft. org on Tuesday March 17, from 2-3 pm Central U.S. time when I will be hosting Music Beyond Borders. It’s time for my annual International Women’s Month special, featuring exclusively female vocalists and songwriters from around the world. This Tuesday, I’ll be spinning some of the artists who will be performing at the upcoming Houston International Festival. I am honored to be joined also by some tremendously talented and dedicated guests. Trio Nazim will be performing traditional music from their native Kazakhstan live in the KPFT studio, and I’ll be talking to Busi Peters and Lisa Delaune, founders of Women Healing and Empowering Women (WHEW), a non-profit organization committed to empowering women globally through economic, educational, environmental, and cultural programs that work to end prison recidivism, homelessness, gender and ethnic biases, inter-generational poverty, and the lack of access to adequate and sufficient education.
Music Beyond Borders is live on the web. (Or you can catch it in the archives for two weeks after each show. )
Simultaneous webcast times around the world on www. kpft. org:
Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan: 3-4am on WedMar18
Thailand: 1-2am on WedMar18
Scotland: 7-8pm
Netherlands, Italy, Norway, Poland, Israel, Germany: 8-9pm
Australia: 4-5am on WedMar18
WashingtonDC, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, NorthCarolina, Florida, NewYork, NewJersey, Ontario, Colombia: 3-4pm
Arizona, Colorado: 1-2pm
California, WashingtonState: 12-1pm
Hawaii: 9-10am
Texas, Illinois, Minnesota: 2-3pm
(If your area is not listed, please let me know and I will include it in the next kayumanggi Pinoy rock email announcement. )
RIPPLE EFFECT "Keeping things conscious and following up their rather eclectic and experimental album Roots All Sorts, the MDV have just birthed a dynamic and vivacious live sound. Once again seasoned with that grounded MDV rootsy signature, the essence of this album speaks commandingly yet beneficently. The songs illustrate the bands live proficiencies - a steady resonance of authentic Roots Reggae, very often abandoned by the sounds of today. Ripple Effect is an intelligent and fresh assemblage of brilliant tunes with a slice of instrumental experimentation. Enjoy!" -AMF68
"A new age has begun for the human race, go now and prepare World Children but know that it will not be easy, yet we shall overcome. "
