SwitchFocus "The Doctors of Disco Malfunction" is a breakbeat techno band consisting of two members who live thousands of miles apart for reasons yet to be determined. They create their songs in solitude; independently. Coming together in different parts of the world they present their art to each other on the fly, in front of thousands of people. They love doing it, but are always riddled with conflict regarding many aspects of what it takes to produce and perform this great art. There you have it bitches... Here is a fun story:
Cosmically, comically, and cosmetically, both members of the SwitchFocus shared similar backgrounds prior to having met in the 6th grade in gym class.
Alex Meu, son of a rock and roll drummer-turned-doctor father and a computer programming mother, was born in 1979 in the heart of the communist era in Romania. In the early days, Alex's father influenced the youngsters musical taste with the sound of The Beatles and Deep Purple, while his mother imprinted him with what Alex now claims as the greatest musician to ever live; Satchelmouth Louis Armstrong. Before leaving the drumkit for good, Alex's father taught him the basic rock beat and encouraged him to play.
Doctor Ecks was born a few months earlier in a nearby country of similar circumstance; Polonia. Here he would reside for the first 10 years of his life, standing in breadlines and escaping the cruel practices of the neighborhood bullies. Ecks' mother was a painter and his father a scientist. His father impressed the boy with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Dire Straits.
Coincidentally, both the Meus and the Ecks' had high aspirations of leaving the Eastern Block due to corrupted communist government and growing poverty. And so they did. Measures were taken and loopholes were jumped. Both families moved around for many years before settling down in Madison, Wisconsin.
Alex, upon arriving in the United States, was quickly alienated from his peers. This alienation expressed itself in the form of blatant disobedience against his instructors. Ecks had a higher degree of control which kept him out of trouble, but not entirely.
Having ended up in the same class in the same school, our heroes found themselves on the field in gym class at the ripe age of twelve.
"Suck my nuts!" yelled Alex during a heated game of soccer in an attempt at getting the attention he deserved from his classmates. This vulgar act was not taken lightly by the rulers of the establishment, but gained the attention of the boy which was to become one half of the SwitchFocus. There seemed to be an interest in the harassment of unjust teachers at school and a subtle comradery between the two due to their foreign upbringing.
Coincidentally, they were placed in many of the same classes, which only strengthened this bond between the two. After the first year, they were "blacklisted" and never allowed in the same class together; but it was too late..
Their shared affinity for street skateboarding and general disobedience slowly matured over the years into an interest in creating music. Eventually this evolved into a full time endeavor which led them into playing any instruments they could get their hands on. By 1994, they were drawing small crowds coming to hear them play their congas in the woods.
Time passed. Music was played.
At this point it seemed their fate was sealed as guitar-toting rockin rollers. But then suddenly, triggered by exposure to an underground dance party, everything changed...
One day in 1995, far-out stories of all-night dance parties reached the ears of the boys. Long-time friend Garth Olmanson told tales of huge walls of speakers playing weird music in underground warehouses. He said everyone danced all night and the music didn't stop until the sun came up. The allegations couldn't be ignored.
Meu recalls,
" It was hard to believe... Why had I not heard of this before? That was my first encounter with 'the underground'... The music was good and the music was loud, but where was it coming from? Back then, I didn't understand what a Dj does.. I said 'what does he do other than play the records' I still don't know... I guess he chooses and mixes them or something. We wanted to know WHO made the records, HOW are these records made? Then we heard Woody Mcbrides live pa... He wasn't mixing records, he had a bunch of weird little boxes with LOTS of buttons and lights and he was actually DOING something... Oh man, it was unbelievable..." Live P.A. was magic...
Entranced by the unlimited power of electronic production, they defected to the inorganic side of music production. They traded in their Stratocasters and effects pedals for a couple 303s and a Mackie mixer. Under the name Two Point Theory, their demo tape got them opening up for Chicago's Justin Long. The show was good but fell short of their vision. The devices they were using were limiting their potential.
"We would go to rave parties just to see Live P.A.'s. One thing that consistently stood out was how slow they would move along. We would get bored fast. This has stuck with us in the form of an obsession with fast, hard cuts. Help me." -Ecks
They quickly learned that the 303s and drum machines were not adequate tools for them to create the sound they sought. With the advent of computer production, their problems were solved. They now had unlimited potential.
Their sound was to be unique.
In 1999, they moved to Phoenix to escape the distractions keeping them from completing the project.With most other elements of social life successfully ignored, they began work.
Under heavy pressure from shared living, self-imposed deadlines and unclear futures, the first vital block was completed in 2001. They were now in control of an audio arsenal that would turn heads at every show they played and separate them from the rest. With the material and hardware necessary to bring it to the people, they debuted their sound as theSwitchFocus, at the Liquid Lotus Festival in Arizona. And so the secret was out.
Today, with electromagnetic radiation levels far exceeding safe intakes, reverse sleeping schedules, and fingaz on the mouse, theSF is still banging away.
The SwitchFocus Sound
"Stompin breakbeats, slobbed-out basslines and a gang of shouting lunatics."
Live and Built for Speed...
Crowd Control and the Infamous Switches. by David Zanger
The live p.a. rendered by SwitchFocus is unlike most electronic live shows. To achieve this hyper progressive dance music experience, the SF uses a very unique set of tools. If you have seen SF live, you know what im talking about.
There was no device like this available anywhere... so we had to build it
-Doctor Ecks
Outfitted with 32 custom crafted Japanese switches, the SF-1 prototype is a device designed and built by SwitchFocus, to complement their back and forth battle style.
Heard live in action, one becomes sure that this array of equipment was sadistically designed to shatter the strongest nerve. Back and forth beats and bass under every switch. With the original get down formula readily dispensed by aid of these bad little machines, it's no wonder theSF wins peoples hearts and minds wherever they go.
: The Real Story : by the SwitchFocus
So far so good, I thought as I sat back gently moving in and out of shit I cant explain. Then for some reason they brought up the SwitchFocus again. Fine, I thought. I love talking about the switchfocus. But soon I lost track and couldn't understand. They were telling me that it was some kind of secret that no one knew about and that if I really wanted, they would show me. Before I had a chance to respond, they said "If we show you how to do it then...."
and it happened.
In one fluid motion.
The head dis-connected from the neck and along with the arms and hands and fingers, rotated backwards under and around my torso. In the same motion, every cell in my body disconnected and rotated backwards over its neighboring cell, folding itself around itself. The body swallowed itself, morphing the most-high-half-pulse-driven-exponential-chaotica into an impossible shape of sound and light as one element perceived by no one became, and simultaneously unbecame the SwitchFocus.
I've actually seen you guys twice, 1st time way back in 2005 @ a warehouse party by the name of Chop Suey in STL, MO, my hometown. And the second time was during UGS2 @ the cave. Killer shit, i danced my face off both times.
But my question is do either of you have any live-mixes up for grabs? Faith with TUF STL, the promoter of Chop Suey hooked me up with a 20+ track CD of yours a couple years back as promotion for the party, but mine got hella scratched up.
I just found your page a few days ago.... so tell me, can ya hook a brotha up?
So I saw SwitchFocus at Underground Sound 2 last summer in Murphysboro, Illinois and it was THE BEST SHOW EVER!! Hands down. I saw them perform in a massive sink hole in a cave. WHERE can i find you again?? I don't care where it is I will go there.
!!! ROUND #4 PLAYING NOW !!!
NEW TRACKS PLAING NOW! THIS ROUND IS DEVOTED TO HARD & HEAVY! AND THATS ALL IM GONNA SAY,
--EXCEPT... GET YOUR EARS OVER AND LISTEN TO ALL -5-!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
MUCH LUV!
-B-
One of my very close friends have lost a loved one and in my passion to help them overcome their pain in the grieving process, I unconsciously stumbled upon unresolved grieving for a loved one I lost many years ago that I never dealt with and did not realize it until now. I have been unconsciously sabotaging my network of friends on myspace (responding in fear in hopes to not feel this pain again) by putting pressure, being pushy and giving conditions on my friendship here on myspace to do with subscribing. Now that I am conscious of this fact due to my friendships on here expressing their feelings towards my actions, I give you my deepest apologies! I know not any excuse is forgivable for my actions and painful words of egotistical rudeness as this has dropped me many levels of consciousness states but now that I am consciously aware, I am working on being who I really am. I cannot apologize enough, I am sorry!
I see you have not subscribed to my blog yet. You might have not gotten the message to subscribe, been to busy, can not find the time to read blogs or whatever the reason. I just wanted to stop by and emphasize the importance of subscribing. My goal is help people and I have made it my life’s work to write these blogs in order to do exactly that. I have touched many lives by doing it but if you are not interested in my blogs then please delete me from your ‘friends’ list because I rather have 100 friends that I know I am helping then to have 10,000 ‘friends’ and only helping 100 of them. I am not interested in the number of ‘friends’ I have, only the people I can help.
I provide priceless treasured information that has the potential to enhance your life (as people tell me they have had life changing experience just from reading my blogs) I will be providing this information in books, yet it will always be free here, therefore please take every advantage by viewing the blog here http://blog.myspace.com/worldwidenlightenment or sign up by clicking here. Also, if you have a blog that you feel I would be interested in please send me a request.
hey fellas! I just discovered your beats while here in SF. I dig seriousness to the max. Lovin the sugar tune and a few others, phatness and badness, cheers!
Dear Friends, Visionaries, Burners, Community Members and all those who like ABUNDANCE in their life:
Entheon Village, from Burning Man 2006, is joining it's forces together to host space for an intentional gathering celebrating radical artistic expression through music, visuals, dance, performance and creative community. On December 9th, over 10,000 square feet of a warehouse converted to gallery is being transformed into a white winter wonderland for you to come and express yourself in.
Embracing the theme of ABUNDANCE, we welcome you to come and show your creative side and celebrate with the community. Walk through the visionary art gallery, eat vegan organic food and smoothies, browse the tribal market, boogie down to 2 different sound stages as 8 of the worlds most recognized visionary live painters paint in collaboration with Chicago's best visual projection teams.
Please help spread the word, cheer, and abundance by sending this information to all your friends.
Entheon: ABUNDANCE
Cultural Re:Evolution Holiday Food & Toy Drive
A white themed event
Saturday December 9, 2006 9pm-6am
Heir Gallery - 4115 S. State St. - Chicago IL 60609
Theme: To bring in the holiday spirit of ABUNDANCE, we are encouraging all that attend to dress up in their best and most creative WHITE! outfits. Yep it's a White Party!!
18+ to enter, 21+ to drink, Cash Bar - ID is required to enter event!
Full event information, past Entheon event photos, video and music clips visit: www.entheonvillage.com
The Line-Up
AUDIO Edit vs Ooah [live] (Glitch Mob) Los Angeles
Rena Jones [live] (Native State Records) Portland
Shen [live] (Native State Records / GSC) Toronto
Noah Pred (Metapath / Sentient Sound) Toronto
Phidelity (Oracle Gatherings) Portland
Daniel Mnookin (Siteholder Records) Chicago
Brad Miner [live] (Illmeasures) Chicago
S.O.T. (Chilluminati / Divine Balance) Chicago
Kaiser Soze (Chilluminati / Divine Balance) Chicago
Brill [live] (Entheon) Chicago
Damon (Chillumafia) Chicago
Miss Levi (Entheon) Chicago
Sasha Navarro (Playco) Chicago
Mark Ersfeld (Entheon) Chicago
MC- Goodfelllow - Lucid Wordsmith
VISUAL : Live video performance artists and interactive video installations
curated by Psymbolic and the Chicago Motion Graphics Festival :
StopTime341
OVT / M1 Interactive
Merkaba Visuals
MF Chicago
VJ Mason Dixon
Shudder
LIVE PAINTING Robert Venosa
Martina Hoffmann
J Garcia
Oliver Vernon
Kris D
Mark Hensen
Roman Villagrana
Amy Joiner
PERFORMANCES The collaborative fire performance will be happening at 11pm
SPUNN - Kinetic Fire
Pyrotechniq - Urban. Fire. Mafia.
John Sacelli - AngLynx Divination
Adam Zeisler: Explorative Juggling
Opening/Closing Ceremonies: Niema & Aquarius
INSTALLATIONS The Gallery: IAMU - Interdimensional Art Movement Unified
The Lighting: Magic Lasers & Mero Productions
Main Room Sound: Function 1 by Sound Investment
Deco: Kevin Loftus - Pulsating Visions on Fabric
Deco: Venus Envy Studios - Dramatic Visual Environments
Deco: Patrick "Alobar" Jones - EntheoAbstract Art & Décor
Earthen Sculpturing: Chi Cob Co
Crystal Energetic Grid: AtlPsy
Intentional Altars: Niema, Aquarius, Yahazim
YUMMY TREATS Amazing Starr Bar - Tantalizing Elixirs & Concoctions
Vegan Sustenance
Dulcenea Angel Water
TRIBAL VISIONARY MARKET IAMU-Interdimensional Art Movement Unified
MAPS- Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
Entheon Village
Psymbolic Shop
Conscious Alliance
Dreamers Jewelry
And all live painters present at ABUNDANCE will have artwork & literature on sale
Visionary Art Gallery Exhibition and Auction
Sunday, December 10, 6p.m – 9p.m.
Dulcenea - 1431 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
The world's largest traveling visionary art exhibition featuring work by Robert Venosa, Martina Hoffmann, Oliver Vernon, J Garcia, Kris Davidson, Roman Villagrana, Mark Hensen and many others. Original works from each artist available during silent auction: doors open at 6 p.m., auction close at 8:30 p.m. Solo Cello set by Rena Jones and Dominic Johnson, beverages and light food provided.
Robert Venosa will signing his book Illuminatus.
I also sent this in a bulletin for you to paste and forward. Thanx
Following passage in the House of Representatives on September 7th 2006, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act is pending in the Senate. If approved, the measure would ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption and the domestic and international transport of live horses or horseflesh for the same purpose. Grassroots efforts from concerned constituents like you have made all the difference in this fight – please continue to contact your Senators! We hope the bill will be voted on by the Senate when Congress reconvenes following the election, but there will be limited time available and only issues seen as essential are expected to be addressed. We need to be sure Congress recognizes that this legislation is critical, as approximately 2,000 horses are being hauled to slaughter and brutally killed with every week this bill awaits action in the Senate. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please contact both of your Senators NOW, urging their co-sponsorship of S. 1915, the Senate companion bill to H.R. 503, and requesting a vote on the legislation when they return in November after the elections. Last year, the Senate voted for a temporary ban on horse slaughter by a vote of 69 to 28. To see how your Senators voted on that measure go to www.horse-protection.org. If either of Senator voted for this ban, be sure to remind them of (and thank them for) this sensible position. To find your Senators, www.congress.org or call the Capitol Hill operator at (202) 224-3121 and request to be connected to their offices. For more information on horse slaughter and how you can help make a difference for America’s horses www.horse-protection.org. Letters to Senators should be addressed to: The Honorable (Name) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510. Please share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers, and encourage them to contact their legislators, too. As always, thank you for your help!
Props from the moreTrees crew, who often enjoys a caffeine and Switchfocus-fueled workday... we're Madison-natives migrated to SF too, bringing the sweet n friendly midwest Love... ~the crew
Thanks for the add guys. I saw you all at midwest freakfest. That shit was insane! I've never seen anything like that before. I give you major props for being so original, and bad ass.
I'M PIMPING YOU ON MYSPACE! My apologies to John B for bastardizing the "it" song of the moment, but it's true: I just had to give you guys some mad props on my latest blog. I hope it brings you some new fans like myself!
Man the power switches, gentlemen... and full speed ahead!
