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Ray Kang
Ever since he can
remember, Ray Kang has
always had a passion for
music while growing up
in San Francisco. His
parents gave him his
first set of headphones
with a built in a.m.
radio in the first
grade. He brought them
to “show and tell” but
classmates teased him
because they made him
look like an airplane
traffic director
standing on the tarmac.
Needless to say, he
never wore them outside
of the house again.
In the 3rd grade, he
discovered and raided
his parents’ record and
tape collection. He
listened to everything
from Otis Redding, James
Brown, the Beatles,
Elvis, Marvin Gaye to
The Doors and The
Rolling Stones. Several
years later, when he was
old enough to venture to
the local music store,
he purchased his very
first single, “Rockit”
by Herbie Hancock on 45.
Throughout high school
in the late 1980’s, Ray
continued feeding his
passion for music by
going to concerts and
frequenting local hot
spots and clubs. He
voraciously purchased
records and CD’s of the
artists he heard live or
in a club by a DJ. His
tastes were very
eclectic, constantly
listening to
alternative, hip hop &
rap, brit-pop, rock,
classical and of course,
dance music. He
eventually taught
himself how to play the
piano in order to
reproduce riffs as well
as full arrangements of
classical music.
During the early
nineties as underground
dance music started
surfacing against the
backdrop of grunge and
mainstream pop, Ray
experienced his first
outdoor rave in the
outskirts of Los Angeles
where he first heard
true Detroit techno.
Over the next 2 years he
frequented such parties
in San Francisco &
Southern California
before he moved away to
Boston for college. The
scene in New England
provided very little
underground music so he
made weekend trips to
New York where House and
Trance were all the rage
at clubs such as Twilo &
Limelight.
After college, he moved
to Washington, DC to
work on Capitol Hill. He
eventually purchased 2
turntables and a mixer
in October of 2000 to
begin spinning records
as a hobby. He quickly
understood the basics of
song structure, measures
and phrasing and learned
how to beat-match within
days. Four months later,
he produced the first of
4 compilations titled DC
Underground with a
seamless blend of
progressive house,
techno and breaks. The
following 12
compilations have since
been completed,
featuring a broad range
of electronic dance
music with a strong
house influence. He has
since played parties all
over DC & Baltimore
(Buzz/Cubik, Glow,
Destination, Club Five,
Dragonfly, Open Door,
Saki, Andalu, Anzu,
Spank, Couth, Hybrid,
Signal); New York (Sin
Sin, Leopard Lounge);
San Francisco (Levende
Lounge) and Miami (Nikki
Beach, Pearl, Tantra &
Touch) alongside talent
such as Derrick Carter,
D:Fuse, Trendroid,
Dieselboy, AK1200, DJ
Icey, Micro, Martin
Villanueve (Envy/MV),
Bryan Zentz, John 00
Fleming, The East Coast
Boogiemen, Swirl People,
Demarkus Lewis, Lance
DeSardi, Madam ZU,
Groovefire and Native
Theory (a.k.a. Dirty
Gringos).
From August of 2001-2004
he was a resident DJ at
the Blue Room (www.blueroomdc.com)
where he and business
partner double o7
brought thousands of
people together to dance
every Thursday night at
their themed event
called KNEE DEEP. His
mixes can also be heard
across the country on XM
Satellite Radio, channel
80, “The Move” (www.xmradio.com)
as well as Digitally
Imported (www.DI.FM).
In December of 2002, he
joined Broken Soul, a
local collective of DJ’s
and Producers who are
rising quickly in the
mid-Atlantic region (www.brokensouldc.com).
He has now teamed up
with fellow Broken Soul
member Barrett Atwood as
2 Tribes and have
secured a residency at
PULSE (www.pulsedc.com).
Ray considers himself
extremely fortunate to
have the opportunities
in front of him to
showcase his passion for
music. He recently began
production on his own
music and released his
first single at the 2004
Winter Music Conference
in Miami.
In 2003 & 2004, he
worked very closely with
Ali Shirazinia & Sharam
Tayebi, otherwise known
as Deep Dish, managing
their world renowned
house labels Yoshitoshi,
Shinichi, YO and of
course Deep Dish
Records. Here, he
released singles by
artists such as Eddie
Amador, Deepsky, Danny
Howells, Little Louie
Vega, Luke Fair,
Narcotic Thrust and Deep
Dish. Now in 2005, he is
working on his own
productions and remixes.
He has come a long way
since grade school so
it’s safe to say that
people no longer make
fun of his headphones. |
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