Party Vibe

Friday – May 26th 2006
Phoenix, Arizona
Swell, Outside World Entertainment, Dts & 100 & Natural Groove
Bring You
ACID REIGN VIII


As a primary part of the underground scene in Arizona, The Acid Reign series of events has always retained the spirit of full on sensory assault and top-notch artist. Acid Reign has always been about talented innovative artist who in turn have inspired many of Arizona Dj’s and producers. Whether this is your first Acid Reign or your eighth, get ready to be blown away by the massive sound, lights, visuals on May 26th. The beast is alive once more!!
Featuring :
DJ ESP aka Woody McBride

DJ ESP aka Woody McBride is a techno pioneer and influence to thousands of people worldwide. One of the founding fathers of acid and midwest techno, as the man behind Communique records and former promotional group Mile High, Woody is known the world over for legendary parties, mental mans techno, and unmatched sound systems. Since 1991, Woody has composed hundreds of tracks such as “Basketball Heroes, Comedy Tragedy, Psick and Tired, Soundburnt and Electris” (Communique), as well as “Hidden” (Labworks), “Rattlesnake” (Magnetic North), “The Earthworm Sings” (Ex), “Slo Mo” (Definitive). He’s recorded and remixed for Tresor, Bush, TLC, Labworks, Synewave, Missile, Contact, Analog, Foodchain, Blue Line, Transatlanticexpress, 611, Swell, Ovum, Urbanground and Drop Bass Network Records. He’s worked with Derrick Carter, DJ T1000, Reverend Elvis Nixxon, Freddie Fresh, Iffy and Kirk Johnson, Tim Taylor, Jack Trash, Joe Manu, Terry Mullan, Paul Birken, Frankie Bones, Jeff Mills, Man At Arms, Diego Roca, Dj Hell, Dj Dan, Josh Wink, Hoschi, Roland Casper, Chris Liberator, Dave Clarke, Damon Wild and many more…
Get ready!
For the Acid Reign Tradition!

Photek Intro: Rupert Parkes, aka Photek, Special Forces, Studio Pressure and Aquarius, first became hooked on music at the birth of hip hop in the mid ’80’s with the first electro and rap tunes. This naturally evolved into an interest in jazz and inspired by John Coltrane he learned to play the saxophone. In 1989 pirate radio turned him onto the warehouse parties and underground clubs of the UK rave scene. Parkes first rave experience was at east Londons Telepathy in Marsh Gate lane where he saw Fabio and Jumpin’Jack Frost for the first time playing music that blew him away. A move to Ipswich marked the beginning of his music making in ’92. Parkes began working at a record shop owned by Rob Solomon with whom he also began to record his first tracks. An early result was the 1992 jazz-inflicted hardcore track Sensation, recorded as Origination, which was picked up by Ray Keith, a friend of Solomon’s, who was involved with Soho’s Black Market Records and was influential in the rave scene at the time. The following year Parkes and Solomon released Make You Do Right / Out Of This World under the same name. As Studio Pressure Parkes recorded Jump for Certificate 18 Records as his first solo release.
A landmark moment came when Parkes found a new family in the form of Goldie and Metalheadz, His first Metalheadz release was Consciousness, Into the ’90’s and The Rain. After the Metalheadz releases Parkes felt it was time to start his own label and inprint.
In 1994 Photek Records was launched with a loan from the Prince of Wales Youth Business Trust. A series of legendary releases like The Watermargin and Rings around Saturn were soon to follow. By this point Parkes was established as one of the leading pioneers of the scene that was soon to be christened “Drum and Bass”. The evolution of the scene saw different camps emerging creating a wide array of styles with Parkes making some notable contributions. As Aquarius, Parkes recorded a number of tracks for LTJ Bukem’s Good Looking Records, including Drift To The Centre / Waveforms on Good Looking, 1995 and Dolphin Tune / Aquatic in 1996. It was around this time that Photek met long time friend and ally Peshay who had just released the incredible Protoge EP on Reinforced.
Photek was now an established artist and proceeded to land a publishing deal with Universal. The next few years saw him remix artists such as Attica Blues, Goldie, Roni Size,Therapy, Dr. Octagon and later Bjork, David Bowie, Everything But The Girl, Zero 7; at the same time the major labels became interested and in 1996 Photek signed to Virgin Records’ subsidiary Science Records for a 5 album deal (his work is released by Astralwerks in America).
Parkes’ first release on Science was The Hidden Camera EP in 1996 followed by Ni-Ten-Ichi-Rye and Modus Operandi in 1998. In the same year the latin future jazz Yendi accompanied the release of the album’s title track as a single. As he was emerging, Parkes’ subtle style led the media inadequately to proclaim him as the leader of a new ‘intelligent’ drum ‘n’ bass sound, after the raw energy of early jungle. By the time his work on Science had matured, his approach into a unique personalized style quite unlike anything else around. Despite its variety and diverse influences, Modus Operandi is coherent throughout; as with his thrifty instrumentation, the attention is mostly focused on Parkes’ incredibly detailed drum programming. Many tracks such as The Hidden Camera and KJZ have a jazz feel, employing cyclic double bass and impressionistic chordal effects while the taut drum sounds fidget underneath. At the same time other tracks such as Aleph 1 and Minotaur illustrate the techno influence in their choice of sounds, while Smoke Rings and The Fifth Column are virtually all drums accompanied by textured soundscapes. Parkes’ debut album was an in depth body of work that gave Parkes a place way beyond dance music. The following year’s Form & Function collected together early singles and various remixes alongside two new tracks. With his economical, static approach and a high level of abstraction, Parkes has summed up the direction of, arguably, the most creative dance music of the ’90s in the most eloquent form. His high production quality and brilliant drum sound and patters gave him the name ‘Master of beats’ a true legend.
When Parkes started working on his next album, Solaris, he looked back at the music that had inspired him when he first started making music. The Terminus EP was released followed by the single Mine to Give a collaboration with House legend Robert Owens. Mine To Give became a number 1 dance hit in the US and a club anthem around the world.
It came as no surprise when people in the film and TV industry wanted to collaborate with Parkes and a temporarily move to Los Angeles was inevitable. Parkes scored the martial arts film “Invincible”, scored the hip hop tv series “Platinum”, scored several chase scenes in “The Italian Job”, scored music for the “Animatrix” etc etc.
Besides the film and TV work Parkes has decided to give priority to his own label again which has recently released several singles under his alias Special Forces and signed 2 new artists (see link Photek records). This summer Parkes started a new urban label; 51st State Entertainment on which he produces new talent (see link 51st State).
Between London, LA and many DJ tours, Parkes has built an infrastructure which enables him to work in the various fields he enjoys the most; scoring movies, producing other acts or making drum ‘n’ bass. Parkes’ priority is to be creative and flexible being the visionary that he is.