The event kicked off with each producer giving the crowd a quick taste of their overall performance style on their “instrument.” Party Supplies had the crowd nodding their heads to his melodically complex beats, while Araabmuzik and Jeremy Ellis wowed with raw rhythmic showmanship. The trio next put their individual creativity on display, as each took turns constructing a track using the same limited pallet of sounds. The shackles then came off, and each performed an unrestricted set that delved deep into their formidable talents on the drum machine. The crowd was driven into a frenzy by the blinding flurry of fingers hitting the controller pads, highlighted by Ellis playing with both his elbows and chin. For the finale, all three producers came together on stage and collectively built one unique track. The evening ended with a high energy performance by dubstep favorite 12th Planet.

The drum machine (a.k.a. MPC) is an electronic musical instrument with multiple drum pads, each designed to cue a pre-programmed sound when hit. Performers on an MPC are able to simultaneously produce rapid, rhythmic drum patterns as well as melodies using various samples. Once a tool only seen in hip-hop studios, as of late several performers have taken this instrument out of the studio and onto the stage where they can sequence and manipulate sounds to create live on-the-spot tracks. The result is an awe-inspiring display of high-energy showmanship. This unique “hands-on” talent is a refreshing welcome back to truly live performances in the age of Serato, dicers and other automated DJ programs.

Photos by Jared Souney

Aaaaand then I visited Seattle, where geekery isn’t just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle! Here are the Top 5 Reasons Why Seattle is Geektopia!

5) The Geekier You Are, The More Likely You Are to Make a Living!

Seattle and the surrounding Puget Sound area are home to Microsoft, Amazon.com, Pop Cap Games, Big Fish Games, Cheezburger (as in, “I can haz…?”), Fantagraphics Books, Nintendo, and countless other geek-favorite companies. Every person I met in Seattle either works at Microsoft, or knows someone who does! If you want to rock your computer programming skills for a living, or want to work more closely with some your favorite geek properties, Seattle is where it’s at!

4) The RE.PC Computer Museum

This place will be getting its own write-up, too, but leave it to the City of Microsoft to have within it a museum devoted to showcasing Apple IIs and Commodore 64s! From the history of the evolution of the Intel processor, to getting to touch computers that are now older than many people reading this, you can check it out at this quirky little space. It’s housed in a store called RE.PC, where you can purchase/sell recycled computers, laptops, and parts/accessories. So once you’re done being inspired by the computer innovators of the past, you can buy parts super-cheap and get cracking on developing your own technological innovations.

3) You’re Close to the Home of Bella, Edward, and Jacob

Twilight fans will enjoy Seattle primarily because it’s only about 3 hours away from Forks, WA, which is where Stephenie Meyer books take place. Sadly, I didn’t get to make the day trip to Forks, because I didn’t have access to a car. You’ll need to drive to Edmonds, get on the the ferry to Kingston, then drive about two and a half hours to Forks, but it’s a great day trip. The drive from Kingston will take you through Port Angeles, where there are also lots of Twilight-related stops. Once in Forks, you can either take the “official” Twilight tour, or you can download a Twilight audio tour and take yourself around. Either way, you’ll be able to spend a day losing yourself in the world of Twilight.

2) Geek Girl Con!

My reason for going to Seattle in the first place was to attend the first-annual Geek Girl Con, an event that I already had high hopes for and that ended up exceeding them. Geek Girl Con is just any other comics/genre convention except that it focuses a spotlight on female fans and creators. Geek Guys, however, are very welcome, too, and that showed in the con’s robust attendance! It sold out of all of its single-day and two-day passes, and over 2,500 people attended the con over the two days. Geek Girl Con is one of the most inclusive, chill, and inspiring cons I’ve ever been to. It’s not just about selling geek properties and products; it’s about changing the world through media. Your 2012 convention plans should include Geek Girl Con in Seattle!

1) The Seattle Center

The Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus is home to many of the city’s best geeky attractions, including the Pacific Science Center and the EMP Museum (both of which will be getting separate write-ups right here!). The littlest geeks can have fun at the Seattle Children’s Museum and the Seattle Children’s Theater. Then there’s the famous Space Needle, a holdover from the futuristic 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, and now the international symbol of Seattle, the observation deck of which provides the best view in the city. The Needle’s Sky City Restaurant rotates, so as you enjoy their amazing food (Maple lavender butter for the bread! The most amazing stuffed chicken ever! *drools* ), you can continue to enjoy the view, which includes the majestic Mount Ranier, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, and the beautiful Puget Sound. The Seattle Center grounds are lovely, and with free wi-fi in many public seating areas, including the food court, it’s a bit of a geek paradise.

Stay tuned here at ChinaShop for more glimpses of Seattle geekery, as well as chances to win free tickets to some of Seattle’s geekiest spots!

Words and pictures by Teresa Jusino (@TeresaJusino).

We asked keyboardist and songwriter Reuben Wu, also an accomplished photographer and graphic designer, to document their weekend at Decibel with a few choice images. What inspires him behind the lens?

“Anything that I find interesting, really,” he says. “I took a trip to Borneo on a week off DJing and my host said to me, ‘You are a most unusual tourist.’ A lot of the time it is not just the subject which is interesting, but the context it is in, so you have to communicate that.”

You can keep up with Reuben’s work on his Flickr stream and his website. In the meantime, check out his Decibel Festival photos after the jump.

"The totem pole in silhouette with the sun behind it."

"People making the most of the sun. Shot with an infrared filter over the iPhone lens."

"My favourite pastime in Seattle. Smelling freshly shucked oysters and then throwing them away."

"Helen backstage before the show."

"The Showbox, just after 'Destroy Everything You Touch.'"

"OYSTERS 'R' IN SEASON."

"The open road."

"Signing autographs, taking photographs."

"My Moog Voyager goes through all this."

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill). Photos and captions by Reuben Wu (@Reuben_Wu)

What is the story behind the new album title, “Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy?”

Mark: Tim Carter, the engineer, it was kind of his joke about a fantasy of rodeo clowns. We were just joking around about it and it just kept coming up. On this album we wanted to do everything different; the production is different and the way we wrote the songs is different so we figured the album title should be different as well.

Your sound tends to continuously evolve. How has dredg changed since you started out?

Gavin: A lot. We’ve been a band for a long time.

Mark: Since we were 16 or 17 and now we’re old men so…

Gavin: And this record is a lot different. I mean working with Dan the Automator, his roots are in hip-hop, so I think his influence is pretty apparent on the record, We look at it as more of a collaborative record than just a straight dredg record but that’s what we wanted was to do something different.

Did you experiment with any new sounds or buy any new gear during the recording?

Mark: Not really. He had a bunch of stuff and it’s always fun to work with the equipment that they have because it’s not your own. He had a bunch of cool vintage guitar effects and stuff. And a great keyboard collection.

Gavin: We recorded a lot of it at his house, which was nice because it gave us time to do that and experiment. We really only spent 2 days in our studio.

You wrote a lot of the album over the Internet. Can you tell us more about that?

Gavin: Yeah because I was living in Seattle at the time. A lot of it was written remotely from trading music over email and stuff.

I heard that one of you married a couple on stage during one of your shows…

Mark: Yeah that was Drew. They are still happily married. Their second kid was just born. To be honest it wasn’t the wedding. They had a wedding. This was just a fun thing. They weren’t pathetic enough to have that actually be their wedding.

Gavin: Someone else got married on stage. I think they are divorced now though.

Mark: We’ve had several engagements that didn’t work out.

Gavin: There was 2 engagements, proposals I should say. She said yes but it didn’t end up.

Was it one of those situations like when someone proposes at a stadium and the girl feels obligated but then gets home and says no?

Gavin: I was at a Giants game and someone did that and everyone was booing them for doing it. They were like, “What are you doing!?!” and everyone was yelling at them.

Also heard a rumor that you were strip searched at the Canadian border. I’m going to have to ask for more details on that one…

Gavin: Yep. We got naked.

Mark: It was similar to entering The Sunset Music Fest this week. We were going through Buffalo and someone had forgotten to get rid of the smallest amount of pot.

Gavin: The best part of the story though is that this guy was our guitar tech, he works for other bands now; he’s bald so he shaves his head, he bics it. Probably an hour before, we had taken a Sharpie and drawn hair on his head so we were sitting there and he had fake Sharpie hair and was buck-naked getting searched by the Canadian border.

Mark: The other great part was that the head of border patrol gave us a lashing that was like, “What the heck are you doing? We’ve got better pot for cheaper up here.” It was very blunt, very straightforward like, “You guys are idiots.” He singled out whoever’s pot it was and was like, “This guy’s a moron.”

Gavin: Maybe better pot than Buffalo but California’s got good pot.

Mark: But that was cool that he was forthright.

Gavin: Derek was driving, our old merchandise guy. They were like, “Where are you going?” and he’s like “I don’t know.” Basically they had plenty of reason to search the vehicle because he had no idea what was going on. They were like, “How long are you going to be up here?” and he’s like “I don’t know.”

You have been in the LA rock scene for a while. Do you have any crazy Sunset Strip memories that come to mind?

Gavin: Yeah I do. We played a show at The Roxy and ended up at On The Rox and this girl wasn’t wearing any underwear and she kept lifting her skirt up and spreading up her butt cheeks. Sorry this is gross, but she was making her butthole breathe.

During the show?

Mark: No. This was at the after party. She was really proud of it. It was just like what is going on?

Gavin: We were outside on the balcony.

Mark: She wanted to show everybody. It was like her thing.

Gavin: We named her “Bagel Anus.”

Mark: A couple of fights. We had to save our friend Carlos. He was getting kicked in the face by like 4 guys and on the ground. Definitely fights on The Sunset Strip. Dearhunter lost their trailer in front of The Roxy last May; pulled out of The Roxy and the trailer just comes off in the middle of Sunset.

Gavin: Yeah they didn’t connect it. They drove out of the driveway super fast too.

Mark: 2 am in the middle of the street!

You came up with your band name in a quick scramble because you needed something for a high school talent show. The real question is, are you still happy with it?

Mark: No we hate it.

Gavin: It was between dreg and Woven. Funny thing is we ended up playing with a band Woven who was on Interscope as well.

Mark: We like the name Woven much better than dredg.

What’s the name dredg all about?

Mark: It’s really not about anything. We just know that when people hear it, they think we are heavier and much more hardcore. So we feel like it’s not the best promotion. Your name is supposed to promote you and it’s doing the exact opposite.

This is your last show of the US for 2011. What else is on the agenda for the year?

Mark: Hopefully we go back to Europe

Gavin: We want to go to Russia and Turkey and a few markets we haven’t been to. For some reason we have a huge Turkish fan base. I don’t know if it was a small group of people that spread the word but I’d say we receive more emails from there than any other country outside of the US.

Click here to listen to new music by dredg.

Words and Interview by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Dustin Downing.

Red Bull EmSee’s innovative battle format challenges MCs to bring the true freestyle spirit back by adding a twist to the conventional head-to-head clash. During the competition, MCs are posed with a variety of challenges designed to showcase their technique, creativity and dexterity. In addition to spitting flows over beats and a capella, MCs are challenged to come up with hard-hitting verses straight off the dome based on visual cues and inspirations.

“The format of the challenge forces you to stick to the true essence of freestyling, which I think gives it freshness and definite authenticity,” said reigning Red Bull EmSee National Champion, Fowl.

WHO: Host: Bun B
Judges and Special Performers: Too $hort, Casual and Crooked I
DJ: B-Mello

Competing MCs include: Illmaculate, 9dm, K.R.U.E., Mic Phenom, Billy the Fridge, Bishop I, Justis, and KI Design

WHERE: The Crocodile
2200 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98121

Doors: 9pm
Show: 10pm
Ages 21+
Tickets: $8 pre-sale at www.thecrocodile.com or $10 at door if not already sold out

For information on other Red Bull EmSee tour stops, please visit www.redbullusa.com/emsee.

The band, composed of Seattle transplants, each of which left their respective day job / academic study to pursue this passion project. And passion project it is. Their moniker reads “The Head and the Heart” but watching the band live, it is evident that, exuding emotion, they are all heart. And it doesn’t not help that they like each other. Their camaraderie shines bright through their charismatic smiles and their cohesion is evident in their seamless harmonies. Oh, and drummer  Tyler Williams  glues it all together brilliantly, integrating hand percussion and interesting rhythmic treatments to dynamically build each song into an epic frenzy.

The Head and the Heart came together in the summer of 2009, during frequent visits to the open mic night at Conor Byrne in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. California-transplant Josiah Johnson and Virginia-native Jonathan Russell formed the core songwriting partnership, quickly adding keyboardist Kenny Hensley to the mix. Kenny, then 21, had packed up his piano and moved up to Seattle from California to pursue musical score-writing. The luminous Charity Rose Thielen, violin and vocals, had just returned from a year of studying and playing music in Paris. Drummer Tyler Williams cold left a successful band in Virginia after Jon sent him the demo of “Down in the Valley,” relocating across states to be a part of this. Finally, Chris Zasche, was bartending at Conor Byrne and mentioned one day that he’d be happy to play bass for the nascent band. It all felt right: The Head and the Heart was born.-bonnaroo.com

Since their fateful inception, The band has sold over 10k copies of their self funded, self titled debut album, opened for Vampire Weekend and Dave Mathew’s Band and most recently secured and deal with Sub Pop Records.

We caught up with The Head and the Heart at this year’s recent Bonnaroo Festival for one earth stomping good show.  Check out the pictures below and view the attached clip of the band playing live so you can judge for yourself.

Words by Mike Bucher. Photos by Joe Gall.

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Holcombe was the first to go on, taking the stage with his group, The Healers; five other players brandishing, among other things, a cello, a violin and a French horn. Though his publicist had sent me a download link to Holcombe’s soon-to-be-rereleased fourth album, Into The Dark Unknown, I neglected to listen to it. Not sure why. Just felt like being surprised, I guess. It did not take long to realize, if I do say so myself, that I had made a fantastic decision. Here’s why. It’s one thing to throw down dollars and see a band you love. You get to anticipate the setlist. You get to sing along. You get to relive moments that have been inextricably linked to certain songs. It’s about as close as you can get to time travel. When you gamble on an unknown sound and it comes up aces, it’s like discovering buried treasure in slow motion, and unlike a record, you can’t rewind it. You just have to run alongside every note and keep up with every lyric.

With a 7:30pm start time, the crowd was meager, and Holcombe joking referred to his audience as “early adopters,” but that’s what it felt like. I can tell you that he played “Baby Blue,” a song about falling in love with two different roommates. I can tell you he played “Risk Of Change,” which you can download here. I can tell you he opened with the new album’s title track. But those are about all the specifics I can give you. He’s got 13 shows left to do this month. (Check his calendar here.) It would behoove you to attend one, preferably with a few glasses of Knob Creek in tow.

Jenny O, on the other hand, I was familiar with. She’d been featured on this site back in January, shortly after her Home EP debuted. Where Holcombe and his band played delicately and beguilingly, Jenny and her band were fully plugged in, belting out twangy, loose fitting rock that towed the line between contemporary folk and good old honkey tonk. Switching from her Telecaster to an upright piano, Jenny performed a selection of old and new songs, including “Well, OK Honey,” “Home” and “Earth Has Won.” Shy and demure between tunes, Jenny is a pitch-perfect beast when she’s going for broke. When she dials it down, on a track like “Opposite Island,” she sucks you in like a vacuum, and her blues has the power to haunt your eardrums. Word is she’s working on a full-length follow-up to her EP. Can’t come soon enough.

By the time Barcelona were up, the crowd had swelled to capacity. I was first exposed to this band through a YouTube video of Japan’s Kuroshio Sea aquarium that featured “Please Don’t Go,” a track off their flawless Absolutes LP, as its soundtrack. (To date, that video has nearly 8 million views. If you haven’t see it, watch it immediately.) They too had new material to play, and put on their own hit parade that took the energy Jenny had injected into the building and turned it up full blast. For the life of me I can’t understand why these guys don’t have every modern rock radio station in American fawning over their every release. Their songs are beautifully crafted, highly emotive pop masterpieces, and they know how to deliver the goods on stage. As if their original music wasn’t impressive enough, they busted out a cover of the Beatles’ “Across The Universe” mid-set that could only be described as disarming. It was a fitting crescendo to a lively night of music that couldn’t have been curated any better, and I’m sure all three bands made their fair share of friends.

Word by Rich Thomas. Photos by Dustin Downing.

Ace Hotel is definitely the place to stay if you ever find yourself in Portland, Seattle, Palm Springs or New York City. Their offbeat, nouveau-bohemian interior design has been attracting artists, designers, geeks with style & international jet setters — you know, people just like you — since 1999.

 The New York City location has morphed into something beyond just a place to rest your head.

On any given day, you’ll find the lobby teeming with the meticulously disheveled, sunken into plush armchairs with cups of Stumptown coffee or staring seriously into glowing MacBooks. In addition to Stumptown Coffee Roasters, there’s a restaurant by the owners of The Spotted Pig called The Breslin which serves incredible British-inspired cuisine. And soon there will be an Opening Ceremony boutique to satisfy all your shopping urges. Talk about a one-stop shop!

 With a sprawling, 8-level boutique in Tokyo’s Shibuya district as well as a rabbit warren-esque location in Los Angeles, Opening Ceremony has made a name for itself as a painstakingly-curated store for the style obsessed.

They collaborate with designers to create individual shops within the store, which gives each label the ability to differentiate & brand themselves however they wish. In addition to hosting designers such as Alexander Wang & The Row, Opening Ceremony has also conjured up collaborations with Pendleton, indie style icon Chloë Sevigny & industry darling Rodarte. While Opening Ceremony already has a location in New York City, this one will be very different.  Owners Humberto Leon & Carol Lim said that they tried to think of what they would want on hand if they lived in a hotel, & plan to stock the boutique accordingly.

What does this mean for the discerning traveler? It means that in addition to a selection of the very best & most stylish clothing (Hussein Chalayan & Christopher Kane, anyone?), you’ll also be able to buy condoms by Proper Attire, fantastic toothpaste, toiletries by Proenza Schouler and a range of snacks, including imported potato chips & “the best gummies from France.” The Leons said they plan on installing a McSweeney’s bookshop, too — which means you no longer need to resort to the Gideon Bible for bathtub reading. Very thoughtful!

 Opening Ceremony is set to open in Ace Hotel’s New York City location in February 2010. We can’t wait.

Words by Gala Darling

The best fashion lines are able to make you feel something deep in your bones. If you can go from feeling like a worthless bum to channeling Jimi Hendrix’s sex appeal by simply donning a garment, you’ve discovered something special. Seattle-based, niche t-shirt line, Actual Pain is one those special aura-transforming brands. Its creator TJ Cowgill also happens to be the lead singer and vocalist of the black metal band, Book of Black Earth.

When asked about the driving inspiration behind Actual Pain’s dark, gothic imagery, TJ states:
“All music influences me, but especially heavy metal and punk music. I play heavy metal music so it’s sort of in my blood. Once a girl asked me if I liked heavy metal when I was black-out drunk and according to my friend who was there, I replied, ‘My heart beats [metal]’ and then I pounded my chest with my fist – not in a frat boy way, but in a profound Native American sort of way.”

Actual Pain’s graphics feature the requisite grizzly-looking, blood-spewing creatures, but it’s the clever slogans that take it to pseudo-iconic status. Statements like “Less Fashion, More Thrashin,” and “I Drink Poser Blood” are some of the best in the line’s arsenal. “Basically, a poser is someone who isn’t true to themselves,” TJ snickers, “and we really don’t care what other people think. We just think a lot of that slang is really funny.”

Next, Actual Pain is expanding into badass denim vests and jeans made from 100% organic denim, and also launching a capsule collection of handmade jewelry. If your summer wardrobe is lacking in serious rock attitude, this brand will certainly get you going in the right direction
-Geo Hagan

Words by Geo Hagan, photos by Brayden Olsen