Monday, January 09, 2006

January 9, 2006: DJ Nikoless

January 9, 2006

Okay! On with the podcast. Kind of cool that the first interview episode to be podcast is with a local artist - DJ Nikoless Skratch. I interviewed DJ Nikoless in the summer of 2005, to air on Some Assembly Required before a show I was organizing in July, at the Varsity Theater, here in Minneapolis. He was the headliner, with his partner Plain ole Bill. Andrew Broder and Lori Barbero were the other Turntablists/DJs on the bill. I'll write more about that show, eventually, as I continue to work my way down the list of performances as presented by Some Assembly Required...

In the meantime, as the next episode set to podcast is Episode 103, and as that episode contains an interview with DJ Nikoless, I've decided to go ahead and start yet another project associated with this blog, which I've been planning to do all along; and that is the creation of an online database of artists who receive airplay on Some Assembly Required. I've put together a very basic set of questions, and emailed them out to a handful of the artists who receive regular airplay on the show, and some of them have actually come back... Thankfully, DJ Nikoless' response arrived in time to include here in this post, to introduce the next post, which will be the podcast for Episode 103, which includes a much more in-depth radio interview with DJ Nikoless Skratch. Stay tuned.

To briefly introduce: DJ Nikoless is Kevin Beacham, a member of the Rhymesayer's Collective, and the host of a radio program called "Redefinition Radio," which airs here in Minneapolis on MPR's The Current (Saturday nights, 11-Midnight, 89.3 FM). Radio bookends my workshift on Saturdays... After doing Some Assembly Required over at Radio K, I wait tables for several hours and then, as I'm heading home, I'll tune in to Redefinition Radio, on The Current, and check out what Kevin Beacham (aka DJ Nikoless) is playing. According to the bio at his show's site, Beacham got his start in radio in 1995, at WNUR, in Evanston, Illinois. He's been everything from MC, producer, artist manager and record promoter to journalist, DJ, radio show host and record label manager.

Tune in to Episode 103 of Some Assembly Required (I'll be uploading it later tonite), for more on DJ Nikoless. Here's the official Some Assembly Required Q&A to introduce the episode...

***

DJ NIKOLESS (Minneapolis)
*Name: DJ Nikoless (A.K.A Kevin Beacham)

*Do you use a pseudonym? Nikoless Skratch is the full Pseudonym.

*Is there a story behind your name? I don't have a middle name and thru out life I toyed with the idea of what it should be. When it came time to think of a DJ name, and being that I suck at thinking of names sometimes… I wanted something flexible. By that I mean a name that won't be too "regretful" later, or corny. I wanted a name that could be a regular name too. There are several reasons why I went with Nikoless Skratch and it's impossible to be brief...ha! I'll say that Nikoless Skratch is a comic character in the old 70’s Fantastic Four comics. Plus, I thought it was cool that my daughter’s middle name is Nikole (which I gave to her) and by just adding two "S's" at the end gets you Nikoless. There's a ½ dozen other metaphorical reasons if you really want to know....

*Members: This is Where You Got It From double CD (also features) Plain Ole Bill & DJ Tanner.

*Tape manipulations, digital deconstructions or turntable creations?: Hard to say. I think a little of each actually. I guess I, or my guests, are involved in all those things. I'm just a DJ with a lot of ideas that I think are clever...ha!

*Location: Minneapolis, MN

*Original Location: I'm an Army Brat. Born in Frankfurt, Germany and moved around all thru out life. I've lived in Colorado, Texas, Kansas, various spots in Germany, Michigan, Illinois and now based in Minneapolis.

*What is your creative/artistic background: Just have always been a fan of music since a young age. At 9 my dad introduced me to Hip Hop and I was hooked ever since. Started out MCing at age 10 and from there just immersed myself in Hip Hop in general.

*History: I started dabbling in DJing in 1985 but it was just something I did because it intrigued me and I didn't think of myself as a DJ. However, I had been buying or getting records as gifts since age 4. It was in the mid 90’s that I really started taking it serious (when I stopped focusing on MCing). In '97 I released my first mix tape.

*Born: Born in 1970, in Frankfurt, Germany.

*Motivations: I just love the music...all different types, but Hip Hop is how I can best express myself. I love the idea of being able to contribute to an art form that gave so much to me.

*Philosophy: Hmm....I just aim to find a balance between creativity, entertainment, and education.
*How would you like to be remembered: Just as a guy who pursued his passions and was able to make his dreams reality and for the most part I have done that.

*Web address: Nothing official (yet)… www.myspace.com/kevinbeacham …and eventually I'll have a page up at www.rhymesayers.com (artist page)

***

Okay, that's it for this post. Thanks to DJ Nikoless for the interview. Stay tuned for Episode 103, later tonite. As always, please leave comments, or email me directly. Contact information is at the Some Assembly Required website, at: www.some-assembly-required.net
Thanks for listening!
Jon Nelson

www.some-assembly-required.net

1 Comments:

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