• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

If you’re a Tech and Tribal House fan, you’re no stranger to Zenbi.  His track “Double Trouble” is currently sitting at #1 on the Beatport Tech House Chart.  Zenbi is a hot name in Washington DC’s thriving international tech- and tribal-house scene.  Zenbi has packed crowds throughout North and South America , and is the owner of tech and tribal house music label, Zenbi Recordings.

 Zenbi’s releases have received support from a growing list of talented producers; including Marco Carola, Stefano Noferini, Roger Sanchez, Danny Tenaglia, David Herrero, Mark Knight, Erick Morillo, Dr. Kucho!, Paolo Mojo, Dubfire, Wally Lopez, Paco Osuna, David Penn, Satoshi Tomiie, and Uner.  Zenbi will be bringing his music, artists from his label, and special guests down to Miami for the Zenbi Good&Beautiful WMC 2012 Showcase on March 21^st.

Marcie sat down with Zenbi for some Q & A about his history, his music, and what to expect in Miami:

MARCIE:  Hey Zenbi, congratulations on your #1 spot on Beatport’s Tech House Chart, with “Zenbi- Double Trouble (Stefano Noferini Remix)”. With support from Mark Knight, and Umek, this track is catching a lot of attention.  Thanks for taking time to speak with us! Where are you right now?

ZENBI:  I am absolutely thrilled to be back in my hometown of Washington DC, taking advantage of the calm before the storm that is Winter Music Conference!  With my time being so absorbed by such a hectic load of DJing, producing, managing my label, and planning for this year’s Zenbi Good&Beautiful WMC 2012 Showcase – I may not see the light of day again until I board the plane to Miami!

MARCIE:  Your artist name, ”Zenbi”, is translated as “Good & Beautiful” in Japanese. Why did you pick this name?

ZENBI:  After a single semester of Japanese in college, “Zenbi” – meaning Good & Beautiful and “Ichi Nichi Juu” – meaning all day long, are the only two phrases I’ve managed to hold onto!  I started a marketing and brand consultancy a few years after college – and the name “Zenbi” was the perfect fit!  After starting my second business, I was trying to decide if DJ Chris Porter was a brand worth pursuing…and it hit me – I still had the Zenbi domain name – decided to trademark it – and here we are!  In hindsight, this was probably a good decision since DJ All Day Long doesn’t really roll off the tongue – and Steve Porter made the Porter name his own!

MARCIE:  Have you always spun Tech and Tribal House? I read that you started a couple businesses before devoting yourself solely to music.  What kind of work did you do?

ZENBI:  Since this interview is clearly off-the-record, my first musical love was hip hop, (just don’t tell anybody)!  My generation’s pioneers like Terminator X, Jazzy Jeff, (I grew up in Philadelphia), and Run put the term “DJ” in my vocabulary.  The beats of Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, and even LL Cool J were what inspired me to buy my first Technics 1200.  The commercial success of Moby, Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, and Prodigy are what lured me into what I now consider house music.

Looking back, I was fortunate enough to land the right jobs at the right times out of college.  A few years out through hard work and sacrifice, I became the Chief Marketing Officer of a billion dollar computer hardware company.  Capitalizing on what I learned about building and promoting brands online – I founded Zenbi, my marketing and brand consultancy.  One of our clients was Training Camp, a high-end computer training company.  Over the course of a few years I personally transitioned from vendor to employee to now owner and CEO.  It is this wild ride that has allowed me to rededicate myself back to music…and here we are!

MARCIE:  You’ve held a residency at Washington DC’s Lima Lounge since last year. The club was voted by Club Planet as the #17 club in the USA and #1 in the DC area. I think a lot of readers associate DC with politics, but I know there is a thriving dance scene there.  What makes the DC market strong? What do you think the most popular style is, and where do you see the scene headed?

ZENBI: Similar to New York, DC is a melting pot – the broad mix of cultures is the key contributor to the region having such a strong appetite for house music.  The youth, however, will be the key driver for electronic dance music over the next decade.  I was fortunate to play with Avicii and Alesso this past year to sold out college campuses, and was absolutely thrilled to see how “EDM” has finally made it into the mainstream.  An Avicii or Skrillex show is this generation’s answer to ‘Bruce Springsteen”, and I’m just happy to play a small part in the genre’s development.

MARCIE:  What is the vocal you are using in the track?  In general, what kind of vocal do you like best in tribal and tech house music?

ZENBI: The vocal used in Double Trouble is just a simple snippet of a tribal voice – used as more of an instrument, (in the form of a vocal stab), then a true vocal in the Danny Tenaglia sense. I tend to use these vocal stabs in many of my tracks just to add some additional dynamics and depth.

MARCIE:  How did you choose remixers for “Double Trouble”, and what makes each stand out?

ZENBI:  My original plan was to include Stefano Noferini in the package with the original and the Redondo and Sideburn Remix that was released a year ago, and put the three track package out on Zenbi Recordings.  From there, I violated all sense of good label practice and just added my good friends; and sure enough, they all delivered their own signature vibe!  At Filty Rich’s suggestion, we sent the package to Great Stuff Recordings, and they immediately signed it!  From there, we had three of the five releases hit the top 20!

MARCIE:  You first came on the scene, with a remix of Saeed Younan’s “Kumbalha” alongside Sabb. How would you define the progression of your production style and sound from then until now?

ZENBI:  Admittedly, my production is still “all over the place”.  I simply like all kinds of house, (admittedly even Dubstep and Drum and Bass) , and tend to write music that reflects the mood I’m in.  So whether it is a chill vocal track, or a thumping techno instrumental bomb, I haven’t been able to establish my own boundaries to perfect a signature style…and not sure I ever will (want to).

 

MARCIE:  You have deejayed at many festivals around the world, including Amsterdam Dance Event, BPM, Winter Music Conference and Soda Pop Milano. What has been your favorite event so far and why? Do you prefer indoor clubs or outdoor festivals?

ZENBI:  The big conference format has one HUGE disadvantage: the formula is based around many DJ’s playing short sets.  I have way more fun performing than I do watching, so the times when I can  get into an extended set and have the chance to really work a crowd are the most special events for me.  This past year, I had the opportunity to spin one of these sets in Pristina, Kosovo, with my good friend Sabb at Xone Club.  THAT was the most, seven (7) hours, I have had in a long time!  Indoors or outdoors doesn’t matter. It is the crowd and the vibe that are important!

MARCIE:  Tell us about your upcoming Zenbi Good&Beautiful WMC 2012 Showcase?

ZENBI:  First, Club 50 at the Viceroy Hotel is an absolutely beautiful backdrop for what is, in my opinion, one of the best and most diverse lineups at WMC this year.  I could speak volumes about each artist individually and the amazing successes each has had over the past year, but I think it best to let the music speak for itself.  Our [event] roster includes:

ANDREA OLIVA, ANTHONY ATTALLA, COCODRILLS, FILTHY RICH, GEORGE ACOSTA, JEREMY OLANDER, NINA KRAVIZ, PAOLO MOJO, PAUL HARRIS FROM DIRTY VEGAS, RAMON TAPIA, SAEED YOUNAN, SYDNEY BLU, SUPERNOVA, SURPRISE 2ND GUEST FROM CADENZA, TRENT CANTRELLE, & ZENBI.

MARCIE:  You have your own label, Zenbi Recordings, with a roster highlighted by Supernova, Uner, Saeed Younan and Sydney Blu. Zenbi Recordings’ recent smash hit, Yoav – Club Thing (DJ Kone & Marc Palacios Remix), had recently been top ten in the charts for nearly a month. What’s your label philosophy, and what release is coming up next?

ZENBI:  You can clearly classify the label philosophy as trite – but there is a truth to my vision – release good music that makes people dance.  The ‘Beatport Revolution’ has changed the way people buy music.  In the past, labels served to carry specific styles or genres of music, so if, for example, you wanted to buy a NYC underground track, a buyer would shop for music at a label like Twisted.  Since Beatport has replaced the label as the point of sale, (or even point of shopping), I am now comfortable presenting our listeners with a wider variety of music to choose from.

Our next release is a track by Sydney Blu called X Factor, with remixes by Taz and and an upcoming Dubstep producer Funkefeller.

MARCIE:  How do you balance your time between producing, DJ’ing, and your label? Do you listen to all the demos sent your way, and who makes the final signing decision for Zenbi Recordings?

ZENBI:  Time?  Ha!  I wake up, I work, I eat, I sleep – and repeat!  Very easy to balance that daily recipe!  I currently do handle the label A&R function.  Since the label is an extension of myself, I view the music selection process as a sacred task.

MARCIE:  When you are making a remix, how do you decide which new ideas you want to put into your remix versus what you might like to save to be an original track? Is this ever a personal artistic conflict for you?

ZENBI:  Sometimes the producer of the original makes this process very simple – by spelling out exactly which parts should be carried over into a remix.  Other projects involve a bit more ‘artistic license’ – and here the trick is to not deviate too far from the original.  In general, I just try to capture the essence of the original, and make it my own.  The more I produce, the more remixes seem to know where they want to go before I do.

MARCIE:  What’s the worst thing to happen on a gig?

ZENBI: Ahhh the cryogun.  There is nothing worse or more embarrassing then having your sound go out during a performance.  At the absolute peak of my set a few months ago, the sound was loud – the lights were in this insane strobe pattern, and the cryogun shoots CO2 into the crowd, then points and my mixer – then….SILENCE.  Silence is the loudest thing a DJ can hear at two in the morning!

MARCIE:  You started your career in Philadelphia, mixing on vinyls in the mid 90′s.  When did you leave vinyls behind, and what do you use now for mixing? How did the format change alter your style?

ZENBI:  From my early days of beat-mixing, vinyl transitioned to CD turntables, which transitioned to better CD turntables, which transitioned to either USBs on CD turntables or performance software like Traktor or Ableton.  I have currently settled on Traktor Pro 2.0 with an S4 controller.  Industry veterans like Richie Hawtin and Dubfire really paved the road to acceptance of ‘Digital DJing’ and, to be honest, the quality and complexity of mixing has improved by leaps and bounds.  A decade ago, I could not have imagined having kept four 1200 MKIIs going at the same time in a way that actually added to the sound experience.  With Traktor, I do this every day.

MARCIE:  What’s a classic song that nearly always works in your set?

ZENBI:  Music Is The Answer!

MARCIE:  What artist, (dead or alive), would you trade places with for a day?

ZENBI:  Damian Hirst.

Miami Quick Quiz:

MARCIE:  Bikini or One Piece?

ZENBI:  One Piece – I am in Winter Shape!

MARCIE:  Favorite poolside drink:

ZENBI:  Several.

MARCIE:  Water Slide or Diving Board?

ZENBI: Diving Board.

MARCIE:  Do you surf?

ZENBI: Yes!

MARCIE:  Miami Vice or CSI Miami?

ZENBI:  Miami Vice!

Find Zenbi online at http://www.zenbi.com