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The Electorate
by Adriel Fantastique!

It’s not often that an artist comes along who can truly infuse music with soul, in the biblical sense. Roy Davis Jr., the Chicago-bred house music producer and DJ, crafts hot dance grooves with a spiritual essence, making music that truly elevates fans. Davis was introduced to dance music by legends DJ Pierre, Farley “Jackmaster” Funk and Lil’ Louis. Watching Louis play was instrumental in his development. Davis cites Louis’ ability to mix everything, from mellow classics to dance-floor stomps, as the most influential. Davis, by age 13, had begun DJing, spinning Beat Street–era dance, Italian disco and, eventually, house.

In 1993, Davis was asked by the seminal imprint Strictly Rhythm to serve as an A&R scout. Eventually, they asked him to form a sub-label, Red Cat Records. He began focusing more time on production work, releasing his own material. In 1998, Large Records released what is arguably Davis’ most important release. Subsequent releases like Michael and Join His Kingdom continued his chart-topping trend. His acclaim as a producer led to major remix projects for artists including Mary J. Blige and Seal. Davis’ demand as a DJ continues to climb, allowing him to spread his message around the world.  | RDW

Roy Davis Jr. • 1/8 • Vain Ultra Lounge

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The Zone
by Origix

Happy New Year, D-Town! It's a new decade; separating this moment in time from the past will be the quality needed to expose our city to the industry’s front line. It feels like now is our time to step up and take control. Behind the scenes, Tim “2 Phat” Smith is in the cockpit controlling the mixing board with 22 years of recording music experience. This risk taker has been a part of many hip-hop and rock assemblies, from C-Lit to 2 Phat & The Family Funktion and has also been the drummer for Zug Izland. His ear for music cannot be denied.

Now as grown-up as the music he produces, he took a big chance when he opened The Soundscape in Royal Oak. Opening a professional studio in the day of semi-pro home studio’s is not easy but Tim explains the difference: "As far as home based studios go, it's honestly no comparison to what I do at The Soundscape. There is a demand for quality and creativeness but also knowledge, I think this is one of the big things that sets me apart." In 2010, The Soundscape will be part of a the reality TV show titled Detroit Demo.  | RDW

For more: TheSoundscapeStudio.com

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Motor City Burning
by Max McKenna

Agent Orange is a Southern California power trio that, to me, feels like they have been around for forever. They are a mixture of surf rock and old school, hardcore punk. If you’ve ever watched a skate video in your life, you’ve probably heard them before. “Blood stains / Speed kills / Fast cars / Cheap thrills.” They are constantly yelling the values they believe in and that punk holds sacred. These guys have been playing teenagers their whole lives, so they’re pretty good at it. I would consider them one of the “classic” punk bands.

On January 14, Agent Orange will be playing a show at Small’s Bar with Detroit new school, hardcore punk band Snakewing, who can definitely keep up with seasoned pros of Agent Orange’s caliber. Snakewing tread dangerously close to the metal side of the spectrum, and were featured at a Northern Lights Lounge’s punk night just recently. They just released an EP called As Heard By the Spiders, and I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot more from these guys in the near future. If you’re new to punk music, this is definitely a show worth catching. When new school and old school come together, great things can happen.  | RDW

Agent Orange • 1/14 • Small’s

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Deep Cutz
by Jeff Milo | photo by Mike Milo

I’m excited for this show’s potential for discovery. Now, I’ve rambled a bit already this year about the once-globe-trotting/prodigal-son-returns story of The Satin Peaches and their murky/dreamy atmospheric indie-rock style (recently releasing their Still Sour EP), and lately I’ve spat a few lines propping up the recently accelerated DevilFish trio — a balance of dark psychedelia and sunny surf grooves (recently releasing their debut LP). While I want you to just eat up DevilFish (pictured) — I also want to draw attention to up-and-comers The Drags and, about two hours south of us, Bowling Green’s The Matt Truman Ego Trip. The former formed only last April but seems to already have their shit together, with a pop-leaning style informed heavily by indie’s golden age, art-punk’s spindly riffs blended to a NY-flavored post-everything shred — invigorating, forthright, shimmering stuff (go listen to “Cruel” at myspace.com/thedragsdetroit). The Matt Truman Ego Trip can give you that shoulder-shuddering, forehead-slapping eureka moment of pure body-arresting rock dynamism — guitars that wave and twirl at 90 m.p.h., vocals that chop, bite and growl and drums that can spin your head off — the kind of recipe that makes you fall in love with rock. Again.  | RDW

More at myspace.com/thematttrumanegotrip



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