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Dub Gnostic



Biography of Dub Gnostic

Real name / Dave B
Moniker(s) / the alchemist

A play on the word agnostic, the music of dub gnostic aligns itself with the ethos of dub reggae production techniques, but applies this ethos to the genres of house and techno. Hence, he's not entirely sure if its a dub. Resistant to sub-generic catagorizations, he has been said to play any and all manner of house and techno: progressive, deep, minimal, electro-house, tech-house, dubstep and machinefunk.

His influences derive from his youth in London, where Plus 8 Records was situated in the early 1990's. London was also conveniently situated between Detroit and Toronto, a two hour drive to each. While his cultural insight was informed by the likes of Genesis P-Orridge and Hakim Bey (more recently Gilles Deleuze and Kodwo Eshun), his music developed under the influence of both Jeff Milligan and John Acquaviva. Purveyed to the highest standards, his music strikes a balance between Fine Art and Dancefloor sensibilities.

Throughout the nineties, dub gnostic has worked with several of Canada's pioneering figures and production houses. These include Transcendance, Alien Visitation (who produce Toronto's Harvest Festival under Alien InFlux), Moontribe (Toronto). In 1997, he relocated to coastal British Columbia with the mandate to develop the minimalist house and techno sounds that had become established through Toronto artists like Mike Shannon, Jeff Milligan and Jeremy Caulfield. It was in Vancouver, that he paired with Tobias c. Van Veen and established Technowest.org - an online info-resource (an off-shoot of techno.ca) and one-time booking agency for artists such as Forest Green, Sutekh, Ben Nevile, Fishead and Jon Delerious. Another product of their collaboration was the New Moon series. This series brought Art and Activism together in public space installation / protests that sought to consolidate the right to free association by means of conviviality and art. It was also in Vancouver that he became acting manager for the first West Coast Canadian techno imprint "Bug Girl Sound".

In 2000, his work as promotions/production director at Neptune Soundbar in Victoria, set the bar for the possibilities in West Coast club culture. With a 3000 W monitor system (including dedicated sub-bass) and a 28000 W in-front-of-house PA, this club was a treat to play for everyone from DJ Heather to Ricardo Villalobos. It was also at Neptune that the careers of Cobblestone Jazz and Adham Shaikh became cemented as in-house residencies permitted the opportunity to experiment and develop. In addition to his own contributions to the nightclub industry, dub gnostic had by this point DJ'd for legendary Canadian venues such as Toronto's Industry, and Vancouver's Lotus Lounge and Sonar Nightclubs. It was also in 2000, that he first performed on Texeda Island, at a Beach Party that would soon become the Diversity Festival (where he performed in 2005 and 2006). In autumn 2000, he recorded "Creston Blue" with Ben Nevile (telegraph, cycling 74) which was released in 2001 on Mosaic Records out of the UK.

After a brief stint in Edinburgh, Scotland, he returned to London to concentrate on finishing his academic degree (Cultural History) and focussed his musical interests in a regular radio show which he was a part of from 2001-2005. Having returned to BC in 2005, presently in Victoria, he's presently working on studio material with Chris Rozek (Revolver Recordings, Switch Records) and has played select festival and club circuit bookings on the west coast of North America.







Selected discography of Dub Gnostic

2001. Mosaic Records UK. "Rhythm & Dubs Vol. 3" w/ Ben Nevile, Steve O'Sullivan MOSAIC031





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