FUND!

My homey adoptahighway is a musician that I've known OF longer than I've actually known personally. He's my kinda dude, humble and ridiculously talented! This fact aside, he is making big moves to independently release his own 7" wax and YOU should help by donating to fund the cause at this LINK.

On the topic of donation, if you haven't donated to the Japanese relief effort by now you probably kick puppies for fun.

Mux Mool Drum EP 2

I'm making this post incase any of you don't follow this countries vast electronic scene closely. Mux Mool just released the second Drum EP which is up for donation download! If you can donate you should! All the artists that make us groove don't survive on air alone. Don't miss out.

My 2010 in Music

Community Service!

This week I was in St. Louis for a string of shows with put together by my good friend Stan Chisholm (18 and Counting). I was invited out along side my buddies Dolor and Lorn. Lorn was accompanied by his homie adoptahighway, who I'd been looking forward to meeting for years. Also in the mix were the Chicago based, dynamic and talented photography duo that is Glitter Guts. Four musicians, two photographers and one visual artist surely made for one hell of an experience!

I can honestly say that I have never worked intandem with so many talented individuals, ever! The experience was like no other for me personally. Glitter Guts did an amazing job capturing the essence of the night that can be viewed here.

The first performer of the night was the orchestrator himself, 18AC. As you may know 18ac is already a well established visual artist. However, what you may not know is that recently he has realigned his sights onto the DJ'ing scene in St. Louis. There, he does his duty to inform the unknowing of what they have been missing in the vast, global electronic music scene. Just like with his visual art, communication is a MASSIVE catalyst in his funky scheme.

18andCounting @ Uptairs Lounge in St. Louis from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

Up next was my man adoptahighway! When I look back to his set wow is seriously the first word that comes to mind. I was so impressed by the vast array of sounds he unleashed I spent half the set like a deer in headlights. Mind you, adoptahighway is half of the duo Omega Clash along side Lorn. With that said, it is only logical to assume that he caused a RUCKUS! It twas a beautiful ruckus indeed. Immediately after he finished his set I shamelessly requested his services in a new project of mine. There will be a very big treat in store for you all. I. CAN'T. WAIT!

adoptahighway @ Upstairs Lounge in St. Louis from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

Next, Dolor. I'm half convinced that Dolor actually means dance in some ancient forgotten language and Shawn just isn't telling me. Seriously, this man has an ability to make hips sway and feet shuffle like no other. I almost forgot to shoot a video of him spinning because I was so busy bouncing around! The way he performs it's really more like being at the mercy of an X-man than a DJ. Stay tuned for more of the colab between Dolor and myself!

Dolor @ Upstairs Lounge in St. Louis from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

Last, and for damn sure not least, was Lorn. Before I even continue, I have to say how COOL it is to actually be friends with one of your favorite musicians!! I actually met Dolor as a result of me walking by his room while he was spinning a track that turned out to be Lorn's. Flashbacks aside, the torrent of sounds included in Lorn's set hit like a ton of bricks! If you haven't had the fortune of seeing him perform live I'm not sure what you're doing with yourself. Stop reading and go now!

Lorn @ Upstairs Lounge in St. Louis from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

As awesome as all of the sets were I have to say my favorite part of the whole experience was meeting some extremely talented and down to Earth people. Not to mention that all the time in between shows was hilarious.

The Anthem from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

I'm very fortunate to have the luxury of having such talented friends, who in turn introduce me to their talented friends. It is a cycle that I hope will never stop. You'll find permanent links to adoptahighway and Glitter Guts over on the right nav bar.

Thanks for reading! If you are in or near St. Louis drop by the Upstairs Lounge for a good time, preferably on a Wednesday! I'm looking very forward to my two projects that are in the works and I hope to have some more previews up soon. Ciao.

Winter!

Well, after having been indoors for three days straight and peeking out the window I've realized the fact that it is indeed winter. Snow is everywhere and it's cold outside but 2pak have been kind enough to send some heat our way! My homies come through once again with another smooth jam. Hit the jump and check out the early gift from j.pak and pak.one!

Distracted From Work

So like always, I have been listening to tunes while drawing my life away. Although I have about 50 more story boards to draw out I tore myself away from the panels and started cranking out this uncontrollably haha. I'll stop for now and get back to boarding.

Numbernin6 is 100% to blame for deterring me from my duties haha!

Community Service

Big things are right around the corner in STL for my man 18 and Counting's birthday. I'll be providing some visuals for the evenings happenings with Mr. Ryan Powell. If you're in the hemisphere and are looking for a good time you should make the trek for sure! I'll be traveling down tuesday! Bo!

Storyboards!

I'm swimming in a sea of storyboards! I'm boarding out a music video, three comics and my graduate animation proposal! They are everywhere! Currently browsing my iTunes for the two perfect songs for the last project I mentioned. Decisions. Decisions..

I'm highly considering using this as one of the tunes. For those that don't know, this is possibly my favorite song of all time.

Wanderlust

This song came on in the car today! I'd forgotten how much I love this song and video. Like many of Bjorks vids it is super inspirational!!

A Taste of What's to Come.

Finalizing the piece for the show currently. Then the next order of business is continuing work on the visuals for the show with Anti, Dolor and Lorn. But the project after that is going to be really special. Working on a music video with Anti and Dolor. I think its gonna be pretty solid. I'm not too focused on it right now but like any good DuPree I'm planning two steps ahead. Check it out.

Dolor Strikes Again

My friend Dolor has unleashed yet another sick remix upon the world. Check it.

Day 2

The Chemical Brothers show was definitely a hard act to follow. But the second day of North Coast Festival turned out to be a BLAST! The first set I decided to check out was Layedback Luke. I knew nothing about him and had never even heard the name before but the boy threw down some serious bass. I was waiting for Benga's set to start but Luke's wobble lured me in and his drums kept me there.

Luke did a great job getting me hype and I was ready for Benga to tear it up. But as the crew was setting up for the next performer I noticed a guy that looked a whole lot like Daedalus and sure enough it was.

Eventually he informed the crowd that Benga was unable to make it to the states and that he has been brought in super last minute to supply the crowd with the bass they were seeking. As sad as I am that I didn't get to see Benga perform I am thankful that Daedalus was there to entertain. He even opened up with my homie Lorn's tune Army of Fear!

Daedalous drops Lorn- Army of Fear at Northcoast Festival from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

After Daedalous filled the bass quota for the evening I worked my way over to check out Jay Electronica's performance. In my post listing my most anticipated artists I said that I thought Jay would be the surprise of the show. Boy was I wrong. He did more talking than rapping and had a very poor sense of how to control a crowd.

Securing a Front Row Spot for De La Soul from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

BUT after leaving his stage 20 minutes into his show I set myself up for a real treat. Front row De La Soul!

Unfortunately I don't really have any concrete documentation of the De La show. I was too busy having fun. I had forgotten how much fun good hip hop shows were. I even got to shake up with Posdenus when he came down to the crowd. I think I can say that the De La show was the most fun I had all weekend. They even brought out Dres from Black Sheep!! Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After De La exited the stage we mustered the last of our innerfunk and worked our way over the the stage to catch Boys Noize.

Somewhere in the midst of the blinding light on stage Boys Noize switched off and Moby took over! I can't believe that he got me to dance that much when I was so worn out from De La. I know I stated previously that Boys Noize knew how to throw a party but Moby illustrated an even greater command over the forces of body movin'.

Day 3 was short and sweet. I'll post up soon.

Day 1

These are some pics from the Chemical Brothers show last night. It was beyond words. Sick tunes. Sick Visuals. Crazy crowd. This was my first show of this scale and i must say it shattered my expectations.

Chemical Brothers Rock North Coast Festival Chicago from Mike DuPree on Vimeo.

North Coast Festival Sept 3-5!

North Coast Festival, the closing event of the summer that I have been waiting for, is finally here! With the pathetic line up for Lalapalooza it's nice to see that there is a music festival in Chicago with a desirable line up. There are many others performing but the following are the artists I am looking most forward to!

BENGA

Benga is one of my favorite dubstep artists and is the only artist of the genre performing at North Coast.He is one of the first dubstep artists that I found and remains at the top of my list. I'm still recovering from the heart attack I suffered at the DJ Krush show when he dropped Benga's tune 'Roller'

CHEMICAL BROTHERS

This is the world famous duo that ushered me into the world that is electronic music. I have been waiting many years to see these guys. I was so excited when I saw them headlining the festival that I just stopped reading the flyer immediately. Star Guitar is in heavy rotation when I'm working, I LOVE that song.

FLYING LOTUS

I remember back when Fly Lo only had 3,000 plays on last FM, 1,500 of which were split between my friend Leonard and myself. With out a doubt Flying Lotus has now become a huge name in the global music scene. His unique sound is worthy of much praise despite his recent slump in my opinion. Can't wait!! Rickshaw is SUCH a sick song!

JAY ELECTRONICA

I honestly hardly know anything about this dude, but every song I've caught wind of has been righteous. It is very nice, and rare, to find a spot on MC in the sudden swarm of bubble gum crack head rappers that have taken over this country. I think Jay will be the X factor of the whole festival.

BOYS NOIZE

I have listened to his studio album Oi Oi Oi quite a bit over the past few years. However, I've had the opportunity to seem him live about four or five times now and for what ever reason I have always passed. But from what I've heard the kid knows how to throw a party so I'm eagerly awaiting. This guys Fiest remix is probably one of my favorite remixes in my iTunes.

The Chemical Brothers!!

Kind of Blue

Now that things are starting to finally die down I've gotten the chance to start a little new project. The goal is simple. Redesign the covers of some of my favorite games, albums and movies. I'd like to effectively communicate my connection to the selected works through my redesigns. First up is Mr. Miles Davis.

Feelin' Good

Just came back from the lab after working for a a very productive 13 hours. I must say that I am an exceptionally fortunate person to be able to do what I love without opposition. Unlike some long hauls in the animation lab, today I was really on it. Managed to finalize my product for the last step. I've no doubt that my friends, family and good music are to blame. Combined, these elements produce a limitless reservoir of energy to feed on. I'd love to show some updates, but I promised myself I wouldn't make anymore posts on this project until it's finished. 21 years in the making! It's 6 am, and I don't remember when I slept last. I should probably go get on that.

KRUSH

After about six years of waiting, I finally, FINALLY got the chance to see DJ Krush live last night. This guy has been my favorite turntable-based musician for a bunch of years now. Needless to say, I absolutely geeked last night at Empty Bottle. He came to Chicago twice in 2006, but they were both 21+ shows, but I was only 19 and very, very sad. But good things come to those who wait, I suppose. And things were very, very good last night.

His set was composed of lots of his more upbeat tracks as well as some special gems sprinkled in. A few DJ Shadow tunes here and there, some Dan the Automator as well as some HEAVY Dubstep tracks. We even got a Billie Jean live remix! About a 3rd of the way through the set, Krush decided to drop the most leathel Dubstep tune my ears have heard. My roommate and I have decided to refer to this track as Megatron out of respect.

Seeing this man work his magic live is an experince like no other. Hearing his albums is really amazing, but witnessing him at work live is something totally different all together. I don't care where you live. If you have the opportunity to see this man do so without hesitation.
KRUSH!

Boom Bap

So in the midst of finals, I decided to start a new hobby by creating finely-tuned iTunes playlists. I've always used playlists in iTunes, but they've always been pretty generic. They either consist of a whole artist's body of work, a whole record label or poses. But this new playlist that I've created is focused on the heavy hip-hop influence kick snare sound. I tried to give myself some limitations in creating it. I didn't want to have any one artist over powering the list, so i tried to keep each artist to about 7 or 8 songs each. Also, no words. This playlist is focus strictly on beats. I cheated this rule once just because I loved a song so much! I'll post up a screen shot. Tell me what you guys think, who I should add and who I should take out. Here we gooo.

Boom Bap

More iPod

Snapping pics at red lights is kind of invigorating. Maybe that's not the right word. It'll do for now.