E-SIX & ROAN
Emerging from scenes seemingly worlds apart though identical in passion, virtuosity and cultural influence, Emilio Abadia and Matt Roan form what is possibly the most innovative and engaging DJ duo to infiltrate the Windy City. A drive to isolate, capture, cut-up and then synthesize moments of both sonic and visual art mark the experience of one of their performances. Their sets, which are as meticulously curated as a gallery show and involve DVD clips edited to a click track, have resulted in a very respected event: Dance Party Magic, produced under the banner of their company Crossfader King. In individual sets, Abadia, known as E-Six, and Roan bring elements of their divergent musical backgrounds to the fore, adding unique options to Chicago clubbers apart from their visual and audio mash-ups. Each a relentless selector, E-Six and DJ Matt Roan are the perfect purveyors of your party experience.
Originally hailing from Daytona Beach, Florida, E-Six was a prominent promoter in the post-punk and hardcore rock scenes. He simultaneously absorbed many other musical movements of the time, including electronica at old-school raves, dirty South hip-hop, Miami bass and the more slickly produced sounds of beachside clubs. This schizophrenic appreciation resulted in what E-Six calls his “rock-any-kind-of-crowd music,” melding original remixes, bass-drenched club rap, electronic bangers, rock gems, ‘80s and ‘90s breaks and international underground.
Chicago native Roan got his chops in the classically trained realm, studying piano, guitar and drums from the age of eight onward. Four indie records, a stint at Lollapalooza and several club residencies later, his beat master prowess has surpassed the various DJs he watched in awe at the Northside Puma store he once managed. By teasing partygoers with a carefully constructed wall of atmospheric choices from across the map, E-Six and DJ Matt Roan are a club experience akin to champagne and truffles at an abandoned warehouse party: completely unexpected.
THE SHOW:
"We are rocking parties, editing, and remixing videos for songs. You've seen DVJs in use.. I don't have to explain that. The difference between our show and a traditional VJ set is that we make custom music videos and visual collages to "mash-up" using 4 turntables that play videos. This is not a normal or predictable 2 channel video DJ set, or simply playing a movie on a projector. We are directing and scoring an interactive video mix tape. Sounds over the top? [laughing] You shouldn't accept my apology. " -E-SIX
