Andrew Shuch aka DJ Werd

The Play.FM Artist-in-Residence Program is the opportunity I have been waiting for over the past few years. I am a Dj/producer/turntablist from San Jose, California residing in Berlin since 1999. I moved to Berlin seven years ago to further develop my musical career. Berlin has blessed me with extremely valuable lessons in life, music and business, and has been a wonderful “home base” from where I could travel to many European cities.

I first visited Vienna in 2000 and was immediately impressed with the quality of music and musicians in the city. Through the help of my friend Zuzee (Waxolutionists), I was able to meet many people on the club Dj scene, and had a few opportunities to play in some of the best clubs in Vienna. The thing that surprised me the most, was the fact that I could play “my music”, the music I really enjoy playing, and that the audience reacted extremely positively to it. In Berlin I have had to make many compromises in order to live from my music. This entailed sacrificing some of my musical dreams in exchange for jobs as a studio musician and tour Dj. If granted a residency at Play.FM, I would use the opportunity to follow these dreams and concentrate on developing my personal music career.

Music Production
A substantial part of my stay in Vienna will be dedicated to completing the production, mixing and mastering of the second “Long Lost Relative” LP. Long Lost Relative is a project that combines the talents of several musicians from San Francisco, New York, Berlin and Vienna. The first album “twilight” was released in May 2005 on the Viennese label Goalgetter.

Collaborations with such artists as Wisdom & Slime, The Waxolutionists and DBH (Total Chaos) have already been planned, and the Artist-in-Residence Program would make it possible for me to record these and many other musicians in the Goalgetter Studio in Vienna. The second part of the process will be to mix the album together with DBH, and finally, mastering the project with Brx at the Goalgetter Studios.

Interdisciplinary Art
The MuseumsQuartier and the city of Vienna as a whole appear to be a great forum for interdisciplinary art projects. In the past I have produced and performed music with the ESP Project Company, a reputable dance-theater company from San Francisco. The combination of turntablism, music production and dance-theater has been a perfect opportunity for my music to reach people outside of the club culture scene. With the help of the residency program, I hope to come into contact with Viennese dance companies that have an interest in collaboration and artistic exchange. I also hope to meet film producers in order to produce music for film soundtracks and music video producers for possible projects relating to the new Long Lost Relative album.

Radio Djing
My Dj career began in 1996 with the Curbside radio show on KSCU 103.3 Fm, Santa Clara University Radio. Since 1999 I have had very little radio experience. I would like to return to my Dj roots at Play.FM as I feel this could be a great career once I am too old and tired to be a club Dj. I have also had several appearances on FM4 at both the “Tribe Vibes” show and the “Digital Konfusion Mix Show”.  The residency would give me enough time in Vienna to explore the possibilities of a future career in radio at FM4 or other radio stations. With the help of Stefan Trischler (Tribe Vibes), I plan to record a pilot radio show at the FM4 studios for promotional use.

Club Djing
I have already spread my roots in the Viennese club Dj scene, and the Artist-in-Residence Program would allow me to grow and blossom in my work. I intend to work closely with the clubs and artists I have already met on my many trips to Vienna. A strong connection with Dieter Schaerf and the Café Leopold has allowed me to frequent the MuseumsQuartier, and will undoubtedly serve an important role in allowing me to express myself creatively. Such clubs as Flex, Roxy, Wirr, B72, and Hinterzimmer in Café Europa have given me invaluable Dj opportunities and I look forward to working with them again.

Living, working and developing artistically in Vienna has been a goal of mine for many years. The open-minded music scene, the vibrant art, dance and theater scenes, could be such a great source of inspiration and motivation and would definitely push me to grow both personally and artistically. Thank you for considering me for the Play.FM Artist-in-Residence Program. I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Andrew Pace Shuch

I would like to start by thanking the Museums Quartier and Play.fm for giving me the opportunity to be in a creative, comfortable environment to concentrate on my music. Unfortunately due to outside circumstances my trip was cut short. However the last two weeks have been extremely busy and productive as I was able to record with many great artists, and had many extremely valuable djing opportunities. I have compiled a collection of recordings and a short description of what I did each day.

March 15th
I arrived in Vienna at 7am and met Franz Otto from Play.fm.
13:00 – interview with “Wohnoen” magazine in my artist studio.
22:00-24:00 – Tribe vibes radio show on FM
24:00-4:00 – The Loud Minority at Roxy (recording included)
Djing with DBH, Mr Wisdom and Mr Guan (see flyer)

March 16th
Went to Planet Music to hand out flyers and promote for the Luftbad on the 18th

March 17th
6:30 - Hip hop artists Amewu and S.Rok arrive in Vienna.
15:30-0:30 – Djing with Mr Wisdom at the Deli Naschmarkt

March 18th
21:00-4:00 – Luftbad with Mystic, Hezekiah, Dave Ghetto, Amewu, S-rok, Wisdom and Werd (recording included)
This was my main project in Vienna. A live concert with artists from California, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Vienna and Berlin. (see flyer)

March 19th
Visited the café Leopold and met with talented young turntablists Snachatech and Austrian ITF champion Chris Fader to discuss possible recordings.

March 20th
Recorded music with Snachatech, an amazing 20 year old turntablist from Munich, Germany in my artist studio.(unfinished recording new llr “crew raw beat”)

March 21st
16:00 - Met with a large group of Austrian djs including Dj Beware, Zuzee, Chris Fader, DBH, Wisdom and more to discuss the formation of a new booking agency.
21:00 – Practice session at the Ghostbusters studio with Zuzee, Chris Fader, Wisdom and Snatchatech(Germany)

March 22nd
12:00-18:00 - Recorded a new song “Thin Line” for the Wisdom&Slime album at Brx’s Goalgetter studios together with Wisdom and Amewu. (recording new llr “thin line rough”)
20:00-21:30 - Freestyle session at Richard Mixons studio.
22:00-23:00 - Tribe Vibes on FM4 with Amewu.

March 23rd
22:00-4:00 – Djing and Live concert in Mumokka MQ (see flyer)
Two days before this event, Chris from Play.fm contacted me and asked if I could play a last minute show in the Mumok café. I played a long hip hop set and a live show together with Amewu.

March 24th
22:00-4:00 – Djing Café Leopold MQ (recording included)
6 hours in the Leopold salon, host dj and improvisational tuntablism with live band. Live show with Amewu! Great last party in Vienna! Great recording from the Leopold staff!

March 25th
23:00-24:00 – Live radio show Play.fm (recording included )
This was a very special live mix where I combined the songs of various artists dealing with America’s current political situation. Keep it real radio show, 2nd half. Theme mixes are my specialty, so please try to listen to the words!

March 26th
22:30-0:00 – Live radio show, Loud Minority on Play.fm (recording included)
21:30-3:00 – Djing with Mr Wisdom in Café Leopold MQ

March 27th
11:30 – Met with Jane Cheadle, another artist in residence to exchange music for video art. Amazing stuff!

March 28th
14:00-17:00 – Recorded with Chris Fader, Austrian ITF Champion in artist studio (recording new llr “snow rough”)
21:00-6:00 – Party in the artist studio with Play.fm staff, 3 other artists in residence, Leopold staff, Goalgetter staff, FM4 staff and all the artists I met on my visit to Vienna.