Duke Shin

Brian Keigher (Warp) was just a kid with a drum kit whose Beatles records lead him to the tabla and other sounds of the East. Matthew Fusello (Radiohiro) had a musical epiphany involving John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. In the present, DJs Warp and Radiohiro are perhaps the most notable tech-ethnomusicologists in Chicago, and they always seem eager to return to Bombay Beatbox and its distinct brand of electronic music. "Having an art form that is able to combine both the electronica stuff that I like and the whole Indian classical and Indian music that I like... it just makes perfect sense," explains Warp.

After concluding their successful three-year midweek monthly at Sonotheque (which saw Beatbox featured in Time magazine), DJs Warp and Radiohiro looked to continue bringing in electronic music with an Eastern influence to Chicago, and the duo has recently settled on a new regular host site, HotHouse--and on weekends, to boot.

"We're able to get a more diverse audience than just club city people," explains Radiohiro. While added diversity is a plus, cultivating the right crows is also important. "There's the hardcore Punjabi/bhangra people that only want to hear the top ten bhangra hits--those aren't the type of people we're trying to appeal for. We're trying more to get the Asian underground. Progressive people."

But it takes more than integrity and a solid musical formula to push underground music into the limelight. Radiohiro credits his involvement with the underground festival scene for his motivation. "After I started going to Burning Man ten years ago, my agenda became to bring scenes to Chicago in a very selfless manner that people wouldn't normally see to expand their musical horizons."

Co-headliner Janaka Selekta also sees a connection between underground music and the festival scene. "The government stepped in and fucking crushed [rave culture]. [Now,] people with a specific vibe come to [our] shows, and they are good people and into the music, not into drinking or mething or whatever. I'm excited that Burning Man is leading to a revival in underground music in the United States."

So besides the renegade feel to this truly underground art form, what other appeal is there? According to the other headliner David Starfire, "Westernized and European dance music is not very... spiritual, I'd say. And Indian-influenced music kind of takes a dancer into a different place."

Janaka Selekta and David Starfire join Bombay Beatbox residents Warp & Radiohiro for Freaky Masala at HotHouse, 31 East Balbo, (312)362-9707, on March 23 at 10pm. $12. Visit resonatechicago.com for more information.

(2007-03-20)

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