NYC - USA

Born to house? These two New York producers are. They have stamped the post-Twilo dance scene with their signature brand of mischievous thumpage. Whether they are mixing, remixing, or creating tracks oftheir very own, the boys of Astro&Glyde are making some of the naughtiest house music around. It's no wonder that John Digweed has labeled their music “the sleazy sound of New York”. And these boys couldn't be prouder of such descriptions. But what may truly surprise people is the long and arduous path that each man took to get to the Lower East Side. What follows may shock some, but it nonetheless must be told to understand the madness that is Astro&Glyde.

In the early seventies, German scientists were hard at work developing their latest technological breakthrough, Subliminal Sonic Weaponery (SSW). They began designing what in layman's terms could be called “the perfect beat”. The idea was to create a sound so hypnotic, so mesmerizing, that anyone who heard it, would immediately fall under the control of whoever created it. But they realized that creating a powerful weapon wasn't enough. They would need carefully trained agents to penetrate the ears of the masses. Men who would not only understand the technical intricacies of sound, but who would be charismatic enough to get people to stand around, listen, and obey. The Germans began setting up laboratories where these agents would be created, bringing together the sperm and eggs of its finest German citizens, incubating them in a lab and nurturing them using the most advanced practices in pre-natal care. Because, however, Germany was still a communist country under the Soviets who had no inkling or approval of the project, it had to keep it under wraps. The project was dubbed “Project Astro” in a

backhanded attempt to honor the space race. It is in one of these laboratories that the first part of Astro&Glyde begins.

Though he denies it to this day, Gaby Dershin was born in one of those German labs. As a young boy, he would frolic in his laterhousen and laugh and laugh, living a carefree life completely unaware of his role as a future sonic bruiser. His thorough education included music, where he showed a preternatural gift at an early age, and nine forms of martial arts. Gaby immediately made himself a legend when at the age of ten, he inadvertently killed a fellow classmate who had made fun of his fat fingers by crushing his windpipe with a schoolbook. The Germans were delighted and Gaby cried for eight days.

Upon graduating at the top of his class, Gaby was immediately seized by agents and whisked away to Berlin where he was to begin the second phase of his training. German scientists has grown anxious as a new form of music named disco was looming on the horizon and sounded remarkably like the nascent SSW. To a music geek like Gaby, Berlin was heaven. Not only did Gaby have the most sophisticated sound engineering equipment at his fingertips, it was his first time in a big city. Berlin was a feast for his senses, honing his tastes and sensiblities. Finally in 1987, the SSW was ready. Gaby was assigned to New York City and arrived with a crate of records that had the magical beat embedded in them.

At first, the city did not treat Gaby well. On his first night he was accosted by a gang of youths. Gaby, babbling and pleading in German for his records, was hardly the picture of a perfect German warrior. But when one of the kids made the mistake of asking him if he had any hip hop records, it triggered a rage in him that he still harbors to this day. The poor youths are now grease spots in front of a noodle shop on Bowery St. Then, out of the blue, an even greater tragedy befell Gaby. The Berlin Wall came down, communism collapsed, and most significantly, Gaby was left stranded in New York without proper funding. At this point all he owned were two turntables, a crate of perfect (but poppy) German records, and a dog named Crosby that had followed him home and whom he had trained to bum smokes.

It is here that we must check in with our other, equally important, half of the equation, Mr. James Bem. While Gaby was learning Chopin in a sterile white classroom half a world away, James was a member of the most famous alligator wrestling family in the Florida everglades. They would travel from town to town, releasing alligators into very visible water locations and con the town into paying them to go alligator trapping. James would be the child that the alligator would devour, thereby sending the town into a panic. But, unbeknownst to the people, James possessed superhuman strength and could go hours in an alligator's mouth without being devoured. He would glide in and out of an alligator's gullet, and for this obscure tidbit his family nicknamed him, “the glide”. Eventually however, James grew much larger than his father, which sent the family dynamic into chaos. During a rough game of basketball, James and his errant elbows ripped off a guy's nose and landed him in jail. Though it broke his stepmother's heart, James had no way of knowing just how important this event would be in his life.

In the Howard county penitentiary, he befriended Cornelius Bonner, a convict serving ten years for manslaughter. Cornelius was a former soul singer who had spent two decades traveling through the chitlin circuit. He had played with all the greats, made women swoon, and was a veritable encyclopedia of music. In exchange for free music lessons, James would offer protection to Cornelius. To James, he became a mentor, a shoulder to cry on, and a fountain of stories that told of a world outside of Florida free from the heat and alligator saliva that James had been raised to enjoy. From the earnings he made from bare knuckle fights, James purchased a harmonica and played his first chords. They had only known each other for six days, but already a lifetime of memories had been made. When James finished his sentence, he immediately headed north, knowing that the world that Cornelius had woven lay at the other end of a bus ride. He got as far north as New Jersey and immediately began to concoct innovative ways that would get him across the river to New York City. Cornelius had told him of a city so glorious that the women walked around naked, jobs grew on trees, and you were free to urinate everywhere. After months of racking his brain, someone suggested to James that he take the so-called “underground train” and on a sweltering July day,

James emerged in the West Village….only to find that Cornelius had been a third right. Women did not walk around naked, there were no jobs to be found, but you could pretty much urinate anywhere. Which suited James just fine.

James found music everywhere. In the parks, on the street corners, even junkies writhing in ecstasy on the sidewalk, everywhere was music for James. And armed with a keen ear, he began to mimic these sounds. His ability to recreate sounds was rivaled only by his ability to open tin cans with his teeth (which was the last bastion of his gradually fading superhuman strength). Such was his prowess with sonic mimicry that he even surprised himself when two kids asked him about his funny shoes and he instinctively replied, “…the fuck outta here!” The kids looked at him strangely and spat on him.

Ultimately he landed a job at a shoe store, where his limited skills sentenced him to hours of drudging labor lacing and unlacing shoes. To make the time pass quickly, James would hum melodies to himself. He would run the gamut of tones in his head that Cornelius had left him. He would start small and simple, humming children's nursery rhymes and before he knew it, epic new-agey melodies would soar from his throat that happened to catch the ear of a certain unemployed German spy. Gaby has never said what he was doing in a children's shoe store, but upon hearing the stockboy and his singing he walked up to him and said hello. A legend was born.

As with most friendships formed during a certain time period in New York, Gaby and James solidified theirs at Twilo. The club helped give the boys their unique sound. “At Twilo,” Gaby recalls with a smile, “you could play songs that weren't immediately obvious. The crowds could absorb deeper music. And Twilo was the nexus through which all Djs came, whether your style was techno, house, progressive, trance, whatever.” To this day Twilo remains a flashpoint for the sound of Astro&Glyde.

It was only a matter of time before the boys would start cranking out their own productions. The year 2000 saw the first Astro&Glyde release, the ironically titled, “Happy Ending”. The track, a most glorious beginning, was picked up by Oxygen Music and was quickly followed up by “Ruff Riders”(2000), “Oraphi” (20001) and “Una Fresca (2001) “Fresca” a chug-in-space tune that was co-written by then Twilo resident Tini Tun, was licensed to several CD compilations. Much has been made of the obvious Latin influence in Astro&Glyde's sets and productions. The reasons seem quite obvious. James explains, “Well, there's of course, Ibiza. We've played there several times and I make it every season. But there's something about the Spanish and South American feel that just seems natural for us. The drums, the drinks, the vibe. I even married a Spaniard.”

The boys next produced a series of quality remixes including “Needing Your Love” (2001) and “Patience” (2002) Then “The Jam”(2002) exploded onto soundsystems. “Sometimes,” Gaby recalls, “you gotta just say, 'what the fuck', you know?”. The track was a deep and spacey remix of Technotronic's classic “Pump Up the Jam” that turned heads around the world. It signified a sound that was about to get serious though the boys clearly are not. The bootleg gave them a higher profile that developed into partnerships with labels around the world. Through an exchange with Madrid-based Inevitable Records, the PyschoMachines (David Lara & Juan Iborra) remixed “Kinky” (2003) for the boys, who, in turn, remixed the Machines' “Submergible” (2004). “Kinky” was a noticeable step up for the boys. Sampling Jimi Hendrix, the song eschews his more obvious riffs and instead takes you on an intense and driven journey that lights up a dance floor. The boys, it seems, were hitting their stride.

One of the hallmarks of an Astro&Glyde track is its non-electronic influences. Rock is the most obvious squatter on many of their tracks, but elements of soul, funk, reggae, or even jazz can creep on you in the most cavernous places. One such example is the remix of the rock band's track. The song, which was only released on download at the band's website, was both a challenge and a natural progression. “James and I both grew up on a diet of many different styles of music. Living in New York, downtown, you can't help but be influenced.” With an even greater degree of success, the A&G boys remixed a classic punk-dance anthem in 2004, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult's “Sex on Wheels”. This nasty production sneaks up on you, pumping along until the breakdown which is met by the memorable guitar lick of the song. In 2005, a Thrill Kill Kult remix album was released and “Sex on Wheels” is a highlight among remixes by.

Through their hard work and persistence, the right song found its way into the hands of the right man. And in October of 2003, John Digweed found himself listening to Astro&Glyde's creepy cool “Aimless Dame”. The details of the event are now storied. Sir John listening to any early version on a clock radio/CD player in his New York hotel room and immediately wanting to sign it to Bedrock Records. For Gaby and James, it was one more step in the right direction. “What does it mean?” asks James facetiously. “Oh, not much. Just more visibility, worldwide distribution, instant credibility. Not much at all,” he says laughing. The song, featuring the rock star vocals of Queen V and sublimely remixed by The Tigerhook Corporation's Randall Jones, stormed the Winter Music Conference of 2004. Suddenly, the boys were moving up from opening acts to headliners themselves and loving every minute of it.

For the past five years, the boys have been shamelessly playing one of the most decadent dance parties in New York, the legendary Sunday Sessions at LeSouk. The elements initially seemed improbable. Sunday nights, small space, Moroccan restaurant. Huh? But the impossible quickly morphed into the unmentionable, as every Sunday night in the East Village would turn into a hedonistic house music party complete with drummers, hookahs, beds, and a collection of the most amazing dancers this side of Ibiza. Flanked by founder Jason Swamy and resident DJ John Dill, the boys have welcomed to LeSouk an army of the world's greatest Djs who sometimes man the decks and other times just come to chill. They've included Danny Tenaglia, Sasha, Tiesto, John Digweed, Lee Burridge, Craig Richards, Three, Lottie, Sean Cusick, Behrouz, Infusion, Mr. C, Mark Knight and Martijn Van, Tony Thomas, and many others. No matter where the boys are playing around the world, they always make it back for their wicked (and favorite) residency.

2005 and 2006 are looking to shape up as banner years for the superhero duo known as Astro&Glyde. They are set to launch their own label, Water Based Music (get it?) and the first track, “Crawlin” (2005) has already been licensed to Infusion's label. Their travels have already taken them around the world to places like Israel, Costa Rica, Hungary, and Argentina. On a regular basis, the boys play Kabal in Kansas City, Skeezo in Monterrey, Mexico, and Crobar New York. In fact, just this past August, the boys headlined their first night at Crobar with live accompaniment by LeSouk's Joe Bongo and vocals by now-frequent collaborator Queen V. The night had an almost rock concert vibe as the Queen sang her ass off to a tribal version of the Ben E. King classic “Spanish Harlem” due for release next year. It is an exciting time to have rhythm. It is an exciting time to be young. And for Gaby and James, it is just the tip of the iceberg. The smiles on dancefloors everywhere affirm their work ethic that you should always have fun. Gaby explains, “Creation should be fun. Making music is a lot like making babies. It's a lot of sweating and grunting. Funny noises come out. And lots of people can join in.”