V2 Events / Drumlojik / Mechanized Records / Guerilla Tactics
Paul Randall, known in Salt Lake City’s Electronic Dance Music scene simply as, “Psyonix”, has been pushing the futuristic sounds of Drum and Bass for the better part of a decade. When he first heard Grooverider’s remix of “B Boy Stance” by the legendary Freestylers back in 1999, he had no idea what that music was called, how it was produced, or that over a decade later he would have devoted his life to it. His interest in DJing really began when he first heard Dr. Octogon’s “Dr. Octagonecologyst”. He had heard turntablism before, but it never really grabbed him the same way DJ Qbert’s style did. That said, it wasn’t really until he actually witnessed DJs perform at raves that he knew this was something he wanted to be a part of.
“I love the music, I loved the atmosphere, and I had a strong desire to contribute to the scene in any way I could.”
As Paul was taken under the wing of DJ Kno-1 and the rest of the Infected Records crew, he began learning the history of the music. Tracing it back to its hardcore roots, he was fascinated at the progression the sound had undergone in its (relatively) short lifespan. The idea that any and all other forms of music had some sort of influence on Drum and Bass allowed him to explore many different variations of the music and the culture itself. Through this he has developed a style all his own, influenced by those he respects and admires in the industry.
At the time of his infancy in the scene, he adopted the moniker, “Psy Klone”, unaware (at the time) of the existence of the Drum and Bass duo, “Sci Clone”. Nor did he know of the DJs in Canada and Texas with similar names. After a year of constant, daily practice, he played his first show after he was given the opportunity by the Sektor 7 Cartel, a local professional promotion company that specialized in hosting club events for a more mainstream (and often upscale) audience. After his performance he was immediately added to the roster, and was featured at many of the Cartel’s events all over the state, playing in just about every club in the downtown area. Eventually, as most things do, Psy Klone’s affiliation with the Sektor 7 Cartel had come to an end.
“I’m lucky I came in at the time that I did. I played a ton of shows for Simon (Parsons), around town, and my affinity for the underground grew stronger, and ultimately I made the natural progression to playing more underground shows. At some point, the Cartel and I parted ways. It was obvious that the direction I was headed was far more subterranean than the everyday clubgoer was used to. I still respect all the guys from camp, they are some of the coolest, most authentic people I’ve met, and I’m forever grateful for giving me a chance to do my thing.”
Psy Klone released his first official studio mix back in 2003, entitled “Unnatural Disaster”. In just a month after he had made it available online, it had been downloaded several thousand times by people the world over. Its surprising popularity with the internet community and people within the local scene gave him a boot into the DJ Circuit, being recognized as one that could hold his own amongst his peers. Since then he’s gone on to host internet radio shows from Mechanized Records (and soon thereafter joining their ranks alongside Ethics, Merryl, Roma, Brian Blurr, and the like), ran multiple Drum and Bass websites and even for a short time ran a local newsletter.
“Man, I was doing a lot back then. I had a desk job that allowed me the time to keep up on the internet side of things, so I was pretty productive for a couple years there.”
Psy Klone soon found a home with Guerrilla Tactics, a crew of like-minded Junglists who were as down for the music as he was.
“Steez and I played a show together one night, and he saw a GT sticker on my needle case, and was all like ‘you down to represent?’ or somethin’ like that, and for me that was it. I had regarded the GT crew as the dominant species in Drum and Bass. I mean, these guys were right up there with Audioflo guys, Fader Freekz, Hiatus, Infected- all that. These guys were legit. So of course I was all, ‘fuck yeah!’ about it, it was a great moment for sure.”
After he released his second studio mix, “The Eye of the Storm”, in 2004, he finally came to terms that he wasn’t the only DJ with his name, so he undergone the transformation that more than one DJ before him has and called himself, “Psyonix”, which owes it’s likeness to Paul’s Dungeons & Dragons/RPG roots. This also had been his internet handle for a number of years, so it seemed only fitting to extend the persona into the real world.
More recently Psyonix was picked up by V2 Events, working for a short time on their web media, playing frequently at major V2/Bondad massives, and has also been managing the local Drum and Bass collective, “Drumlojik”. He’s released to full length mix CDs, the first being “Emergence Day”, and his second “Contents Under Pressure”. He’s also dropped a few more Drum and Bass mixes online and even a Dancehall mix for fun, making him one of the more prolific artists in SLC. With the explosion of the Dubstep scene in the US, then DJ known at one time to purely specialize in beats produced at 175+ BPM has now found an attraction to productions written in the 145 BPM range.
“Now that I’ve got Serato, it’s on. I’ve been a vinyl purist for years, but in order to keep up with the pace of all of these new artists, tunes, styles, and sounds, I needed a medium that allowed me to do that, without compromising the aesthetics of mixing records too much. I’ve been a huge Dubstep fan as of late, and am absolutely in love with all the wicked drum and Bass that’s being produced in recent months. You’ll be hearing much more of both genres of music in the coming years, as that’s really what’s doing it for me right now”.
Psyonix is looking only to keep sharing the music that moves him with the people who will listen. he’s been afforded the opportunity to share the billing with some of his personal heroes, such as Dieselboy, Loxy + Ink, Ewun, Chris Renegade, Aphrodite, Simon “Bassline” Smith, DStar, Armanni Reign, Mason, Demo + Cease, Black Sun Empire, Freaky Flow + MC Flipside, and Tech Itch, just to name a very few. Lately he can be found hosting a weekly internet mix show alongside Steez at Tactical Assault Studios (http://tasmixshow.com), while still playing out every chance he can. With no signs of stopping any time soon, Psyonix has been, and will continue to be definitely one to watch out for in the EDM scene!
