Check out this months online issue featuring the Masked DJs of Texas including the multi-talented Punktronica.
(see Punktronica interview below) Click HERE to view entire October issue.
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How would you best describeyour sound?
Electro Punk Bass
Do you wear the helmet at every show?
No, but I wish!
What’s the craziest thing you have seen at a show?
I think an emergency helicopter landing in the middle of the rave field was pretty crazy.
Last road trip experience?
Last road trip to Austin was very fun. No problems, no hassle. A lot of road trips can end up being more frustrating than fun. My trip to Japan could also follow the same logic.
Speaking of Japan, some people think that you actually moved to Japan to stay…..
I wish that was the case. I’ve been to Japan on a 2 week trip before. This last time I wanted to go and become a part of it. I stayed for 3 months which is what they allow you to stay with a tourist visa.
What is the worst and best parts of your Japan experience?
I never had a bad day in Japan. So, I can’t even say there is a worst part in my time there. I guess the worst part was coming back here! LOL. On a previous trip I definitely have something I could cite as the worst part of the trip. Don’t ever miss the last train. My friend and I missed the last train. We were about 15+ miles away from our hotel. That was the longest I had ever hiked in my life. Even though it was a bad experience, it was still really memorable. One day I decided to just jump into a club at random. Clubs are pretty expensive in Tokyo. usually 35+ dollars to get in on the weekend. CLUB Asia…. I looked at the headliners… DEDE Mouse. “Mouse on the Keys” yeah that looks pretty good. Sure! Went in, Met DEDE Mouse in person, met another DJ. Awesome night. Later on I organized a meeting with one of the DJ’s and brought my ctrltar. I taught him how to use my ctrltar in the only meeting place with speakers available = A karaoke room! LOL We met at the famous Shibuya walkway in front of the TSUTAYA. He named the meeting place TSUTAYA specifically. However, any of us Americans would of definitely picked “starbucks” as the meeting place as its literally right next to TSUTAYA. Their technology far exceeds ours, but it was cool to finally be the one teaching/showing something they haven’t done before All the music hardware stores are REALLY great! They have everything hooked up and presented for you to try out. They had a massive selection of gear for stores that were only 400 sq ft. I was just blown away at how nice and wide of a selection they had for something 1/10 the size of a Guitar Center. Tell us a little bit about your musical history. One reason that you are a personal favorite of mine is the depth of your music and technical knowledge. I was actually born with my musical talent. I did percussion throughout middle school and high school. I started writing little tunes on sheet paper when I was 13. When I was 14 I got cakewalk for my birthday. I could finally hear what I was writing down with microsoft midi instruments. My teacher said I had the same skill as a college graduate of music theory. Did anyone care? Nope! LOL. At some point I stopped writing midi music. I got into Djing at 18. I am self taught in all aspects. Producing. Music Theory. Piano and Djing.
The keys/pads contraption sets you apart, and adds a nice visual experience to your shows. Describe your instrument (The CTRLTAR) and the history behind it.
It all started when I decided to bring an ordinary midi keyboard and play along while I DJ’ed with cd’s. Then I played with BazarTrance and exclusively only did keyboard parts. I thought, WOW, this is actually more fun than DJing!! So I took a break from Djing for about 2+ years. I decided that if I’m going to get back into this I’m going to do something different. I took this avenue because I had alot of fun doing it. So the basis of this thing is to incoporate a way of making playing the keyboard parts the most important thing. I also noticed too many people were buried behind laptops, which I found kinda dumb. I found a new love with a couple of perfomance videos of Ableton. I’m a big fan of the 80’s, so all of these little things came together for the idea of the CTRLTAR. The actual construction of the CTRLTAR was a whole another beast to tackle. It’s one of the most sophisticated things I’ve had to overcome piece by piece. It took a long time to research and development it.
(since this interview Timothy “Punkronica” Naranjo has relocated to San Fransisco)
