Darin McFadyen, better known by his stage name FreQ Nasty, is a DJ and producer of

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, currently based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. Originally from New Zealand, McFadyen's artistic career has taken him across the world, first as a resident in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's Fabric Nightclub, to multiple tours in Europe and Australia. He currently resides in the United States, where he has become a fixture amongst

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

art and music festivals, most notably Burning Man.

Background

Born in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, McFadyen spent his childhood in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, where his appreciation for music began at an early age. He credits his parents for his introduction to many different genres, most notably

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and Polynesian styles of music. He also acknowledges to being an ardent fan of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

during his adolescence. While in school he learned how to play guitar and drums, which he played in various bands. Soon after his early exposure to writing music, he began to DJ and produce his own style of

, drawing upon the influences of artists such as

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

, Billy Boyo and the Greensleeves, and

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

. Aside from his pursuits as a musician, McFadyen has also been a longtime practitioner of

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Having practiced yoga since 1999 with the Satyananda lineage in

, he has also studied yoga and Buddhism with Buddhist monk and Professor of Comparative Religion Venerable Sumati Marut since 2007. McFadyen was married to Gabriela Valentina Ocampo on 15 December 2018.

Production career

FreQ Nasty has widely been considered a pioneer in

music since the genre's initial rise in popularity. FreQ Nasty began his career in 1998 on the UK label Botchit & Scarper, where he forged his sound of

ragga Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music. Wayne Smi ...

, hip-hop, dancehall, and heavy basslines at the apex

's 1990s

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

revolution. Of his early releases, the singles "Boomin Back Atcha" and "Move Back" quickly became classics within the

breaks Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...

genre. In 2003, he moved to

Skint Records Skint Records is a Brighton and Hove based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery. Along with Wall of Sound, the label was a l ...

, where he went on to release a list of top records, collaborating with and remixing a diverse range of artists including

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from New York City. He rose to prominence as part of ...

Roots Manuva Rodney Hylton Smith, better known by his stage name Roots Manuva (born 9 September 1972), is a British rapper and producer. Since his debut in 1994, he has produced numerous albums and singles on the label Big Dada, achieving commercial succ ...

Rodney P Rodney Panton, also known as Rodney P (born in Balham, London, 12 December 1969) is an English MC, as well as a radio and television personality who first gained attention via the UK hip hop scene in the 1980s. A former member of UK hip-hop gro ...

Bassnectar Lorin Gabriel Ashton, better known under his stage name Bassnectar (born February 16, 1978), is an American DJ and record producer. Biography Ashton grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Bellarmine College Preparatory. He initiall ...

, Tipper, and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

legend

Junior Delgado Oscar Hibbert (25 August 1958 – 11 April 2005),Greene, Jo-AnnJunior Delgado Biography, AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2016 better known as Junior Delgado, was a reggae singer, famed for his roots style. Biography Born in 1958 in Kingston, Jamai ...

. 2008 saw the release of " Creator", his crossover hit collaboration with

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

, producer Switch and New York City lyricist Santogold, and the Fabric Live 42 mix CD, which was picked as DJ Magazine's compilation of the month. In early 2011 he released "Dread at the Controls" under California label Muti Music, which subsequently launched the seventeen-city "Monsters of Bass" tour. In that following December, FreQ's "Low FreQuency Pureland EP" was released, earning DJ Magazine's selection as the MoneyShot release for December, receiving a 10 out of 10 rating.

Activism and side projects

Alongside his career as an established music producer, FreQ Nasty is also known for his engagement as a social activist. In early 2008, he launched Giveback.net, a socially conscious website in which musicians donate music in support of non-profit "action campaigns" via music campaigns featured on the site. The first campaign, in support of the Tibetan People's Uprising Movement, featured a collaboration with

on the single "Viva Tibet". FreQ Nasty has been a vocal advocate for musicians reaching out to support social issues, to which he is quoted: FreQ Nasty also collaborated with San Francisco-based

Heavyweight Dub Champion Heavyweight Dub Champion is a music and art collective founded in Gold Hill, Colorado in 1997 by Resurrector & Patch.

, remixing the group's "Snared" single in support of The World Family's creation of an irrigation system in the village of Gara Dima,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. A similar collaboration was completed with singer-songwriter

Michael Franti Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...

, in which Franti's single "The Future" was remixed in support of a Bay Area nonprofit to help create a music studio for at-risk youth in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point district. FreQ's current side projects include the Dub Kirtan All Stars, a live 10 piece band of singers and musicians formed with producer David Starfire, and The Yoga of Bass, a series of talks given with yoga teacher Claire Thompson, both of which seek to open up the Yoga tradition to underground dance music club audiences.

Discography

Albums

* ''Freq's, Geeks & Mutilations'' (1999), Botchit & Scarper Records * ''Bring Me the Head of Freq Nasty'' (2003),

Singles and EPs

* ''Underglass'' (1997), Botchit & Scarper Records * ''Freqazoid'' (1997), Botchit & Scarper Records * ''FreQ Nasty feat. Phoebe One - Boomin' Back Atcha'' (1999), Botchit & Scarper Records * ''Move Back'' (1999), Botchit & Scarper Records * '' Tipper / FreQ Nasty & DJ Dee Kline - Electric Kingdom Vol.2, Part 1'' (2000), Electric Kingdom (US) * ''Fresh / One More Time'' (2001),

* ''Transforma / Amped'' (2001), Skint Records * ''That's My Style'' (2001), Skint Records * ''DJ Dee Kline vs. FreQ Nasty - Every Posse & Crew'' (2002), Rat Records * ''FreQ Nasty feat.

- Come Let Me Know'' (2003), Skint Records * ''Punkadelic'' (2004), Skint Records * ''Sil Num Tao'' (2004), Skint Records * ''Brooklyn To Brixton'' (2004), Skint Records * ''Mad Situation feat.

'' (2005), Skint Records * ''FreQ Nasty vs.

- Viva Tibet'' (2008) (Produced with

, this song was released exclusively on Giveback.net in support of their "March to Tibet" action campaign.) * ''Dread at the Controls'' (2011), Muti Music * ''Warm Dark Place (Eyes on the Prize)'' (2011) * ''Low FreQuency Pureland'' (2011), FreQ Nasty Recordings * ''Bon Merde'' (2012), High Chai * ''Dread At The Controls Remixed'' (2012), Muti Music

DJ mixes

* ''Y4K: Next Level Breaks'' (2002),

Distinctive Breaks Records Distinctive Records (formerly Distinct'ive Records) is a UK based record label founded in 1995. The label has hundreds of releases from artists, most notably Hybrid, Way Out West, and Ils. History Distinctive Records was initially founded ...

* ''Breakspoll Presents: Vol.2'' (2006), Super Charged * '' Fabric Live 42'' (2008),

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

References

External links

Official Freq Nasty Website
* - and/or -
Freq Nasty Mix "1000 Buddhas Of The Pureland Of Bass" on Urb, 6 December 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freq Nasty New Zealand expatriates in the United States American DJs American electronic musicians Breakbeat musicians Dubstep musicians Remixers Ableton Live users Living people 1969 births Electronic dance music DJs