Founded during the summer of 2000, Planet of the Drums is an American group of
Drum&Bass artists:
Dieselboy
Damian Higgins (born 1972) better known by his stage name Dieselboy, is an American drum and bass DJ and music producer.
Early life
Dieselboy was born Damian Higgins in Tarpon Springs, Florida in 1972. At the age of six he moved to Colora ...
,
DJ Dara
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
, and MC Messinian along with AK1200.
In the fall of 2009, Planet of the Drums embarked on their Tenth Anniversary Tour.
In 2010, Planet of the Drums switched to performing at one-offs, the first played at
U Street Music Hall
U Street Music Hall was a dance club and live music venue founded in 2010 and located in the U Street Corridor of Washington, D.C.. Artists and DJs booked at U Street Music Hall spanned the spectrum of electronic music, including house, disco, tec ...
in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
in December 2010.
History
As told to RINSE Magazine (now defunct) in 2007:
"We all ended up playing the same place at the same time in New Orleans on the Moonshine Over America tour in 1999," says Dara. 'Damian said we really ought to do a tour to promote dnb because we're supposedly the three biggest draws, to prove to promoters that dnb is a viable proposition."
"Messinian (James Fiorella, Philadelphia), then part of the Substitution crew, describes the call from DSL, 'I always came to Platinum strapped with a mic, just in case. I got a call out of the blue that their MC couldn't make it. I said, 'Hells yeah, I'll pack my bags!'
"'We realized we could use our collective weight to lean on promoters to get our music on the main stage," Dieselboy admits. 'I felt like kids were getting ripped off paying full price and having to listen to dnb on the shittiest sound system while the other kids got to hear trance, techno and house on the big system. We've come a long way in elevating respect for dnb.'
"'At first we did individual sets and tag-teamed at the end,' says AK1200. 'It evolved into a multi-setup where we do spontaneous routines. Damian usually starts and Dara or I go on after him. Then we go three records, three records, three records, with the whole night ranging from two to five hours. Our main setup is two Technics 1200s and two Pioneer CDJ-1000s with an Allen & Heath mixer, a separate Pioneer mixer with another turntable and another CDJ-1000 hooked up to an auxiliary of the main mixer. Two people are on at all times and the other is standing by.'
"'Stylistically,' says Dara, 'We're complementary. Damian plays the hardest, myself I play the mellower tunes, and Dave is somewhere in between.'
"Messinian says, 'I try to take the energy of the club to that next level, get everybody on the same page, sparking that fire that makes it go fucking bananas. We're a strong unified force.'"
Planet of the Drums Intros
In 2005? the Planet of the Drums began a tradition of creating dramatic science fiction-style audio introductions to kick off their shows.
ABC's "Lost" as well as in "Fantastic Four",
Lynanne Zager
IMDb with sound design by SPKTRM and Dieselboy.
The POTD created their first video intro for their 2009 10th Anniversary Tour, script by Dieselboy and AK1200, sound design by Venezuelan producer Zardonic.
Dieselboy created the audio intro for the Planet of the Drums 2010 reunion at U Street Music Hall
U Street Music Hall was a dance club and live music venue founded in 2010 and located in the U Street Corridor of Washington, D.C.. Artists and DJs booked at U Street Music Hall spanned the spectrum of electronic music, including house, disco, tec ...
in Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
on December 9, 2010. For the first time in a Planet of the Drums performance Dieselboy incorporated dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in South London in the early 2000s. The style emerged as a UK garage offshoot that blended 2-step rhythms and sparse dub production, as well as incorporating elements of broken be ...
and drumstep
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
into the mix. Opening for them in this Steez Promo production were Grime Syndicate, Cannon Boyz, and Headhunterz Inc.
Major Events
* Electric Daisy Carnival, June 26, 2011, Las Vegas, NV
* Nocturnal Festival, September 26, 2009, San Bernardino, CA
* Ultra Music Festival (Winter Music Conference, Miami, FL, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007)
* Detroit Electronic Music Festival, May 2006, Detroit, MI
* Electric Daisy Carnival, June 26, 2004, Los Angeles, CA
* Starscape, September 27, 2003, Baltimore, MD
External links
Official site
Video 2007 Planet of the Drums Tour Preview, Part 1 of 2
Video 2007 Planet of the Drums Tour Preview, Part 2 of 2
– AK1200 Official Website
– DJ Dara Official Website
– Dieselboy Human/SubHuman Official Website
– Dieselboy Official Fan Page
– Messinian Official Website
References
{{reflist, 2
"Planet of the Drums: Four Men, One Mission", Jive Magazine, 6/13/2005
Cover story, RINSE Magazine May/June 2007
"Stress Relievers: Planet of the Drums," by Christopher Porter, Express, 7/20/2007
* [http://www.jivemagazine.com/article.php?pid=15299 "Planet of the Drums 2007 Recap - 'drum and bass isn’t just dance music, it is a way of life'" by Katie Olsheskie and Dmitri Vassiliev, Jivemagazine.com, 8/13/2007]
American drum and bass musical groups
2000 establishments in the United States