MUSIC .

Speaks Volumes

Playloop Records delivers a crash course in electro-dance science.


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Published: Apr 10, 2007

If you had dropped a bomb onto 12th Street on the freezing final Friday in March, you could've wiped out Philadelphia's electro-dance scene.

PUSH PLAY: Playloop artists (from left) DJ Everyday and Kezner with label founder and West Virginia transplant Justin Paul.

Photo By: Michael T. Regan

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

While Dave Pianka's Making Time took over Pure, Johnny Woods and Mark Richardson — the Touch It Movement label folk behind Philly's electro-pop duo The Model — were at Upstairs at Sal's. Between the venues strolled twitchy synth-stalwart George Korein and Ryan Soloby, whose eccentric Chromelodeon was readying its last shows. All of them would be gone.

But there would be hope for the breed in the form of Justin Paul (assuming you detonated before he walked into Sal's that night).

Last month, Paul, 36, dropped his own bomb: Get Into the Loop Volume 1 — a compilation of radly diverse electro artists on his new locally grown label, Playloop.

The comp features nu-groovers like down-tempo Kezner, electro-vets like 611 house-head Nigel Richards, and blip-techno tyrants Tattoo Detectives. You'll recognize other names on Playloop's 2007 release slate, too, namely avant-electro band Crash Course in Science, not heard from in these parts since the '80s, and the two Back2Basics DJs, King Britt and Dozia, who helped mentor and inspire Playloop.

Still, you probably don't know Paul himself. His are the swift, soul-strewn tunes nestled the tech-y throbs of Loop's other locals. He's been mostly in the background — a quiet part of Philly DJ culture, a digital media consultant who has taught classes in film, video and sound at the Art Institute of Philadelphia since moving from Huntington, W.Va., in 1996.

Paul works with Britt's FiveSix Media on its video, film and interactive projects. He's synched sound and music for movie scenes and commercials that Britt's recorded (for Miami Vice and Rolex). When Britt's Sylk 130 needed a video for "Romeo's Fate," Paul directed it. When Britt's Nova Dream Sequence project got called to demonstrate the Motorola iTunes phone at the 2005 Winter Music Conference, Paul created the vid-art visuals.

"Justin's always been my extra ear," says Britt from his studio.

But that's Britt putting his mouth where his money is: He signed Paul to FiveSix and included one of his tracks on the 2004 CD This is What Radio Should Sound Like. Their relationship has been a reciprocal one since Britt and his DJ partner, Dozia, met Paul at Silk City's Back2Basics in 1996. "They gave me my first DJ spot in Philly," says Paul. "Doz said, 'You're on. Now.'" Paul didn't have time to be nervous when he got that slot, or too relaxed when he moved into the Doz/King house in West Philly, sharing feedback on each other's productions while watching their ceilings bend. "We each had a studio in our area of the house ... and man, the amount of records in that house was nuts," says Paul. "I'm surprised the records didn't crash through the floors."

Officially a label since June 2006, Playloop has attracted a tight-knit core: Kezner and DJ Everyday (both transplants from West Virginia), Dale Feliciello and Michael Zod (both from Philly's legendary Crash Course in Science) are part of nearly every release.

"I've always been a geek, so when the music business went digital, I knew it was time to be a player," says Paul of the label's origins. "There's nothing risky about selling this music. We're all in this because we love the music before the business. Besides, we've got too much talent in the Playloop circle." Each Playloop record has a long, hard hand in live instrumentation. That's the guitarist Paul's "must have." He also insists on keeping his circle of homeboys — Philly, Virginia — close.

"When I started at the Art Institute, I met Dale from Crash Course who teaches there," says Paul. "Then Dale's partner in Crash Course, Zod, told me he grew up in Charleston, West Virginia. Now we have a running joke: 'What was in that coal dust?'"

Whatever it is, it's working. "These cats live it," opines Britt. "Playloop is bringing a fresh sound to Philly. Look, every few years, a Philly label comes and makes an impact," says Britt when asked how Playloop follows the lead of other local electronic labels like Ovum, 611 and FiveSix. "It makes sense since we're all friends and inspire each other. That's why I'm feeling the Playloop brand."

(a_amorosi@citypaper.net)

Playloop Records release party, Sat., April 14, 10 p.m., more info at www.playlooprecords.com.