Uprock, or Rocking as it was originally referred to, also known as Rock, is a soulful and competitive urban street dance, performed in synchronization to the beats and rhythms of soul, rock and funk music, but was mostly danced to a specific and exclusive collection of songs that contained a hard driving beat. An example of such a song is the uprock classic "It's Just Begun" by noted jazz musician Jimmy Castor. The dance consists of foot shuffles, spins, turns, freestyle movements and more characteristically a four point sudden body movement called "jerk".

Use of gestures

Although women participated in this style of dance, it was usually danced by two men facing each other. The underlying philosophy of uprocking was to undermine the "opponent" with hand gestures called "burns". One would "burn" one's opponent with a variety of these hand gestures that would mimic an action that would be considered detrimental to the dancer's adversary. Two examples of typical and fundamental burns are the bow and arrow, and the shotgun. The "winner" of these mock battles was usually the individual who was able to choreograph and execute his or her burns creatively and even artistically to the rhythm and syncopation of the music.

In this sophisticated and rhythmic form of Rock-paper-scissors, one would have to dance thoughtfully as to not step forward and inadvertently get one's head "sledge hammered". Although it is common knowledge that uprocking is supposed to be a mock battle, those who are less professional sometimes get carried away with the dance which can result in real violence.

History

Uprock evolved in New York circa in the late 1960s. A precursor and influence to this form of dance was gang culture. Throughout the very late 1960s and mid-1970s, New York was home to street gangs.

As rocking/uprocking developed, body movements called "jerks" and hand gestures called "burns" (as defined above in this article), would be added to emulate a fight against an opposing dancer. Being skillful in this new dance form, Apache would get the better of his opponents by skillfully using burns. Dancers throughout New York City in all Boroughs continued to invent new movements and gestures to create a street dance. Many gang members began to perform this dance. It became commonplace to see gang members hanging out in corners dancing against each other. Rocking/uprocking became a competitive dance that caught on very quickly.

Early 1970s

By the early 1970s uprocking shed its social stigma and was no longer considered a "gang" dance. It evolved and became a local dance performed by adolescent men throughout the New York City. Some say it originated in the South Bronx in the late 1960s. However, it is now more widely excepted that the Dance Culture itself spread throughout New York City into all Boroughs because the best dancers danced mostly at Manhattan Clubs, where everyone took notice of the different styles and incorporated some of the moves into their own style of dancing.

It was common to see this form of dance at block parties, teen dances and festive gatherings, and in particular at St. Mary's Recreation Center in the South Bronx, where dancers from all over the city would come and dance every Tuesday and Thursday until October 2, 1974 when Rubberband one of the most popular dancers City from back in those days got stabbed to Death over an argument over a Dollar.

Some of the best dancers, from the South Bronx, hung out at a club called The 310 and a half, with names like Papo Rubberband, Mexico, Electrico, Mike Dominquez, Lil Richie, Dee Dee, Enoch and Papo, Willie Marine Boy, Willie Wip, Moses Martinez. They were part of the Latin Symbolics Dance Company. Competition was common in Manhattan clubs, such as The Foot Steps, The Bon Sua, and the Starship Discovery became the clubs where intense rock dance contests took place. Popular clubs were The Red and White, The Kontiki, The Footsteps, the Ice Palace, The Boombamacao, The Ipanima, Roseland, The Fresh, the Ruby Fruit. In Brooklyn, The Salsa and The Orange Peel were popular clubs.

In Brooklyn, you had Dancers like Lil Dave, Bushwick Joe, Chuck, Apache, Vinny, Noel, Blackie, Sammy, and several others who actually danced at the New York Clubs and contributed to this dance culture as much as anyone else throughout New York City.

Some competitions created problems because of the disrespectful style of battling which was soon gone from the South Bronx because of the fights that would break out during some competitions. Brooklyn however kept that style of Rock Battle Dancing alive, where it still exists today. Though many battles would end peacefully, several others did not, which is the reason why The Bronx stopped that style of Rock Dancing very early on, and it evolved into a more disco style.

Late 1970s

By the late 1970s uprock was established as a bonafide form of dance and this is when dozens of dancing crews formed in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Two of the better known groups of dancers were "Touch Of Rock" and "Dynasty." One was not required to be part of any particular group in order to dance or compete and there were many individuals who were considered independent. Also, not all uprockers focused on "battling" and instead perfected what were then known as "routines" wherein two dancers would perform a designed repertoire of movements that matched or coincided with each others steps.

The first 4 man Rock Routine was choreographed by Willie (Marine Boy) Estrada who was the leader of the Latin Symbolics Rock Team who were called The Rock Masters in the mid 1970s. The Latin Symbolics where known for having some of the best dancers in all categories throughout New York City, and were considered the Innovators of the Latin Hustle. Some uprock competitions prizes were earmarked for "best routine." Two such independent dancers that became well known for "routine-ing" were known as simply Enoch and Papo from The Latin Symbolics Dance Team from the Bronx in the early 1970s.

Uprock was taken seriously by some of its participants and supporters as it was an integral part of socializing. Prize money, women, bragging rights were all coveted and to the better and popular dancers went the spoils. Mimicking gang mentality where a member from one gang would successfully take the "colors" (jacket with gang insignia) from a member of a rival gang, dancers would sometimes compete for their respective shirts, however this practice was mostly done in Brooklyn, where the dance remained a bit primitive with the mind set of burning the other dancer with disrespectful hand gestures. Similar to gang idiosyncracy, this was considered a particularly severe humiliation, thus, it was considered one of the highest stakes in a battle. If you lost your shirt, you would sometimes lose your nickname and/or your crew's name.

While other Rock Dancers throughout the City had critical acclaim from dancing in City Wide Rock Competitions Brooklyn Rockers kept their beloved style of Jerks and Burning in Brooklyn in local competitions. However, a few dancers from Brooklyn competed in competitions against the better dancers from other boroughs at contests in clubs like The Bon Sua, The Footsteps, Latin Times and the Starship Discovery in Manhattan where they placed in the top 3. One of the biggest City Wide Rock Contests was hosted by The Hoe Ave Boys Club on 174th St. in the Bronx in 1977. Dancers from all Boroughs competed and it was won by Hector Barrios and Pete Martinez from the Rock Masters executing a routine Choreographed by Willie (Marine Boy) Estrada of the Latin Symbolics Dance Company, and Leader of the Rock Masters.

Fading popularity

At first, the popularity of rocking was challenged by the well known disco dance called the Hustle. Some talented rockers preferred the gracefulness of dancing with women that the Hustle provided, as opposed to the adversarial and sometimes dangerous climate of competing against another male dancer. By the mid-1980s and into the 1990s uprock began to fade into history. At the same time, another competitive form of urban dance called breaking all but replaced uprocking. As many uprockers became grown men with adult responsibilities, it seemed that the culture of uprock would become a distant memory, but it has not.

Brooklyn Dance

The dance involves two opposing dancers, or teams dancing alternatively or simultaneously performing a choreographed "battle" throughout the duration of a complete song. Although some of the moves uprockers execute emulate fighting, physical contact is never allowed. As stated above, physical contact is usually a sign of inexperience and/or dysfunctional behavior. If an uprocker is experienced he or she will not make any contact in order to "burn" his or her opponent. Uprocking's rules of engagement penalizes any dancer who actually touches the opponent, even if contact was made unintentionally.

Experienced uprockers are usually familiar with the songs that they dance to and use the lyrics and sounds of the music to out-do their opponent. The music is the guideline for when to execute a jerk, burn, or freestyle. The dancer uses the music's lyrics or sounds in his or her favor in order to create the physical narration of the mock battle that manifests.

It becomes monotonous if not redundant should a rocker utilize burn after burn while dancing. Really good dancers tend to maintain uprocking as an art form and not just an all out burnfest. There should be a constant give and take of burns and jerks in order to give each opponent the space to burn the other, but also exhibit dance moves.

Opposing dancers can also face off in a line formation called the "Apache Line". In contrast to the circle formation in breakdancing, the Apache line allows multiple opposing dancers or crews to face each other and execute their burns. Back in the 1970s it was a fascinating display to watch. Each uprocker must keep in his/her line formation while battling. One form of Apache line competition utilized rotation positioning. In other words, dancers would battle until either he is tapped to step out by another rocker, or the opponent has been worn down.

These days, in the initiation of a new rocker who intends on joining a particular crew, an Apache line is created. Borrowing again from gang culture social protocol, the new uprocker must battle each member on the Apache line. The new rocker must dance down the center of the Apache Line and battle each rocker while maintaining a discipline in the use of jerks, burns and freestyle for which he is then evaluated.

This style of dancing was done mostly in Brooklyn, other Boroughs had different ways of doing things, and the Bronx faded out this style of dancing Rock at an early point. Brooklyn continues to dance along the same mind set and rules which existed when they first started battling each other.

Etymology

No one is sure where the term "rocking" came from or why this form of dance was named using this word. It may have been that because of the dance's inherent nature of conflict, the colloquialism of "rocking" as in "rocking" the opponent was used. An example would be in describing a triumphant boxer or fighter by saying, "He rocked that dude."

Another school of thought is that it was called "Rock" because early on rockers danced mainly to a specific range of rock and roll songs that fell into a category that would be more accurately categorized as a hybrid of rock/funk. Examples of songs that fell into this genre would be "It's Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor, and the live version of "Sex Machine" by James Brown. These and many other songs were not quite soul nor rock and roll, yet, they provided the kind of hard driving beat that fueled the uprock style of dance.

A dance hall flyer announcing a "Rock Contest", would confuse some who were not familiar with the term rocking as it related to this specific form of dance. Individuals would show up at an organized party event expecting a rock concert having mistaken the event as a "rock and roll dance". After about a decade since its inception, "Rocking" became known as "Uprocking". It was the same dance with a different name.

See also

Breakdance

References

The Spartanic Rockers: Uprocking

United Brooklyn Uprockers History

Facebook Rockdanceforum: Debate, Discussion, and Current News

Category:Street dance Category:Hip hop dance

it:Uprock

name	Ken Swift
birth name	Kenneth James Gabbert
nationality	Puerto Rican
field	B-boying
movement	Hip hop }}

Ken Swift (born Kenneth James Gabbert) is a second generation B-boy, or breakdancer, and former Vice President of the Rock Steady Crew of which he was a long time member and key figure. He is now President of the Breaklife and VII Gems Hip Hop movement in NYC. Widely known in the B-Boy world as "the Epitome of a B-Boy," Ken Swift is credited with the creation of many dance moves. Ken Swift is nearly universally considered by B-Boys to be the individual who has had the greatest influence on break dancing. Ken Swift began B-Boying in 1978 at the age of twelve when he was inspired by dancers on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ken Swift has several film credits to his name, including "Style Wars", the first Hip Hop documentary, and the first hip-hop major motion picture, "Wild Style". His most famous movie was 1983's hit "Flashdance", where his two-minute dance with several members of the Rock Steady Crew launched the Hip-Hop scene into national attention. Ken Swift also danced in the motion picture "Beat Street".

History

Ken Swift's exposure to breaking first began in Manhattan where he encountered dancers participating in a then-popular street dance known as Uprocking. In 1978, an affiliate of Ken Swift's, referred to as Dante, was the first person he claimed to have seen do the floor moves that made up breakdancing. Frosty Freeze, an original member of the Rock Steady Crew, had approached Swift and later cultivated him to become a fellow member of the crew. As a B-Boy, Ken Swift's name originally was "Kid Zoom," and had gone through consistent changes that include, "Ken Rok," "Ken Ski," " and "Prince Ken Swift" before finally being settled as just "Ken Swift". The Village Voice published the article "Breaking is Hard To Do," which influenced a greater audience to garner an interest in Hip Hop and B-Boying. Along with several other members of Rock Steady Crew, Ken Swift performed regularly in local clubs at events such as Negril, Danceteria, the Kitchen and the Roxy, and he participated in the world’s very first International Hip Hop tour "New York City Rap".

Present Day

As of today, Ken Swift is heralded as one of the greatest influences on Hip Hop culture, and a legend in the breakdancing community. He has participated in and judged dance competitions throughout the world in countries such as France, Switzerland, Sweden, China, South Africa, Finland, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Venezuela, Norway, Germany, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Russia, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the throughout the U.S. Because of his skill and reputation in the B-Boy scene, Ken became a member of the 1999 U.S. Team “1st Platoon,” which took first place out of six other countries in a dance competition known as "The Korea World Cup". Although he is currently not an active member of Rock Steady Crew, he still considers himself to be a credible representation of the group. In 2004, Ken Swift is working on various projects with Inferno & Premo Entertainment, run by his affiliates Dante and Premo. Swift's office resides above their club in Williamsburg known as Brooklyn Sole, and the downstairs club is used for training and teaching classes. At a local Manhattan elementary school, P.S. 84, with a grant from the New York Historical Society, Ken organized a course for 7-11 year olds entitled “The History of Hip Hop Culture in New York: Focusing on Dance” and in 2004, Ken founded “The Ken Swift School of Hip Hop Fundamentals” at Breaklife Studios in Brooklyn, New York, to allow for an environment for others to learn the art and history of Hip Hop.

Influence and Legacy

During the period in which Hip Hop and breaking were gaining national attention, Ken's original footwork and overall style became an integral part of B-Boying and is recognized as a blueprint for the dance. As a dancer, he continues to innovate and improve upon original foundation moves; though his style was viewed as “new school” in the past, today, it is considered fundamental for breaking. In August, 1996, Ken Swift was on the cover of “Rap Pages,” making him the first B-Boy ever to be on the cover of a major Hip Hop. The popular article, "Past, Present, Future: Ken Swift The Quintessential B-Boy" portrayed and Ken Swift as pioneer of B-Boying and reaffirmed him as a fundamental figure in the Hip Hop community. He choreographed and performed in a world premiere dance piece for the ceremony entitled "Super Disco Breaks,” which also premiered its first B-Boy battle, hosted and co-judged by Ken Swift himself. In 1999, Hip Hop Culture was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for which Ken was asked to produce an installation. He founded a dance company in 1996, known as VII Gems, which aims to spread the knowledge and preservation of New York City traditional dances such as Breaking and Rocking. Due to his contributions in the B-Boy and Hip Hop culture, Ken Swift has received two Lifetime Achievement Awards, both from credible members and groups within the Hip Hop community. In addition to these major awards, Ken Swift has received other awards including an Appreciation Award from Seoul Arts College, a Hall of Fame Living Legend Award from the Korean Tourism Agency, the Award of Recognition at the Coffey Park Old School Reunion, a Zulu Nation Achievement Award in Belgium, an Appreciation Award in Brazil, and most recently, a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ultimate B-Boy Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. Also in 2010, Ken was awarded the National Endowment for the Art's American Masterpieces in Dance award to reconstruct his choreography with Olive Dance Theatre in a show titled "Swift Solos: The Re-Construction of KEN SWIFT’s 20th Century Breakin’," which tours cities in the United States throughout 2010.

Films

Flashdance, Paramount Pictures

Beat Street, Orion Pictures

Wild Style, Charlie Ahearn

Style Wars, Tony Silva/Henry Chalfant

The Freshest Kids (Breakdance BBoy Breakin Hip Hop)

Planet B-Boy, Benson Lee

Television

N.Y Edition Marc Wahlberg Show, NBC

''Good Morning America'', ABC

The David Letterman Show 1983

''The Grind'', MTV

Club Concert, PBS

September Songs:The Music of Kurt Weill & Ghettoriginal, PBS

References

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people

fr:Ken Swift it:Ken Swift

Name	Benjamin J. Heckendorn
Birth date	October 19, 1975
Birth place	Richland Center, Wisconsin
Residence	Verona, Wisconsin, U.S.
Website	BenHeck.com
Footnotes	}}

Benjamin J. Heckendorn (born on October 19, 1975) is a console modder and Internet Celebrity. He is better known as "Ben Heck" on the Internet. Ben is also an independent film maker.

He has two podcasts, one which he runs with the help of a friend, Jason Jones, and the other on Warpath TV with George Force, Mike Zucker, and Anthony Carboni.

Most of Ben's mods are done by taking apart old video game consoles such as the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System. He then reconfigures internal printed circuit board (PCB) into a smaller form factor. The newly configured circuit board is enclosed within a custom case (done by a CNC machine) and any peripherals are assembled.

His creations have been featured in such publications as ''Wired'', ''Popular Science'', and ''Maxim'', and on television shows such as ''TechTV'', ''The Screen Savers'', ''Attack of the Show!'' and ''X-Play''. His mods are also commonly presented on high popularity blogs such as Engadget.

Systems

Atari

Ben has created a line of portable Atari systems, almost always using some form of Atari 2600 board cut up into a smaller PCB. The only exception is the Atari Jaguar "64-Bit" Portable he made. (and the Atari 800 laptops)

Original VCSp: Ben's first portable project.

Revisions 1-7: After "it all" was started these units came next.

VCSp Special Edition: An all-oak VCSp.

Vagabond 2003: A special unit made to be small.

Vagabond 2000: A special unit made even smaller.

Atari Jaguar "64-Bit" Portable: Ben's newest Atari portable. The Jaguar is also the newest Atari video game system he made into a portable.

Atari 800 Laptops: He has turned two Atari 800 computers into laptops.

Microsoft

An Xbox 360 was modded so it has a similar form factor of a portable laptop computer. Ben had been very used to modest popularity on the internet until the Xbox 360 laptop was revealed, skyrocketing his publicity for an extended period of time. The Xbox 360 laptop caused such a massive flood of traffic to his website that for a time caused it to crash until he acquired unlimited bandwidth from his provider.

A one-handed Xbox 360 controller was built for a serviceman injured in Iraq. The Y, B, X, A, and trigger buttons are on the underside of the controller. The right bumper was moved vertically, opposite to the left bumper. The right analog stick was also moved to the underside, reversed wired, and elongated, so that when the right analog stick is tilted on the leg it works the way it supposed to. The left analog stick and left bumper were not moved.

He has also made a second revision Xbox 360 laptop, which looks similar to the original Xbox (or the Xbox 360 Elite).

He made an Xbox 360 controller out of a Standard Xbox Controller. He called it the: Xbox 360 “Duke” Controller. The black and white buttons were wired to be the left and right bumpers. He also added a guide button and sync button. The batteries go where the memory card slots were on the top of the controller.

He has made another one-handed Access Controller with modular ministicks and buttons. Originally designed for PC, PS2 and PS3, it will now work with Xbox 360 through an adaptor. The modular aspect allows the user to freely switch the location of the sticks, digipad and buttons.

Nintendo

Ben has created five (3 NESp's) Nintendo portables:

NESp: A portable version of the NES, it uses a "NES-on-a-chip" and is quite small.

SNESp: Built in 2001, it is the portable version of the SNES.

N64p: Portable Nintendo 64

Several portable NES projects using the NES-on-a-chip hardware, the most notable being the NES micro, made to parody the unnecessarily small Game Boy Micro and the nPod, a project that Ben had plans to make in large numbers and sell.

Wii Laptop: Ben is done with the Wii Laptop. A making-of is posted on Engadget. A video is posted here.

Playstation 3

A "laptop" version of the PS3 based on the Slim version.

PC

The MGDp: a fully functional PC built into an antique MGD beer case(18 pack).

Sega

Ben has made a Sega Genesis portable called the Sega Exodus. It started life as a Radica Genesis collection DTV unit. However, its on-board composite video output and low power requirements made it the perfect candidate for a handheld. When a cartridge slot was added, it gained the ability to play most Sega Genesis games (however it is incompatible with Sonic & Knuckles, the Sega 32X, and other Genesis add-ons, a limitation caused by the re-designed hardware in the Radica DTV).

On episode 11 of ''The Ben Heck Show,'' Ben built a portable Sega CDX .

SNK

The SNK Neo Geo MVS Portable was built around an MV-1C motherboard from 1999. For a screen, it uses the Sony PSone screen wired for RGB Video. The board was set up with an updated BIOS and a pair of wires to get stereo sound. Everything is mounted in a CNC cut case made of acrylic plastic.

The SNK Neo-Geo Arcade cabinet..

The Neo Geo MVS console: Uses standard Neo Geo controllers to play all your favorite MVS games on your TV.

Sony

Ben has made three Sony portables: PSp: A portable PlayStation. (This project predates the PlayStation Portable or "PSP.")

PS2p: A portable PlayStation 2.

PS3p: A portable PlayStation 3.

He made a "PS360" controller, which is a PlayStation 3 controller built into an Xbox 360 controller's shell.

Apple

Apple Laptop: It is a laptop made from an original Apple motherboard, with added RAM and a CompactFlash interface.

Commodore

A Commodore 64 (C model for it's smaller motherboard) modded into a portable laptop computer with an SD drive taking the place of the disk drive (not to be confused with the SX-64). Ben Heck's portable C-64 being much cooler (and more useful to commodore fans). See

Combo systems

Ben has made two combo system to date.

Atari 2600 / PS2 Combo Unit: It was a PlayStation 2 and an Atari 2600 all together in an Atari 2600 case. The system was not a portable unlike most of his game system mods. The case had to be modified and the cartridge slot was redone to allow more space in side the case. The Atari's controller ports were moved to the back of the unit. The PS2 controller and memory card ports were also on the back of the unit. The switches on the console were modified to perform various tasks that had to do with both systems in the unit.

NEStari: His first portable combo system. The system was an NES and an Atari 2600 combo. Ben used both a NES-on-a-chip and an Atari 2600-on-a-chip hardware instead of whole systems (due to size it had to be made to be a portable). The Atari 2600-on-a-chip came from an Atari Flashback 2 system. The NES and the Atari 2600 use the same buttons except for the A button which is not used by the Atari 2600 hardware. A video of the NEStari in action is available for download here.

Hacking video game consoles

In February 2005, Ben released his book ''Hacking Video Game Consoles'', published by Wiley Publishing Inc. and printed under their ExtremeTech line. It contains step by step instructions for creating two Atari 2600 portables, two NES portables, two SNES portables, and two PlayStation portables, each in hand-built and CNC-cut designs.

Podcast website

On December 13, 2006, Ben started benheckpodcast.com, a website for storing all of his podcasts, and all he is going to make.

Ben's other podcast is called Sonic Boom, and is available at warpath.tv.

Movies

When Ben is not busy hacking game systems, he is an amateur film maker. He has completed 6 Films since 1995, including his comedic love story, ''Port Washington'', released in 2006. His most recent movie, released on October 31, 2008 was entitled ''Possumus Woman'', and is the sequel to his 1995 film, '' Possumus Man''.

Films
! Year	! Film
1995	''Possumus Man''
1996	''Adventure!''
1999	''The Adventurous''
2000	''The Lizard of Death''
2006	''Port Washington''
2008	''Possumus Woman''

The Ben Heck Show

As of recently, Ben Heck has gained an online TV show. Episodes of this show occur bi-weekly available at Revision3, the host, and sponsored by Element 14.

References

External links

Official website

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople Category:People from Madison, Wisconsin Category:Articles lacking reliable references from April 2009 Category:Articles lacking in-text citations from April 2009 Category:Articles with topics of unclear notability from April 2009

fr:Benjamin Heckendorn sv:Benjamin Heckendorn

Name	Guillermo Scott Herren
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Guillermo Scott Herren
Alias	Prefuse 73Delarosa and AsoraPiano Overlord
Born	1976
Origin	Georgia, USA
Genre	ElectroacousticPsychedelicHip hopGlitch hopIDM
Occupation	Producer, Musician
Years active	1997–present
Label	Warp, Chocolate Industries, Hefty, Money Studies, Pearineel, Schematic
Associated acts	Savath y SavalasRisilDiamond Watch Wrists
Website	prefuse73.com
Past members	}}

Guillermo Scott Herren is a music producer, who has been based in Atlanta, Barcelona and New York. Herren releases music under the aliases Prefuse 73, Delarosa & Asora and Piano Overlord, and is also part of the groups Savath y Savalas, Risil, and Diamond Watch Wrists.

Biography

Guillermo Scott Herren was born in Miami, Florida and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. His father is Catalan and his mother is Irish and Cuban. At an early age his parents encouraged him to play piano and other instruments; his mother "forced" Herren to play a wide variety of instruments, even going so far as to teach him the Suzuki Method in order to "keep him out of trouble". Growing up, Herren's musical tastes branched out and he became interested in hip-hop, punk rock, and electronic music.

He began his career DJing at MJQ, a small night club in Atlanta, and then began working in commercial studios producing hip-hop tracks for Dirty South rappers. However, Herren wanted to create his own music and started collecting second-hand instruments and drum machines during this part of his career. He eventually moved to New York City to go to college; there he began recording his first major release, ''Sleep Method Suite'', under the name of "Delarosa and Asora". The album was released in 1997.

In 2000, Herren released the album ''Folk Songs For Trains, Trees, And Honey'' under the name "Savath & Savalas". This album focused more on Herren's ambient and jazz influences.

Herren first released music under the name "Prefuse 73" with 2001's commercially and critically successful ''Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives''. A year later, a 4-track EP ''The '92 Vs. '02 Collection'' was released. In 2003, Herren released the full-length album ''One Word Extinguisher'', one of his best known Prefuse 73 albums to date. A companion album, ''Extinguished: Outtakes'' was released afterwards showing off some of the production "outtakes" and remixes that were omitted from the initial full-length.

2005 saw the release of ''Surrounded By Silence'', Herren's third album as Prefuse 73. The album featured more collaborations with a variety of musicians, including rappers both underground and mainstream. Herren's next Prefuse 73 release, ''Security Screenings'', was released in 2006; though as long as a full-length, the release was touted as an EP. On August 8, 2007, the fourth Prefuse 73 album, ''Preparations'' was announced and it was released on October 15, 2007. The album is sold with a bonus full-length disc titled ''Interregnums'', featuring songs that were more ambient and contemplative than usual Prefuse 73 material.

Along with partners Peter Rentz, Carolina Chaves, Ben Loiz, Carlos Niño, and Paz Ochs, Herren started the Eastern Developments Music label.

In June 2008, Herren announced the formation of a new collaborative project, Risil, which includes members of Sunn O))), Hella, School of Seven Bells, Pivot, and others. On June 24, 2009, the supergroup released their debut LP, entitled ''Non Meters Volume 1''. Herren also released a new Savath & Savalas album, entitled "''La Llama''"', earlier in March of the same year, and a new Prefuse 73 LP entitled ''Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian''.

In 2009, under the name Diamond Watch Wrists, he and Zach Hill contributed a cover of a Pivot song to the ''Warp20 (Recreated)'' compilation. The group later released the album ''Ice Capped At Both Ends''.

In 2011, he contributed to the track "Terra" for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues.

Discography

Prefuse 73

Albums

''Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives'' ( June 9, 2001)

''One Word Extinguisher'' (May 5, 2003)

''Surrounded by Silence'' (March 21, 2005)

''Preparations'' (October 15, 2007)

''Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian'' (April 14, 2009)

''Meditation Upon Meditations (The Japanese Diaries)'' (April 25, 2009)

''The Only She Chapters'' (April 25/26, 2011)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

''Estrocaro EP'' (October 23, 2000)

''Radio Attack / Nuno'' (2000)

''Out Takes For 88'.'' (Never released, 2001)

''Wylin Out (Featuring Mos Def & Diverse)'' (2002)

''The '92 Vs. '02 Collection'' (2002)

''Extinguished: Outtakes'' (August 25, 2003)

''T5 Soul Sessions, Volume 1'' (2004)

''Impulsive! Revolutionary Jazz Reworked'' (2005)

''HideYaFace'' (February 21, 2005)

''Security Screenings'' (February 6, 2006)

''Prefuse 73 Reads the Books E.P.'' (July 11, 2005)

''Interregnums'' (October 15, 2007)

''The Class Of 73 Bells (Featuring School of Seven Bells)'' (September 17, 2007)

''The Forest Of Oversensitivity'' (June 1, 2009)

Delarosa & Asora

Albums

''Sleep Method Suite'' (1997)

''Agony, Pt. 1'' (2001)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

''Crush the Sight-Seers'' (1999)

''Backsome'' (2001)

Savath and Savalas

Albums

''Folk Songs for Trains, Trees and Honey'' (2000)

''Apropa't'' (2004)

''Golden Pollen'' (June 19, 2007)

''La Llama'' (May 19, 2009) (Stones Throw Records)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

''Immediate Action #1'' (Wednesday, July 25, 2001)

''Rolls and Waves'' (2002)

''Mañana'' (2005)

Piano Overlord

Albums

''The Singles Collection 03-05'' (November 8, 2005)

EPs/Singles/Compilations

''Tease EP'' (2004)

''Torture EP'' (August 2005)

Diamond Watch Wrists

Albums

''Ice Capped at Both Ends'' (May 4, 2009)

Guillermo Scott Herren

Albums ''Sleeping on Saturday and Sunday Afternoons'' (2003), Tour CDR in regular CD jewel case with handmade artwork (front and back inlays) that was sold (for $25) on 2003 Prefuse 73 tour with Four Tet and Manitoba.

References

External links

Official site

Warp Records

Money Studies

Chocolate Ind.

Hefty Records

Schematic

Eastern Developments Music

Synthesis.net interview with Scott Herren

The Milk Factory: Review of Security Screenings

BBC: Review of Security Screenings

Prefuse 73 discography on Discogs

NewMusicBox cover: Guillermo Scott Herren in conversation with Trevor Hunter, April 21, 2009 (includes video)

The Top 5 Instrumental Hip-Hop Albums on Synconation

Category:American electronic musicians Category:Intelligent dance music musicians Category:Hip hop DJs Category:Living people Category:1976 births

es:Scott Herren fr:Scott Herren ja:スコット・ヘレン pl:Scott Herren

name	Eric Singer
background	solo_singer
birth name	Eric Doyle Mensinger
alias	"The Catman"
born	May 12, 1958Cleveland, Ohio, United States
instrument	Drums, percussion, vocals, harmonica
genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, Power metal, Glam metal
occupation	Musician, songwriter
years active	1984–present
associated acts	Kiss, Alice Cooper, E.S.P., Avantasia, Lita Ford, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Brian May, Gilby Clarke, The Cult, Warren DeMartini
website	Official website }}

Eric Doyle Mensinger (born May 12, 1958 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA), better known as Eric Singer, is a hard rock and heavy metal drummer for the rock band Kiss and formerly for singer Alice Cooper. Over the past two decades Singer has appeared on over 75 albums and 11 EPs.

Early career

Singer began playing drums from an early age, and was inspired by bands such as Humble Pie, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles and Queen and drummers such as John Bonham, Keith Moon, Cozy Powell, Roger Taylor, Bill Ward, and Buddy Rich.

Singer's first professional drumming job was as Lita Ford's touring drummer in 1984. In 1985 he joined Black Sabbath, replacing original drummer Bill Ward, who had left the band after the Live Aid reunion. Singer would participate in the recording of the albums ''Seventh Star'' and ''The Eternal Idol'' and was invited by his Black Sabbath colleague Ray Gillen to join the latter's new formed band Badlands. Singer accepted and played on the band's self-titled debut album. Singer left the group in 1989 as he would join Paul Stanley as his touring drummer on his solo tour of America and Canada. He also briefly appeared in the 1989 Wes Craven film Shocker. Singer played with Olivia Newton-John in the music video for Culture Shock. He later revealed in an interview that he obtained that gig because he was working for Lita Ford at the time.

Career with Kiss

In December 1991, Eric Singer officially became the drummer for Kiss after the death of Eric Carr. Singer, who had performed with Paul Stanley on his club tour along with Bob Kulick two years earlier, was hired and debuted with the band on the album ''Revenge'', on which he was originally slated to fill in on some tracks while Eric Carr recuperated from heart cancer. Singer played on ''Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions'' and toured with Kiss until 1996, when the band reunited with original drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley for the Alive/Worldwide Tour.

After five relatively quiet years, during which Singer toured with Queen guitarist Brian May, Singer was asked to rejoin Kiss in 2001 after Criss' departure shortly before the Australian and Japanese leg of Kiss' Farewell tour. Singer debuted in full "Catman" make-up and costume for the first time on the tour, causing some animosity because the "Catman" character had previously been solely portrayed by Criss, including during many of the band's successful years; even when Eric Carr replaced Criss, Carr did not don the makeup (he portrayed the "Fox" until Kiss dispensed with the makeup in 1983). Singer was replaced again by Criss in 2003 but returned to the band by the end of the year after Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley opted not to renew Criss' contract. Since then, Singer has been playing drums in Kiss as their permanent drummer. In 2009, Singer, along with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, played and sang on the new Kiss album ''Sonic Boom'', the first studio album to feature the new line-up.

Singer also was said to be a great drummer in a 2008 interview by Peter Criss, despite the fact that Peter Criss is upset about Singer using his image.

Career with Alice Cooper and other projects

When not touring with Kiss, Singer performed with Alice Cooper. Singer had been a member of Cooper's band since the release of the album Brutal Planet in 2000. Singer had already performed with Cooper years earlier, during the tour for the album Hey Stoopid. Singer has featured on three Alice Cooper albums to date, namely, ''Brutal Planet'', ''The Eyes Of Alice Cooper'', and ''Along Came a Spider''. Due to his growing commitments with KISS as well as with his side project ESP, he has not played in Alice Cooper's band since 2008.

He has also occasionally performed and recorded with his own Eric Singer Project, featuring, among others, his former Kiss bandmate Bruce Kulick and former Mötley Crüe lead singer John Corabi. Three releases have resulted from this collaboration: the studio album ''Lost And Spaced'' (1998), consisting completely of covers from classic rock songs; the live album ''Live In Japan'' (2006); and the DVD ''Live At The Marquee'' (2006).

Singer has also played in the band Avantasia, replacing drummer Alex Holzwarth after a guest performance in the song "Into the Unknown" from the album ''The Metal Opera Part II''. Two EPs and one full album have been released with Singer's performance on the drums: ''Lost in Space Part I'', ''Lost in Space Part II'', and ''The Scarecrow'', and on several songs from The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon.

Equipment

Singer is a loyal endorser of Pearl drums, hardware and pedals, Terry Bozzio Attack signature drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals and Ddrum acoustic drum triggers.

Actual Kiss live set-up (2009 - 2010)

;Drums

Pearl

Pearl Masters

Smoked acrylic

24" x 15" bass drum x2

12" x 8" Tom

13" x 8.5" Tom

16" x 14" floor tom

18" x 16" floor tom

8" x 7" Tom (to left of hi-hat)

10" x 8" Tom (to left of hi-hat)

14" x 6.5" free-floating snare

;Cymbals

Zildjian

14" Avedis Rock Hi-Hat x1

21" K Custom Hybrid Ride x1

19" Z3 Medium Crash x8, 8" Splash on the upper part (invertide),

16" Oriental China Trash x1

9,1 / 2" Zil-Bel X1

8" A Custom Splash x1

6" A Custom Splash x1

12" Z3 Splash x1

;Percussion

Latin Percussion

LP Bongo Bell Chrome x1

;Hardware

Pearl

C1000 straight stand x 5

Pesados boom stand B2000

H2000 hi-hat stand

S2000 Snare Stand

P2000C pedal x2

Titular ch70 platillos

T2000 double Tom stand

75X cencerro titular

HA100 BD / archivo adjunto HH

;Drumsticks

Zildjian

"Eric Singer Artist Series" size 2B

;Electronics

DDrum

Pro Drum Triggers (on each drum)

Miscellaneous information

Singer has his own Signature Series snare drum and artist series drumsticks, "Pearl Signature Series Eric Singer" snare drum and Zildjian "Eric Singer Artist Series" drumsticks.

Singer's cymbal setups can include up to 8 of the same 19” Z3 Medium crash cymbal. He also uses Attack drumheads. Singer uses a variety of Pearl snares live and in the studio, including his own Signature model. He also has been known to use the Steve Ferrone signature snare, various Brass models and Free Floating snares for live use.

See also

References

Notes

External links

The Official Eric Singer Website

Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Alice Cooper members Category:Kiss (band) members Category:Black Sabbath members Category:The Gary Moore Band members Category:American rock drummers Category:American heavy metal drummers Category:Badlands (American band) members Category:Eric Singer Project members Category:The Cult members Category:Union (band) members Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio

ca:Eric Singer cs:Eric Singer da:Eric Singer de:Eric Singer es:Eric Singer fr:Eric Singer it:Eric Singer hu:Eric Singer mk:Ерик Сингер nl:Eric Singer ja:エリック・シンガー no:Eric Singer pl:Eric Singer pt:Eric Singer ro:Eric Singer ru:Сингер, Эрик simple:Eric Singer sk:Eric Singer fi:Eric Singer sv:Eric Singer