Zach Sclacca best known by his stage name Z-trip is a founding figure in the DJ mashup movement and also one of America’s most reputable producers. Through his eclectic technique, he has etched out a name for himself alongside affluent music mixologists such as DJ Shadow and Kid Koala.
Sclacca grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, US and in the early stages of his career he often collaborated with city locals such as DJ Emile and DJ Radar. However it wasn’t until his joint effort with DJ P that he became nationally recognized. Their 2001 release “Uneasy Listening, Vol. 1” was limited to only 1000 physical copies, but it experienced great success via the Internet. This effort essentially went viral and made it’s way to several respected media outlets, many of which cited this release to be one of the year’s best (ex. Rolling Stone, Spin, New york Times etc...).
This widespread publicity led to many sold out performances and several high publicity performances such as Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and an opening spot for rock legends Rolling Stones. Though Sclacca had been active in the music industry since 1989 and put out several recordings throughout the 90s and early 2000s it was not until 2005 that he made his 1st release through a major label.
On 19 April 2005 he issued “Shifting Gears” to critical acclaim and moderate commercial success. The album featured an expansive list of renowned guest musicians such as Chuck D (Public Enemy), Soup (Jurassic 5), Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Murs, and Lyrics Born. This year also saw the release of a couple of singles like “Shock And Awe/ For My People”, “The Breakfast Club/About Face”, and “Listen to the DJ”.
In 2007 he issued his follow up album “Ahead of the Curve” with the help of Lateef. Towards the end of the year he scored and released the soundtrack for the EA Games series “Skate”. Z-Trip’s next project was another collaborative effort, this time with Toronto electro-house duo MSTRKRFT. Their mixtape was entitled “Soundclash of the Titans” and came out in 2008 through Obey Records.
Z-trip’s successive release revolved around US President Barack Obama’s pre-election campaign. The 2008 album “Party For Change” encouraged people to vote for Obama and it’s follow up “Victory Lap” was a celebratory album in response to Obama’s win. In 2009 Z-trip was listed as America’s best DJ by DJ Times Magazine and the No.1 DJ in Club District’s “Top 10 DJ’s in America Poll”.
Over the years Z-trip has remixed a diverse range of material, including rock recordings (Rush’s “Tom Sawyer”, Butthole Surfers “Shame of Life”, Nirvana’s “Lounge Act”), electronic/pop tracks (Daft Punk’s “Derezzed”, Jackson 5 “I Want You Back”, will.i.am’s “T.H.E.”) and the expected hip-hop titles (Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On”, DJ Shadow “Right Thing”, Beastie Boys “Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win”). He has also produced music for LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Busta Rhymes, Meat Beat Manifesto, Datsik, and Beck.
AJJ
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