Audio By Carbonatix
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Despite being a dickhead in 2011, Armand Van Helden is a pretty cool dude.
When he and Duck Sauce cohort A-Trak teamed up for the “Big Bad Wolf” video last year, Van Helden’s face was CGI-ed onto some dude’s exposed groin. But special effects can be misleading — Van Helden has very little in common with male private parts. In fact, he’s one of the best record producers (and nicest guys) in the game, an incredibly talented remixer, and a DJ who’s been banging out beats since the late ’80s.
As a teenager, Van Helden moonlighted as a DJ around Beantown, spinning records at local clubs until he quit his day job and turned making music into a full-time gig. He soon released Old School Junkies: The Album, the first of many “unmelodic” records.
“I don’t really have a label for it. But I’ve been asked a number of times if I could — in a few words — say what my music is like,” Van Helden told DJsounds reporter VJ Sandra J in a 2009 interview. “I always just say unmelodic. I don’t really make intelligent music. I’m not really known for that. I lean more towards blues or something that’s more raw.”
And that’s how we like it.
