Ceephax Acid Crew

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Ceephax
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist


Img_capt = Ceephax
Birth_name = Andrew Jenkinson
Born = March, 1979
Origin = Chelmsford, Essex, England
Died =
Genre = Electronic music Drum and Bass Acid House
Occupation = Musician
Instrument = Sampler, drum machine, synthesizer
Years_active = 1997–present
Label = Rephlex Records, Firstcask Records, Breakin' Records

Ceephax Acid Crew (often simply credited as Ceephax) is a British acid house and drum and bass electronic musician named Andy Jenkinson. Jenkinson is also known simply by the pseudonym Ceephax, which is a pun on the BBC teletext service Ceefax. He is the brother of Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson), and this fact is often mentioned in press articles about Ceephax and his music. Ceephax and Global Goon were housemates.

Career

Underground record labels Firstcask, Lo Records and Breakin' Records each released music by Ceephax (his first record released when he was 18 years old). The more famous Rephlex Records and even more famous Warp Records both released remixes of Squarepusher by Ceephax which, although sound different, are of vastly different quality.

Piers Martin interviewed Ceephax in 2000: "In the earlier days when Tom lived at home, I always used to play about on his synths if he was out," Andy recalls. "Obviously Tom was doing loads of music and that was always inspiring, and one day it just clicked for me and I started doing music straight away."

On Mary Anne Hobbs's BBC Radio 1 show in 2003, Ceephax played unreleased songs. The only way to hear these is through bootlegs or the underground filesharing community Soulseek. Some of Ceephax's music is still only available as poorly recorded bootlegs.

In 2005 Andy Jenkinson acted in some short comedy films made by the Chelmsford Film Society.

Music

Ceephax's music between 1998 and 2003 took the sonic styles of vintage Roland drum machines TR-909, TR-707, TR-606, Roland synthesizers TB-303, SH-101, Korg MS-20, and a Yamaha DX21. This music was recorded onto a cassette tape deck. The music was released on vinyl records and cassette tape. This primitive Acid House aesthetic and methodology countered the growing popularity of the computer music and compact disc releases of the time.

More recently as well as his more typical Acid style he has also released drum and bass songs made on old Akai and Roland Samplers, a Commodore Amiga and various synthesizers, again displaying an interest in late 1980s and early 1990s dance music. His set on Mary Anne Hobb's show Breezeblock in 2003 also indicated an interest in computer game inspired Chiptunes music.

Ceephax is also popular amongst some electronic music fans for his live performances. Ceephax's shows are set apart from the popular Laptop style of "live" electronic performance by exclusively using only analogue and early digital equipment and occasionally an Amiga computer. These sets range from old school house, acid house, techno, drum and bass and gabber all in Ceephax's distinctive style. Also integral is some lighthearted mc-ing and the occasional Harmonica solo.

Discography

Albums

* "(untitled)" with "Drive Time" bonus cassette - Firstcask (2000)
* "Exidy Tours" (as Ceephax) - Firstcask (2003)
* "Ceephax Acid Crew" - Breakin' Records (2003)
* "Ceephax Acid Crew Part One" - Breakin' Records (2003)
* "Ceephax Acid Crew Part Two" - Breakin' Records (2003)
* "Ceephax Presents "Acid Travelator"" - Funbox Records (2006)
*"Volume One" - Rephlex Records (2007)
*"Volume Two" - Rephlex Records (2007)

EPs and singles

* "Radiotin EP" - Breakin' Records (1998)
* "Bainted Smile EP" - Breakin' Records (1998)
* "Acid Quakers 1000" (as Ceephax) - Lo Recordings (2000)
* "Acid Legacy EP" - Breakin' Records (2003)
* "Hardcore Wick/Acid Varsity Speciale" - Firstcask (2006)
* "Hardcore Esplanade" - Bug Klinik Records (2006)
* "The Crisp Chronicles" - WeMe Records (2006)
* "Ceerial Port EP" - Firstcask (2006)
*"Megalift EP" - Planet Mu (2007)
*"Volume One" - Rephlex Records (2007)
*"Volume Two" - Rephlex Records (2007)
*"Wild Westie" - Kitchen Dweller Records (2008)

MP3s

* "Ceephax Acid Crew Live @ WMF Club, Berlin, 1.25.01" - Live Bootleg encoded by CBrown (2001)
* "Ceephax live on Mary Anne Hobbs's Breezeblock show on BBC 1" - Various bootlegs. (2004)
* "Various" - www.ceephax.co.uk (2005)
* "Ceephax Acid Crew Live on Resonance 104.4 fm" - Live Bootleg recorded 18th of April (2005)

Remixes

* "Every Time Mix" and "Tarzan Mix" on "Remixes 12"" (1998)
* "Ceephax Mix" on "Selection Sixteen" by "Squarepusher" (1999)
* "Sho U Rite (Ceephax Remix)" on "Kerrier District 2" (2006)

External links

* [http://www.ceephax.co.uk/ Ceephax's website]
* [http://www.tetrisattack.net/ceephaxacidcrew/ Ceephax.com] , Complete Discography
* [http://www.myspace.com/ceephax Ceephax's MySpace page.]