My name is Greg Gould and I am DJ Silverchild. I’ve read a few articles on how to write an artists bio but they weren’t working for me. I’ll do it my way.
Although my first dj experience was way back in 1985, what’s important is that I began playing electronic music in 1991 with a college radio show at WDJM in Framingham Mass. In 1993 I started a weekly two hour show featuring all types of electronic music. I can’t call it electronic dance music because at this point, a lot of it you couldn’t dance too. My favorite artists were Sheep On Drugs and the Shamen and my favorite song was “I’m Raving” by LA Style. I also played some industrial cross over tunes from bands like My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult and Bigod 20.
As the music guy for the techno show, I was sent the two cd set “Dub House Disco” from Guerilla Records via I.R.S. records (REM, Concrete Blond) and my life changed forever. To me, it was all techno and my only exposure to it was through college radio. I hadn’t heard of a rave yet, but my college friends had. I actually called several producers to understand what House music was and how it was different from techno, rave and industrial music. I had long conversations with Carl Craig and Felix The Housecat, both of whom were kind enough to return my messages.
My friend Andy handled sound for the first N.E.A.U. parties with Joelectronic and the crew. My first party scared the crap out of me. We were escorted into an unlit condemned building by ‘bouncers’ with flashlights. On room you had to stay close to the wall because the floor had collapsed. When we got to the party, there was one light, a strobe, and a nitrous tank. I stayed about a half hour.
After that, I went to tons of parties, clubs and raves. Most of them were illegal underground affairs but I got to see a live set by Bizz OD in the basement of a warehouse, Mike Dearborn at a roller skating rink and Heather Heart everywhere.
In 1993 I began mixing. Among my first records were Raincry from Hardkiss and Trippin On Sunshine from a young Norman Cook who because Fat Boy Slim. In 1995, for an independent studies course , I interned for Liquid Todd at WFNX in Boston. He had a weekly show that featured a national dj for an hour each week and I got to meet Robbie Hardkiss and others.
One of my duties was to go to the record stores every Wednesday, when they got their shipments of vinyl to pick out stuff for Todd. That was when Osheen and Pete Moss worked at Beat Non Stop. Since only a few copies of music came in, sometimes only one, and I was a student, I was there before anyone else could go through stuff. I have original pressings of Daft Punk’s “Da Funk” and “Insomnia” from Faithless. To review: Meet cool people. Buy records. get an A.
I managed Satellite Records in Boston when they first opened but the owners and I didn’t see eye to eye and that ended quickly. During that time, I was lucky to play at a huge rave organized by Todd with Derrik Carter and Sven Vath because one of the local DJ’s showed up without their music and I had mine in my car. Yeah, I wasn’t on the flyer and it wasn’t planned. I still played at a party with Sven Vath!
My friend DJ Kozmo (Mike Scabia) and I formed Magnetic Artists in 1996. We did some small events at local bars but nothing that gained any traction so we decided to start organizing raves. Our first show was in June of 1996 with Freddy Fresh. We got about 200 people but the show was incredible. We had way too much sound. We had lasers, plus a light show. Our lighting guy was incredible and got hired by Disney to design and run Hercules on Ice a few weeks after our show.
In 1997, we partnered with another crew for Mindcandy at the Wallace Civic Center in Fitchburg Mass. It was the first time that Bad Boy Bill and Richard Humpty Vision played a rave in Massachusetts so it was monstrous. My first party had 200 people. This one has 2000. It was pure chaos and apparently one of the best parties ever. I keep running into people who remember that party vividly, even in Maine.
1998 Magnetic Artists threw Infinity. Check out this lineup: Mrs Wood, Casper Pound, Kelly Reverb, Dutch, Al Fougy and others. Even though there were some…issues…we still had 2000 people attend in a blizzard. I have never spun for so many people. It was an incredible and unforgettable party. For all the issues, the party was worth it because while promoting, I met my future wife. We may have never crossed paths otherwise. I am so grateful.
In 1999, I started to play UK Hard House/Nu NRG exclusively. I love it. The whole Trade sound with artists like Tony DeVit really moved me. Tripoli Trax was the best label at the time and I think I have every realeae from a three or four year period. This is when labels like Nukleuz and Tidy Trax started up. Unfortunately, I was a bit ahead of my time. While everyone else was into progressive house and trance, I was playing some pretty intense shit. It was hard getting gigs. Magnetic Artists dissolved somewhere around that time.
In 2002, I guess I mellowed out. Inspired by artists like Herbet, I stopped playing nrg altogether and switched to deep deep house (yes, I said deep twice for emphasis). I played a few shows here and there but not too much.
Fast forward to 2008. I moved to Portland. My DJing consisted of playing at home. There were few events in town to go to. I didn’t know anyone. I was DJing alternative music at a local bar and getting bored. When I first came to Portland, I saw an advertisement for Open Turntables at the White Heart. I liked that and started my own night, Open Decks every Sunday at Slainte and got the dj bug again. It was there I met DJ Elusid and together we re-formed Magnetic Artists.
We did well enough to convince the owner to let us try a monthly and Beat Happenings was born. Beat Happenings is now Portland’s longest running electronic dance music event in town and we’ve expanded to twice a month. We’ve been lucky enough to have some outstanding guests including Pharoah, Midas, Lenore plus locals Ryan Tapia, Moshe, Atomik and others.
So now I’m in Portland. I have a bunch of gigs. And I love djing. Life is good. To book me, call 978-793-1058 (Yes, I do live in Maine.)
