MPC Heavyweight Championship of the World

Second annual
MPC Heavyweight Championship of the World;
Heineken Dans Paleis,
Frank Kits Park,
Tues 5 March - 8.00pm

Following from the immense success of 2001's premier event, the Matterhorn and Active 89FM is proud to be the first in the world to competitively showcase the MPC. This is an expose of the most valued musical tool that today's producer or dj can utilise. The stage is to be set as a championship 'boxing match' between New Zealand's best MPC producers - at stake is $1000 prize money. The Northern Vox, MC Slave (host of tv's Mo Show) will compere of this prestigious prize fight. Votes will be calculated by 3 esteemed judges for creative composition, live performance, and audience response. Creativity meets competition; this is the future of jazz programming in freestyle digital form.

8:00pm til late : $20
Capacity strictly limited. Advance sales at the Matterhorn or Active 89FM

Contenders and press contact

Contestants: $20 entry fee by Friday 22, February 2002. Disc with samples provided by Mu on delivery of entry fee

What The Fight Is All About:
MPC - Midi Production Centre
In this digital age there are many diverse ways to write music with numerous tools available on offer - ranging from software developers to more traditional music suppliers. One of the main players, Akai, has manged to put all the essential requirements into one box whilst making it affordable to the everyday consumer. Essentially, the beauty of the MPC series is that is a 'all in one' portable studio.

The MPC is not a powerful computer with sophisticated software. Its simplicity is its beauty. Akai have prioritised 2 main issues (i) groove and (ii) sound quality. The MPC has a natural swing that not even James Brown could deny. Unlike many other samplers, the MPC does not colour the sound; what goes in is what comes out, and the sonic reproduction is great.

Because the MPC is a sequencer, sampler, controller and a drum machine, it works as an all in the box that you are able to virtually complete finished songs on it. It is a tactile machine that allows you create very quickly and professionally. With many live performances now being showcased in a club environment, it is extremely functional in a live environment, allowing the producer to replace members of the band, especially the drummer, with their sounds "loaded up" and pre-recorded. Significantly, many of the world's most sought after producers are turning to the MPC, giving rise to new music genres such as Phil Asher's 'West London Sound', of which New Zealand players like Nathan Haines and Mark de Clive-Low are a influential part.

The Judges:

Peter Biggs: CEO of Creative New Zealand.

DJ Raw: Need we say more. Wellington's turntablist Don.

Jonathan Crayford: An integral part of the now-legendary 'Jazz at the St James', Jonathan is a masterful musician and composer who has played with Groove Collective, Mambo Macoco, Eddie Bobé, Baba Maal and opened for the likes of James Brown and Tito Puente.

The Champ:

 The Mu(a) Man: The pride of Samoa. One of the first in the country to master the MPC - the title fight being his initiative in 2000 - last year's reigning champion returns to defend the World Heavyweight MPC Title. Nationally regarded as one of the country's music figureheads, Mu is best known for his tireless DJing and the production behind his musical brainchild, Fat Freddy's Drop. With many of the band members themselves competing for the title this year, be prepared for a beat-down from this larger than life character.

The Contenders:

 Ricky "Fast Hands" Gooch: The drummer from TrinityRoots and one of New Zealand's Red Bull DJ Academy winners in 2001
 Toby "Sugar Two-Tone" Lang: Freelance flugel, tearaway trumpeteer and Matterhorn's Soul Emergency DJ star
 "Ballbreaker" Leon Baldock: The dark lord of the sift. Techno's gurning godfather. The man behind the legendary Gate and Eden events
 "Iron" Iain Gordon: Keyboard wizard and music maker for local electronic production outfit Ebb, and the now legendary Plush Bomb, Bongmaster and LAGO
 Vee "The Rock": Matterhorn's Friday night DJ resident and your mother's monkey
 Imon "Ra" Starr: Cant stop won't stop, Son of the Taj, Freestyler for Active 89FM's Homebass show and Mark de Clive-Low's Nuvonesia
 Sean "Puffy" Deans: Dances like a butterfly, stings like a bee. The only Bass Frontiers DJ you would take home to meet your Mother
 B-low "The Belt": Pinochet's musical director and Bass Frontiers, Stereo Nasties and FutureFunk henchman.
 Dallas "Joe Dukie": The killer voice of Fat Freddy's Drop. Soul Brother No.1. Slave to the Rhythm
 Jeremy "50 Hurts": Razor-sharp Drum & Bass producer and all 12-rounds stylee cat
 "Jailhouse Jen": The Package with a Punch. The only woman contender. Respect.
 Jabhand Jedreck "The Polish Assasin": Our man from Warsaw. Psycho-killer and Two- step,step,stepper
 Warren "Moonshine" Maxwell: TrintyRoots frontman and legend on the freestyle at last year's competition. The wild card to be watched
 Jet Lag Johnson aka the White Lighter
 Johnnie Come Lately Josh Anderson....who knows who or what will come of this...

The Battle:

Because Wellington is full of smart people, there happens to be so many MPC's in this small town. The owners seem to know, or know of, each other and it is this fact that hatched the idea of getting them together and laying down the challenge for surpremacy. Round 1 back in the spring of 2001 which saw 10 contestants front up with a piece of music and play it live from the MPC. The audience that evening were the judges. Common sense prevailed and Dj Mu walked away with the coveted award.

The second series is now here and with different rules. This time all the entrants will work with the same pallet of sounds (64 in total loaded into the MPC) to create a composition. These will be provided a week in advance of the event, allowing each competitor the chance to create a championship winner. On the night, all will be provided with exactly the same 64 sequence of samples, with a set time to freestyle their performance. The ultimate objective is to highlight each competitor's skill and innovation, demanding who can perform and deliver the most interesting piece.

Entrants will be judged on (i) quality of compositon (ii) live performance and (iii) audience appreciation.

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