For the latest songs, albums, videos, playlists, and artist news, bite into our music blog Crossfade.
DJ Olive
- Avg user rating:
Out of 10 votes - Similar Artists: DJ Spooky, Liminal, DJ Shadow
Out of 10 votes
- Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Genre: Electronic & Dance » Electronica
Editor's review
Before he became DJ Olive, Brooklyn's Gregor Asch made his name playing in the groups We and Multipolyomni and collaborating with the likes of John Zorn, Zeena Parkins, Christian Marclay, and Kim Gordon. Asch came to define the term "illbient" with his underground club Lalalandia, and he forges into future soundscapes combining hip-hop with abstract noise, dub, and breakbeats.
Biography
DJ Olive was raised in Boston, Nova Scotia, Trinidad, Rhode Island and Australia. In '83 he squatted In Amsterdam's punk scene. He received a BFA from SUNY Purchase in '87 studying with Jan Groover and Nick Marsicano. In 1990, after living in Greece, he moved to Brooklyn, becoming an active member of the infamous Williamsburg scene('90-'93). In '91 he co-founded Lalalandia Entertainment Research Corporation. Lalalandia made many of the most memorable Brooklyn warehouse after- hours environments of that period.
In 1994, he started up Multipolyomni and We. We's '97 release as is can be considered a classic. We opened for the Orb that spring. Their 3rd release, decentertainment landed them at Barcelona's Sonar '99. Multipolyomni's '97 New York production of the Solar Drama from their opera Quark Soup, projected a massive live view of the sun perpetually rising for 24 hours, broadcast LIVE from 127 consecutive locations as the world turned around once. It hosted 77 live performers and artists on two floors... ffffew(i think that’s the Guinness book record ..no?). And The Early Aquatic Episode, '96 at the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage, also from Quark Soup, was hailed by the New York Times art critic Roberta Smith as "the only work in scale with the Anchorage".
In 1999, he and Toshio Kajiwara founded Phonomena Audio Arts & Multiples (www.phonomena.org), a weekly event as well as a record label. Also, in '99, he and James Healy started the Agriculture.
In 2003, after many years of collaborating with musicians, live and on recordings, Olive finally released his debut solo CD, Bodega, an ass shaking continuous mix tape of rough down home dance party beats.
In 2004, Room40, from Brisbane put out his Buoy composition. A 60-min voyage of beat-less warmth Olive call's "a sleeping pill".
He has also been included in many exhibitions including: Treble, Brooklyn Sculpture Center 2004, City Sonics 2004, Mons, Venice Biennale 2003, Whitney Biennial 2002, Bit Streams and Whitney 2001.
He continues to compose in his Brooklyn studio, Skin Tone Riddles when he's not playing somewhere like Tasmania.
