Biography
Rhythm Droid is a producer and performer of live electronic music living in the offbeat Harajuku disctrict of Tokyo. Using only hardware machines and no computer, he has performed semi-improvised live sets over 50 times in the Tokyo underground electronic music scene.
Fusing Detroit techno sentimentalism with electro synths and funk basslines Rhythm Droid manages to pump out 1 hour live house, electro, and tech-funk sets without any laptop or prerecorded material. Having released on Rennie Foster's Dirty Works label along with remixing French duo Housse De Racket, he also has forthcoming original tracks and remixes on London's Eye Industries (Siriusmo, Russ Chimes, Alan Braxe, The Twelves).
Growing up in a sunny surfing town in Southern California, the young Devon Hughes spent his days noodling with electronics, entertaining fantasies of becoming a techno-pop star in Japan. Early musical turn-ons included the Beatles, Vivaldi, Japanese pop and anime music. Still a teenager, he found himself drawn deep into the late 90's rave scene, becoming exposed to harder styles like Swedish techno and London acid. Experimenting with cheap synths, a sequencer, and reel-to-reel tape recorders, the Droid hit a turning point when he saw footage of Orbital's live performance at Glastonbury. "I couldn't believe it. Just to be up there on stage with those headlights, making such powerful music using technology…there was nothing cooler. That image was burned into my mind."
Determined to take his fascination with electronic music to the stage, Rhythm Droid embarked on an odyssey of live performances–enduring poor attendance, bad sound, shifty promoters, and crazy ravers. 11 years and countless gigs later, Rhythm Droid is able to massage even the most selective partygoers into a funk frenzy with a messy table of drum machines, synthesizers, effect processors and a microphone. He has shared the stage with Funky Gong, Dexpistols, Rennie Foster (Subject Detroit, F-Com, Rebirth), The Lowbrows (Lindatune), and Crystal Fighters (Kitsuné).
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