Making a 'Ruckus' in Athens: Roboticus speaks and scratches
By Kristin Nehls, Staff Writer
May 29, 2008 | 8 p.m.
Co-creator of Dance or Die and 2004 Ohio University graduate Dan Haug, more affectionately known as Ruckus Roboticus, returns to his alma mater this weekend in a series of shows that premiere a live version of his new album and his electro-hip-hop scratches.
Debuting his performance as a “one-man band” this Friday in Athens, the award-winning 26-year-old is in the process of promoting his debut album, Playing With Scratches, which was released late 2007 on both vinyl and CD. A culmination of the hip-hop spinning culture of DJs and also of Athens' own culture, Ruckus Roboticus recently spoke with Speakeasy about his recent rise to success -- one that has afforded him blurbs on NPR's "World Cafe" and in the pages of Spin magazine's May 2008 issue.
Speakeasy: How did you get your start in spinning and DJing?
Ruckus Roboticus: Let’s see. I guess in high school I first bought turntables to actually contribute to making music. [I was contributing by] having scratches and music, and then I kind of got sucked into the world of DJing. As soon as my friends found out I had turntables, I would get asked to DJ house parties. Then when I got to OU, I just thought that would be a great opportunity to DJ more, at house parties or clubs or whatever. I kind of just got carried away with it...honestly, the music just kind of took a backseat, and DJing became my focus while at college.
SE: I understand that you are the creator of Dance or Die. How long ago was that, and how did you get the idea for it?
RR: Well, originally there was a pretty popular dance party at The Union called the Danceable Solution, and the person who was running that was graduating and moving on, and at the same time I had been paying my dues at OU in terms of DJing. [I had been] playing house parties and playing benefit shows and kind of just [performing at] random shows here and there. So the timing was perfect for another dance party to be formed and to fill the void now that Danceable Solution was ending.
Actually I had a couple of friends who helped me. One of them is [DJ Barticus, and] both are OU grads, so we kind of all joined forces and created Dance or Die, and it was just a big hit. It was like a combination of Danceable Solution not being there plus all of our friends coming out and supporting. And it was all of the right little things combined forces, and Dance or Die was just a great success after the first night.
SE: When was the last time you have been at Dance or Die, and has it changed much from when you originally formed it?
RR: [The last time I was at Dance or Die] was just this past fall quarter. [It has] definitely changed. I don’t know. I guess mainly just the types of people who go there and the population of people...well, actually, let me backtrack. It definitely has changed, and I feel like it is basically reflecting the change of Athens and OU as a whole, you know? It is just every four years, the population of Athens shifts, you know, because of people graduating and new people arriving. And at Dance or Die, we just see new faces and less familiar faces. As it gets popular, there are people coming for the first time, and then I feel like a different crowd reflects the DJ in a different way because part of the DJ’s job is to keep people interested and dancing.
SE: You’ve also won Solid Steel’s "Mix of the Year" twice. Can you explain what that is and what kind of personal effort went into winning it?
RR: Yeah, sure. Solid Steel radio is a show in London run by a record label that I really like and that is really well-respected. The label is called Ninja Tune – and just a side note on that, it was started by some DJs named Cold Cut, who are just pioneers in DJing and sampling.
And so, let’s see, I am a huge fan of that, of Solid Steel radio. At one time, ACRN actually syndicated the show. It is syndicated all over the world. So when I made a mix I just sent it to them, and every now and then they will air a guest mix from a band. At the end of the year, they have a little contest to have listeners vote on their favorite mix of the year, and so my mix won in 2003 and just recently in 2007.
My mixes did take a lot of work. They are very complex. It is not just one song after another -- it is the blending of three or four songs at one time and telling a story with the song, then playing spoken word in between songs and fancy scratching. It is almost like making an album except it is using other people’s songs instead of your own.
SE: I heard you also won second place in the International Modern Beats contest. What did that entail?
RR: Modern Beats is a company that actually sells all kinds of things involving beats. They sell drum sounds, anything you can think of that has to do with making beats for hip-hop. I am on their mailing list, and they had a contest before. And I listened to the winners, and I thought to myself, “Man, these are awful. I can’t believe these people are winning.” And so I am like, “I have got to put my money where my mouth is.” So I made a beat and submitted it. I was trying not to get my hopes up and was just trying to forget about it, and so it was a nice surprise to see I won second place. I won a little bit of cash and hopefully some notoriety. We will see what comes of it.
SE: You released an album [Playing With Scratches] at the end of last year. Can you tell us a little bit about how that turned out and the process that went into creating it?
RR: Well, ever since I bought turntables, I wanted to record an album of my own material. And when I graduated from OU in ’04, I told myself, you know, instead of getting a real job or going to grad school, I am just going to treat the next couple of years as a grad school and my only project is making this album. So I just pretty much worked on it nonstop, and after that it was made.
I actually shopped around at a few record labels, and it probably took a year getting art ready for it and trying to find a home for it. After that, that actually did not yield anything. So a friend of mine was like, “Let’s just start our own label, and we will release it.” And so that release process is still going on right now. It has been a very grueling process [with] all of these details to handle. But the record is out now, and we sent some to college radio, and we are sending it to magazines. And now the next kind of step in the process is having me perform the album live as, like, a one-person band.
SE: What do you think is interesting about spinning, as opposed to other, more mainstream outlets of music?
RR: Let’s see. I mean, I think being in a band and going to a show to see a band and I think DJing and going to club to see a DJ -- they are both valid forms of entertainment. And not just entertainment but art forms. They are both legitimate. They both just require their own different set of skills and flair.
SE: What is your favorite part about what you do?
RR: I guess, just at heart, I am a creative person, and I like being creative. [I like] coming up with ideas and executing the ideas. So I guess, you know, in the music business, being in a band or being a DJ, there is a lot of things that get on your nerves and that you get sick of, like the times where I am just not thinking about anything but what is in front of me is when I am writing a song or producing a song.
I guess with DJing onstage just in the moment [and] loving music -- that is probably my favorite moment. When you are just in the moment, enjoying exactly what is in front of you and just not thinking about anything else.
SE: What are you planning to bring to your series of shows this weekend at OU?
RR: The big thing about my show on Friday is that it is my first time performing my album as a one-man band. So that has a ton of emotion to it for me because one, it is going to be difficult, and I am all stressed out [thinking], “How is my album going to translate into that type of performance?” and “Am I good enough?” and all that crap. So that first show, I just want to bring my album to life and just do a performance. A performance to me is, like, where things can go wrong, you know? I am going to be doing things. I am not just going to be hitting things on my laptop. I am going to be trying to perform, so I just want people to have a good time, and hopefully the music translates well in a live situation.
And then at Dance or Die, I don’t know. It is me and three other DJs, Barticus and Self Help. Because there are so many DJs, you don’t have as much time to play songs. So because of that, you only play, like, the best of the best in your collection. I am definitely just going to bring the top-notch, best songs I have and just hope to have a heck of a party -- and that everyone is there!
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Catch Ruckus Roboticus at 9 p.m. this Friday, May 30 at Casa Nueva and at 10 p.m. Saturday at The Union’s Dance or Die.