Who is this guy?
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Grandpa Mojo is Chris Hansen.
What's with the name?
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The name "Grandpa Mojo" was derived from Grandma Moses, who began her painting career when she was in her 70's. - Since I was (relatively) late coming to the whole electronica scene, I thought it best to select a name that indicated that. Hence "Grandpa Mojo". And no, I'm not really a grandpa... yet... (fingers crossed)
So, what's the story?
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I was born in the 60's on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. Coming from that environment, it's hard to imagine that I would eventually find my way to trip hop, downtempo, and acid jazz. But that's exactly what I did.
Throughout my life, musical influences have come from varied and obscure sources. As a baby, it was listening to my mother's recordings of swing bands and operatic tenor Mario Lanza. As a child, it was listening to old, old country: Minnie Pearl, Grandpa Jones, Hank Williams, and others, on very scratched 45's in the basement with my brother. Throughout grade school, I would hear traditional Shoshone and Arapahoe music when I attended pow-wows with my Native American schoolmates. In junior high, it was The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind, and Fire. In high school, it was jazz: Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Woody Shaw, Dexter Gordon, and Chick Corea. In college at North Texas State, it would continue to be jazz, but with the addition of funk, punk and world music. After college, I would play with all types of groups, from classical orchestras to indie bands.
In 1999, after numerous stints with various recording and touring groups, I turned my attention to trip hop and downtempo. I felt kind of stupid, to be honest. This stuff had been around for years, and I had only recently become aware of it. But I didn't waste any time. I couldn't wait to be a part of it, so I began creating ideas for tunes and then hooked up with my long-time friend Kip to flesh them out.
One thing that is different about Grandpa Mojo's music, is that rather than sampling other artists' grooves and beats, I tend to play my own grooves and then use that as my source material.
So, there's Grandpa Mojo they guy - and Grandpa Mojo the band? What's the difference?
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Grandpa Mojo, the musician, is Chris Hansen. He plays upright acoustic bass, electric bass, keys (rhodes!), trumpet, guitar, and is a turntablist.
Grandpa Mojo, the band, is a constantly revolving bunch of musicians who play the Grandpa Mojo tunes live - along with a bunch of really cool downtempo / trip hop classics we've transcribed (Beastie Boys, David Holmes, Up Bustle and Out, DJ Logic, Toledo, Shadow Records, Miles Davis, etc.).
Hey, I just checked out your music and really like it. Who else does music like this?
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Okay, here's the easy part. These are all the guys I look up to - who I take my inspiration from. Just do a google search for more information on these bands and producers (listed in the order I spy them in my CD rack):
* David Holmes
* Up, Bustle and Out
* DJ Logic
* Dan the Automator
* Ubiquity Records
* Shadow Records
* Nils Petter Molvaer
* Beastie Boys
* Amon Tobin / Cujo
* Meat Beat Manifesto
* Mouse on Mars
* Kid Koala
* Tchad Blake
* Mitchell Froom
* Gomez
* Gorillaz
* Cibo Matto
* Supreme Beings of Leisure (my good friend, Ramin)
* Static Revenger (my good friend, Dennis White)
* Weapon of Choice
* Medeski, Martin, and Wood
* DJ Krush
* Tin Hat Trio
* Ursula 1000
* Soul Coughing
* Modereko (my good friend, Tim Kobza)
* MC 900 Foot Jesus
* Tosca
* Greyboy
* Talk Talk / O Rang
* DJ Cam
* Peace Orchestra
* Critters Buggin
* Brian Eno
* David Baerwald
* Daniel Lanois
* Miles Davis
* Jon Scofield
* Plaid
* Tricky (Maxinquaye - wow!)
* Bjork
* Portishead
* Woody Shaw
* Andrew Hill
* Don Cherry and Ornette Coleman
* Larry Young
* Tortoise
* Gavin Bryars
* Steve Reich
Read more...