OM RECORDS
Aaron Albano, left, and Fred Sargolini are the dynamic deejay duo Ming & FS.
Inimitable DJs Ming & FS
incorporate a myriad of musical
disciplines into their repertoire
The whole deejay thing is a little tired if you ask DJ Ming, one-half of electrifying progressive hip-hop duo Ming & FS. Not that he has anything against the current glut of overpaid, continent-hopping disc spinners flipping wax for a living; he just prefers to give paying audiences their money's worth.
Ming & FS
Where: Wave Waikiki, 1877 Kalakaua Ave.
When: 9 p.m. tomorrow
Admission: $20, 18 and over
Call: 941-0424
"We always wanted to play with live instruments," attests Ming, known to his closest associates as Aaron Albano, as he elaborates on Ming & FS' dynamic stage act. Expanding on the usual deejay set-up, Albano and cohort Fred Sargolini incorporate four turntables and several stringed instruments into their live performances. "It's very expensive to tour with a live band, so being able to use four turntables as if we had a band helps. It really wasn't ever about being a deejay. We really didn't care about the deejay aspect of performing, so we said 'OK, we've got these four turntables. How can we manipulate these things as if we had a band following us?"
Ming & FS dreamed up elaborate musical routines impossible to execute with a smaller arsenal of turntables. They've recently added Pioneer CDJ-1000 digital turntables to their performances, which they say have enhanced the live experience. "It's a rock show," affirms Ming. "We have live sections, some beatboxing and some fooling around. We're not really coming at it through a DJ set, we're coming at it as a live show."
Early on, Albano and Sargolini, both trained in jazz, chose to incorporate a myriad of musical disciplines into their repertoire and called their inimitable style "junkyard." "It's a term we came up with as a response to turntablism and the terms that the media had been applying to our music," he explains. "Technically, we were just making modern jazz. We were fusing current elements of hip-hop, jazz and dance music and spitting it out sort of in the way that Herbie Hancock and others might have moved forward by using modern production techniques. The term encompassed so many different types of things. We were taking from piles of junk, so to speak, that people wouldn't necessarily use to make new music."
Although they've never seen the other side of the Atlantic, Ming & FS are noted performers on the American deejay circuit, where they have chosen to stake their claim. They may not command the exorbitant fees of electronica's elite, though they are content to earn their keep through their primary passions; producing, remixing and performing. "We always got into this to do music and the fact that we're able to pay our bills is extraordinary," relates Ming. "When you get into this business, you realize what it means to be a working musician. If you get lucky and achieve financial success, it's a bonus, but it's really not the goal. The goal is really to be making a living making music and enjoy the lifestyle that it entails."
OM RECORDS
The two stop to pose with a convenience store clerk in New York City, where they make their home.
To the average nine-to-fiver, that means the ability to establish one's own working hours and pursue their visions full time. To the soul-selling boy bands and spurious, over-emotive alt-rockers, having creative control over their material a la Ming & FS must seem like an absolute fantasy. "We're able to do all of that and live in New York City," says Ming, with a measure of satisfaction. "That's a pretty big perk."
Click for online
calendars and events.
