PHOTO BY CARLEE COHEN AND JOHN PARKER

WEB

Cave Precise
(Ron Ramey) juxtaposes recombined fragments from his massive vinyl collection with poignant melodies performed on the instruments in his Jersey City studio. Known mostly for his work with SonDoo Recordings, a label he started in 1997 with Yah Supreme and Daniel Yang, he has become an underground hip hop legend.

Born in St. Louis, Cave grew up studying saxophone and trumpet from age 10 until graduating a performing arts high school. He briefly turned his attention to theater while attending college, only to delve back into music. Armed with a newly purchased turntable and an Ensoniq EPS sampler, he became a DJ for a rock band while producing crude demos for local rappers in New Haven, CT.

Upon his return to St. Louis in 1993, Cave met SupaFlexXx (Wilson Hankins). Flex, a veteran producer with impressive credits gained from his work in both St. Louis and Oakland, quickly became a mentor for the aspiring beatsmith. Over the course of the next 3 years, Cave soaked up every bit of studio knowledge he could. The two became close friends and continue to work together to this day as Monsta Music Group.(continued below)

At first, Parker incorporated sound into art installations. These noise experiments -- comprised of both warped field samples and inchoate, haunting textures -- possessed many of the characteristics of what would become his signature sound. Shortly after setting up shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, he began to show his work in a variety of settings, from Brooklyn's famed Lunatarium, alongside the likes of DJ Spooky, to Chelsea's Caren Golden Fine Art, where he shared space with venerated sound artist Christian Marclay. (continued below)

EASTERN FICTION
PSIENCE
TOM MOODY

WEB DESIGN BY
JOHN PARKER
© All content
copyrighted to
eyekhan.com
productions
and gleaned
smattering music

LIVE @ SHARE VS.
DENIM VENOM

In 1996, the raw and hungry young producer struck out for New York, eager to prove his mettle in the birthplace of hip hop. Long hours as a temp provided funds for badly needed equipment but not much sleep, as he labored away every free moment he had in the back room of a vacant Brooklyn factory that served as both his home and the offices of SonDoo Recordings.

The fledgling label announced its arrival in 1998 with the release of Yah Supreme's "Old & Wise," an unheralded record which received immediate recognition. Hip hop pioneers like DJ Premier and Pete Rock gave the single burn on major mix shows and the imprint was on the map. SonDoo would go on to release seven singles through Fat Beats and Landspeed, as well as a compilation album through the Paris-based Underground Academy.

With the labelís hiatus in 2002, Cave began to pursue the many opportunities now presented to him. He recorded a groundbreaking instrumental EP with experimental composer jenghizkhan ‚ Man From Planet Risk's "Escaping Chixalub"‚ while continuing to work with a host of emcees, producing and remixing tracks for Common, sticman (of dead prez), Afu-Ra, C-Rayz Walz, Anom, Altered St8s of Consciousness and the legendary Last Poets. He also produced tracks for jazz-rock band Artanker Convoy and punk rock outfit !M.O.O.B. In his spare time, Cave plays the bass and drums.

DISCOGRAPHY (2005)

1998 Yah Supreme
“Old & Wise” b/w “You’ll Never Find”
SonDoo Recordings

1998 Yah Supreme
“Full Circle” b/w “Only Human”
SonDoo Recordings

1999 Oktober
“It Was War” b/w “Infinite Echoes”
SonDoo Recordings

1999 Anom
“Without a Shadow of a Doubt” b/w “Open Season”
SonDoo Recordings

1999 Dee Surreal
“The Beast Within” b/w “Call of the Wild”
SonDoo Recordings

2000 Altered St8s of Consciousness
“Headbangers Ball” b/w “Seasons”
SonDoo Recordings

2001 Yah Supreme
“Alone” b/w “Live at the Improv”
SonDoo Recordings

2001 DJ Cam
“HoneyMoon” LP (features “Old & Wise”)
Chronowax

2002 SonDoo Recordings
“For Your Information” (Compilation Album)
SonDoo Recordings/Underground Academy

2004 Artanker Convoy
“Natch” (Rmx.)
Social Registry (unreleased)

2004 Last Poets ftg. Common and stic man (of dead prez)
“Panther” (Rmx.)
Jambetta Music (unreleased, unsigned)

2004 Altered St8s of Consciousness
“See How It Sound” (Rmx.)
F5 Records

2004 Anom
“So It’s Come To This”(LP)
Eastern Fiction

2004 C-Rayz Walz
“Amore” (“Black Samurai” EP)
Def Jux (July 2004)

His sonic investigations necessitated increasingly complex compositions, requiring him to look outside of visual art and into the world of music. He began playing gigs, first at Brooklyn dives and then at Manhattan mainstays like Share, Remote Lounge and Tonic. Steadily, jenghizkhan made a name for himself, creating minacious sounds arranged into inimitable live improvisations.

In 2001 at a neighborhood bar, he and hip-hop producer Cave Precise had the first of many friendly conversations. Those discussions provided the spark for what began initially as a tentative collaboration but soon escalated into the intense effort that produced Man From Planet Risk's "Escaping Chixalub".

earcon continues to compose and perform music with Man From Planet Risk as well as various side and solo projects, and he shows his sound installations in galleries throughout the world
.

DISCOGRAPHY (2009)

2009
earcon, Funkiller II

2008
earcon, Funkiller I
jenghizkhan, The Noise of Experiments: bacon

2007
earcon, Party Lion
earcon & Tom Moody, Scratch Ambulance

2006
earcon, vertexChips (compilation)

2005
Man From Planet Risk, Escaping Chixalub
!M.O.O.B, Live@CBGBs 3-22-04 + 5-27-04

2004
jenghizkhan, Live@vertexList + Live@Sound Show
Artanker Convoy, Natch (remix), Social Registry
Denim Venom, Live@Share

2003
jenghizkhan, Hooden Knooks + Brooklyn Sucks

2002
Spongeworthy, 1-16 Live
jenghizkhan, Feed jenghizkhan - beef
jenghizkhan, The Noise of Experiments: bits + pieces

2001
Richard Douglas, Tennessee Country Turnstile Swingin' (producer)

READ THE INTERVIEW
OF MFPR'S EARCON

LIVE @
VERTEXLIST