40 Thieves

Event Details

MAKE IT FUNKY'S 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH 40 THIEVES || 40 Thieves is a collective of DJs and music makers from the San Francisco Bay Area that formed in 2004 with the notion of creating quality music soundtracks for your average all-night, sweat-fueled futuristic disco fantasy party. At it's core reside Layne Fox, Corey Black & Jay Williams, providing the majority of thrust behind the direction and output. Alongside are a bevy of friends contributing musical secret sauce to the group's diverse sonic stew. Travis 'TK' Kirschbaum was a co-founder and key contributor and local best buds Qzen, Alona, Rita Mazlan, Jason 'JP Soul' Peters, Chris MacGrew, Masahiko Kiritani, Dave Dick, Victor Critchfield, Colin Klingman, Dave Kurzman and Larry Hamilton all play various roles in past and current productions. Fox, Black and Williams all met circa 2000 and quickly discovered their mutual obsession with creating oddball dance funk, soul and house. Within a month of arriving in SF, Fox landed a job moving units with Corey Black over at Imperial DUB, with co-worker Eileen Alden, wife of Jay Williams, and the seed was planted for the three to unite. First working in separate pairs, and eventually in the same studio, the dynamic quickly congealed, and the Thieves' signature sound started developing. They began working on original tracks and re-edits to play alongside their favorites at tiny disco basement parties springing up across the city. The first few productions were released on their own Smash Hit Music Co. imprint, but they soon decided to let others do the promoting. They connected with likeminded labels including Rong Music and Permanent Vacation to release a small handful of original singles and EP's over the next few years. One in particular, 2008's "Don't Turn it Off," caused such a commotion it wound up on a few dozen CD compilations and even a few Best of the Decade lists in 2010. Over the next several years the Thieves had the chance to remix great artists including Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Gary 'Chocolate Star' Davis, Plastique De Reve, and Johnny Dynell. Most recently the group has found a new friend in the UK's Leng Records, operated by Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy and partner Simon Purnell, who've released their last 3 records, all on the fabulously sexy 10" format. Whether they're creating cosmic odyssey soundscapes or lazy mutant house, 40 Thieves like to interweave live instrumentation with programmed electronics, filtered through haze and sweat and chance, to capture the whimsical and unlock the magical. Never beholden to tempo or the flavor of the moment, always open to new directions and techniques, their sound would be equally at home at the Mud Club circa 1983 or in the headphones of an Ibiza beachgoer circa 2083. Whether slack or upbeat, 40 Thieves always aim for the head as well as the derriere. Corey Black grew up in the Bronx and on Long Island and has been a member in good standing of the Bay Area electronic music scene since the early 90's. As a kid in New York, he used to sneak into Manhattan to go to CBGB's and Club 57 to hear bands like Bad Brains, Bauhaus, and Liquid Liquid. He never got caught. He first got on a set of turntables at the age of 8. He encountered the RAVE in late '90 and really enjoyed it. A founding member of San Francisco's seminal Imperial Dub Recordings, he produced, co-produced or had a hand in a few of the records that helped to define the locale's influential sound. He started tracking with Fox and Williams around 2001 and really enjoys it. He's dj'ed on three continents and one sub continent and looks forward, with 40 Thieves, to dj'ing on the remaining continents. Jason 'Jaswho' Williams is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, highly trained studio engineer and rabid Adidas fanatic from West Hartford, CT. He started playing keys shortly before birth and grew up emulating heroes like Prince and Todd Terry. Williams has performed on and produced countless of his own and other noteworthy Bay Area artists' musical endeavors. His personal studio includes a core and revolving cast of Rolands, Korgs, Moogs, classic drum machines and generally collectible gadgets. The 'Jaswho' live electronic show rocks the house, replete with live keys, vocals, guitar, bass and on-the-fly programming. He's a musical dynamo, and a cornerstone of the Thieves' lush sound. Fact: Williams' birth-given middle name is Layne. Layne Fox was born and raised in the Sunshine State and was last of the Thieves to arrive on the banks of San Francisco. Prior to his relocation, he hosted several club nights at the seminal Florida rave institution known as SIMONS. Having started collecting DJ equipment and records at the tender age of 12 in the mid-80's, Fox witnessed the transition from disco to hip hop, electro, freestyle, house, acid and the proliferation of dance culture from behind the decks. He began experimenting with samplers in the mid 90's and before too long was focusing all of his spare time creating music. One of Fox's early, and only solo productions to date, a remix of Mudd’s "Adventures In Bricketwood" for Rong Music was featured on James Murphy's 2007 Fabric Live London mix, likely helping to eventually convince Black and Williams it would be wise to team up for good. 40 Thieves release their first long-player, The Sky Is Yours, on Leng Records in time to celebrate their 10th anniversary in Spring 2014. The album contained 20 tracks spread across two gatefold double LP’s and a double CD and was universally well received by the press and public a like. Uncut Magazine in the Uk called the album “a rich and colourful exploration of pulsing, tuneful, space-age funk.”