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Unity building through music and dance

Carrying on decade-old tradition
1343djtone
Escaping the Gulf war and heading to Whistler. DJ Tone on unusual sources of inspiration.

By Nicole Fitzgerald

Who: DJ Tone

What: Halloween Party

When: Tuesday, Oct. 31

Where: Merlin’s

Tickets: $10

It takes a certain kind of man to backpack around Central America with more than 60 records in tow.

But nothing has been straight forward for the once Canadian Air Force airframe technician who prepared to ship out to the Gulf War, but instead found himself buying a snowboard and shipping out to Powder King in northern B.C., then Banff, Vancouver and finally Whistler when the war ended.

Anthony Catton remembers walking into Merlin’s on his first visit to Whistler and meeting then bar manager Mike Varrin, who hired the Ontario native as a DJ. Ten years later, djtone still mans Merlin’s turntables. He also founded one of Whistler’s most infamous celebrations, the monthly Full Moon parties, and recently put Whistler on the mixing map, placing third in an international DJ competition earlier this month. He hosted the Seven Hours of Power show as the main programmer for the now debunked Radio Free Whistler station.

He is probably the only person to run for Whistler council using DJ as his title prefix and join the Whistler homeless club for five months when the 2003 Pemberton floods struck.

Tone — a lazy man’s version of Tony — is what you’d call a bit of a free spirit. The vegan, toque totting, thirty-something boy marches to his own music, trying to make the world a better place. Forget about meditation and social activism (although he probably does both), djtone’s tool of the world peace trade is his mixers and turntables. Dancing and music is what it is all about.

“I believe music and dancing can help heal a lot of the problems in the world by people expressing themselves,” says the soft-spoken man taking time out from recording at his home studio. “My goal with my music is to use it to promote positive vibrations and unity worldwide.”

And he doesn’t mean in an airy-fairy kind of way. He’s quite pragmatic in his approach. Music is about vibrations. The world is made up of vibrations. And therefore, the two affect each other. So djtone aims to spin out uplifting waves, allowing people to let loose and dance into who they are.

“I think it brings people out of their shell a lot,” he said. “Music is all about frequency. Emotions are frequencies. It’s a scientific thing. I like to see how certain frequencies affect humans. It is interesting how it can open up people. I guess these Full Moon parties are like one big experiment. I try to create more unity in the world and make people aware. Live in the moment. Think about the future. Love the past.”

The Gandhi-esque turntablist combines his vibration-aware music with the great outdoors for the optimum effect. Dancing under moonlight and mountains, music revelers are free to unearth their inner tone. djtone has wracked up 59 Full Moon parties, beginning his spirited reign out of the back of his van with then partner Leximoon a decade ago. The 60 th Full Moon anniversary celebration is coming to a forest outside of municipal boundaries near you in December.

“The energy of the party itself is the drug,” says the man who only gets high on life these days.

When he isn’t celebrating our connection to the planets in Whistler’s underground party scene, Tone packs in sold-out crowds at Merlin’s with his Solartribe DJ collective. This year’s Halloween Party Oct. 31 at Merlin’s welcomes DJ Primitive, djtone and DJ Phroh with electro breaks.

“It’s break beats hip hop sped up,” he explains. “It’s a new type of dance music. The frequencies of the sound are really glitchy: electro leaps and blobs with deep rumbling sonic base lines.”

He sends a much more detailed breakdown of the genre, along with other DJing terms and definitions, to better introduce the music to me. He has a gentle soul and even gentler touch.

My dog Teddy lays sprawled in djtone’s arms for the entire length of the interview. Teddy has no intention of getting up. It comes to no surprise the Reiki practitioner is looking to add pet therapy to his growing list of talents.

But for now, his attention looks more to his producing credits under the name Solartone. For the last two years, djtone has seriously pursued producing, logging in 70 remix/compilation projects over the past two years. An album is expected in December, with a DVD release in the spring. Marketing is not his forte; so until he finds an agent to take care of the unpleasant and undesired aspect of the music business, contact solartone@hotmail.com for an album.

Otherwise, you’ll find djtone’s winning music on bijoubreaks.com as of Nov. 1. djtone took third place in BijouBreaks Breakthru’s second annual international DJ competition earlier this month. Despite sending the wrong mix to the competition, the man famous for his broken beats and dirty bass lines put Whistler on the map of the remix scene. The U.S. took first and Great Britain second.

“My goal is to ring my music and Whistler sound — we’ve created a distinct west coast sound here — and take it outside of these surroundings,” he said. “The contest was about discovering the next up and coming DJs. It will help while I am looking for an agent.”

Like the waning of the moon, everything has its natural cycle and djtone isn’t afraid to let his music progress.

“I am not a natural musician,” he said. “It has taken me years to be what I want to be, to create what I want to create.”

And for next Tuesday, it’s about creating a soundscape that will get people shaking their moneymaker all night long.

Tickets for the Merlin’s Halloween bash are $10. Prizes will be awared for best costumes, male and female. Advance tickets are available at Billabong, Merlin’s and the Hub in Creekside.

Visit www.myspace.com/thesolartribe for djtone music samples.