DJ Chooky
House/Breaks/Electro DJ
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Gary Cook (AKA DJ Chooky) has spent a majority of his life playing music and working in the entertainment industry around Far North Queensland.
His love for music spills over into everything he becomes involved in, from DJing and music production to visuals, production and lighting design.
Always approachable, Chooky has a smooth style which can only come with experience and a deep knowledge of the mechanics of a dance floor.
He has in his career hosted events the likes of "Ministry of Sound" tours and "Vibes on a Summers Day" festival, resided in nightclubs with styles ranging from R'n'B and reggae to retro and commercial venues, through to house and techno clubs, as well as several radio shows and live webcasts.
His personal tastes are wide and varied, much like the crowds he draws energy from when playing, and his playlists are always expanding.
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Set list |
Check out my weekly internet show for what I'm digging this week, on www.reelhouseTV.com every Sunday from 8 to 11 PM. |
Influences |
DJ/producers: Dr Packer, Colour Castle, Dirty South, Golden Features, Fear of Dawn, Purple Disco Machine, Sgt Slick, Le'Tric, Benson, Claptone, Aston Shuffle, Nicky Night Time, Phonatics, Set Mo, Friendless, Chemical Brothers, Lo'99, Armand Van Helden, Christian Luke, Low Steppa, Phil K, Kid Kenobi, Norman Cook, Freestylers, Plump DJ’s.
Bands: NuBreed, Rufus, Crooked Colours, Infusion, Arthur Baker, New Order, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Daft Punk, Run DMC, Midnight Starr, Massive Attack.
MUSICAL STYLES! Funk, electro, retro and disco to acid jazz, trip-hop, R’n’B, hip-hop, current funky, deep, bass, acid & hip-house, garage, breakbeat, dubstep and drum’n’bass. |
Gig Highlights |
MINISTRY OF SOUND: Chooky has been involved heavily from the beginning in bringing the Ministry of Sound label to Cairns, along the way getting to know and play with some of Australia and the world’s finest Club DJ’s. Covering styles from house and breakbeat to EDM, the MoS tours set the highest standards for dance events in Cairns from 2001 to 2007.
DECKTIZM: “This is still the most fun I have ever had with my chosen art form, working closely with one of my oldest and closest friends." Decktizm was an idea which DJ Smooth(E) and Chooky created for Gypsy Dee’s Restaurant with 4 turntables, 2 mixers and a CD unit, and a shared passion to be creative and different, while still being entertaining.
ELECTROPICA AWARDS: 2003 saw the first Electropica Music Awards in Cairns, and Chooky winning an “Outstanding Contribution†award, as well as accepting the awards for best club for Nightclub 1936, “Best event†for Kid Kenobi’s 2003 breaks tour and “Best visiting DJ†for Kid Kenobi’s 2003 breaks tour. 2004 saw his MoS events tied with O.E.World for “2004 best club events,†while he again received “Best Club Event†in 2005 for the continued MoS parties @ Sporties.
G-FORCE: Promoting and playing at the G-FORCE club nights at Club Five-Nine in 2001/2002. This was Chooky’s first real taste of solo club promoting with A-class guest DJ’s such as Sugar Ray Goode, Peewee Ferris, Kid Kenobi, Chris Fortier (USA), Phil K and NuBreed LIVE, Keltec, Odyssey and G.T, and more in what was, and still is a great room. Chooky also administrated an amateur DJ competition at G-Force, encouraging fresh new talent to the reach for the surface around Cairns.
VIBES ON A TROPICAL DAY I and II: Chooky was the local instigator and co-ordinator for both “Vibes on a Tropical Day†festivals, which were arranged as an offshoot of the national electronic festival, “Vibes on a Summers Day†with Vibes founder, Joe Connelly (JOE 90) and CCG in 1999. The first event was held at the “Underdog†Hotel (The Jack) and the second at the “Tanks Art Center†in Edge Hill. Acts included Endorphin, Pocket (Poxy Music), Phatt Dex, Hot Rubber Glove, Trapazoid, Sharif Galil, Abel (El Toro) and many more. It remains one of the best electronic festival events Cairns has seen.
WICKID I and II: The WICKID festivals happened in 2001 and 2002, both drawing large numbers to the Cairns arenas. After playing a 15 minute set before “Sonic Animation†at WICKID I, (and dancing around in the Theopolus Thistler outfit on stage with SA) Chooky was asked to co-ordinate set-up and DJ production for the dance pavilion at WICKID II.
JJJ Mix-up: In July 2004 Chooky got his first chance to play JJJ’s national mixed show, Mix-Up with a mix which spanned his tastes from trip hop to breaks and drum’n’bass including some original material from himself and other locals to the larger Australasian audience. He has also been interviewed by Sharif for JJJ’s Groove-train show.
BUZZ DJ: Chooky was asked to oversee the DJ section for the new Buzz Music premises, turning it into a one stop DJ shop. He was involved in sourcing the right products and companies to deal with, equipment and vinyl ordering, sales and all aspects of retail service. Whilst there, he also held a successful DJ course which had over 30 participants attend a six week course.
“OFF YA DIAL†AND “PLUSH†RADIO SHOWS: “OFF YA DIAL†ran for around four and a half years every Friday night on 4CCR.FM from 10 p.m. to midnight with DJ Smooth (E). Apart from playing as much new stuff as possible, he covered local events, world dance news and interviews with all the visiting DJ’s he could get.
“PLUSH†ran for one year at TRIP FM in Port Douglas every Saturday afternoon from 12 a.m. to 5 p.m. with fellow music lover and Delicious Sydney DJ, Sara.
Internet shows: Over the past 8 years I have been doing live internet shows for UK based website, www.reelhouseTV.com where I showcase the Australian house music scene to the world. I enjoy great satisfaction form these shows, which I tweet out my track-listing for as I play. My Wednesday night show is called "The Deep Down Under Experience", and my Sunday night show is called "OFF YA DIAL". (Log onto www.reelhousetv.com to join in.) |
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