By Juan Porrata
Electronic funk revolutionary, Wade Randolph Hampton, aka DJ WishFM, aka W, and various other pseudonyms is a Dallas native who has succeeded well beyond the confines of our fair city to become renowned globally as an eclectic DJ of many styles including DnB, house, electroclash and hip hop. He is also well regarded as a producer, promoter and label manager, but most importantly, a true jack of all trades who has always preferred exploring the outer perimeters of dance music.
He has best been described by both his peers and the media as an 'army of one'. Some notable examples include:
"The sound of W cannot be contained in a little box. Chilled out and pilled out, Redheadedstepchild is worth your attention." - URB Magazine
"WishFM showcases a laidback jazzstep sound which references to LTJ Bukem and Roni Size yet is defiantly American." - Muzik Magazine on his D&B set
"W is firmly in the premier category, as posterity knocks on the door of West Coast electronic. More than worth it." - XLR8R Magazine
Perhaps New York's Village Voice put it most simply, as they described his skills...
"Truly stellar, cutting edge DJing."
Indeed, when uber-group Radiohead needs a DJ to finish off the night at their epic Hollywood Bowl soirees, they call just one person... WishFM.
And, they've done exactly that on the last three world tours.
He has enjoyed headlining status at the biggest annual festivals in this hemisphere, including L.A's Together As One and Monster Massive, Cyberfest, San Francisco's Planet New Year, ACA World Music Festival in Acapulco and the illustrious Ultra in Miami. Wade's fantastic voyage has been well documented in books, 'Generation Ecstasy', 'The Book Of E' and 'Rave America', as well as, an unbelievable 19 TV/film documentaries. As if his previous accomplishments weren't enough, he's also created music for Mercedes Benz and Levi's TV ads, for the Academy Award winning 'Requiem for a Dream' remix album, and was rewarded with a Bammy nomination by the California Music Awards in the category of Outstanding Electronic Artist. Oh, and did I mention that he was the executive producer of Mark Farina's first album in 1996, entitled 'Seasons One'?
While he prefers the rush of the live environment, Wade has split his time with the studio to produce six highly celebrated compilations and two artist albums. Highlighting this discography is the soundtrack to 'Groove', the movie based on SF rave culture in which he was a featured actor and music supervisor while casting his old friend, John Digweed, as the marquee DJ superstar.
DDM: Discuss your current projects, including the new album with Robbie Hardkiss.
W: The new band with Robbie is called Bonnie Dune - named after the Northern Pacific Coast LSD beach used for Full Moon parties for the past 40 years. It's sort of Grace Jones meets the Black Eyed Peas in a dark DFA alley, while doing a drug deal with Thievery Corporation (so secretive, that only Juandingo has heard it). I recently produced a remix of 'Brick House' by The Commodores for Motown records and the commercial release for the film, 'Domino', under the alias 'Domino Project' - which is the only musical recordings of Domino Harvey before she died, last June. Both projects were recorded with Dallas most underrated producers, Datguy.
