ChumZilla

Based in New London, CT, ChumZilla is an award winning Producer/DJ who built a reputation for himself as the go to guy for quality music production and the craziest dance parties over the past sixteen years. Like most DJ's of his era, Chum learned by studying his favorite DJ's and producers trying to emulate their sounds on a primitive record player and a cheap Radio Shack mixer. It wasn't long before he traded his Radio Shack mixer in for a Gemini one with a 12 second sampler, which peaked his interest in hip-hop production. Eventually he got his hands on a pair of Technics 1200 turntables (the pair he still uses now) and the infamous Ensoniq ASR-10, a keyboard sampler used by some of his favorite producers, and began producing for a number of underground hip-hop artists all over the New England/Tri-State area.

After landing his first gig DJing in a club in 1999, fresh out of high school, Chum began making a name for himself as a young and skilled DJ. During this time he was introduced to an up and coming CT rapper named Apathy. They became friends quickly with their like interests in the classic boom-bap sounds of mid-90's hip-hop and began collaborating on the regular with Apathy taking Chum into his group Demigodz as his DJ. The rest would be what most people call history as the two would open shows for their 90's idols and their indie rap peers all over the east coast and overseas. It wouldn't be until 2006 where Chum would gain his first significant notoriety for producing and engineering the majority of Apathy's debut album "Eastern Philosophy".

While making his name as a producer, Chum was also cementing his name as one of Connecticut’s premier DJ's doing guest sets on various college radio hip-hop shows all over the state. Eventually he settled at 91.7 WHUS, UCONN's radio station based out of Storrs, playing classic hip-hop records and the latest underground hip-hop music. What Chum played in the clubs though was completely different as he was dabbling in house music, drum n bass, dancehall and mainstream hip-hop/r&b. It was this that would eventually land him a gig as a mix-show DJ, then mix-show director on local mainstream radio station Jammin 107.7, where he would gain more local prominence.

During this time Chum began working more closely with the local arts scene in New London, CT and DJing regularly at The Oasis Pub which is considered by many in the area as the heart of the local independent music scene. Various successful DJ nights were built at "The O" with Chum's involvement. This helped Chum win "Best DJ" in the 2010 Whalie Awards, New London's own music awards show celebrating the local scene. He would continue with a string of successful dance parties over the years winning more awards (2012 for Best Electronic Dance Song, 2013 for Best DJ). The Whalies would eventually inspire the Connecticut Music Awards where Chum was nominated for "Best DJ" in its first three years eventually taking the award home in 2014 along with the Whalie Award that year for "Best DJ". That made Chum the first person to win "Best DJ" three times at The Whalies with two consecutive wins, and the first DJ to win both the Connecticut Music Award and Whalie Award in the same year.

With no signs of slowing down, Chum is excited to go into 2015 with what he considers his first real album, "The Earth Man's Curse", and the idea of bringing his sounds to where ever they are welcomed. He's always looking to challenge himself and stay progressive with his music selections, constantly evolving his sound and keeping his skill set as sharp as he can whether he's DJing or making music.