Ean Golden
Ean is a DJ and writer living in San Francisco, California. He travels around the world playing shows, creating ground breaking dj technology, and writing about the dj industry. Ean is widely considered one of the pioneers of digital djing and the guru of controllerism.
Ean wrote the influential “digital dj” column in Remix Magazine from 2005- 2008 which popularized the style and concepts long before they ever became mainstream. He now runs the leading dj technology blog, Dj TechTools, which is considered to be the definitive voice on the subject of digital djing. A dj since 1996, Ean switched from turntables to midi controllers in 2003. Since that time, he has worked tirelessly to push the boundaries of djing into new territory and re-define the way he interacts with music. Today, Ean is now sponsored by Native Instruments and Vestax, 2 major players in the digital dj field. He frequently works closely with those, and many of the other top companies in developing and defining the future of djing. Ean not only invents new techniques and methods of djing through his writing and performances but he is frequently involved in actually designing the dj tools that will become standards in years to come.
As a club dj, Mr. Golden has held many prestigious residencies at every major club in San Francisco over the past 10 years. That presence cemented Ean’s recognition as one of the top San Francisco djs through the House period of 1999-2002 and then the mashup period of 2003- 2006. Along with Mei-Lwun (Soulstice), Ean started the groundbreaking group CRFTP, one of the first mash-up groups on the west coast to create and play the mash-up style that is standard today. Not just a local success, his sound has traveled around the world with numerous tours through Asia, Europe and South America. Today, Ean effortlessly blends together technology and a wide palette of music to create a completely original sound that evolves each night. Techno and House are layered with samples of hip hop as multiple genres are remixed together on the fly to create a musical dialogue with each crowd in that moment. Always innovating and staying ahead of the curve Ean has proven time and time again his name will be a fixture in the dj world for years to come.
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Here is brief history of some the key developments in his remarkable career:
1997} Starts djing in Salt Lake City, Utah at Bricks and gets noticed by the local program director, Sean Phillips, who begins to air Ean’s mixes on his popular dance radio show. This exposure leads to some offers out west and he heads to San Francisco in 1999 to make a name for himself in California.
2000} Ean is a success in the exploding deep house scene in San Francisco securing much sought after residencies with Release and 2nd Sunday. With his name reputation solidified at only 20 years old, he looks to expand into other new ideas.
2001} Formed “LYVE”, one of San Francisco’s first live band/dj hybrid shows pioneering the integration of live music, djs and visuals in a club environment. LYVE was a groundbreaking concept that headlined several shows at San Francisco’s most visible club; Ruby Skye. This work caught the eye of Apple computers, and Ean was asked to be involved in the integration of the emerging Apple 3D technology into live performances.
2003} Ean completely abandoned djing with turntables and started djing with a laptop, midi keyboard and a mixer. That bold move brought much criticism from traditionalists but it un-earthed an entire world of musical possibilities. This style of djing and the tools he helped pioneer are becoming industry standard as djs and the public recognize their un-deniable value. Ean was one of the very first pioneers of a style now being called “Controllerism”, a musical hands on style of djing using controllers to manipulate tracks on the fly rather than turntables.
2004} In response to America’s fading interest in house music Ean and friends Dj Mei-Lwun and Dj Solomon helped to kick start the american mash up movement. They founded CRFTP, one of the first west coast Mash-up groups that created many classics including Mei-Lwun’s masterpiece “Sweet Home Country Gramha” (featured in TIME magazine). Since it’s forming, www.CRFTP.com has been covered in BPM magazine and received millions of downloads of its free remixes. Using digital dj technology and a wide palette of music, these early pioneers created a style of djing that has been sweeping across America and is now standard in all of the biggest nightclubs today.
2004-2005} Worked with Apple in developing a proto-type of one of the first fully integrated digital dj-3D visual combinations. He demonstrated it for the first time at WWDC 2005 during a major keynote presentation before 5 thousand worldwide software developers. After WWDC 2005, O’Reillys publishing asked Ean to write the world’s first comprehensive book on digital dj technology.
2005} Ean began writing a monthly column for Remix magazine called “The Digital Dj”. This widely read column sets the bar for the new breed of laptop djs and has permanently cemented Ean’s position as an expert in the field. He also began to work directly with industry leaders Serato, Vestax and NI on beta testing and development of Digital dj technologies. In 2006 he spent 3 months in Berlin writing and consulting for the official Native instruments DVD tutorial on Traktor.
2006} Ean starts to tour heavily in Europe and South America looking for new inspiration and bigger challenges. He returns to America having secured regular rotation in many Brazilian radio stations and a wide following in that country.
2007} Dj TechTools.com is created as an expansion of Ean’s column in Remix magazine. The website takes off and quickly becomes the leading voice in the new digital dj movement with over 100k djs visiting the site each month world wide.
2008} With digital djing exploding and controllerism gaining popularity, Vestax creates a limited edition “Ean Golden” VCI-100 controller that sells out in 2 days.
Today} Ean continues change the status quo of djing, pushing envelopes and challenging others to be more creative. Due to the exploding popularity of Dj TechTools products, he has cut back to only playing a few gigs per month, instead focusing on growing the Dj TechTools community and developing new technologies that will become the dj tools of tomorrow.
