François Kevorkian, alias
François K, (born January 10, 1954) is a French
DJ, remixer, producer and record
label owner of Armenian descent living
in the US
. Having started his career in renowned clubs
such as the Paradise Garage and
Studio
54
, the NYC-resident is widely considered as one of
the forefathers of house
music.
Biography
Born and
raised in France, Kevorkian's
passion for music led to playing the drums during his teen
years. He moved to the United States in 1975, where he hoped to find more challenging
situations than those back home. Due to the heavy
competition for any gig as a drummer in those days, he instead
tried his hand at becoming a DJ in underground New York City
clubs, around 1976. His career then
skyrocketed, and he quickly made this his full-time occupation,
although some work was at more commercial venues such as the club
New York, New York in 1977. He taught himself
tape editing and started making disco medleys,
some of which are still popular to this day, such as
Rare Earth's "Happy Song". He was offered
a position doing
A&R for a nascent dance
indie record label,
Prelude Records,
which allowed him to go into the studio and do remixes. His first
remix, of a
Patrick Adams production,
"In The Bush" by
Musique
became a wild success both in clubs and on the radio. It was the
first of many remixes that helped Prelude define the sound of New
York's dance music, including many memorable songs, including
"You're The One For Me' and "Keep On" by
D-Train, and "Beat The Street" by
Sharon Redd. His stint at Prelude ended in 1982,
the same year where he had the most number one singles in
Billboard's Dance Music Chart, which
included his remixes of now-classic songs such as "Situation" by
Yazoo, and "Go Bang" by
Dinosaur L.
During
that time, he was privileged enough to play as a guest DJ at such
legendary venues as the Paradise
Garage, The Loft, Better Days, Studio 54, Les Mouches, Buttermilk Bottom, and AM-PM, as well
as a residency at New
Jersey
's Club Zanzibar on Fridays for over a year.
The great success of his remixes led him to
record producing, and his first work was the
Snake Charmer EP for
Island Records, utilizing an all-star cast of
Jah Wobble,
The
Edge,
Holger Czukay, and
Jaki Liebezeit. His career as a remixer and
producer led him to work or collaborate with many more mainstream
artists, such as
Eurythmics,
Diana Ross,
U2,
Kraftwerk,
Mick Jagger,
Ashford & Simpson,
The Cure,
Midnight
Oil,
Jimmy Cliff,
Foreigner,
Jean Michel Jarre,
Jan Hammer,
The
Fatback Band,
Bunny Wailer,
The Smiths,
Pet
Shop Boys,
Cabaret
Voltaire, and culminated in his involvement in mixing all of
Kraftwerk's 1986 studio album,
Electric Café. He mixed
Depeche Mode's biggest-selling album,
Violator as well as many
of their 12" club remixes.
During this time he decided to build his own recording studio, Axis
Studios, which ironically shared the same building as Studio 54. It
quickly turned into a major commercial operation. Due to the
pressures of studio work, he had abandoned DJing around 1983 to
dedicate himself to recording and mixing full-time, but couldn't
stay away from the turntables, and started spinning again in early
1990. The scene had really become much more international, and he
quickly was able to start traveling and gaining much exposure
overseas, including Japan. He toured Japan, DJ'ing with
Larry Levan in the Summer of 1992 (the 'Harmony
Tour') right before Levan's death in November of that same year.
The demand
for his DJ appearances led him to start traveling to many of the
best club venues around the world, including London's 'Ministry Of
Sound' and 'Fabric', Japan's 'Spacelab Yellow', Ibiza
's 'Pacha
' and
'Space
', as well as Italy's 'Angels Of Love' and many
large-scale festivals.
By 1995, he decided to start an eclectic independent record label,
Wave Music which allowed him to find an
outlet for his own creative endeavours, including the
FK-EP, as well as signing records by
Abstract
Truth,
Floppy Sounds and a slew of other electronic music
releases. Then in 1996, he (along with partner John Davis) became
involved in starting what arguably became one of New York's most
revered weekly parties,
Body&SOUL which took place every Sunday
afternoon at Club Vinyl (6 Hubert Street), playing along with
co-resident DJs Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell and Danny Krivit for a
mixed crowd of ecstatic and faithful dancers from all over the
world. The 'Body&SOUL' sound, a unique soulful mix of very
organic and spiritual dance music grooves, led to the release of a
successful
compilation series by the same name.
His career as an artist did not stop evolving, as he rekindled his
interest for a more electronic sound, and the release of his
Sonar Music set in 2002 marked a turning point;
he started playing a much edgier and futuristic style, with more to
do with
Techno and
Dub than the
House
sound he was mostly identified with as a DJ until that time. In
2002, he also started touring along with Detroit Techno legend
Derrick May, playing sets
together as the 'Cosmic Twins'. His recent appearances at Berlin's
Tresor,
Manchester's Sankey's Soap and London's Fabric have helped gain him
many younger fans that may not have been aware of his previous
work, which in turn has led to the timely Summer 2006 release of
his newest compilation CD, entitled '
Frequencies', (Wavetec), which takes the listener on a
grand tour of the types of electronic music sounds he has been
championing of late, from Electro and Minimal to 'big-room' House
and Techno.
In April 2003, he started a residency at a new weekly Monday night
event in New York City called
Deep Space
NYC, which focuses on
Dub in all of
its forms, and where the format is extremely eclectic, ranging from
spaced-out
Techno to the deepest
Reggae,
Dubstep,
Hip-Hop as well as
Drum & Bass,
House
music and
Disco. His recent musical output
has him mixing Deep Space NYC Vol. 1, a compilation featuring
several of his own original productions (along with Jamaican dub
legends
Mutabaruka and
U-Roy); he also recently did notable remixes for
Moloko,
Yoko Ono,
Cesaria Evora,
Nina Simone, as well as much for his own label.
In 2005, he was inducted into the
Dance Music Hall of Fame as both a
remixer and
DJ.
Kevorkian now tours the world, taking part in many music
gatherings, such as the
Sonar Multimedia Festival in Barcelona, Global
Gathering (UK), Exit Festival (Serbia), The Big Chill (UK),
Electric Picnic (Ireland).
He is also credited for the continuous DJ mix on the dance radio
station (Electro-Choc) in the game
Grand Theft Auto IV. (April 2008)
To this day, many people (especially in the UK) insist on
mistakenly spelling his last name as 'Kervorkian', which can be
traced to an erroneous credit on the Violator album he mixed for the group
Depeche Mode.
Selected discography
As an artist
- FK-EP (Wave Music) 1996
- "Time And Space" (Wave Music) 1998
- "Capricorn" (Wave Music) 2000
- "Awakening" (Wave Music) 2002
- "Enlightenment" (Wave Music) 2002
- "Road Of Life" (Deep Space Media) 2007
Compilations
- 'Masterpiece: Created By Francois K' (Ministry Of Sound)
2008
- ' Frequencies' - 2 x CD - (Wavetec) 2006
- 'Deep Space NYC (vol. 1)' (Deep Space Media/Wave Music)
2005
- 'Live At Sonar' ( SonarMusic) 2003
- 'Body&SOUL NYC (vol. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) (Wave Music)
1998-2007
- 'Deep & Sexy (vol.1)' (Wave Music) 2001
- 'Choice: A Collection of Classics' (Azuli) 2002
- 'Essential Mix - François K' (London/Ffrr) 2000
Video Game DJ Mix
As a producer
- 'Snake Charmer' Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay and Jaki
Leibezeit (Island Records) 1983
- "May The Cube Be With You" Dolby's
Cube 1985
- 'Species Deceases' Midnight Oil (Columbia
Records) 1985
- 'We're On The Move' Jamaica Girls (Sire) 1985
- "Strong Enough" Loleatta Holloway (Active Records) 1992
co-produced with Yvone Turner and Alan Friedman
- "Got To Be In Love" Barbara Mendes (Wave Music) 2003
co-produced with Eric Kupper
- "Rootsman" U-Roy (Deep Space Media) 2005 co-produced with
Russ Disciple
As a mix producer
- 'Electric Café' Kraftwerk (EMI/Warner Bros.) 1986
- 'Violator' Depeche Mode (Mute) 1990
- 'Erasure' Erasure (Mute) 1995
- 'Blondosaurus' Rebecca (Sony Japan) 1989
As a remixer
- "In The Bush" Musique (Prelude) 1978
- "I Hear Music In The Streets" Unlimited Touch (Prelude)
1980
- "You're The One For Me" / "Keep On" / "Music" / "Walk On By" /
"Misunderstanding" D-Train (Prelude) 1981-1983
- "Beat The Street" / "Never Give You Up" / "Send Your Love" /
"Can You Handle It" Sharon Redd 1982-1983
- "Body Music" The Strikers (Prelude) 1981 co-mixed with
Larry Levan
- "Let's Go Dancin'" Sparque (West End) 1981
- "Situation" Yazoo (Mute) 1981
- "Go Bang" Dinosaur L (Sleeping Bag) 1981
- "Enjoy what you do (WHAM! rap)" WHAM! (COLUMBIA) 1982
- "Two
Hearts Beat As One" / "New Year's Day" U2 (Island) 1983
- "This Charming Man" The Smiths
(Rough Trade) 1983
- "Tour De France" Kraftwerk
(EMI - Warner Bros.) 1984
- "Lucky In Love" / "Just Another Night" Mick Jagger (Columbia)
1984
- "Blue Light "
David Gilmour 1984
- "Solid (As A Rock)" Ashford & Simpson (Capitol) 1984
- "Sleepless" King Crimson 1984
- "Zoolookologie" Jean Michel
Jarre (Disques Dreyfus France) 1985
- "Perfect Way" Scritti Politti UK 12" Single ((Version))
(Virgin) 1985
- "Why Can't I Be You" / "Japanese Dream" / "Hot, Hot, Hot" /
"Hey You!" / The Cure (Fiction-Elektra) 1985-1990
- "The Telephone Call" Kraftwerk (EMI/Warner Bros.) 1987
co-mixed with Kraftwerk and Ron St. Germain
- "Don't You Want
Me" Jody Watley (MCA) 1987
- "Rent" Pet
Shop Boys (Parlophone/EMI) 1987
- "My Bag" (dancing mix) Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
(single b-side, Polydor) 1987
- "My Bag" (dancing mix)/"My Bag" (dancing dub) Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
(Capitol Records) 1988
- "Personal Jesus" / "Enjoy the Silence" / "Policy of Truth" / "World in My Eyes" Depeche Mode (Mute / Sire / Reprise) 1990
- "Radioactivity" Kraftwerk (EMI/Elektra) 1991
- "Higher Love" Depeche Mode (Mute/Sire/Reprise) 1994
co-mixed with Goh Hotoda
- "Get Another Plan" Abstract Truth (Wave Music) 1996
- "Tout est bleu" Ame Strong (Delabel) 1997
- "Sangue De Beirona" Cesaria Evora (Lusafrica / Wave) 1999
- "Expo Remix" Kraftwerk (EMI) 2000 co-mixed with Rob
Rives
- "Hunter" Dido (Arista) 2001
- "Swollen" Bent (Ministry Of Sound)
2001
- "Josephine" Chris Rea (Warner Bros.)
2001 co-mixed with Eric Kupper
- “La La Land” Green Velvet (Music
Man) 2002 co-mixed with Rob Rives
- “Community” Audio Soul Project (NRK) 2002 co-mixed with Rob
Rives
- "Forever More" Moloko (Echo) 2003 co-mixed with Eric
Kupper
- "Walking on Thin Ice"
Yoko Ono (Twisted) 2003 co-mixed with
Eric Kupper
- “Aborigine’s Jam” Cirque du
Soleil (Cirque du Soleil) 2003 co-mixed with Eric
Kupper
- “Aero Dynamik” Kraftwerk (EMI - Astralwerks) 2004
- “Welcome Dub” Herbest Moon (Soundscape) 2004
- “Disco Infiltrator” LCD
Soundsystem (EMI UK) 2005
- “Ride a White Horse” Goldfrapp (Mute) 2005 co-mixed with Eric
Kupper
- “Talk” Coldplay (EMI UK) 2005
- "Here Comes the Sun" Nina Simone (Columbia) 2006
As an editor
- "Happy Song" (bootleg) Rare Earth (labelled as: "Happy Song
And Dance")
- "Is It All Over My Face" Loose Joints (West End Records)
with Larry Levan --uncredited on
label--
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