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Mixing and mashing a new art form: multi-media master Mike Relm set to wow crowds at Deraylor, Aug. 11 to 13
Whistler Question, www.whistlerquestion.com (August 4, 2010)
by Steven Hill
San Francisco’s Mike Relm has seen his unique career skyrocket in a very short time. “Five years ago, nobody would give me the time of day,” Relm said.
But now, the 32-year-old DJ/director/producer has gone beyond his humble beginnings as a hip-hop scratch DJ and is now in hot demand for both his live concerts and his one-of-a-kind commercial video work.
As a solo artist, Relm is best known for his performances that feature audio mixes paired with video images.
Whistler audiences get to experience Relm and his legendary live audio and video mashups — manipulated in real-time with a turntable-like device — along with 40 other artists at the Deraylor Music Festival, starting Wednesday (Aug. 11) as part of the Kokanee Crankworx festival.
Relm said his unique style and art form were actually born out of sheer boredom.
“It all started because I was bored with being a scratch DJ,” he said. “I actually didn’t think I would be touching the turntables past college.”
But instead of turning in his turntables, Relm started combining his passion for film and video with his mixing and mashup skills.
“Even when it was just music I had this bag of tricks and what I considered clever mixes,” he said. “So I just came to a time when I had to make a decision about life, and luckily the technology was there for me to do both music and video.”
As Relm was merging the audio and video worlds during his live performances, he was also posting those gigs online at YouTube instead of mailing out press kits.
The tactic worked, and although he never got signed to a label, he was invited to be the opening act for Blue Man Group's “How to be a Megastar 2.0” arena tour from 2006 to 2008. “That was one of the first big things,” Relm said. “Touring with Blue Man was amazing. It was a life-altering experience.”
While on that tour he also performed at the closing ceremonies at the Pan American Games in Rio De Janeiro, starred in an ad for HSBC, and created a mega mix for Nickelodeon's Yo Gabba Gabba holiday episode.
“I’m just one of those really fortunate artists where things keep getting better for me,” he said.
Since then, he’s been the opening act, tour DJ, and visual artist for Tony Hawk’s 2008 Boom Boom Huck Jam tour, produced a solo album, directed music videos, created commercials for Google’s Nexus phone and the opening credits for season two of Martha Stewart’s Whatever, Martha!, as well as headlining a sold out show at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Relm is also a self-professed sci-fi and comic book fan, who couldn’t resist remixing the footage from a March 2010 Iron Man 2 movie trailer and uploading the creation to his YouTube channel.
“I’m the kind of fan that would buy four copies of every comic,” he said. “So when the new Iron Man movie trailer came out, a friend called me and suggested I make a remix of it.” Within a day, Relm had remixed the footage, added new audio and uploaded the file to YouTube — where it started to get lots of attention.
“(Iron Man director) Jon Favreau hit me up on Twitter and we started talking,” Relm said. “He brought the remixed footage to Paramount and they liked it too.”
Soon Relm was asked to create an all-new, 45-second television spot for the blockbuster film in his now trademark style.
“That was very cool,” he said. “Paramount or Jon Favreau could have told me that it was copyrighted footage and I had to take it down, but instead they saw it was helping the movie, and they ‘got it’ and had ideas of their own. It was a really great experience.” Relm continues to work on new commercial projects, as well as the occasional live tour. “I love doing both,” he said. “When I am doing one, I miss doing he other and vice-versa. I’m just fortunate I get to do both.”
Catch Mike Relm’s unique audio and video mashups, along with other artists like DJ Nu Mark, illScarlett, BCDC and more at the Deraylor Music Festival Aug. 11 to 13 in various Whistler nightclubs. Relm is scheduled to play at Garfinkel’s on Aug. 12.
All access wristbands for the festival are $40 available online at clubzone.com or in person at Garbanzo Bike and Bean.
Full festival information can be found at www.deraylor.com. For info on Mike Relm go to www.mikerelm.com.