Ming Knackle
DJ BIOGRAPHY
Ming Knackle has been in the Singapore underground house music scene since 2000. Best known for being a founding member of the now defunct Radiance Crew, Ming Knackle has been an active figure in the local scene spreading his love for the tech house sound for the past 10 years. Known as "Ming" for the majority of his music career since his beginnings, he recently took on his new guise to avoid confusion with a same-named artiste in the local scene.
Ming Knackle’s DJ-ing life started off humbly. With an earnest penchant to have fun and a passion to share the music he loves with his friends, Ming Knackle and his Radiance Crew mates began to throw underground house parties, setting up their own equipments in condominium function rooms, friends’ apartments and chalets, looking for any and all sorts of reasons and excuses to do a party.
Ming Knackle's musical education came a long way. Growing up in a family with a music lover dad, Ming's ears and mind were opened up to a variety of good music from a very young age. With his dad playing music out loud at home and in his car whenever he was at home or when they were out on family outings, Ming Knackle soon became an avid listener himself of his dad's music collection of jazz and pop. Stuffs ranging from Miles Davis to Beatles and Michael Jackson were always close to Ming's heart throughout his primary school days. He'd steal cassette tapes from his dad's drawers and bring them out for a listen on his own Sony Walkman, running the earpiece wire up the inside of his school uniform, Ming would secretly listen to these music even during class time. Ming then developed a keen love for electronic music in his early teens with the introduction of radio into his life. He remembers tuning in to the radio and liking stuffs from C+C Music Factory, Pet Shop Boys, 2 Unlimited and Capella. The ball of electronic dance sound appreciation just rolled on from there, never once stopping short in its path. Ming Knackle then took this love for electronic sounds and hit the streets, visiting CD stores, challenging himself to a game of “pick the next chart-hitter”, and it was this visiting of CD stores that he went on to discover new sounds. His musical discovery and appreciation journey took him through love affairs with progressive trance/house, techno and later on, house music. It was during this time that Ming observed a common relation to the sounds he have had liked thus far -- beats, techy stabs, percussive rhythms, funky basslines, emotive synths and deep phat sub bass, these are the elements that worked him.
Individuality, originality and talent are attributes required in great abundance, and Ming Knackle falls short on neither count. Calling the music he played "tribal tech house" back then when he started DJ-ing in 2000, Ming coined the term "tech house" before he even knew the actual existence of the term. Always opting to differ, Ming Knackle has always viewed himself more than just an entertainer. Instead of packing his bag with guaranteed floor-fillers, Ming Knackle would always spend a lot of time before a gig, properly scouring through his track collection, carefully selecting tracks, at times including even obscure electronica to be played amidst his already not readily appreciated tech house selections, which is just the way he felt it should be. “Why should the crowd be fed with sounds and tunes they already know and are able to appreciate? How will they grow, how will our scene grow if all DJs here just want to play floorfillers and tracks they know will make people dance?” Ming Knackle has always took it upon himself in terms of the education of the crowd as his vision as an artist and DJ. While it's tech house in its many sonic variants, Ming Knackle's musical style borders dangerously on eclectic. One can expect to hear percussive West Coast influenced house music, techno, breakbeats, minimal, IDM, deep house and more in his sets.
His passion and persistence in standing by his music and vision has brought him around the local club circuit, seeing him play at venues like Zouk, Phuture, HOME Club, Blujaz, La Maison and Alley Bar just to name a few. In 2006, Ming Knackle was invited to play by then Zouk resident, Sonny for his signature night, YOU. His mixes have also been featured on local national radio station, 98.7FM as well as pirate and internet radio shows in San Francisco and Seattle.
Back in full force this year, and with production plans in the works, Ming Knackle, with his uncanny ability to cross genres seamlessly yet staying true to the tech house sound, is definitely a true blooded tech house meister to watch out for.
Ming Knackle has been in the Singapore underground house music scene since 2000. Best known for being a founding member of the now defunct Radiance Crew, Ming Knackle has been an active figure in the local scene spreading his love for the tech house sound for the past 10 years. Known as "Ming" for the majority of his music career since his beginnings, he recently took on his new guise to avoid confusion with a same-named artiste in the local scene.
Ming Knackle’s DJ-ing life started off humbly. With an earnest penchant to have fun and a passion to share the music he loves with his friends, Ming Knackle and his Radiance Crew mates began to throw underground house parties, setting up their own equipments in condominium function rooms, friends’ apartments and chalets, looking for any and all sorts of reasons and excuses to do a party.
Ming Knackle's musical education came a long way. Growing up in a family with a music lover dad, Ming's ears and mind were opened up to a variety of good music from a very young age. With his dad playing music out loud at home and in his car whenever he was at home or when they were out on family outings, Ming Knackle soon became an avid listener himself of his dad's music collection of jazz and pop. Stuffs ranging from Miles Davis to Beatles and Michael Jackson were always close to Ming's heart throughout his primary school days. He'd steal cassette tapes from his dad's drawers and bring them out for a listen on his own Sony Walkman, running the earpiece wire up the inside of his school uniform, Ming would secretly listen to these music even during class time. Ming then developed a keen love for electronic music in his early teens with the introduction of radio into his life. He remembers tuning in to the radio and liking stuffs from C+C Music Factory, Pet Shop Boys, 2 Unlimited and Capella. The ball of electronic dance sound appreciation just rolled on from there, never once stopping short in its path. Ming Knackle then took this love for electronic sounds and hit the streets, visiting CD stores, challenging himself to a game of “pick the next chart-hitter”, and it was this visiting of CD stores that he went on to discover new sounds. His musical discovery and appreciation journey took him through love affairs with progressive trance/house, techno and later on, house music. It was during this time that Ming observed a common relation to the sounds he have had liked thus far -- beats, techy stabs, percussive rhythms, funky basslines, emotive synths and deep phat sub bass, these are the elements that worked him.
Individuality, originality and talent are attributes required in great abundance, and Ming Knackle falls short on neither count. Calling the music he played "tribal tech house" back then when he started DJ-ing in 2000, Ming coined the term "tech house" before he even knew the actual existence of the term. Always opting to differ, Ming Knackle has always viewed himself more than just an entertainer. Instead of packing his bag with guaranteed floor-fillers, Ming Knackle would always spend a lot of time before a gig, properly scouring through his track collection, carefully selecting tracks, at times including even obscure electronica to be played amidst his already not readily appreciated tech house selections, which is just the way he felt it should be. “Why should the crowd be fed with sounds and tunes they already know and are able to appreciate? How will they grow, how will our scene grow if all DJs here just want to play floorfillers and tracks they know will make people dance?” Ming Knackle has always took it upon himself in terms of the education of the crowd as his vision as an artist and DJ. While it's tech house in its many sonic variants, Ming Knackle's musical style borders dangerously on eclectic. One can expect to hear percussive West Coast influenced house music, techno, breakbeats, minimal, IDM, deep house and more in his sets.
His passion and persistence in standing by his music and vision has brought him around the local club circuit, seeing him play at venues like Zouk, Phuture, HOME Club, Blujaz, La Maison and Alley Bar just to name a few. In 2006, Ming Knackle was invited to play by then Zouk resident, Sonny for his signature night, YOU. His mixes have also been featured on local national radio station, 98.7FM as well as pirate and internet radio shows in San Francisco and Seattle.
Back in full force this year, and with production plans in the works, Ming Knackle, with his uncanny ability to cross genres seamlessly yet staying true to the tech house sound, is definitely a true blooded tech house meister to watch out for.
- Location
- Singapore