KEMIC-AL PROFILE www.kemic-al.com The Psy-Trance scene might be the preserve of a small bunch of like-minded people on the Maltese isles, but as Dansezee found out, it’s exciting, vibrant and rigidly underground. Meet Kemic-al, one of the scene’s leading lights and a producer/DJ to match Music has always been a big part of Kemic-al’s life. He started learning the guitar when he was 10, forming a Ska/Punk style band when he was 16 called Gone Bonkers. Later renamed as Dark Doings, Aldo Lombardi (Kemic-al’s real name) had a few gigs which got pretty good feedback. “At the time (the 80’s), that was the Ska era, you knowMadness, The Specials, The Beat, BodysnatchersI loved that music, and I still do! I saw The Beat and The Selecter whilst living in London - it was really greatI still get goosepimples every time I mention it.” But then Kemic-al soon got into psychedelic Rock like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Hawkwind and Jimi Hendrix. “Just before I moved to London when I was 18, I wanted to be closer to touch music go to gigs and concerts like Pink Floyd etc. I started spinning Psy-Rock as a DJ five years after I got back from London I was 23.” Kemic-al’s first contact with Psy-Trance was in 1995 when his brother started sending him some music from London. At the same time, a friend of his started handing out some good tunes, getting him hooked on Psy-Trance music: “I just couldn't let go of it...” Soon after, Kemic-al started organizing small outdoor parties for his friends, as well as boat parties - DJing & playing percussion at the same time. ”I was also getting invited to play percussion in legal parties, which in turn led to me being invited to DJ as well. Spinning Psy-Trance tunes was getting more and more interesting for me, leading me to attend festivals abroad just to bring the vibe back home.” His first DJ outing was when Kemic-al was invited by Lovesexy to play at their Sunday events at Paradise Bay 3 years ago, where he had his own stage at the far end of the beach. “The place was great and so was the outcome!”, leading him to play non-stop 6-hour sets every Sunday. Exit followed, approaching him to play at the Tribu 2000 festival - besides DJing, he also organised the Psy-Trance arena at the same time. “I must say that it was too late for us to be on the flier of that event, but still the outcome was great, as was the vibea lot of people said that! The quality, not the quantity for a change. Well, that’s always been an issue for me that’s why I find it hard to go mainstream.” A support slot in April of last year at Space in D-Klub with Psy-Trance luminary Man With No Name together with Kemic-al’s cohort Sorted K was one of the high points in his career. Meeting him the day after the gig, Man With No Name took the time to come down to his studio to listen to his first ever track "Space Maan" Extending the Psy-Trance sound even further on our isles, Kemic-al formed Los Bandidos Psicadelikos: a DJ collective consisting of his girlfriend Marie Claire (DJ Ladybird ) and Sorted K, organising outdoor parties surrounded by what Mother Nature has to offer. Based on the finest traditions of parties held on the Indian island of Goa, Los Bandidos Psicadelikos also collaborate with non-governmental organisations such as The Gaia Foundation in order to create more environmental awareness, a fact that Kemic-al strongly stresses on. Kemic-al’s visits to Goa got him more involved in music production after meeting a producer from the UK called Mark and his German girlfriend DJ Anke from Germany. “You can imagine what our conversations were mainly about, but it's not just the music scene that makes Goa and India - it's also the spiritual side of it, the poverty and other things that only happen there - it's a mixture of magic and stark contrasts...” Coming back from Goa with a load of contacts and new music to play, Kemic-al slowly but patiently started producing tracks of his own, starting off with comparatively crude equipment until investing in a PC-based setup. “Since January 2001 things started to take shape when I converted my spare bedroom into a home studio where I could lock myself in and work on more tunes. I have not stopped working since and I don’t intend to either!” Dansezee Magazine: www.dansezee.com issue 12 - July 2003