Woody Aki

Famous he might not be (or want to be), but Woody Aki is one of those unique individuals who has garnered respect within the European underground music scene as a music journalist, historian, DJ, producer, artiste or a bass player with various bands of wildly diverse genres. A self confessed ‘Idiot Savant’, his interest in music back started off at a very early age in his birthplace of Melbourne, Australia. Moving to the Mediterranean island of Malta, he caught the bass playing bug at age 15, gradually carving up a solid reputation as one of the island’s most atypical-sounding bass players in stints with local Punk, Pop-Rock, Reggae and Alternative Rock bands. That culminated in a small but life-changing role as a member of The Voodooclub with mentor, friend and German Alt-Rock maverick Phillip Boa on his 1993 best-selling album “Boaphenia”, and the whole experience set him off with a stronger conviction to spread his wide musical influences over a canvas smeared with genres as assorted as 1970’s Dub Reggae, Punk, Disco, New Wave and beyond. When he lectured it to anyone who listened, it earned him the nickname “The Walking Musical Encyclopaedia”!

Decamping to Germany on an on/off basis between 1994-1996, a 6-month stint in Berlin convinced Woody to materialise his undying fascination with all the forms of electronic music that ruled the home stereos and underground discotheques of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. He fused that with the House sensibilities of the 90’s together with side orders of Jazz, Funk and melodic yet intelligent Techno, forming the duo Bound By Sound together with Konrad Griscti (a.k.a. Gingi) back in Malta. By the time they disbanded 2 years later due to Gingi moving to Australia, Woody had honed his DJ skills whilst coming out with a slew of solo productions on his own and collaborative remixes with personal and musical soulmate Owen Jay. Those releases brought him back to Berlin in 2004, and his appearances at various venues such as Delicious Doughnuts, Schoenwetter and Café Moskau won him the admiration of people such as Modeselektor (BPitch Control), Sven Dohse (Greenman/Shtone Music), Knigge from Crane A.K. (Poker Flat/Force Trax), and the co-founder of the Love Parade himself, Ralf Regitz. It’s safe to assume that Berlin is Woody’s second home and favourite city, and once-yearly stops are not uncommon.

Now based in Waterbeach (UK) after a three year residency with Region 2 in York, Woody is back to producing electronic tracks, releasing his first track after a 5-year hiatus together with Demarkus Lewis on the Batti Batti label, while at the same time still concentrating on entertaining all sorts of left-wing electronic aficionados disillusioned by the sludge of mainstream Dance ‘culture’ with DJ sets full of Italo Disco, various variations of the alternative House spectrum, 1970’s/1980’s Mutant Disco, electronic classics from the last 30 years, old school Hi-NRG from the Gay clubs of yore and a selection of tight, emotional Electro and Techno from times past and present. Woody also intends to continue where he left off in Malta by way of playing occasional nights where a selection of New Wave, Industrial, Power Pop, Northern Soul, Indie, Garage Rock, Psychobilly, loony one-off singles and other forms of intense aural abuse can be heard together with his beloved Ska, Reggae, Dub and Punk records – ‘The Degenerate Soundsystem’. As for his bass playing, Woody is seeking like-minded individuals to create music of any genre after his last stint with Maltese Anarcho-Punks Subculture back in 2007, adding to a colourful equation that adds up to a versatility and respect that very few individuals – famous, successful, both or not – can match.