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Active Ingredient is underground music innovation created through the fusion of funk, hip hop, jazz, reggae, rock and dance music - performed, masterminded, and produced by Jason Vertz. Dubbed rhythmic fusion, the style is like no other. Musically it blends bass heavy energy with a fun peaceful vibe, powered by retro instruments alongside electronic beats. Lyrically it combines twisted abstraction with a modest yet potent politically conscious sarcasm.
Jason is known by several aliases, most commonly DJ rhythmatyx, as a selecta. He writes and lays down all the tracks, performing most of the instrumentation himself - the exception being the various musicians and mc's that collectively make up Active Ingredient. In other words, Active Ingredient is Jason Vertz - but it's also his group.
Jason originally formed the group as a performing hip hop-jazz act in '97. He's kept the name, but in '99, he went back to his roots as a studio artist to spend most of his time creating original music for independent films and TV. Over the past five years, he's made music for several extreme sports films, commercials, and TV shows. But in 2001, he began his quest to rise back to the summit of his own underground music revolution, and re-expose the original art of Active Ingredient to the hungry public. He formed Give Peace Music and A.D. Records, under which he released 2 Active Ingredient LP's - Flavors of Fusion and Brand New Past . Both albums featured Jason as the multi-instrumentalist Dr. Nemo, playing guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, turntables and even vocals.
Originally from Philly, Jason played with Superwand - "The industrial-punk-rock jazz quintet" known for their insane methods and the 30 track LP Not It For Cleaning Chewbacca's Mattress . He moved to Steamboat Springs, CO in '96 to pursue his love for snowboarding - a sport and culture which has since then influenced much of his music. One could say it has a correlation to the name of the group - 'active' representing the riding, which is the key 'ingredient' in inspiring the music. However co-founder Rube Dog, who named the group, says it represents many metaphores.
A.D. Records will be releasing a new LP from Active Ingredient this fall. Jason's focus on production has kept him in the studio and off the stage for several years. But talks of the long awaited act are brewing. He hopes to have the ingredients assembled and entertaining actively by next year.
In case you haven't been enlightened yet, Active Ingredient has been compared stylistically to the likes of such groups as Sublime, Fugazi, Weather Report, The Gorillaz, Digable Planets, and The London Funk Allstars.... but very loosely. AI is TRUELY a style like no other - just listen, and you'll soon see.... |
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"The music is honest and raw, but it's polished at the same time. Jason uses radical approaches and applies fresh theories to old formats. The result is an eclectic blend of cutting edge beat-heavy funk, with subtle elements of pop." - Noah Krubert BITE! Magazine
"Active Ingredient has plenty of ingredients....Mixing funk with jazz and hip-hop to create some great underground tunes, Active Ingredient is everything you want to listen to while smoking in your den. Laid back...." - J-Sin,Smother.net 2003
"Our editor recommends it highly. To me it's a perfect, sunny day in summer CD. I love the God Only Knows interpretation. Very, very cool." - Derek Sivers, on Be Smart Don't Think |
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Location:
Seattle WA, United States
Active Ingredient Website
jason@activegroove.com
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