
Freaky Flow is the stage name of Stephen Grey a
drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
hip hop DJ.
Biography
Life
Freaky Flow was born in 1977 as Stephen Grey
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...
. In 1979 with his parents, he relocated to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. While attending high school, he began to DJ as a hobby. Eventually it developed into a career while earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
. In 2009, he moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
. He has dual citizenship in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and Canada.
Career
In 1993, Freaky Flow first began DJing mainly at house parties and small events. He started his career in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada.
In 1995, Freaky Flow was "introduced" at the very first Liquid Adrenaline event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In 1995, Freaky Flow released his first DJ mix tape, entitled ''Music To Make You Freak – Volume 1''. In the years that followed, Freaky Flow released seven additional mixes, in audio cassette form, prior to releasing his first CD in 1999.
In 1997, Freaky Flow launched Placebo Recordings (a subsidiary of Stickman Records) with MC Flipside, and The Stickmen. The label produced three vinyl records.
In 1999, Freaky Flow released his first DJ mix CD, entitled ''Obscene Underground – Volume 1: Freaky Flow'' (often referred to as "Tits", due to the album artwork, which bears this word on the front of it
), which has sold over 20,000 units in Canada (and was not widely released outside of Canada).
In 2001, Freaky Flow was signed to
Moonshine Music
Moonshine Music was an electronic music record label founded by Steve Levy and Ricardo Vinas, in Los Angeles in 1992, and later headquartered in West Hollywood, California. Moonshine released over 250 compilations albums, many of which were DJ mixe ...
. That same year, he released his first mix CD outside of Canada, entitled ''World Domination''.
In 2002, Freaky Flow released another album on Moonshine Music, entitled ''Keep It Live'', his first ever commercially released live recording. The album is hosted by MC Flipside, and was recorded at an event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In 2003, Freaky Flow released the album ''The Envy'', on New York label, Topaz Records.
In 2004, Freaky Flow independently released another mix CD, entitled ''Flashback'', featuring only songs that he had written, co-written, or remixed since the start of his career.
In 2006, Freaky Flow launched a new record label, Freaky Flow Recordings. That same year, the label released the debut album of the Canadian electronic music group, The Heavy Petters (often billed as Freaky Flow Presents: The Heavy Petters).
The album was entitled ''Smell The Glove''.
Freaky Flow served as Executive Producer.
In 2009, Freaky Flow released the mix album ''The Furious Factor'' on New York's
Moist Music
Moist Music is a New York City based electronic dance music record label that is a subsidiary of Phase One Communications. Victor Ortiz, aka Vicious Vic established Moist Music in 2004. Victor was previously part of the founding crew members of t ...
, as a joint-venture with Furious Records. This album was a retrospective mix compilation made up entirely of notable releases on Toronto-based drum and bass label, Furious Records.
In 2011, Freaky Flow continued his ''Volume'' mix series (the last of which was ''Volume 008'', several years earlier), with two new mixes, ''Volume 009'' and ''Volume 010'', both given away free online.
Grey has also been known to include music from other genres in his DJ sets, ranging from
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...
to
Don Henley
Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as " Witchy Woman", " D ...
. He is the owner of ''Freaky Flow Recordings''
(a division of ''Freaky Flow Entertainment Group''), the record label that released the Canadian electronic music group,
The Heavy Petters
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...
(often billed as "Freaky Flow Presents: The Heavy Petters").
Having released six mix CDs in total, Freaky Flow has sold more drum and bass mix albums than any other Canadian DJ. In Canada, Freaky Flow has sold more drum and bass mix albums than any other DJ from anywhere in the world,
including the best-selling drum and bass mix album ever released in Canada, ''Obscene Underground – Volume 1: Freaky Flow'' (often referred to as "Tits", due to the album artwork, which bares this word on the front of it
), which has sold over 20,000 units in Canada (and was not widely released outside of Canada).
Freaky Flow has performed in over ten countries, including Canada, the United States, Japan, Slovenia, and others. He is also currently sponsored by gsus sindustries, a clothing company, and represented by the Cyber Groove agency, a DJ booking agency.
Discography
Albums
* ''Obscene Underground – Volume 1: Freaky Flow'' – Stickman Records (1999)
* ''World Domination'' – Moonshine Music (2001)
* ''Keep It Live'' – Moonshine Music (2002)
* ''The Envy'' – Topaz Records (2003)
* ''Flashback'' – Freaky Flow Productions (2004)
* ''The Furious Factor'' – Moist Music (2009)
Singles
* ''On The Down Low / Mist'' – Placebo Recordings (1997)
* ''The Swinger / Here We Go'' – Wikkid Records (2005)
Remixes
* ''What It Takes (Remix) / Just A Second (Remix)'' – Placebo Recordings (1997)
* ''Compare / Compare (Remix)'' – Second Generation (2001)
* ''Doubt Love / Doubt Love (Remix)'' – Sound Gizmo Audio (2003)
References
External links
Freaky Flow website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freaky Flow
Date of birth missing (living people)
1977 births
Living people
Musicians from Philadelphia
American drum and bass musicians
Canadian DJs
American DJs
Remixers
Musicians from Toronto
Electronic dance music DJs