Photo Credit: Steff
Meldgaard
Jim
Hopkins began his music career in 1978. This was when Disco
was gaining popularity and 12" dance versions of tracks
were available only to working nightclub DJs. At this time,
Jim was hanging out at a local nightclub and was introduced
to the DJ who was spinning records at the club. The DJ
invited Jim into the DJ booth and showed him the process of
mixing two records together to make new versions. Jim was
facinated by the process but didn't have two turntables and
a mixer at home to accomplish the same effect. He did
however have an extensive collection of Disco 45s and a
tape deck with a quick pause button. Since he wasn't a
working DJ and couldn't have access to the extended 12"
singles mixes, he decided to make his own extended versions
by editing the 45 versions on his cassette deck. He was
able to re-edit the tracks to make his own custom mixes
that he would play for his friends. His friends were
impressed by what he could do with a quick finger on the
cassette deck pause button and encouraged him to continue
making his own versions of tracks that they would play at
their house parties.
Within a couple of years, he convinced his father to buy
him two turntables and a mixer. By this time, 12" singles
were becoming available to the public so he started
collecting as many as he could get his hands on. He spent
all his free time in his room practicing his mixing skills
and landed a job at a local nightclub in 1981. Jim was
still re-editing tracks on his cassette deck and would take
them into the club to play while he was spinning. The club
patrons would come up to the booth when he played one of
his custom mixes and ask where he got that version. The
other club DJ's seemed to like the re-edits as well and
suggested that he check into doing mixes for
Hot Tracks Remix Service.
Jim
contacted Hot Tracks and found out that he would need to
buy a professional reel-to-reel deck to submit work to
them. He went out and bought the deck, razor blades and
tape and completed his first re-edit entitled
"Abadabadango" by Kim Carnes. Jim submitted the re-edit
to Hot Tracks remix service who then released it on one
of their compilations. He continued working for them
until 1989. He then started doing re-edits for Rhythm
Stick Remix Service and continued working for them until
1991. Jim also did remixes and re-edits for other Remix
Services as well as projects for independent labels. To
date he has remixed/re-edited over 140 tracks.
His involvement with the early San Francisco rave scene,
beginning in 1991, enabled him to DJ at some of the ground
breaking rave parties such as Toon Town, Stompy, Osmosis
and Unleash The Queen.
Also, in 1991, he started Twitch Remix Service with two
partners. In 1992, Jim helped form ZoeMagik Records with
three partners and continued working with that label
until 1993 while still doing Twitch Remix Service on the
side. He then took over operations of Twitch Remix
Service and decided to turn it into Twitch Recordings; a
record label that would focus on releasing the wealth of
local San Francisco talent as well as his own
recordings.
In 1995, Jim was contacted by a company called MixMan to do
a track for one of their CDRom projects. He was starting to
hang out with DJ Dan and mentioned the project to him. They
decided to work on a track which turned out to be "Loose
Caboose" by The Electroliners; a track that sold 10,000
copies in the U.S. and was later licensed to XL Recordings
in the U.K. for overseas distribution. The track has become
a staple in the underground rave scene, has been licensed
for various DJ mix CDs, and is still being played by DJs
around the world. The success of The Electroliners enabled
Jim to produce remixes for various labels that include XL
Recordings, Nervous Records, Journees Music, and Smile
Communications.
As a DJ, Jim has been spinning records for over 20 years
and has played various styles of music including
Underground Disco, Top 40 Dance, New Wave, Synth Pop,
Modern Rock, Hi-NRG, Breakbeat and every style of House
music. He has currently traveled to 48 cities throughout
the United States to play his fusion of energetic dance
music and spends his free time in the studio working on
video mixing, remixes for other labels, and his own musical
creations.
Jim has now entered the VJ world and is now creating trippy
visuals for events, club & bars, VJing (beat matching
music videos) as well as creating visual DVDs that are
synced to his DJ mixes. You can purchase both from
our online store!
ACCOMPLISMENTS:
Completed 31 remixes/re-edits for Hot Tracks Remix Service
Completed 36 remixes/re-edits for Rhythm Stick Remix
Service
Completed 62 remixes/re-edits for Twitch Remix Service
Digitally mixed Mephisto Record's "Darker Side Of Jazz" CD
for Moonshine
Produced 12" entitled "Loose Caboose" by The Electroliners.
Released on Twitch Recordings. Sold over 10,000 copies
Produced 12" entitled "Ghetto Train" (remix of "Loose
Caboose" by The Electroliners. Released on Twitch
Recordings
Remixed Bosco's "The Beat Is Over" for Sm:)e Communications
Remixed M5's "Sanctuary" for Sorted/Nervous Records
Remixed Rob Tissera's "Kick Up The Volume" for XL
Recordings
Compiled and digitally mixed CD entitled "S.F. Grooves".
Released by V-wax Records
Produced 12" single entitled Disco Dubs - Vol. 1. Released
on Twitch Recordings
Selected to do a remix of Hall & Oates 12" single
entitled "Hold On To Yourself"
Nominated for BAM Magazine's California Music Awards under
the category of Outstanding Dance/Electronic Artist
Remixed DJ Liquid's "Dreams" & "Serpant's Kiss" for
Journees Music
Produced 12" entitled "Breakin' It Down". Released on
Twitch Recordings
Remixed Elevation's "Feel" for Funked Up Recordings
Remixed Butter Bomb's "Pumpin' In Your Speaker for Journees
Music
Remixed Spanky's "Dominatricks" for release on Twitch
Recordings
Produced 12" entitled "Take Me Higher" for EMUOR Records
Selected to compete in the 92.7 Ultimate DJ Contest 8/06
CITIES
TRAVELED TO DJ:
Akron, OH
Albany, NY
Anchorage, AL
Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Baltimore, MD
Birmingham, AL
Boston, MA
Burlington, MA
Calgary, Canada
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Cleveland, OH
Colorado Springs, CO
Dallas, TX
Davis, CA
Denver, CO
Detroit, MI
El Paso, TX
Greensboro, NC
Hartford, CT
Houston, TX
Kansas City, MO
Los Angeles, CA
Maui, HI
Miami, FL
Minneapolis, MN
Montreal, Canada
New England, NH
New Orleans, LA
New York, NY
Oklahoma City, OK
Orlando, FL
Pittsburgh, PA
Portland, OR
Queens, NY
Reno, NV
Rochester, NY
Sacramento, CA
Salt Lake City, UT
Santa Rosa, CA
San Diego, CA
Seattle, WA
St. Louis, MO
Toronto, Canada
Vancouver, BC
Washington D.C.
LINKS
FOR JIM HOPKINS ON THE WEB:
Article about The Endup/Jim
mentioned
Buzzlife Message
Board
Buzzlife Message Board
2
DJ Jim Hopkins on
Myspace
Electroliners on
Discogs
EMOUR
HotDiscoMix
HotDiscoMix
Innovative
Entertainment
Jim Hopkins on Discogs
Jim Hopkins on Discogs
2
Journees Music (Buy Jim Hopkins remixes
on Itunes)
S.F. Examiner - Rave Scene Newspaper
Article from 1992 - Jim
Interviewed
The Endup
MUSIC STYLES JIM PLAYS:
70'S
Rock/Pop
70's Funk/Soul
Disco
80's Dance
80's New Wave
80's Alternative
Old School/Current Hip-Hop
Pop
Funky Breaks/Breakbeat
Funky House/Disco House
Trip-Hop
JIM HOPKINS DJ BOOKINGS: 415-254-1661