Chris Waketa started with Oneworldmuzik one year ago (2008). His blend of house, breaks and progressive house is a nice addition to Oneworldmuzik. Chris started Djing in 1992. He was influenced by music early on as a kid. His father played 12 string acoustic guitar, and was a fan of many classic rock bands such as Led Zepplin, The Doobie Brothers, Crack the Sky, James Taylor and Cat Stevens.
Growing up, his brothers influenced him with their love of the growing Los Angeles rock scene; bands like Motley Crue, Ratt, and Poison. Early on, Chris began taking an ear to more of the synthesizer-type musicians like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Pet Shop Boys and Harold Faltermeyer (Axel F theme). “I watched a little movie called Beverly Hills Cop.” “I heard the Axel F theme and was amazed that you could make a complete track out of electronic gear. At that time I hadn’t even heard of KraftWerk or Pete Shelly.”
A few years later, around 1987 he would be introduced to a young lady named Alicia and her mother Terry. He met them through his Aunt who is from New York City, just as his mother. Chris’ aunt danced in broadway shows and met Alicia’s mom when they were younger. Alicia would go on to become a multi-grammy winner, now known as Alicia Keys. “It was exciting for me to go see them in New York when I was younger, visiting at their apartment. Alicia always had a star presence, and she was incredibly talented at playing the piano. I still get to see her once in a while at her shows, and I wait in line just like other fans do, but she still remembers me.”
In 1992 Chris was introduced to techno and house music from local Baltimore djs like Dj Free, Russ Clark, James Momentum and others. “Me and Dj Free have been friends for years and he pretty much exposed me to the scene.” From there on he met others who were into the same type of music. With record stores like Modern Music in Baltimore, Chris was able to start buying records. “I remember buying some old belt-driven turntables and mixing whatever records I could get a hold of. I started mixing a lot of my dads old Pink Floyd, Beatles, and Woodstock albums with the Orb and Orbital. I was mainly playing dub-style mixing, you know; like dubbing classic rock records on top of electronic music. It was popular at the time.” In 1998 he started buying electronic gear with whatever money he had and started making tracks of his own. He still is always searching for good music to play. We are Happy Chris is part of One World Muzik.
