Biography
Summer 1983 and a chance encounter down the woods, Dom Hoare recalls:
"I was BMXing down the woods and getting some ace air off a bank when TWAAAPPING!! my brakes broke! The bike began to accelerate hard. I fought frantically with the controls, dodging branches and tearing through bushes, speeding up all the time. I thought my number was up for sure! Suddenly off to my right there came
a shout, "grab hold" it said, "GRAB HOLD WALLY!" It was another rider. "GRAB HOLD", with my last ounce of strength I clambered between the two streaking machines and onto his girly pannier. With me safe he locked the brakes, leaned into the slide and dropped us into a pile of leaves. My bike shot on, clipped a tree and span wildly into a thicket where it exploded with a thunderous boom! When I opened my eyes there he was, pointing at my burning ride and laughing, ‘Un-skills!’ ", He said.
"But I didn’t care, that boy was my hero. That boy was Andy Gillham."
The pair become firm friends and, unusually for the time, they discover a shared love of electronic beat music. Dom again:
"I remember hearing ‘Streetsounds Electro 3′ in 1984 and Kraftwerk’s ‘Tour de France’. I watched in awe as legendary dance maestro ‘Turbo’ made a broom appear to dance with him using the magic of ‘Electric Boogaloo’ or ‘Body Popping’. As an impressionable young kid that sort of thing makes….well… an impression on you!"
1987 and the rave scene beckons, listening to the music is no longer enough. They have to get involved. Both quickly learn to DJ and start amassing strange devices and tangles of wire. Soon they are helping to organise and performing at the ‘Madhouse’ parties. Dom:
"Them were the days, isn’t it? M25, roadside cafe partees, all nighters, UV backdrops, 8 k RAMP sound system, Strobes, Safe Security! All I can say is Big shout to Lord Nut Nut, The Original Orange and Apricot Flavor Ribena Man, and Dizzee, a big shout to yourself, thanks very much."
Andy Gillham: "Sorry about that, he gets flashbacks…..he’ll be OK…..yeah he’ll be fine!"
"Yeah I remember listening to a pirate radio back in the day, Dizzee D on S.L.R. I’d make a note of all the wickedest tunes then get the train to London the following Saturday and hunt them down."
Regular faces on the underground party scene, it isn’t long before our heroes (and some pals) start organizing their own night. ‘Information Party’ has been one of London’s best breaks & electro nights for the past six years. Dom:
"Information Party is all about fun, we like to party….as simple as that…simple formula, get the music right, not too chinscratchy, not too soulful/poppy, just a nice mix of fun and filth and then add a room full of smiling people, QED."
Echaskech
Echaskech (Etch-A-Sketch) is the combined fruit of lots of independent work by both Dom and Andy. Both have been producing their own stuff ‘on the quiet’ for years, but this is their first unified live set. The shift from bulky studio equipment and PCs to laptops means the live experience can be just that, live. Andy:
"Laptop ‘live’ used to mean: get on stage, boot up and press play! It’s totally different now though, with multiple channels from at least two machines you can do a genuinely live mix and give an audience exactly what they want. Its like good DJing but you create all the sounds… and it’s great fun!"
Echaskech are gigging all over London at the moment and building a good fan base. But admiration has come from even further a field. Dom:
"Icelanders seem to like our stuff, I keep getting emails through the website! I can’t explain it really but our tunes are melodic and dreamy with a little bit of filth that creeps up on you so perhaps they see something of themselves in it! Well who knows but I’m definitely not complaining"
Icelandic visits excepting the boys do have one stated ambition, Dom:
"We’d love to play at a summer festival, our music would be perfect for that laid-back-but-pumped atmosphere you get at somewhere like the Big Chill. We both go to at least two or three festivals every summer, can’t get enough of it."
Panel votes to close boardwalk ; Decision to shut down attraction until January for Christmas display awaits council approval
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA) October 10, 2000 | Thomas Clouse Staff writer Three city leaders voted Monday to close the public boardwalk so Hagadone Corp. can put up its massive holiday light display.
The request to close the boardwalk that encircles The Coeur d’Alene Resort went before the city’s General Services Committee – which is made up of three City Council members who send recommendations to the full council.
Even before final approval, crews Monday started the 40-day process of installing 3-inch cables, guide wires, a crane and two barges needed to erect the display, said Craig Brosenne, director of facilities for the resort.
Brosenne asked the committee to recommend closing the boardwalk from Oct. 30 to Jan. 10 because of safety concerns caused by weather and the cables.
“We own Christmas around here,” Brosenne said. “We will keep doing it until it’s bigger and bigger.
“I think (the light display) will be great for the community,” he said. “We couldn’t do it if we leave (the boardwalk) open.” The light display is the centerpiece for the “Fantasy in Lights” program that will kick off with a ceremony on Nov. 25.
Councilman Chris Copstead suggested that boardwalk users find alternative routes for exercise.
“This is a very strong resort area,” Copstead said. “A lot of businesses benefit from that.” Coeur d’Alene resident Robert Goetze pointed out that the display is causing the safety concern that is being used as an excuse to close the boardwalk.
“I’m not here to steal Christmas,” Goetze said. “Just have them put the lights somewhere else.” Coeur d’Alene resident Sherry Willoughby, who regularly walks the boardwalk, sided with Goetze.
“I certainly agree that we need to build the economic base for the community,” Willoughby said, “but it has been done in the past without closing it.” Councilwoman Deanna Goodlander said she has a very good idea of what it takes for the crews to erect the light show. go to web site coeur d alene resortgo to site coeur d alene resort
“It’s a huge job. My son helps do a lot of that,” Goodlander said. “I’ve always been personally grateful that (Hagadone officials) have allowed us to use the boardwalk.” Goetze also asked how Councilman Ron Edinger – who drives a shuttle van for the resort – and Goodlander – whose son works for Hagadone – could still vote on the issue.
“I don’t question their honor,” Goetze said, “but (Edinger) and Deanna should have stepped down for the vote.” Edinger said he doesn’t feel his vote was in conflict.
“There have been times I have disagreed with the Hagadone Corporation and Duane Hagadone himself on a few issues,” Edinger said.
Goodlander also defended her decision not to step down for the vote.
“The fact my son is employed by Hagadone Corporation does not influence my decisions,” she said. “But there are not as many people who walk the boardwalk as there are who enjoy the light display.” The city and resort have an agreement to close the public boardwalk only for safety concerns, repairs or by approval from the City Council.
City leaders agreed to close the boardwalk last year from Nov. 1 to Jan. 10, but it remained closed into February.
In 1998, the light display was moved to The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course. In 1997, crews built the display both on the boardwalk and on the resort grounds but the boardwalk remained open.
Edinger said Hagadone executives moved the light display to the boardwalk “so more people could see it … where before the majority of people had to pay to get on a boat to see it.” Goetze also pointed out that the display is built mostly behind the resort so that residents would need to either walk out on Tubbs Hill, the resort property or Independence Point to see it.
Willoughby asked the city leaders for a compromise.
“More people could see it if they erected it in the lawn in front of the resort,” she said. “I think the city fathers intended for everyone to enjoy that boardwalk.” Robert Kobrick, who moved to the Lake City from Phoenix a year ago, supported the vote to allow the lights.
“I would hate to see the light show shut down for a few people who don’t get to walk the boardwalk,” Kobrick said. “If someone with money does a positive thing, why stop him?” This sidebar appeared with the story:
AT A GLANCE Holiday events The Coeur d’Alene Resort will kick off its “Fantasy in Lights” show with the annual lighting ceremony on Nov. 25, said Craig Brosenne, director of facilities for the resort.
Also on that night, the “Journey to the North Pole” display will open. It will feature 35 displays on beachfront owned mostly by Duane Hagadone, across the lake from the resort.
Lake Coeur d’Alene Cruises, owned by Hagadone Corp., plans to charge adults $12 – with kids 12 and under free – to tour the lights and new exhibits, Brosenne said.
Cruise times will be nightly at 4:30, 6, 7:30 and 9 p.m. from Nov. 25 to Jan. 1.
Echaskech at The Big Chill 2006
