story by Mike Scales

San Diego's Kid 606 has been perfecting his experimental, hardcore techno style for the past ten years of his life. At the ripe old age of 24, he has released two official full-length albums as well as a plethora of EPs, in addition to experimental singles on underground labels such as Vinyl Communications, EFA, and his own label, Tigerbeat6.

1998's Don't Sweat the Technics established Kid 606 as an up and coming electronic mastermind while 2000's Down With the Scene pushed the limits of the genre with its brand of indie-punk, noise-rock, and heavy metal influenced techno. Not bad for a guy who named himself after a low-rated drum machine, the TR 606.

Kid 606 has just released yet another batch of music entitled The Illness, no doubt a reference to its level of coolness rather than to some kind of malady.

KID'S INNER VIEW "It’s just four hours of music from myself, friends and fellow musicians displaying our talents and how we’d like to be perceived."

In an interview, Kid himself had a hard time describing this new release, saying only "anything I've ever done has kind of been a new direction." He did let it be known, however, that Illness has a dancier feel to it and is probably the most sample-laden material he has released thus far. According to Kid, it is just a sample of his work thus far for his upcoming second full-length record for Ipecac Recordings, an album two years in the making.

When asked about his experience with Ipecac Recordings and its founder Mike Patton (Faith No More, Fantomas, and Tomahawk) Kid 606 had only great things to say.

"Making an official album means the world to me and Ipecac has set up the best environment for me to do so," says Kid. Ipecac has never been opposed to letting Kid experiment and release material on his own label. Fortunately for them, Kid 606 will only continue to come back to Ipecac a more well rounded musician and producer.

On working closely with Mike Patton himself, Kid had this to say: "Mike is probably the best musician I've ever met because he is just always so on the ball and very instinctive when it comes to the writing process." Aside from being entirely supportive of his musical career, Ipecac also seems to have been a great source of fun and camaraderie for Kid.

For example, at the end of a tour in L.A., Patton, who apparently has a knack for forcing those closest to him to gamble, bet Kid $100 that he could not eat two big bags of marshmallows while performing on stage. Kid eventually won the bet, but spent much the post-show party puking white in the backstage of the fancy L.A. club.

Despite what one may think, the U.S. tour Kid 606 will embark on this August will not necessarily be one to promote his latest release. It is actually the Tigerbeat6 label tour, a venture with DJ Rupture that will incorporate all of the Tigerbeat6 artists as a kind of label showcase.

According to Kid, "it's less of a self-promotion and more of a display of the talent collective that is Tigerbeat6." Fans of the label can expect a grass-roots tour "reggae style" with the label bringing their own sound system and a compilation CD of the artists involved with the tour. "It's just four hours of music from myself, friends and fellow musicians displaying our talents and how we'd like to be perceived," says Kid 606.

As a true product of the underground music scene, Kid 606 keeps his head about him by listening to various underground artists ranging from dance hall and jungle sounds to extreme metal. His favorites lately include The Bug, a musical project from Kevin Martin of Techno Animal, the grindcore of Curse of the Golden Vampire and the Hydrahead Records catalog including Chicago's own Pelican.

Kid 606 is a down-to-earth guy that many an untrained ear may say makes music from another planet. Embrace his brand of raucous, unrelenting techno and the underground scene he so loyally supports when he comes to town this month.