Ceephax Acid Crew is a Chelmsfordian electronic musician working in the genre of analogue and digital (aka a&d, AD, Analord, etc) specializing in acid, acid house, acid techno etc with occasional trips into the worlds of hardcore and jungle, ambient and semi-experimental (check Drive Time). Also known just as Ceephax or Andy Jenkinson (his birth-name).
Career
Piers Martin interviewed Ceephax in 2000: “In the earlier days when my brother Tom (Squarepusher) lived at home, I always used to play about on his synths if he was out,” Andy recalls. “Obviously Tom was doing loads of music and that was always inspiring, and one day it just clicked for me and I started doing music straight away.” Ceephax started releasing his music in 1998 on Ed Dmx’s label Breakin’ Records and later in 2000 released on other underground labels Firstcask and Lo Recordings and made three remixes of his brother’s music on Rephlex and Warp.
More recent released on Firtscask and Bugklinik Records have shown an interest in sample related breakbeat driven jungle/”…”core music, but the more recent Ceerial Port EP is back on the acid bus. Some of Ceephax’s music is still only available as poorly recorded bootlegs.
Music
Ceephax’s music mainly takes the sonic styles of vintage Roland drum machines TR-909, TR-606, TR-707 , Roland synthesizers TB-303, SH-101, Korg MS-20, and a Yamaha DX. This music used to be recorded onto a cassette tape deck and allegedly still is occasionally for it’s specific quality. This primitive Acid House aesthetic and methodology has countered the popularity of computer-based (esp. laptop) music.
Ceephax has also been known to use an Amiga 1200 for releases such as “Hardcore Wick” again showing an interest in the aural aesthetics of ancient dance music from the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Hardcore Esplanade and Exidy Tours showed a more modern approach with faster breakbeats (esp. Amen) and the like, but still keeping the a&d and computer game-ish Commodore 64 synth sounds very close at hand.
Other Projects
Andy has collaborated a number of times with his brother Jonny and Phillie T, all members of the Chelmsford Film Society, in acting and in comical side projects such as rap outfit The Odd Job Men and improvised blues project The Chelmsford Blues Explosion, also providing a lot of the soundtrack work in Chelmsford Film Society resulting in the release of “The Crisp Chronicles Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” on WeMe Records.