Chen Tochner (23) aka DJ Braindead, hip-hop and breakbeat mastermind and producer, remixer, and one of the most respected and reputed DJs in Israel, was singled out as a proverbial success story when the genre was just beginning to position itself on the playlists.
Chen claims that he has always had a passion for music and like everybody else used to listen to dance and house sets. In 2000, "everything exploded" when he happened to hear a breakbeat segment on the Internet, and it was then that the so-popular dance and house made a hasty exit from his life.
Chen was initially influenced by drum 'n base, chillout, acid jazz, lounge music, and, naturally, breakbeat. His curiosity grew, luring him deeper and deeper into hip-hop when he suddenly discovered DJ Revolution who opened up the hypnotic world of scratching to him.
In December 2002, Chen played his first set in the then-new breakbeat party line at the "Ays" Club (now "Lima Lima") and was immediately spirited away to the T-Break line (www.myspace.com/tbreak1) at "Sofabeat" – a bona fide underground club establishment. Later on, the line migrated to "Café Barzilay" and to this day is crowned the most successful breakbeat line in Israel, hosting reputed international DJs like Future Fund Squad, Freestylers, Krafty Kuts, Stanton Warriors and Lee Coombs on a bi-monthly basis.
Chen reached mainstream hip-hop totally by accident. The "Shelter" Club, that prided itself on its busy mainstream hip-hop line, asked him to step in one night when its DJ unexpectedly stepped out. Chen commandeered the booth (which has been hard to move him from since) and stayed on as the club's resident DJ for about a year and a half, developing his scratching techniques which are known for being notoriously unrivalled.
Chen broke out onto the scene at the end of 2004 after wrapping up musical production studies at "Resonance" and founding "Buzz" Studios in Rishon Le-Zion with his brother, DJ Roi Tochner. A few weeks later, a good friend who knew Chen's musical affinities suggested that he produce an experimental remix for the "Tact Family".
As someone whose musical productions have brought many dancers to the winner's circle, Chen transformed Sarit Haddad and Subliminal's "Ha-sod" (The Secret) into a dance single, understanding that a remix of this popular hit would elevate him to a whole new dimension.
Subliminal heard and loved the result, and Chen became the first remixer of Tact Family hits such as Sivan – "Look at Me Now", Shay 360 – "360", Subliminal – "In Tel-Aviv", and many more.
Chen has also produced Daniel Zilberstein and Momi Levy remixes for "Helicon" and is Momi Levy's regular live on-stage DJ.
Since he broke out onto the scene, Chen has been guest performer at some of Israel's leading clubs, like "Dome", "Haoman 17", and "Metrok", as well as in reputed lines around the country.
Today, as part of his musical production and remix pursuits, Chen leads many attention-grabbing hip-hop and breakbeat projects and performs alongside renowned artists such as Danny Dean, Shorty, Momi Levy, Shay 360, Boskilez, Messica and many others.
Chen also leads "Zona", "Metrok", "Sesilia" and "Base" Clubs on a weekly basis, with a bi-weekly residency in "Vox"'s Wednesdays' hip-hop line (regarded as the leading line in Israel), and a bi-monthly residency at "Elixir" in Eilat alongside many other regulars, while still managing to devote a sizeable chunk of his time to musical production and remixes as well as cellular and VOD projects.
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