KAROSHI

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RANK	SCORE ?	GENRE	LOCATION
59326	0	House, Deep	Philadelphia, US

Soothing, soulful, deep house juxtaposed over jazzy, relaxing breaks belie a fiery countenance and passionate disposition.

Born a musical prodigy, Karoshi (real name Ian David Vaflor) has been performing in front of audiences since the early age of three. Although he spent his formative years with an emphasis on classical training, his influences ranged from Motown to Elgar to the Sex Pistols; all of which can be attributed to the eclectic tastes of his parents and siblings.

While his friends were buying their first Stratocasters and listening to Nirvana: Karoshi was digging through bins at the then-new 611 Records (one of his sisters worked at a tie-dye shop across the street), sneaking into Silk City to catch bands like Jamiroquai or to the Troc to watch Nigel Richards.

Relocating to Northern Virginia for college, he jumped at the chance to host his own radio show and spin for an audience larger than house parties or high school dances. Along with his co-host Liz Bell they spun big beat breaks, house, hip-hop, acid jazz, and indie rock for all-nighter insomniacs from 3 to 6am on WXJM 88.7 for the 96'-97' semester. 1998 saw Karoshi going solo on the radio and at this time he picked up his first residency spinning at, of all places, a day spa and cafe in the D.C. area. His combination of broken beat lounge and deep house earned him guest spots in various lounges in D.C., New York, and Seattle.

Karoshi moved back to Philadelphia to concentrate on his career and education in 1999 and took a break from spinning. On occasion he would jump on the decks whenever his South Philadelphia based award-winning shop, State of the Art Records, hosted an in-store or release party around the city.

Though a car-accident in 2002 derailed Ian from pursuing a career in classical music, he has found a creative outlet by returning to the decks while exuding his outspoken and dynamic personality.

In addition to holding down a successful seasonal residency on the Lucky Boat Party series, a broken beat Saturday weekly at St. Jack's: Karoshi, with his State of the Art co-conspirator, John Mariakis, is one-half of the punk rock DJ team "The Smash Bros." bringing indie rock, punk, and hard core on a bi-weekly basis to one of the city's well renowned rock venues, the Khyber. He has also been spotted in Manhattan's IDOL lounge alongside the beautiful and talented Miss Watts.

Approaching turntablism as a discursive method and drawing upon his experience as a former music teacher, accomplished jazz musician and 20+ years classically trained cellist: Karoshi continues to foreground music as a tactile entity, tempering oft-pragmatic conventions with childlike jouissance.