| Resurrector | |
|---|---|
Resurrector performing with Heavyweight Dub Champion at Eurockeennes Festival 2007, France |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Grant McDonald Chambers |
| Also known as | Resurrector |
| Born | May 10, 1971 |
| Origin | New Haven, CT, United States |
| Genres | Electronic, Dubtronica, Dub, Reggae, Trip hop, Hip hop |
| Occupations | Producer Musician Writer |
| Instruments | Synthesizer Percussion Drum Machine Sampler |
| Years active | 1995 - present |
| Labels | Champion Nation |
| Associated acts | Heavyweight Dub Champion, Liberation Movement, Roots Revolt, Jillian Ann |
| Website | www.championnation.net |
Resurrector (born Grant McDonald Chambers, 10 May 1971 in New Haven, CT) is an electronic music producer best known as founder of Colorado/San Francisco Dub Hop band Heavyweight Dub Champion.[1] He is the co-producer of both Heavyweight Dub Champion studio albums and is main creator of the band's philosophical ideology defined by the Last Champion Manifesto, a booklet included with the 2002 album, Survival Guide For The End of Time.[1] Resurrector now lives in San Francisco, CA and performs and produces for Heavyweight Dub Champion, Liberation Movement and Jillian Ann, among others.[2]
Contents |
Resurrector grew up mostly near Baltimore, MD, but lived in multiple countries where his father, a college professor, had visiting fellowships. Resurrector attended University at McDaniel College in Maryland, Harlaxton College in Grantham, England and received a degree in Religious Studies from University of Colorado at Boulder.[3] As a teen, Resurrector promoted punk concerts and frequented the D.C. punk scene. In 1995, while living in Boulder, Colorado, he founded hip hop reggae group Roots Revolt.[4] Many of the key players in Roots Revolt would later show up on Heavyweight Dub Champion recordings, including HDC co-founder Patch Rubin. Heavyweight Dub Champion was founded in Gold Hill, CO in 1997 and played its first show on October 31, 1997. In 2005, the band relocated to San Francisco. On July 7, 2007 Resurrector married musician/model Jillian Ann and they have multiple music projects together including Liberation Movement.[5]
Resurrector focuses on ideological perspectives in many of his interviews on behalf of Heavyweight Dub Champion. He often speaks about music being Sonic Shamanistic Alchemy and the members of Heavyweight Dub Champion are often referred to as Sonic Shamanistic Alchemists.[6] He defines the process as, "basically taking a range of vibrational materials, from tribal instruments to electronic instruments, and manipulating them through devices like tape delays and old analog stomp boxes to try to find the personality of each piece... looking for particular voices, particular vibrations that would contribute to the spectrum of sound we're trying to bring forth, a spectrum of liberational revolutionary energy. Whatever we do with a sound, we have a specific mission: to change the chemistry of the planet leading to unconditional liberation of the human race."[6] A defining quotation written by Resurrector that is often used to represent Heavyweight Dub Champion is "the liberation process is in full effect".
"Penned just hours after the arrival of the new millennium", the Last Champion Manifesto is 70 page document "steeped in allegory and at times reading like ancient scripture", according to The Source Weekly.[1] The LA Weekly calls it a "bible/babble manifesto" and the Denver Westword refers to it as a "scripturally spirited rant."[3][7] The Westword reports that, at an early age, Resurrector received visions from the "Last Champion" during periods of "severe headaches and lengthy vomiting sessions."[3] The Last Champion Manifesto serves as the ideological foundation of both the album Survival Guide for the End of Time and the band Heavyweight Dub Champion as a whole- "We're a concept band. Everything we do is related to the manifesto. Every album will be that way," says Resurrector.[1] There are seven chapters broken into mini-chapters named after the songs on Survival Guide and 2008's Rise of the Champion Nation. Each album serves as a sort of soundtrack to elements presented in the booklet. Songs relate to actions such as the Arrival, which was remixed by San Francisco's award winning favorite Bassnectar, "Liberation Process", "Exorcism" and so on.[8][9] Most of the themes relate to becoming a Warrior and the development of the "Last Champion's Chosen Army" known as "Champion Nation", which is also the name of the record label founded by Resurrector.