Alap Momin

Alap Momin
Alap Momin aka Oktopus
Background information
Birth name	Alap Aman Momin
Also known as	Oktopus, Alap Now
Born	(1974-06-25) June 25, 1974
Genres	Bass, Club, Hip Hop, Punk, Experimental, Soundtrack, Film Score, Ambient, Noise, Rock
Occupation(s)	Recording & Mixing Engineer, Producer, Musician, DJ, Remixer, Film Composer, Commercial Music, Video Game Composer
Instruments	Sampler, Synthesizers, Drum Machines, Drums, Bass, Guitar
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Ipecac Recordings, Matador Records, Hydrahead Industries, Tigerbeat6, Daymare Recordings, Southern Records, Gern Blandsten, Klangbad, Staubgold
Associated acts	Dälek, BKGD Audio, Third Culture Kings, MRC Riddims, Numbers Not Names
Website	alapmomin.com

Alap Aman Momin (born June 25, 1974), known as Alap Momin and Oktopus is an American musician, noted avant-garde, underground hip-hop and indie rock producer,^[1]:94[2] DJ, recording and mixing engineer, remixer, film composer, video game composer and commercial music composer.

Known for underground hip-hop with Dälek and MRC Riddims. Since 1993 he has engineered, produced and mixed many different genres of music ranging from hip hop to jazz to punk to classical and country.

Career

Early career

Alap started his first recording studio in 1993 in his parent’s basement in Parsippany, New Jersey.

Dälek

In 1995, while at William Patterson University, Alap met Will Brooks and Joshua Booth. The three started collaborating as experimental hip hop group Dälek (pronounced 'Die-a-leck'). The group has been described as hip-hop revolutionaries.^[3] Dälek released 7 full lengths and several 12"s and 7"s on various labels worldwide including Gern Blandsten, Matador Records, Ipecac Recordings, Southern Records, Tigerbeat 6, HydraHead Industries, Staubgold, etc. They also toured the world for 15 years performing with acts such as De La Soul, KRS-One, Tool,^[4] Fantômas, Isis, John Zorn, Mike Patton,^[5] The Melvins, Crooked Fingers, Azure Ray, Moby, Prince Paul, Rahzel, The Roots, Massive Attack, House Shoes, Trans Am, Melt Banana, Kanye West, Guns and Roses, Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Amon Tobin, Sonic Youth, Mars Volta, Saul Williams, Morrissey, Flying Lotus, and many more.

MRC Riddims

MRC Riddims is the DJ/production team of Alap Now and Merc Anthony from Harlem, New York. In 2009 Alap began collaborating with longtime friend Merc, who was a member of the shoegaze band All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors. The two began exploring a sound that sought to fuse Jamaican Dancehall and House music.^[6]

Other

In 2010, Alap left Dälek and began searching for a new sound and direction. This search took him to Berlin, where he lived from 2009-2011. The time he spent there expanded his eclectic influences and sound even further, leading to some very exciting new projects, heavily inspired by his own take on House, Juke, Vogue, Jock Jams and Dancehall. Alap's first solo project BKGD Audio is set to release in 2015 as well as Third Culture Kings, a collaboration with Jan Johanson from Glorybox; which fuses everything from Leonard Cohen to The Velvet Underground/Jesus and Mary Chain to Giorgio Moroder and Afrika Bambaataa/Booty Bass.

Alap has engineered, produced and mixed music from: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion,^[7] The Black Hollies, Miss TK and The Revenge, Lifetime, Dälek, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Rye Coaltion, All Natural Lemon and Lime Flavors, Charles Hayward (This Heat), Faust,^[8] Starkweather, Endeavor, Ensign, Floorpunch, Heavy Trash, Jets To Brazil, Ghostigital, Yael Naem, Will Oldham, Oddateee, David Byrne, Yann Tiersen, Orka, Alan Vega, The Butterflies of Love, Ted Leo, Mark Mulcahy, Franz Nicolay, Eric Bachmann, and many more. Alap has also scored and mixed songs for films, video games, apps, and commercials over the past decade. He has worked for companies and films including: Lilith, The Guitar, Choke, My Beautiful World, Ferrari Challenge, Rockport Shoes, AOL, Nabisco Wheat Thins, ABC Family, Nike, Sundance Film Festival, Skullcandy and more.

Discography

Dälek

• Negro Necro Nekros (1998)
• From Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (2002)
• Absence (2005)
• Abandoned Language (2007)
• Gutter Tactics (2009)
• Untitled (2010)
• Streets All Amped (2006)
• Deadverse Massive Vol. 1 (2007) Rarities 1999–2006

Dälek collaborations

• Megaton/Classical Homicide (2000) split collaboration with Techno Animal
• Ruin It (2002) in collaboration with Kid 606
• Dälek vs. Velma (2002) split collaboration with Velma
• Derbe Respect, Alder (2004) in collaboration with Faust
• My Education vs. Dälek (2007) in collaboration with My Education
• Griots And Gods – Les Eurockeennes Festival Belfort 2010 (2010) Live collaboration with The Young Gods.

Film, TV, videogame composer

• The Guitar - Amy Redford (2008)^[9]
• Choke - Clark Gregg (2008)^[10]
• Ferrari Challenge - Wii - (2009)^[11]
• Lilith - Sridhar Reddy (2011)^[12]
• Flipbook Fighters - iPad/iPhone - (2013)
• Sundance Next Weekend Festival Bumper - (2013)
• Sundance Next Fest Bumper - (2014)
• Sundance Film Festival Bumper - (2015)

Producer and engineer

Further reading

• Dälek album reviews on Pitchfork

NYT^[117] NYT2^[118] Roy Christopher^{[119]:217–220} Lücke^[120] Gavin Mueller^[121] Brandon Gentry^[122] Shapiro^[123]:1985 Jakubiak^[2][124] Parallel Planes, a documentary film^[125]

References