D12
Photo: Interscope

D12, the Crystal Method, DJ Skribble, Mix Master Mike and Überzone have been tapped to headline the eighth annual Cyberfest.

Scheduled for August 11 at an outdoor location in downtown San Francisco, the electronic music gathering will also feature DJ Dan, Keoki, John Kelly, Dieselboy, Donald Glaude, Scott Hardkiss, Madison Ave., WishFM and AK1200.

This year's event will see more than 40 acts perform on seven different stages. A laser light show, skate park and circus are among the festival's other attractions.

Last year's Cyberfest, held in Fresno, California, featured performances by Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox and BT. The Chemical Brothers and Run-DMC have headlined in previous years.

Tickets for the all-ages Cyberfest are available at www.coolworld.com.

• D12
• The Crystal Method
• DJ Skribble
• Mix Master Mike
• Uberzone

Überzone
Photo: Ray Klein

Southern California breaks producer Überzone will warm up for his performances at the late summer Mekka and Creamfields festivals with a handful of headlining club dates.

The quirky electronic artist, otherwise known as Timothy Wiles or Q (named after the James Bond character), is promoting his debut LP, Faith in the Future, due August 7 on Astralwerks.

The 12-track album includes collaborations with former Helmet singer Page Hamilton, former City of Angels label mates the Crystal Method, dancehall singer Beenie Man, rap legends Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force, U.K. breakbeat producer Rennie Pilgrem, Los Angeles turntablist Davey Dave and singer Lida Husik.

Überzone built a considerable following with his early singles "Botz" and "Freaks" and followed with three seminal breakbeat EPs — 1996's Braindust and Space Kadet and 1997's The Freaks Believe in Beats — but it has been four years since the producer released music under the Überzone alias.

"Every time I sat down to do an album, I'd get asked to do another tour I couldn't pass up or a Sarah McLachlan remix or whatever," Überzone said last week. "It's pretty tiring being a one-man act." Over the years, Überzone has come to carry the torch in the U.S. for new school breaks, a genre founded overseas as a response to breakbeat.

"They weren't hearing enough newer sounding breaks with deeper bass lines and complex drum programming. It was almost like a slowed down drum'n'bass," Überzone said of U.K. acts like Pilgrem, for which he is the American equivalent. "New school breaks is like funky breakbeat music with a very open mind that doesn't fall back on the early '90s breakbeat sound. It's almost like intelligent drum'n'bass." When the producer finally found time to work on an album as Überzone, which was intended to be a project with various singers and musicians from the beginning, he knew exactly which artists he wanted to bring into the studio.

"I've always been a big fan of dancehall and I went on a quest to get Beenie Man," Überzone said. "And any time I get a chance to work with either one of the Crystal Method guys is great. Ken [Jordan] and I spend time outside of the industry, so to come in and work together is nice." Überzone and the Crystal Method, whose new album Tweekend is due July 31, have toured together in the past and will do so again in the fall on a nine-week, 60-date tour, Überzone said. Crystal Method's management said the tour would be called the Seven Day Tweekend and dates will be announced soon.

Überzone teamed up with Helmet's Hamilton after both artists' mutual publisher suggested the collaboration. Überzone was intrigued with the idea of mixing his tongue-in-cheek bouncy dance music with hard and edgy rock. The end results came in the form of "Frequency," one of the album's strongest tracks.

"You really find out where your heart is when you hook two musicians up," Überzone said. "You almost transcend genre and all of the specifics that maybe people think of music as having. You find out that all of those rules are just imposed by humans. People that love music can write a song that sounds like a jazz song one minute and can write something dark and hard the next minute. We put these limitations on ourselves." For his collaboration with Husik, Überzone invited her to sing a song he had written called "Dreamtime." After her vocals were done, however, he realized he didn't like his lyrics.

"She sang them beautifully, but I wasn't happy with my words," he said. "So I tried to rewrite the song using the tonality of her voice, but not acknowledging any of the lyrical content. I chopped it up so it is gibberish. It was a personal victory for me." The album's first single will be "Bounce," his collaboration with Davey Dave. It will include remixes by Pilgrem, Max Graham and Überzone. The producer said an EP of Faith in the Future remixes is likely to be released later this year.

Überzone plans to play a few new tracks during his club shows, in which he will begin DJing and gradually bring in elements from his live show. He will be fully live when he takes the stage at Mekka, Creamfields and Seven Day Tweekend.

"I am doing a transitional set from our DJ set into the live show, so we can make sure everything kind of runs smoothly," he said. "We'll do some very minimal visual programs and we'll do some of the sequences for the beginning and end of the set." Überzone's club dates, according to Astralwerks:

• 6/16 - Seattle, WA @ Stadium Exhibition Center
• 6/21 - Orlando, FL @ The Roxy
• 6/22 - Boynton Beach, FL @ Orbit
• 6/23 - Jacksonville, FL @ DV8
• 6/30 - Dallas, TX @ Bronco Bowl
• 8/17 - Denver, CO @ Rave on the Rocks

• Uberzone
• The Crystal Method
• Beenie Man

Roni Size
Photo: Island

The world's top tier of electronic music artists — including the Crystal Method, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Tenaglia, Armand Van Helden, BT and Roni Size — will gather in August for a 10-city North American tour called Mekka. The outing, which kicks off August 4 in Montreal and wraps up September 2 in Los Angeles, will celebrate the launch of Mekka, a global entertainment company focused on the promotion and development of electronic music culture, according to the tour's publicist.

Acts from various genres of electronic music will be represented, from hip-hop to techno to drum'n'bass to trance. Deep Dish, LTJ Bukem, Mix Master Mike, Sandra Collins and Junior Sanchez are among Mekka's other top names. Several hip-hop acts will be announced later this month.

Mekka will include a rare live set by Detroit techno legend Carl Craig. BT, the Crystal Method, the New Deal and Überzone will also be performing live. Working the many turntables on the tour will be DJs Jimmy Van M, Derrick Carter, DJ Rap, Doc Martin, Dave Ralph, Stacey Pullen, Christopher Lawrence, Dieselboy, Mark Farina, DJ Craze, DJ Dan, Terry Mullan, Bad Boy Bill, Misstress Barbara, Andy C, DJ Hype, Grooverider and Mr. C.

Halo and Hipp-E of the Chicago DJ collective H-Foundation, who will also be spinning at Mekka, and Sanchez will mix separate CD compilations in conjunction with the tour. Release dates have not been announced. The tour will be the summer's third major tour featuring electronic music. Moby, Oakenfold, Carl Cox, the Orb, Timo Maas and others will be part of the Area: One tour on July 11 in Atlanta (see "Area: One Festival's Details Come Into Focus"), while Perry Farrell's Jubilee festival, headlined by Jane's Addiction, is also expected to feature top DJs and producers (see "Jane's Addiction Touring In August"). Details for that tour have not been released, though publicists for several electronic music stars, including Size, have said they have been invited to join the outing. Mekka will be held in outdoor venues, such as large fields and fairgrounds. Venues will be announced at a later date. The artists will perform on multiple stages and in tents. Mekka, the company, will specialize in artist management, wireless applications, magazine publishing and music distribution and publishing.

Mekka Tour dates, according to the tour's publicist:

• 8/4 - Montreal, QC
• 8/5 - Toronto, ON
• 8/8 - Dallas, TX
• 8/10 - Jacksonville, FL
• 8/11 - Miami, FL
• 8/18 - New York, NY
• 8/25 - Chicago, IL
• 8/30 - Seattle, WA
• 9/1 - San Francisco, CA
• 9/2 - Los Angeles, CA

• The Crystal Method
• Roni Size
• BT
• Paul Oakenfold
• Mix Master Mike

Fatboy Slim
Photo: MTV News

Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method and Orbital will headline America's first Creamfields festivals in Long Island, New York, and Las Vegas in September.

DJs Timo Maas, Tall Paul and John Aquaviva will also perform outside of the Big Apple on September 1, while Basement Jaxx, Sandra Collins and DJ Dan will play Sin City on September 29, organizers announced Monday (May 21).

Several other top electronic acts are slated for both shows, including former Underworld DJ Darren Emerson, Stereo MC's, Uberzone, Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, Josh Wink, Photek, Max Graham, Scott Henry, Scott Hardkiss, Scanty Sandwich and the Dub Pistols.

The Long Island festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and several circus tent arenas hosted by influential clubs from the East Coast and the U.K., will also include DJ Feelgood, Christian Smith, DJ Dara and DJ DB. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Dave Ralph, Donald Glaude, Bad Boy Bill, Christopher Lawrence and Adam Freeland will spin at the Las Vegas festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and six tents. That show will run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

More acts, along with ticket information, will be announced later this month, organizers said.

Leading European dance event promoters Cream staged the first Creamfields in the U.K. in 1998. Held annually since, it has become one of the biggest dance-music festivals in the world, attracting 50,000 fans last year.

This year's U.K. fest will be held August 25 at the Old Liverpool Airfield in Liverpool. Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, Goldie, Seb Fontaine, Judge Jules and Pete Tong are among the artists scheduled to appear.

• Fatboy Slim
• The Crystal Method
• Orbital
• Timo Maas
• Basement Jaxx

Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method and Orbital will headline America's first Creamfields festivals in Long Island, New York, and Las Vegas in September.

DJs Timo Maas, Tall Paul and John Aquaviva will also perform outside of the Big Apple on September 1, while Basement Jaxx, Sandra Collins and DJ Dan will play Sin City on September 29, organizers announced Monday (May 21).

Several other top electronic acts are slated for both shows, including former Underworld DJ Darren Emerson, Stereo MC's, Uberzone, Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, Josh Wink, Photek, Max Graham, Scott Henry, Scott Hardkiss, Scanty Sandwich and the Dub Pistols.

The Long Island festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and several circus tent arenas hosted by influential clubs from the East Coast and the U.K., will also include DJ Feelgood, Christian Smith, DJ Dara and DJ DB. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Dave Ralph, Donald Glaude, Bad Boy Bill, Christopher Lawrence and Adam Freeland will spin at the Las Vegas festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and six tents. That show will run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

More acts, along with ticket information, will be announced later this month, organizers said.

Leading European dance event promoters Cream staged the first Creamfields in the U.K. in 1998. Held annually since, it has become one of the biggest dance-music festivals in the world, attracting 50,000 fans last year.

This year's U.K. fest will be held August 25 at the Old Liverpool Airfield in Liverpool. Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, Goldie, Seb Fontaine, Judge Jules and Pete Tong are among the artists scheduled to appear.

• Fatboy Slim
• The Crystal Method
• Orbital
• Timo Maas
• DJ Dan