Julius Papp

With a hard ridged name like Julius Papp, in the electronic music circles, most would expect grinding techno or minimalist beats. On the contrary, Papp is a house producer whose roots lie in disco and new wave of the early '80s. Papp was born and raised in Montreal, Canada, and got tuned into dance music through Quebec's flourishing club scene and diverse radio broadcasts. He started buying records in the late '70s and took to turntables in 1985, scoring his first major club gig two years later. Papp first drew attention as part of the jazz and funk scene in the early '90s when he relocated to San Jose, CA. Alongside its forerunner, Mark Farina, Papp took a place in the Mushroom Jazz scene in San Francisco. He held an active calendar in both cities. In 1994 he started producing tracks, his first projects being mainly acid jazz flavored. His first release was with the wilder Nervous Records for his down-tempo vinyl recordings, and a full-length CD called Cueball. Eventually, Papp released records with the respected house labels OM and Paper Recordings. He has also collaborated with Jay-J Hernandez, "the Buddy Boys," and Rick Pristine for the pap/pristine project. Showing another side of his musical taste, he also teamed with Dave Warren for the band, Slide Five. In 1997, he released the third session in the Cueball series. A year later he followed it with two releases, Astral Wave/New York City Musik and Cosmic Wave. Escho Funi, Vol. 1 appeared in spring 2001. ~ Diana Potts