Alfonso Bio
Alfonso began DJing at friends' parties and other sporadic events throughout his college years in the mid-90s. Upon graduating with a B.A. in International Studies, he chose to "dabble" in the music industry for a bit. A drummer since the age of 12, Alfonso always had a strong passion for music. His first job was an internship as an art assistant for Beastie Boys' Grand Royal magazine. While at GR, he was frequently given fresh pressed tracks - all on vinyl. Naturally, Alfonso was inspired to get more serious about his art. He upgraded his dj setup and spent more concentrated time behind the decks. He continued spinning for an increased array of events, and also began producing original tracks and remixes under the moniker A.G.E.N.D.A.
Soon after, while working in the jazz and world music department at Virgin Megastore, Alfonso read an article in Jockey Slut magazine featuring a review of a forthcoming album (to be released in the UK) entitled Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi. "I saw a photo of these two guys in suits and they really stood out. They didn't look like electronic music producers/DJs. They looked like jazz musicians from the 1960's." The description of their music also sounded interesting to Alfonso and grabbed his curiosity. He took what turned out to be a very worthwhile gamble and special ordered the import. The ‘hi-fi’ sounds of Thievery Corporation basically changed his musical life. "Thievery's music was like Downtempo 101.” The album pretty much defined what became Alfonso’s musical element: dub-influenced jazzy downtempo. From that point on he began to discover more artists in this new found genre and bought lots of their records - a habit which continues to this day.