Ralph Darden's guest appearances

Ralph Darden

Loud! Fast! Philly!

Perceived Value

Kathleen Kennedy

David Kessler

Emily Stoehrer

Bella Neyman

JB Jones

Tracy Matthews

GREG PIZZOLI

Jai Alai

Tim Dunn

Jeff Fisher

Christina Grace

Paul Bearer

Glenn Wallis

Mike Rossi

Rachel David

OwlTail

Ralph Darden is a musician, DJ and composer based in Chicago.The self taught, multi instrumentalist, grew up in Philadelphia, where he graduated from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts. He spent his formative years playing in several punk bands (Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM), completing a series of self-booked nation wide tours and releasing several albums on various independent record labels. All in the pre-internet world of the early 90s.In 2005 he formed his dub infused, post punk band The Jai Alai Savant. He wrote and produced the band's album Flight Of The Bass Delegate and spent the next few years touring and performing both domestically &amp; abroad. He currently plays guitar and sings backing vocals with Ted Leo &amp; The Pharmacists.Contiguously, his DJ career began in the late 90s. Initially guided by an obsession with the intersectionality of punk, reggae, hip hop and electronic dance music, Ralph took on the moniker DJ Major Taylor,(a reference to his days a a cyclist), throwing a series of successful genre bending dance parties. Ralph established himself as a adept open format turntablst and a pioneering figure in the burgeoning Philadelphia nightlife scene of the early 2000’s. According to Diplo “Wow ... well ... Major Taylor (Ralph) was one of the djs/musicians in Philly that inspired Hollertronix ... he's like one of the true sources of that party". Eventually he moved to Chicago, and in 2015 started his DJ company November Electric which focuses on pairing stylistically similar DJs with high end events like weddings, fashion shows, and wrap parties for film and tv productions. He has since dj'd wrap events for Ron Howard, Vince Vaughn, Steven Sodoberg and John C Riley. He has toured the globe spinning festivals and nightclubs. He has DJ'd over 150 weddings including destination weddings in Cambodia and Melbourne, Australia.In 2008 he composed music for the independent film Polish Bar, and has since composed for several other independent films, commercials and television productions - including the short lived Comcast kids show, Gross World, in which he was a featured character. In 2012 he scored an episode of the animated series Happy Tree Friends, a collaborative effort directed by high school friend Rob Shaw. The pair went on to collaborate on other projects including a Transformers Toy Commercial for Hasbro. They are currently working their music project The Puny Humans. Ralph continues composing.

Ralph Darden is a musician, DJ and composer based in Chicago.The self taught, multi instrumentalist, grew up in Philadelphia, where he graduated from the High School for Creative and Performing Arts. He spent his formative years playing in several punk bands (Random Children, <a href="http://gokidgo.org/2010/10/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Franklin</a>, AM/FM), completing a series of self-booked nation wide tours and releasing several albums on various independent record labels. All in the pre-internet world of the early 90s.In 2005 he formed his dub infused, post punk band <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Zr2xe5n4o" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Jai Alai Savant</a>. He wrote and produced the band's album<a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10237-flight-of-the-bass-delegate/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Flight Of The Bass Delegate </a>and spent the next few years touring and performing both domestically &amp; abroad. He currently plays guitar and sings backing vocals with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENu89P6CK7E" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ted Leo &amp; The Pharmacists</a>.Contiguously, his DJ career began in the late 90s. Initially guided by an obsession with the intersectionality of punk, reggae, hip hop and electronic dance music, Ralph took on the moniker <a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/DjMajorTaylor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DJ Major Taylor</a>,(a reference to his days a a cyclist), throwing a series of successful genre bending dance parties. Ralph established himself as a adept open format turntablst and a pioneering figure in the burgeoning Philadelphia nightlife scene of the early 2000’s. According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diplo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diplo</a> “Wow ... well ... Major Taylor (Ralph) was one of the djs/musicians in Philly that inspired Hollertronix ... he's like one of the true sources of that party". Eventually he moved to Chicago, and in 2015 started his DJ company<a href="https://www.novemberelectric.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> November Electric</a> which focuses on pairing stylistically similar DJs with high end events like weddings, fashion shows, and wrap parties for film and tv productions. He has since dj'd wrap events for Ron Howard, Vince Vaughn, Steven Sodoberg and John C Riley. He has toured the globe spinning festivals and nightclubs. He has DJ'd over 150 weddings including destination weddings in Cambodia and Melbourne, Australia.In 2008 he composed music for the independent film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=appffCfFp0I" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Polish Bar</a>, and has since composed for several other independent films, commercials and television productions - including the short lived Comcast kids show, <a href="https://vimeopro.com/allagesproductions/scripted/video/39907698" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Gross World</a>, in which he was a featured character. In 2012 he scored an episode of the animated series <a href="https://vimeopro.com/allagesproductions/scripted/video/39907698" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Happy Tree Friends</a>, a collaborative effort directed by high school friend <a href="https://vimeo.com/sirrobrob" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rob Shaw</a>. The pair went on to collaborate on other projects including a <a href="https://vimeo.com/sirrobrob" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Transformers Toy Commercia</a>l for Hasbro. They are currently working their music project The Puny Humans. Ralph continues composing.

My Professional DJ Friend: Ralph Darden 

Joseph A. Gervasi interviews Ralph Darden, also known as DJ Major Taylor, who played in the bands Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM, Jai Alai Savant and more. While Ralph now lives in both Chicago and Los Angeles, he grew up in Philadelphia and spent much of his youth in the racially-mixed Mt. Airy neighborhood. In this long and frank interview, Ralph talks about the racial divide in Philadelphia, growing up in a world where he didn’t quite fit in with either while or black folks, discovering punk through BMX bikes (RAD!), playing in early bands and seeing shows in Philly, playing one of the greatest Philly punk shows of all time when Random Children played with Fugazi at Drexel, and much more. The discussion of race may be the most provocative parts of this wide-ranging conversation. Ralph talks about what it was like to have a song sung about him that called him “fucking disgusting” and how that made him feel as scores of people sang along to the lyrics yet never knew him personally. Ralph works with at-risk kids, DJs high-end parties and events, and may be engaging in a special project in Africa that is best explained by him in the interview. He also appears in the recent Afropunk documentary. For as long as this interview runs, the pace never flags as it rides on Ralph’s good humor, hilariously spot-on impersonations, and heartfelt and passionate insights. I trust listeners will find this to be one of the best interviews in the L!F!P! project. Plus: his mother pretty much invented voicemail.       The post LOUD! FAST! PHILLY Episode 67: Ralph Darden of Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM, Jai Alai Savant, DJ Major Taylor appeared first on Cinepunx.

Joseph A. Gervasi interviews Ralph Darden, also known as DJ Major Taylor, who played in the bands Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM, Jai Alai Savant and more. While Ralph now lives in both Chicago and Los Angeles, he grew up in Philadelphia and spent much of his youth in the racially-mixed Mt. Airy neighborhood. In this long and frank interview, Ralph talks about the racial divide in Philadelphia, growing up in a world where he didn’t quite fit in with either while or black folks, discovering punk through BMX bikes (RAD!), playing in early bands and seeing shows in Philly, playing one of the greatest Philly punk shows of all time when Random Children played with Fugazi at Drexel, and much more. The discussion of race may be the most provocative parts of this wide-ranging conversation. Ralph talks about what it was like to have a song sung about him that called him “fucking disgusting” and how that made him feel as scores of people sang along to the lyrics yet never knew him personally. Ralph works with at-risk kids, DJs high-end parties and events, and may be engaging in a special project in Africa that is best explained by him in the interview. He also appears in the recent Afropunk documentary. For as long as this interview runs, the pace never flags as it rides on Ralph’s good humor, hilariously spot-on impersonations, and heartfelt and passionate insights. I trust listeners will find this to be one of the best interviews in the L!F!P! project. Plus: his mother pretty much invented voicemail. The post <a href="http://www.cinepunx.com/Podcasts/loud-fast-philly-episode-67-ralph-darden-of-random-children-franklin-amfm-jai-alai-savant-dj-major-taylor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LOUD! FAST! PHILLY Episode 67: Ralph Darden of Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM, Jai Alai Savant, DJ Major Taylor</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.cinepunx.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cinepunx</a>.

LOUD! FAST! PHILLY Episode 67: Ralph Darden of Random Children, Franklin, AM/FM, Jai Alai Savant, DJ Major Taylor