VT Union
Gig Seeker Pro

VT Union

| INDIE

| INDIE
Band Hip Hop

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"Analog Mitxape Vol.4 Review"

Analog Mix Tape, Volume N.4, featuring A-Dog
DJ A-Dog slices and dices Analog's masterpiece-of-a-mixtape album. Hailing from the East Coast, mixmaster A-Dog comes through with a ruthless set worth ten times its weight in ice. It's a smoothed-out voyage from deep-cut funky tracks to hot, remixed instrumentals and fresh joints from some of the illest lyricists. Up in the mix: Nas, Jurassic 5, Dr. Dre, Fu Schnickens, Busta Rhymes, St. Germain, Mary J. Blige. Cop it: It's promo only-you can get them from Burton if you know the right people. - Transworld Snowboarding


"Vynal Answer"

Vinyl Answer
DJ A-Dog puts his own spin on the club scene




IMAGE: MATTHEW THORSEN


(3.12.03)


It's 11 o'clock on a Friday evening. Outside Burlington's Waiting Room, a crowd of about 20 people are restlessly gathered into a ramshackle line, impatient to gain entrance. It's one of the first warmish nights in March, yet those in the queue sway slightly, shielding themselves from icy gusts down St. Paul Street. Thick snaps of bass and snippets of a wavering, soulful vocal float through the air whenever the door opens.

Inside, DJ A-Dog has just taken the stage. Dressed in a baggy gray T-shirt and a blue-and-white mesh cap, he shakes a few hands, takes a slow drag off an American Spirit and settles in behind his two silvery turntables. Inching the volume higher on the classic funk track pulsing through the room's speakers, he cuts his hand across the record, sending forth a staccato flurry of notes. A soft murmur of praise rises from the assembling crowd. Heads nod in approval. A-Dog lets slip a thin smile, then turns to rummage through a black crate overflowing with 12-inch vinyl.

The Waiting Room boasts a swank, big-city feel, and tonight is no exception. College kids in sweaters and designer jeans mill about, sucking on bottles of imported beer. Black-clad waiters glide expertly through the crowd, balancing trays of martinis and dark microbrews. Inquiring eyes dart across the room, appraising one body after another.

Yet tonight is slightly different. Along with the suited business types and yuppies-in-training are skaters and club kids - even if their Gravis jackets and knit caps are also in the requisite black. As the older dinner patrons and their gold cards hit the street, they're replaced by a flow of young music lovers, thirsty for the sound of hip-hop, funk and soul.

A-Dog hunches his shoulder, cradling the headphones to his ear. Listening intently, he cues up a record, slides the fader on his mixer to the left and straightens as the first snaking notes of deep dub pour forth. Onlookers and friends meander up to the stage to pay their respects. A-Dog acknowledges each one with a smile or a high-five, lights people's smokes and sips casually on a Bud. After a few minutes he pauses, finds another record and seamlessly segues into a steamy slice of soul.

In the bathroom, a tall, heavy-set kid in a red hoodie bumps into a framed picture of Thelonious Monk."Oh, man, wouldn't wanna mess with the Monk," he guffaws, drunk. Outside, a guy brags with his friends about his own DJ gigs in New York City, how he's leaving his"old lady." The beats go on.

DJ A-Dog, a.k.a. Andy Williams, was born in 1975 in New Jersey. His mother had immigrated to the United States from the Philippines and worked a variety of odd jobs while raising her son. When Andy was 10, he and his mom moved north, to the decidedly less urban environs of St. Albans. An only child, he learned early on the importance of entertaining himself."I was never bored growing up," he explains during an interview at the Seven Days office."I was always good at making myself content, being busy with little projects.

" Another thing that developed early was his passion - make that obsession - for music."I got really into making mix tapes, you know," Williams says."I would switch back and forth from my one turntable to the tape deck, making these little mixes." He reports staying up until the wee hours, concentrating on this frustrating and time-consuming process and quietly creating his aural collages.

As he grew older, Williams got into skateboarding, making frequent forays to the streets of Burlington. Through the local music scene as well as skate- and snowboard culture, he was turned on to hip-hop and its roots - funk, soul and reggae. But that wasn't all."I always liked hip-hop, but I was also listening to metal back then, man," he admits."Metallica and all that shit."

After graduating from high school, Williams"just wasn't feeling" like going to college, and soon left St. Albans for the relative goldmine, culturally speaking, of the Queen City. He was 18 years old.

At a party that year, Williams observed a fledgling Burlington DJ named Matty L. spinning hip-hop."We were partying, you know, drinking beer and hanging out," he remembers Matt Lawrence with a smile."But as soon as I saw what Matty was doing, I was hooked. From that moment on, I was stuck.

" However, with no turntables and very little money to invest in records, getting started proved difficult. Riding his bicycle, Williams would spend each day cruising town and dropping off job applications. Finally he found part-time work at places like TJ Maxx and the Sheraton, which provided enough cash to pay the rent and feed his newfound infatuation.

A major breakthrough came when a roommate, who was into the club sounds of house and techno, purchased two turntables and set them up in their small apartment. Now able to practice, Williams q - Seven Days


"VT Union, Tha Mixtape- CD Review"

VT UNION, THA MIXTAPE

(Self-released, CD)

I’m about to write three little words that I never thought I would say and really mean. But there comes a time in every man’s life when he’s just got to look destiny in the eye, get down on bended knee, and lay it all on the line. So here it is, baby: I love rap. And local hip-hop crew VT Union are largely responsible for bringing me into the fold.

Led by producer/MC Nastee and the estimable DJ A-Dog, VT Union have put together the ultimate local hip-hop mixtape — er, CD — conveniently titled Tha Mixtape. Featuring some of the area’s most talented MCs and DJs — and a few national notables like Smif-N-Wessun and Wu Tang Clan’s Raekwon — the album weighs in with 18 tracks that serve as a perfect primer for those who, like myself, are relatively unfamiliar with Burlington’s burgeoning hip-hop community.

Historically, my issue with the genre has generally been that I’ve never bought into the bust-a-cap machismo so prevalent in commercial rap. It seems that most popular MCs would rather be tough than lyrical. While there’s no shortage of chest-thumpin’ representin’ here — I certainly wouldn’t fuck with these guys — VT Union’s new disc stands out because the crew approaches its work with a familial unity and playful lyrical eloquence that is truly refreshing.

Every song on the record is top-notch, both in production and rhyme flow. If you’re not familiar with DJ A-Dog, you need to get out of the house more often — the dude is everywhere. Seriously, just look at the club listings in this paper. On Tha Mixtape, he lays down a rock-solid foundation of beats and cuts for Nastee, Dakota, Manus, S.I.N. and the rest of the crew to drop their considerable knowledge.

Rap has often been tabbed as the new American folk music. It’s a label I’ve never been completely comfortable with, but one that I’m beginning to understand. Like the work of Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger, VT Union’s brand of hip-hop is music for the people, rooted in love for family and community. They just happen to throw in a few more lines about their nuts than Guthrie would have. But who’s counting?

Like most suburban teeny-boppers in the early 1990s, I bought Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and considered myself pretty fly for a white guy . . . Sorry. However, my musical tastes have always veered more towards guitars than turntables. Then I met a man who calls himself Nastee. Vermont, you should introduce yourself.

DAN BOLLES
- Seven Days


"Daisy Awards- Best DJ"

DJ A-Dog
Burlington

Vermont's DJ culture has its fair share of talented turntablists, but DJ A-Dog is in a class of his own. For nearly 10 years he's provided dope beats and clever cross-fades to audiences looking to dance or chill. With his easygoing demeanor and soulful touch, it's no surprise he's still top Dog.
- Seven Days


"Out of Jam, Local Music Scene Fosters Hip Hop"

Out of jam, local music scene fosters hip-hop
DJ A-Dog head Burlington's small and growing Hip-Hop scene

Stephen Hausmann
Issue date: 4/25/06 Section: Arts and Entertainment



Ahh, hip-hop. The great, misunderstood child of the inner city, so often cast aside by too many closed-minded critics as representative of merely bling, hos and motor-mouthed rhyming.

Unfairness reigns supreme in popular culture.

Granted, I was taken in by this easy stereotype at first - being raised through middle school by MTV will have that effect on a 12 year old suburban white boy. It wasn't until recently that I acquired A Tribe Called Quest's "The Anthology" and my ears were open for the first time. A world opened up to me, a vast prairie of untapped music. Artists ranging from Immortal Technique, lamenting with sublime eloquence on all manner of social ills to The Streets - British "garage", telling tales of lower class life in London. Not once, however, did I expect to discover a veritable Lake Champlain of credible hip-hop right here in the extreme northeast, Burlington, Vermont.

Beyond Phish and Burlington's burgeoning jam-rock scene are artists such as DJ A-Dog, a long time Vermont resident and leader in the rising hip-hop scene in Burlington. Performing at Red Square or nationally with Pharcyde, Jurassic 5 and other large acts he has become respected locally and beyond.

Even below this layer lie talented artists awaiting discovery, proverbial diamonds in the rough (or snow, in B-town's case). S.I.N. comes immediately to mind. Slick rhymes over classy beats which keep from overshadowing the deep, topical and often self-referential lyrical content. Shades of my old favorite, Immortal Technique, shine brightly in S.I.N.'s words and their relevance.

Burlington favorite, DJ A-Dog mixes humor with a pertinent message, creating the most unique music I've heard from our fair city in an age. Burnt waxes critically and preaches togetherness and Dakota puts a fresh (and local) spin on fist-pumpingly fun.

There are still handfuls of fools gold in the mine, though; Neighborhood, for instance, strings together hyperactive beats with nonsense lyrics which call to mind the smooth (but ultimately pointless and eventually irritating) Sisqo. (yep, The Thong Song guy) Simply, he comes across as utterly uninspiring.

Counter-examples aside, the winds of change are blowing here in the Great White (Green?) North. Out with the jam, in with the rap (though the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive) is the call of the day from the underground and the revolution has a chorus of voices.

- Vermont Cynic


Discography

Tha Mixtape

Photos

Bio

Formed in 2006, the VT Union is a collection of Burlington’s hottest hip hop artists who have been performing in Vermont and beyond for the last 5 years. As the official burton Snowboards DJs, A-dog and Russell have performed at events in Japan, Vancouver, Vail, NYC, and California as well as many others right in their home state of Vermont. VT Union’s producer/MC Nastee has accumulated numerous studio credits working with artists such as Mobb Deep, Just Blaze, Big Punisher along with many others. Recently he was featured on the hit VH1 reality TV show, The White Rapper Show as a guest producer. Along with three other MCs, VT Union released their ground breaking CD entitled, Tha Mixtape. Seven Day’s music critic Dan Bolles describes the album as “top-notch both in production and rhyme flow…the new disc stands out because the crew approaches its work with a familial unity and playful lyrical eloquence that is truly refreshing.” The album features collaborations with nationally notable artists such as Wu Tang Clan’s Raekwon the Chef, Smif-N-Wessun, and Termanology. The VT Union will be touring in Fall of 2007 in support of their upcoming album which features collaborations with The Clipse, Sean Price, R.A the Rugged Man, Raekwon the Chef and Termanology. The VT Union is known for putting on high energy shows which pack clubs such as the Higher Ground, Nectars and Red Square in their hometown of Burlington, VT. Don’t miss this group of rising hip hop stars.