Get to know 8tracks DJ: Kid Vector
Aged to a perfected 34 years, Adam Cain has a name of such biblical reflections you would think Adam might have a profession of the utmost moral rectitude, but alas he has joined the designer degenerates, inspiring the pixel peepers and vector veterans to stretch their minds, and think outside their crayon box of conformity.
When Adam isn’t making mixes on 8tracks, he shakes his moneymaker as a Freelance Graphic Designer in the infamous London-town. Check out his work here and here.
Below, Adam touches on his music past (spoiler: it involves Pirates), his music favorites and fads, and how he and 8tracks found each other.
1. Who/what influenced your music early listening? By chance I stumbled upon KISS FM when I was 11. Now it’s just another commercial station but in the early 90’s it was a London based pirate radio station playing the foremost in electronic/dance/hip-hop.
2. What makes a good/strong mix for you? I enjoy mixes that ebb and flow, ones with a sense of narrative. It doesn’t have to be particularly deep but as long as there’s a structure and an underlying thought process rather than just a seemingly random succession of tracks.
3. A guilty pleasure song? I have an unhealthy interest in 80’s pop. I think only m83 comes close for John Hughes nostalgia. Though Robyn’s self titled LP has been a persistent guilty pleasure for a good few years now.
4. First album purchased? It was a 3-for-1 birthday present along with my first ever Sony Walkman. I walked into an Our Price with my Dad and left with Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’, Michael Jackson ‘Bad’ and Madonna ‘The Immaculate Collection’… oh and my Dad. There are definitely some guilty pleasures buried in those records!
5. How did you choose your 8tracks DJ name? KidVector’s been my DJ/design name since university where I used to be (and to be fair still am) a little obsessed with vector art.
6. Most recent band/song you discovered on 8tracks. I heard Bizness by TuNe-YaRdS on someone’s mix the other week that made an impression, in a good way.
7. Name one of your favorite DJ’s on 8tracks. There are some very talented people on 8tracks with numerous standout mixes between them. But for consistency (and sheer quantity) I’d probably say Danngo, I can’t keep up with that man! Trevlad, Weedies and the inimitable DJ Dim Mak are other favorites. Best artwork would go to Polytronaut and best label would be Ghostly though they need more mixes!
8. What other sites/apps do you use besides 8tracks? Mainly Mixcloud, Spotify, Soundcloud and Hype Machine. I used to use last.fm incessantly but since its sale to ABC and subsequent stagnation I’m far more likely to turn to 8tracks or Hype Machine for casual music browsing. The artist recommendations and scrobbling are still very powerful but they needlessly gave up a lot of ground to Spotify. It’s telling that I mostly interact with last.fm now through their Spotify app.
