Oom Chugga Remix # 5 (by J​.​K Ellis)

On this the first Caturday of a new era, we are proud to present this exciting new entry in the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge, from J.K Ellis. As we had hoped at the beginning of this endeavor, each version in this series has been inspired and unique. Young Joshua Ellis expands on this, taking the audio in new directions. It’s a remarkable sound collage that reframes the original stems in brilliant and unexpected ways. Have a listen and a share, do!

It’s worth noting here that at age 20, Joshua is by far our youngest remix contributor so far.  For behind all this was Russ Ellis’ inspiration to employ his original song, Oom Chugga, toward inspiring and motivating young people to register and vote. This is effort is ongoing, and of course our fun remix challenge is just one small piece of a much larger picture. All together, when we engage, we can win. Let’s win some more. Here’s to the youth. Here’s to the future. Love from all of us at Berkeley Cat Records.

-Eric Din

Oom Chugga Remix #4 (WTS remix feat Cam Perridge, Michael Marshall, Emcee Soulati, Lexxx Luthor , and Zoe Ellis)

Stop the presses and hold the bus! The latest entry in the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge is up! And yes you read it right, this features Cam Perridge, Michael Marshall, Emcee Soulati, Lexxx Luthor and Zoe Ellis. (Check out the full credits, it’s quite a chorus!) I’m very excited to share this with you today. Have a listen and a read, and please share it up. Thank you!

-Eric Din

Liner notes from Zoe Ellis:

I often wonder where my father gets his optimism. I just know I got mine from him. We both love to celebrate. Even when the odds are against the good news lasting. These are strange times, but my brother and I were gifted a dad who continues to take chances. Songs from the Garden is more than just dad finding his song writing voice at 85, it’s his celebration of learning and doing. He is a participator in life and a connector of humans. With that in mind, I called on many of my music friends to add “a something” to this remix. There are 20+ people on this track and all of them knew why they were there and who they were there for. Some of them know him, some don’t. It didn’t matter. What you hear is all the ways dad taught me to be a participant, and to connect humans. Even though the story in the song is hard and it hurts, it was still a vehicle for celebration. A push for more conversation and connection, and my gift to my father. You can participate in the gift too……Vote.

Credits:

Oom Chugga Remix #4
Written by Cam Perridge, Zoe Ellis, Lex Lewinski, Tommy Shepherd
Based on Oom Chugga by Russ Ellis and Dave Ellis
Producer/Engineer/Mixing – Cam Perridge @ El Sob #1
Mastered by Jon Uhland @ Studio 1225
Guitar – Cam Perridge
Bass – Darryl Anders
Drum Loop – Tommy Shepherd
Sung Vocals – Zoe Ellis, Michael Marshall
Rap Vocals- Emcee Soulati, Lexxx Luthor
Spoken – Lillian Ellis, Faudah the Lion, Troy D, Zora Turman, Julia Turman, Russ Ellis
Outro Vocals – Zoe Ellis, Michael Marshall, Lillian Ellis, Maya Fleming, Will Hammond Jr., Leah Tysee, Jenna Mammina, Bryan Dyer, Luq Frank, Destani Wolf, Audrey Gilbert, Mic Blake, Chris Burger, Sonya Distel, Dan Turman, Zora Turman, Eric Din, Kaitlin McGaw, Bryan Dyer
Photo – Era Balestrieri
Vote Art – Russell Bloom

Oh and here’s the uncut version with the naughty bits:

© 2020 Zadell Music

Oom Chugga Remix 3 (Panther Fist Studio Collective)

This is the 3rd entry in the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge and the Panther Fist Studio crew has taken this to a whole ‘nother level! Play and share and get out and vote vote VOTE!!

LYRICS

Motivate like…
Great like date night..
No break lights stay bright …
And get ready for the great fight..
==
Eye on the eagle
Calling all people
Everyone of us jus wanna be equal
The fat cats lack dat pulse of the populus
We demonstrate-illuminate like oculus
Akhenaten knockin at ur door
To the rhythm
The sun is risen
Feel the light thru the prism
-Deface racism
Put in place by the system
Keeping us behind
With the pipeline to prison
Time to make decisions
W the bind that we live in
Revolutionary w a very true vision-
Binary proof, given-
Come to Carry you get in
The power thas inside of you
It is or it isn’t-
Prolly won’t feel pleasant-
It’s the struggle of the peasant-
Gotta bright clean patina-
Thas the sign that you present
7 and 11 is the age
Get to steppin
The ballot is the mallet
Meant to smash their perceptions
==
Big poppa Russ Ellis (Zo and Lil double)
Can’t believe what they tell us
Try to be sane
When the other side’s hellish-
Insecure and jealous
Like the Kraut to the relish
They puffin up their chests
But the mess can’t repel us
They try to cling tight
to their symbols of hatred
Colonial conquest tradition
Ain’t sacred-
Hey Kid, time to bust out the Matrix-
Face it-
The mask that you’re wearing
And the latex
You could read a book
And let your mind keep growing
Take a good look
At the author James Loewen
Michelle Alexander
And the new jim crow-
Song of Solomon-
The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
Ay yo
Get ready for the payload-
-let your horse out the stable
-put some more sustenance in your ladle
Informed, get active
-sweet like sugar-
-let your locomote smoke like
Oom Chugga Chugga
==
Tik Tok
This is how we rock
You tried to hold a rally
With nobody in the spot
Dropped the mic
When you sought that light
But it wuz kinda easy
Cuz your mind aint right
ALL GENERATIONS
HERE TO HEAL THE NATION
EVERY MEANS NECESSARY
EVEN LITIGATION
PATIENCE IS WORN
NOW WE ON THE MOVE
SURROUNDING THE FRONTLINES
AND ROUNDIN UP THE YOUTH
Freedom to the people
In the cages and prisons
Health decisions
With a scientific vision
Represent good trouble
When incidents bubble
Then we nip it in the bud
Up front or subtle
DYNAMIC, WHY SOULD I PANIC-
ON THE MIC I MANAGE
TO FIGHT FOR MY PLANET
You, Me-all of We in Unity
The Oom Chugga Chugga
Is the way come Free
==

🎶Oom Chugga Chugga is the way we come alive
The mode of locomotive
Pull the pin on 45🎶

credits

Vox – MicBlake, Chris Burger, Lily Ellis, Zoe Ellis,
Josh, Eli, and Ava Lubensky (vox hooks)

Bass – Angeline Saris
Mixing and Guitar- Cam Perridge
Mastering – Justin Weis @Trakworx

Arrangement – Josh Lubensky, CB, Cam Perridge, Angeline Saris

Panther Fist Studio, West Oakland

© 2020 Zadell Music

The Oom Chugga Remix Challenge continues with Din’s Psychopathic Caturday Dub Mix!

For my entry in the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge I went berserk on the tape echo and emphasized my unhinged guitars and Dave Ellis’ elegant keyboards to frame Russ’ concise and poignant vocals. I added a little vocals of my own (lyrics below) and mixed it as wildly as I wanted to. Even spun some parts in backwards here and there. It was a lot of fun.

Here’s the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge Album in progress! Track 1 is the original mix, produced by Dave Ellis, who also made the audio stems for these remixes. Track 2 is Micblake and Chris Burger, mixed by Josh Lubensky. And then my new crazy one is track 3 ->

What will be next after that?! Goodness knows. Are YOU up to the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge?! Send us a hello at oomchugga @ berkeleycatrecords dot com
if you’d like to have a go. Your note will magically be delivered to the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge Committee (ooooh!) so tell us who you are and what you envision for your remix, HOPEFULLY with an emphasis on lyrical content motivating people (especially young people) to register and VOTE. Mkay? And we’ll write you back with more details and probably the stems. That’s it!

Happy Caturday! US citizens, check your voter registration here! Do that now, right now! Byeeee!

-Eric Din

Lyrics (Russ):

Oom chugga oom chugga oom chugga chugga chugga

Ain’t got no money
Done lost my honey
My nose is runny
The president’s crazy

Insane

Lyrics (Din):

Cuckoo, cuckoo

What?

Meow

I can’t tell sometimes if it’s the end or the beginning

Berkeley cats in a
Berkeley hats in the
Berkeley flats makin’
Berkeley tracks, what?

(All together now)

CRAZY

Oom Chugga Remix Challenge – Episode 1 is here!

Greetings one and all, I am SO pleased to announce our FIRST WINNING ENTRY in the OOM CHUGGA REMIX CHALLENGE! And you KNOW I’m excited because cats don’t usually use ALL CAPS. This is a perfect first round, and our friends Micblake, Chris Burger, and Josh Lubensky have set the bar HIGH! These cats totally got the spirit of this endeavor and delivered a powerhouse reinvention of Oom Chugga with some awesome and up to the minute verses. Have a listen, do. And please share it to the moon and back. Thanks!

-Dinsky

Micblake & Chris Burger leading the way

What Is This Oom Chugga Remix Challenge?!

We are so glad you asked. Russ Ellis made this fabulous track for his now nearly completed album, Songs From The Garden. And we all thought it would be a great track to invite people to rap or sing or play instruments or rant poetry over, or remix or reboot however the inspiration may strike you. Russ’s theme for this is simple and direct: he wants to motivate people to VOTE, especially young people, to VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!! Go.

How Can I Participate In This?!

Again we are glad you asked! All you need to do is get in touch and let us know who you are and tell us a little about what you have in mind for your remix! Then we may, at our discretion, send you the high-resolution, Dave Ellis-produced, audio STEMS for you to download and have at it. So easy.

Send an email to: oomchugga @ berkeleycatrecords dot com
Your note will be magically delivered to the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge committee. We will review and if it’s approved we will follow up with details and the audio and you can get started pronto!

What Happens If You Like My Remix!?

All approved entries will be added to the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge ALBUM! – a digital release on Berkeley Cat Records which will be hosted at BandCamp and then released to the streaming wilds. Get in touch and we’ll tell you more.

What Does The Original Track Sound Like?!

You ask all the good questions, don’t you? Here is the ORIGINAL, uncut, direct from Ellis Island Studios, song that started us down this path, Oom Chugga!

That address again is: oomchugga @ berkeleycatrecords dot com
I spelled it that way so the bots wouldn’t spam us. Kitties don’t like spam.

Register and VOTE!!

New single from Russ Ellis! – Oom Chugga

Berkeley Cat Record is SO thrilled to announce the release of this brand new song from Russ Ellis, Oom Chugga! Dave Ellis produced, and Eric Din played guitar. This is hot off the presses – finished moments ago – that is how we roll nowadays at BCR – please share this far and wide, and enjoy! Free download – part of this growing album.

Liner notes from Russ:

‏This rhythmic chant and a variety of musics occurred to me simultaneously, as did the recitation of deprivations. I took it to my son, David. He took out some excesses that clouded the vigor and added instrumentation. We brought in Eric Din and I left it to them to complete.

‏Claudia, proprietor of Your Basic Bird, a Berkeley pet shop, allowed me to record her birds. ‏I do not know Claudia’s political inclinations, although I have seen her in the audience of more than one Freight and Salvage concert.

‏Thank you, Claudia and your birds, for your contribution.

UPDATE, August 14, 2021: Check out the Oom Chugga Remix Challenge remixes, all here! They really are great. Each one  was a unique and unexpected delight. Thanks to our marvelous remixers!


Lyrics:

Oom Chugga Oom Chugga Oom Chugga Oom Chugga Oom

Ain’t got no money
Done lost my honey
My nose is runny
The president’s crazy

Credits:

Lyrics by Russ Ellis
Music by Russ Ellis and Dave Ellis
Music performed by:
Dave Ellis with
Eric Din – Guitar
Russ Ellis – Vocal


© 2020 Zadell Music, ASCAP

Recorded, mixed and produced by Dave Ellis
Guitars recorded by Michael Rosen at East Bay Recorders

Cover art by John Dexter Ellis
Birds by Birds