DJ Johnny Fiasco mixes rock, digital and acoustic sounds

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

John Lopez, aka Johnny Fiasco, got his start playing guitar but turned to DJ artistry and electronic composing in the late '80s and early '90s. He will DJ at W's Wonderlounge tonight. Johnny Fiasco At W's Wonderlounge 9 p.m. today Honolulu $15 922-3734

Among them, The Police, Talking Heads, Herbie Hancock and even those wily Canadians in Rush.

It was almost as if any house DJ/producer worth his or her turntable mojo should be confined to a prison cell of 24-hour-a-day piped in Dixie Chicks and Josh Groban as punishment for daring influence by anything other than funk, disco or electronica. Sheesh!

Dig back far enough and you'll find Chicago teenager John Lopez actually played a wicked ax in a handful of high school rock and funk bands.

Lopez abandoned his guitar-god dreams in the late '80s when he discovered the joys of music composition via computer, as well as performing as a DJ for a then-emerging genre of music called "house." Assigned prestigious residencies at Chicago-area clubs such as Smart Bar and then Shelter, Lopez put out his first house release, "The Zig-Zag Remixes," under his new moniker in 1990.

Fiasco spent much of the '90s notching producing and recording projects for a number of house labels including Primal Recordings, House N Effect and much-respected Chicago imprint Cajual Records.

Though Fiasco's name is rarely recognized outside house afficionado circles, his list of production credits include remixes for mainstream artists like k.d. lang ("Sexuality") and Gloria Estefan ("Abriendo Puertas EP"). His musical signature has been described as a seemingly effortless melding of digital music production and acoustic instrumentation.

His most recent mix release is 2000's "Cluster" on Afterhours Records.