Electro-tron

Electro-Tron is a Canadian DJ and production duo consisting of Dylan Zimmerman (born June 24, 1986) and Braden Burritt (born December 18. 1985). The duo has released an independent album and is active on the local dance scene of Edmonton, Canada.

History
Early Years (2001 - 2005)
Braden Burritt and Dylan Zimmerman met in 2001, during football practice in their first year attending Ross Sheppard High School in Edmonton, AB, Canada. They remained acquaintances, but did not become good friends until their senior level biology class in 2004. They quickly became known for their antics and disruptive behaviour in the classroom, a trait that would follow the pair well into their careers. This was also the year that they attended their first concert together: Metallica at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

The pair had their first musical experiences together through Marsmarine, an improvisational metal trio conceived while drinking in the practice room of Burritt’s former band Sixgun. Burritt played drums, Zimmerman the guitar, and third member David Grafton provided lyrics. Grafton jokingly referred to the group’s style as “new wave of improlodic nonsensicore”, poking fun at the methods of classification of new styles of metal. The band lasted for a few practice sessions, never performing live and leaving no recordings.

Both Burritt and Zimmerman had continued interest in pursuing some sort of musical collaboration, and toyed with different ideas until mid-2005, when they saw Pete Tong perform at the now defunct Standard Nightclub, their first DJ show. This had a large impact on both members, as expressed by Zimmerman: “I had never felt energy like that before; the club was packed and people were going nuts for Tong. It completely changed my perspective. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be into dance music now I would have said you’re insane.”

Formation and Kill All Humans (2005 - 2006)
The experience prompted both Burritt and Zimmerman to start experimenting with samples and production. They agreed to create a duo, and settled on the name Electro-Tron. Tron was chosen because of the sunglasses Zimmerman frequently wore, and Electro because it was decided that Electro house would be the style of music performed. Over the next 9 months the pair created their first album: “Kill All Humans”. The album was a sample-heavy, musically diverse offering created mostly with the free samples provided with the software program Garageband. The album culminated in their first live show, DJing off of Burritt’s laptop at the CD release party. Kill All Humans had little commercial success, and garnered support mainly from the duo’s friends and families.

Post Kill All Humans (2006 - Present)
Since Kill All Humans, Electro-Tron has worked on a number of projects, none of which have been released. Production on their second album has been ongoing, with less of a focus on sampling and more on songwriting and synthesizer programming. A mash-up album featuring the music of Kill All Humans titled “Mash All Humans” is in the works as well. Two of the songs have been put in limited distribution, titled “1 2 Toast (Ciara vs Electro-Tron)” and “What G-Money Gon’ Do (Lil John vs Electro-Tron)”. They have also begun production on a number of hip-hop instrumentals to be used on a future collaboration with an unnamed local rapper. New music has been uploaded to the group’s MySpace page as it has been completed.

Influences
Both members of Electro-Tron have very diverse musical tastes. Together they cite French dance group Daft Punk and Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz as their biggest influences. Other influences include metal bands Metallica and Iron Maiden, rapper and producer Dr. Dre, and DJs such as John Digweed, Booka Shade, Justice, MSTRKRFT, and the Swedish House Mafia.

Live Performances
Together, Electro-Tron has DJed at numerous parties and events around Edmonton, most notably at charity events for the University of Albert student group Party for a Cause, and at the 2007 University of Alberta School Of Business Gala. Zimmerman has DJed under the moniker DJ Tron at numerous nightclubs in Edmonton, including Fluid , The Bank Ultralounge, Buddy's, The Roost and other homo-erotic venues.

Electro-Tron is in the process of developing a new method of performing live, utilizing dual mixers, cd players, and laptops to make their live setup more versatile. Zimmerman describes the setup as follows: “I’m able to mix in different beats and basslines on the CDJ’s, while Braden can throw all kinds of samples, vocals, and melodies over top. It adds a whole new element to our live show.”

Discography
Kill All Humans - 2006 (Independent)

Mash All Humans - Unreleased

Number 2 (Working Title) - Unreleased

Trivia
Dylan Zimmerman can be seen in the booklet accompanying Daft Punk’s album Alive 2007. He is in the front row of the picture showing the crowd of the Seattle show.

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