Yes, it’s true. Being a hardworking nerd can pay off with unexpected geek celebrity.

Case in point: Chicago-based DJ / producer / multimedia artist / voice-over talent Hernan Sanchez (who you may have caught at our corresponding Ramp Chicago Launch Pad night) stumbled upon his nerdy fame by working late over at Midway Games and taking a second off to socialize in the hallway he was overheard by one of the sound designers who thought his voice would be perfect for narration. Over a decade later Hernan’s voice is still considered to be an essential part of Mortal Kombat’s identity.

What fame hast his nerdinest brought? Instant celebrity among the celebrity of electronic music producers and DJs the world over. In Hernan’s words,

I meet people on the dancefloor throughout the world; they’ll introduce me as the “Mortal Kombat voice guy” and you can see their eyes get as big as plates. These are people that I respect within the industry, that I’m a fan of, and they’ll look back at me and say, “I’m am so glad to me you!” Then the conversation eventually comes around to, “Hey can you please do ‘Finish Him!’” or something like that, and it becomes an exchange of fandom from one world to another.

As it should be.

“Interview: The Voice Behind Mortal Kombat’s ‘Finish Him!’”

{READ MORE}

Here’s the post from my Quantazelle site. In case you were wondering about the “costume change” references, yes, at one point in my music career I was, um, well, more “performative” is the polite description, I suppose.

A while back I did an interview with Prof. Andrew Hugill for a book he was working on. Turns out it came out almost a year ago and somehow it totally slipped past me (although the release date does coincide with a mega computer + multi-hard drive catastrophe I had to endure so that could be part of the problem). Cruising the Googz I stumbled across an excerpt from it in Google Books. The other interviews in there are interesting as well. It comes across as electronic music creation less on a tech-fetish tip than from the perspective of some pretty insightful musicians who use the tools however they see it. Amazon carries it and it’s around in some other places so if you’re up for an interesting read you should snag it.

Quantazelle interview excerpt from The Digital Musician

[BUY FROM AMAZON]

Nerd humor has a special place in my heart, obviously. Nerdcore Hiphop is a definite phenomenon that’s not just a web-based one–check out a Halloween Nerdcore Compilation by Rhymetorrents, MC Frontalot, MC Plus+, and Optimus Rhyme for starters, and it’s funny to see the chat version–the nerdiest delivery option, imho.

Here’s a bit from an online rap battle done over chat:

You talk like your big on these I-Net kicks,
But your shit flows slower than a two-eighty-six.
I’m tracking down hosts and nmap scans,
While Code Igniter’s got you wringing your hands.

Following the concept of reality-is-hilarious-and-surreal behind overheardinnewyork.com (to which I’ve contributed my own eavesdropping hilarity) we find the Ch.ill version appropriately named Overheard in Chicago. Some gems:

Homeless Guy: “If I’m the auto dudes, I’m going to Congress and askin’ for 50 trillion dollars. You gotta start ‘um high and work ‘um down. Business basics, man. That’s why they failin’.”

- Wacker and Jackson

Guy: (on cell) “How much? For a freaking window? It’s a car! Are you crazy? I might as well put bricks in where the window was! Screw seeing! At least they won’t be able to break it again!”

- Oakton and Skokie Boulevard, Skokie

Good times.

Here’s a list from LiveSets of sites that would be good to host your DJ sets and tracks:

* FileUpYours – www.fileupyours.com (Unlimited)
* SendThisFile – www.sendthisfile.com/info.jsp (2GB)
* FileFront – http://freespace.filefront.com/1 (1GB)
* FileFactory – www.filefactory.com (500 Mb)
* Free-Webster – www.free-webster.com/index.php?action=enter (600MB)
* SpreadIt – www.spread-it.com (500MB)
* BigUpload – www.bigupload.com (300MB)
* UpDownloadServer – www.updownloadserver.com/ (250MB)
* ShareBigFile – www.sharebigfile.com/ (250MB)
* BonPoo – http://app02.bonpoo.com/ (250MB)
* Updownload – http://dl2.updownloadserver.de/ (250 MB)
* Rarhost – http://www.rarhost.com/ (200MB, rar files only)
* UploadStore – www.uploadstore.com/ (100MB)
* Dropload – www.dropload.com (100MB)
* Megaupload – www.megaupload.com (100MB)
* SaveFile – www.savefile.com/filehost/ (60MB)
* RapidShare – www.rapidshare.de (50MB)
* UploadHut – www.uploadhut.com/ (50MB)
* Turbo Upload – www.turboupload.com (50MB)
* QuickFile – http://srv9.qfile.de/operator.php?s…fer&sysf=upload (50MB)
* ShareFiles – www.sharefiles.ru (50MB)
* GigaShare – www.gigashare.com/index.php (50MB)
* StorageFun – www.storagefun.com/ (50MB)
* Ripway – www.ripway.com/ (30MB)
* 30MB – www.30mb.com (30MB)
* SwiftDesk – www.swiftdesk.com/ (30MB)
* UltraShare – www.ultrashare.net/ (30MB)
* UploadTemple – www.uploadtemple.com/ (30MB)
* Sendmefile – www.sendmefile.com (30MB)
* Upload2 – www.upload2.net/ (25MB)
* MyFileStash – www.myfilestash.com/ (25MB)
* MyTempDir – www.mytempdir.com/ (25MB)
* WebFile – www.webfile.ru (20MB)
* FileUploadManager – www.da_insane.boo.pl/d/upload/index.php (10MB)
* FileCabi – www.filecabi.net/ (10MB)
* Filesupload – www.filesupload.com (10MB)
* Megashares – http://www.megashares.com
* Zupload – http://www.zupload.net
* Quickdump – http://www.quickdump.com
* Streamload – http://www.streamload.com

For your own stuff I’d also suggest:
imeem: http://www.imeem.com
soundcloud: http://www.soundcloud.com