Doctor Bionic is back on the airwaves. The newest album from Cincinnati-based executive producer Jason Grimez is an instrumental collection of classic soul, jazz, and hip-hop sounds. The first installment of a three-part series, Terrestrial Radio offers 37 minutes of carefully curated jams.
Jason Grimez is an engineer, executive producer, and the owner of Chiefdom Records. Growing up in the 90s, he fell in love with hip hop at an early age. He started scratching on a pair of 1200s and sampling records with an MPC 3000 in high school. Years of sampling, mixing, producing, and sharing his own music led him to where he is today. His independent label Chiefdom Records has released close to 30 albums in the last seven years. His studio persona Doctor Bionic was one of the first to see a release on the new imprint. The project features a rotating cast of incredibly talented session musicians. Jason is responsible for writing, recording, producing, mixing, and releasing the records.
Grimez sets the scene on track one of Terrestrial Radio, aptly titled “Time Continuum.” The listener is greeted with the scrubbing sound of a radio dial. We pause for a few seconds when the signal is strong enough to catch an ad-read from an old cereal commercial, or to gather an update from a sports announcer. Grimez takes the listener to a new era each time he spins the dial. Our search comes to an end on the channel where we’ll cruise through the next six songs, hand-picked by the Doctor himself.
Terrestrial Radio features some of Cincinnati’s best session musicians. “Keep Your Kids in School” highlights a killer rhythm section. Brian Batchelor-Glader recorded the organ over an effortlessly funky foundation formulated by Marvin Hawkins (drums) and Aaron Jacobs (bass). With an equally punchy bassline, funky guitar jabs, and thoughtful trumpet arrangements (Michael Mavridoglou), “Wire Fraud” is the perfect soundtrack for your next bank heist.
The remainder of the record offers everything from shuffling gospel grooves to head-nodding drum breaks. As Doctor Bionic, Jason Grimez has carved out a niche for a community of musicians to thrive in and build upon.
