10.03.2021
This week’s mix feature is Rankor – kicking off week two of the five week March Mix Mayhem series! He has his own live stream called The Rankor Pit which has been gaining traction over the last few months, and he has an interesting hobby with various insects and reptiles as pets.
He also creates his own visuals, has merch for purchase, and I am looking forward to you being able to learn a bit more about him this week.
In his interview, we talk about things like his bioactive vivariums, DJing sound and his own personal music taste, his various hobbies, what he’s been doing and how he’s making some changes to The Rankor Pit, a livestream collab with DnB DJs from the UK that is happening this Saturday (March 13th!), useless hobbies, and more.
This is also the fifth week of our new partnership with Deep Space Radio! Each mix will exclusively premiere on Deep Space Radio at noon on Wednesday – and then be available on the detroit.dance SoundCloud as per usual at 3:13pm EST.
Be sure to check out his mix, on SoundCloud now. I hope you enjoy!
detroit.dance: How long have you been DJing and what is your sound?
Rankor: I’ve been DJing since early 2014, but I really wouldn’t consider the first year and a half to two years anything special because I was playing around with my friend’s controller and occasionally some Pioneer CDJs just having fun once in a while. At first it was dubstep. Then I wanted to try other genres because I listened to a lot of different types of electronic music so I started playing around with house, and then it wasn’t until 2016 that I discovered Drum and Bass. And ever since I discovered that genre, it has been my genre 100%. House is second.
detroit.dance: What was the reason you were drawn to DnB?
Rankor: I can’t remember the exact moment when I realized it was my genre, but I would have to say it was probably the energy. There’s so many different styles of DnB too. There’s jungle, neurofunk – which is the closest to heavy dubstep I guess you could say, there’s liquid… I wholeheartedly believe that there’s a genre of DnB out there for everyone, even the haters. There’s plenty of haters here in the States, everywhere else in the world everyone likes DnB.
detroit.dance: How has your personal music taste evolved over the years?
Rankor: I listened to a lot of 80s, 90s, grunge, and Led Zeppelin on my mom’s side growing up. My dad always listened to metal and death metal, and he used to be in death metal bands and whatnot. My first experience discovering an artist that I like was in the back of my dad’s car – he had a PlayStation Magazine, and there was a sticker in it that said “Green Day” and I was like, “Hey Dad, can I have this sticker?” because I collected stickers. So he gave me the sticker. I brought it home and put it on my door which I collected all my stickers on. And then my stepdad at the time saw it and he said, “Oh, I didn’t know you liked Green Day.” And he went and bought me Green Day’s “Warning” album, which was my very first CD. Ever since then I’ve been a huge Green Day fan. It’s never stopped. I love them to death. Overall I listen to pretty much everything. Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Smoky Mountain bluegrass, which is kind of weird to hear but I play mandolin so it’s kind of connected to me a bit now.
detroit.dance: What is your take on the DnB community in Detroit?
Rankor: When I first started mixing drum and bass, I didn’t really know a lot of people in the industry at the time. I had a few gigs here and there that the talent organizer liked what I had mix wise. I didn’t really meet a lot of people at first that liked DnB from going to shows, so it was few and far between for me to get gigs at that time. It wasn’t until the beginning of last year that I connected with Impulse Detroit. They’re an underground Drum and Bass crew that are the people that are really keeping it going. For example Mark Moss. He’s a part of Impulse Detroit – he spins vinyl and has been mixing DnB/jungle on vinyl since 1988. So he’s kind of a pioneer here in Detroit. I feel like in general, Drum and Bass is definitely starting to catch on. You just have to give it some time and I gotta keep doing my thing, Impulse has to keep doing their thing. People have to have more of an open mind and look out for the underground stuff because that’s where it’s at. It’s pretty underground in Detroit right now.
detroit.dance: Where did the name “Rankor” come from?
Rankor: The name Rankor came from Star Wars : Return of the Jedi, when Luke goes to Jabba’s palace to save Han Solo in carbonite, and then Luke gets dropped through the cage door in front of Jabba’s throne and he’s thrown into the Rankor pit. Then Luke has to fight the Rankor which is a species of monster in the Star Wars universe. So, that’s where the name came from.
detroit.dance: What are your goals for yourself as Rankor?
Rankor: You know, I haven’t really given a whole lot of thought to that because over the last two years, up until just recently. I lost a lot of connections because I wasn’t focusing on DJing. But right there’s a lot going on with my DJ name, and it’s really exciting because I throw a weekly live stream that I started up not too long ago, and it’s given me the opportunity to network and work with a lot of different types of people. That has been very beneficial to me because I’m getting gigs, I’m playing again, and it feels really good because I’ve got a drive inside of me that wants to perform and play music for people. I think it stems from my dad playing in bands back in the day and being brought up around music. My mom was also in a band. I guess my goals are to keep doing the thing, network better, play more shows, and meet new people. Meeting new people is always exciting in this industry.
detroit.dance: Has the pandemic affected you at all musically?
Rankor: The pandemic benefited me musically, I’ve got to say. When the lockdown started happening, there obviously weren’t any shows to go to. So, I started streaming from my house and playing music for my friends or whoever wanted to tune in. Previously, I had been doing that off and on for a while. After being locked in the house for so long I was doing it every other night sometimes, or a whole week in a row. My friends would tune in, hang out, listen to me mixing music for sometimes five to six hours. Then last September 2020, I decided to start my own show The Rankor Pit.
detroit.dance: Do you have any live streams or events coming up that you’d like to talk about?
Rankor: On March 13th there is a stream that I am a part of that is half people from the US, and half people from the UK. My friend Tim who’s staying here with his family from the UK linked myself and the Impulse Detroit crew up with some of his friends back home. We are doing a seven hour stream with 7 DJs from the UK and 7 DJs from the US. All Drum and Bass, a huge collaboration event that we will stream on their Mixcloud page. So that is going to be really cool.
I am also talking to a talent organizer from Chicago, so hopefully later this month I’ll be playing something in Chicago. It’s crazy to think about because it’s been my favorite city ever since I was a kid.
detroit.dance: Your show The Rankor Pit – talk a bit more about that and how it started, when you stream, your concept, etc.
Rankor: Back in late September, is when I decided I was going to finally do this thing. Throughout a portion of last year, I had this idea in my head that I wanted to do a show and use my basement, and I accommodated half of it to a studio space. I sat on it for a while because I wasn’t sure if it was something I wanted to do. One day I was at work and I’m like, “I’m doing this thing.” I hit up a friend of mine after work that day who made me a logo and a bunch of graphics for the stream. The following morning I plugged the graphics into my broadcasting software and had my friend Alex over for a test stream. It went really well, and that’s when I knew that I wanted to keep it going.
It’s called The Rankor Pit and up until recently it was a weekly stream that I would host, and have three guest DJs on, which were all locals. It’s gained a lot of traction and everyone that’s come on has had a lot of fun. It’s given them an outlet, because there’s no live events going on. I also save the recording so they can use it to promote themselves afterwards and whatnot. It’s only gotten better and better as the months have progressed. I’ve added more production value into it for sure. I’ve remodeled my basement and turned it into a proper professional studio with new monitors, a new computer for rendering everything, and lighting. It has really evolved. Comparing it from where it started to where it is now, I never would have thought that I would have gotten this far. It’s kind of wild.
detroit.dance: You recently announced some changes that you’re going to be making, so what are those changes?
Rankor: Yeah, I’m restructuring the way I do the show. Like I said before, it has been a weekly thing with three DJs, and after a while it became really hard to find 3 DJs that were willing to come to my house. It is during a pandemic which is very understandable, let alone them actually coming at certain points.
Now, I’m going to be doing takeover events – a crew of DJs that have their own label or something doing a special event on a Friday or a Saturday whenever those work out. And I’m starting a new segment where I feature a single DJ, but I do an on-film interview with them. I film and edit everything. They’ll do a 90 minute set with a 5 to 15 minute interview beforehand. So it’s kind of like a spotlight featurette.
On the weeks that I’m not doing either of those two things, I have enough episodes recorded now that I can play reruns on the off weeks. That way I get a break, because I’m the only one doing this. It’s taxing at times and there’s been points where I’m like, “This is a lot of work, do I want to keep doing this?”. But I’ve met so many cool people and made so many awesome connections through it that I have to keep it going. Everyone keeps telling me that I’m doing a really great thing for the people in Detroit.
detroit.dance: You also make visuals, how did you start getting into that?
Rankor: I worked with green screen technology previously when I was in trade school at Specs Howards, which was really cool. I hadn’t really touched it since I graduated. So when I started the stream I got a big green screen and in school I learned different lighting techniques so there’s no shadows and whatnot. Up until about the first week of January, I was using a green screen and putting – I will admit – ripped videos off of YouTube into my stream just because I wasn’t sure what resources to use other than that. But I found a program called Synesthesia, which is apparently not a well known program, but it’s really user friendly and only $100. There’s endless functions on it. You can add logos, video, and there’s all kinds of knobs you can twist and make it look cool and react to music. I’ve been playing around with that for a couple months now and it’s been really fun. I haven’t given it all the time it needs, there’s still a lot of things I can learn.
detroit.dance: What is your favorite part about making visuals?
Rankor: The way the program works is you can edit the visuals on the fly, in real time. Or there’s like 80 different presets that you can choose from and create a playlist of presets, and each preset can have a designated amount of time on screen before it switches to the next preset, but each one of those presets you can modify and save different variants of them. So, before each stream, I have all the artists that are coming on the show send me their graphics. I’ll put their logo into my program and do all kinds of crazy stuff to it. For every show there’s a custom set of visuals that are unique to each DJ. As long as I get that done beforehand. It’s a really cool experience to see on the screen behind the DJ.
detroit.dance: What is your most loved piece of equipment in your studio so far?
Rankor: I’ve been constantly changing and adding new things to it. I sold my Traktor S8 controller that I had had for 5 years and got a Pioneer mixer and 2 XTJ-700s. I wanted to have equipment ready for a DJ to use when they arrived at my house. Simply bring their USB and they’re ready to go. I have turned my whole basement into a studio/lounge with a full couch, a mini fridge, sound paneling on the walls, new studio monitors, lighting, and equipment. I mounted a 4K TV behind the DJ booth so I don’t have to use a green screen anymore, painted the walls… and it’s a ton of work and all out of my own money, just because I’m passionate about it. But overall, the mixing equipment would have to be my favorite addition so far.
detroit.dance: Merch- what do you have available?
Rankor: I have a bunch of T-Shirts, both short and long sleeves. They’re a charcoal grey color, because I know the risk you take when you wear black and everything sticks to it. The short sleeves are $20 and the long sleeves are $30. If you’re a DJ that comes on the show, you can get a long sleeve for $25 and a short sleeve for $15.
detroit.dance: How do you juggle multiple projects and stay on task?
Rankor: I’m still trying to figure that out, honestly. My time management skills are pretty poor. Recently I bought a planner, so instead of trying to remember things in my head I’m actually writing things down. It’s been very helpful. One week I’ll focus on one thing. Another week I’ll focus on another thing, and then sometimes other little things in between. It’s kind of hectic. I haven’t really found proper structure yet but I think I’m getting there.
I learned that writing something down, physically, it sticks in my head a little bit better. Now I have this book that I can go back and recite and look at and get a visual reference. One object that helps me remember all these things that are going on in my life.
detroit.dance: What do you do outside of music?
Rankor: I work for a parts distributor for Ford, and this June will mark 8 years doing that. It’s line work so it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I like a hefty dose of consistency with my work days. I don’t like going into work and not knowing what I’m going to be doing.
detroit.dance: What are your hobbies?
Rankor: I have a lot of hobbies, and I don’t have time for all of them. I get into a lot of things, but they don’t always stick. So, considering the hobbies that I focus on the most, one of them is gardening. I have a huge garden outside that I’ve been adding to every year.
I’ve also been housing exotic reptiles and things like that for pretty much all of my life. Up until about a year and a half ago, I had eight snakes. I adopted seven of them out because it had gotten to the point that I just had too many, and I had too many other obligations in my life which caused me to not be able to care for them in the way that I wanted to. It was kind of sad, but it was the best decision I could have made at that time. Since then, I’ve stuck to tarantulas and praying mantises, and those have been a lot of fun because they’re pretty low maintenance and really fun to keep around. They don’t take up that much space.
On the side, I cosplay. I haven’t really done anything with that lately because of COVID and there being no conventions, but I usually do a big costume every year. That I’ve been doing since 2011.
I’ve been longboarding for a long time too. I realized in high school that I sucked at skatebaording, so I was like, “How about I try and kick a longboard around?”. Last year when I got the first stimulus payment I bought my first electric longboard, which is probably one of my favorite hobbies as of now. I’m really excited for the weather to break so that I can get back to cruising around.
detroit.dance: Elaborate a little on your tarantulas and mantises, are there any interesting stories you have about them?
Rankor: It was close to two years ago now that I got them. There’s a reptile convention that I used to go to in Taylor that I don’t go to anymore because I realized that a lot of their animals were imported, and I didn’t really want to support that. I found a different vendor that was selling praying mantises – really tiny like the size of a fingernail. I picked one up, and it was a Dead Leaf Mantis. I got it and watched it grow up and it was a really cool experience. It ended up getting really big, because it was a female. It looks like a stick with leaves on its back. That was my favorite Mantis, and since then, I’ve picked up three more varied species, and each one has a different personality, which makes them that much cooler.
As for the tarantulas, I’ve had three of them for the last five years, Two of them are male and one is female, and males only live up to about five years and the female will live up to 20 to 25. I’m thinking that the males aren’t going to be around much longer. But overall, they’re all insects that are really low maintenance and they’re just as much fun as the snakes I had, which were very high maintenance at times.
detroit.dance: Is it an expensive hobby overall?
Rankor: It depends. It can be expensive, but it can be very budget-y in terms of how much it costs to keep them living and happy. Snakes, depending on the species you’d have to feed it like a frozen mouse. I never fed living animals to my snakes because you run the risk of hurting them and that’s a whole nother thing. If you buy frozen mice, it keeps costs down by buying them in bulk.
For the insects, they pretty much all eat little crickets or roaches that you can get from any pet store, and put them in a separate container. It probably costs less that $5 a week doing that, and most insects are comfortable in room temperatures so you don’t need special lights or heating pads. It’s pretty cost-effective to have insects instead of cold-blooded reptiles that require a lot more work.
detroit.dance: If you knew someone was scared of spiders or insects, what would you say to them to help them adjust or get over that fear?
Rankor: Every time I’ve pulled anything out for my friends or someone new that comes over, they’re so fascinated by the way they look, their behavior, and their personality. They almost always want to hold them. I also have mild arachnophobia, and that was one of the reasons that I got tarantulas, to fight it. I think it worked because I hold one of my tarantulas quite frequently now. So, I guess what I’d tell them is, don’t be afraid. I show people how they react when you’re holding them before I hand it off to them, too. I also try to give people a rundown on why you shouldn’t be afraid of them, because insects, snakes, and things get a bad rap for sure.
detroit.dance: You also have mentioned having self-sustaining bioactive vivariums, explain a little bit about what those are.
Rankor: So this is something that I got into maybe four years ago when I purchased some poison dart frogs. When you buy them in captivity, they’re not poisonous because they create toxins in their body from the insects they eat in the wild. So in captivity, they’re simply these beautiful rainbow colored frogs. When I got them, I created a vivarium with a working waterfall, lots of plants, mosses, and branches. It looks like you took a chunk of the rainforest and put it into a box. The reason it’s bioactive is because you put something called springtails or isopods into the vivarium. They’re like little garbage disposal insects that you don’t really see, but they clean up all the mold, poo, leftover food, etc. They eat it all up and it keeps the soil and the plants healthy. So that’s where the “bioactive” comes into play. Over the last year, I’ve converted almost all of my enclosures into bioactive enclosures. There’s all kinds of plants and rock formations that are handcrafted out of different materials. So it’s pretty cool. It’s definitely a shelf piece for people to look at as well.
detroit.dance: You have two huskies too, are they a handful like people say?
Rankor: I personally don’t have a whole lot of experience with huskies outside of mine. For my huskies, whenever my friends or new people come over, they always tell me that I have the most mild tempered huskies they’ve ever met in their life. That’s all I’ve ever known. I’m pretty fortunate with that. They get kind of crazy when I come home and they start howling and running around but that only lasts a few minutes and then they’re chill. They have a lot of personality.
detroit.dance: Have there been any sweet moments with them?
Rankor: My first husky Koto, I adopted him off of the streets of Detroit about 10 or 11 years ago, and he’s just been quiet, very timid, doesn’t really act like a husky at all. And then there’s Louis – I adopted him about a year ago now and he’s a purebred husky and he’s got the biggest mouth. He’ll talk back to you, he’ll sing to you…everything you see online, he’s got that x 2. I love it because there’s never a dull moment when I’m home, it’s a fun time with them around. It’s what I appreciate them for.
detroit.dance: How many pets do you have overall?
Rankor: Ten. Two boa constrictors, two huskies, three mantises, and three tarantulas.
detroit.dance: I had never seen anything about an electric longboard until you posted about them, do a lot of people have them?
Rankor: Before I made my purchase early last year, I joined an electric longboarding Facebook group, so I could get some tips and whatnot from people who already had them. And after being in the community and having two of them since April of last year, I discovered that they’ve been around for quite a long time but it wasn’t until about four years ago that they started really popping off. There’s this guy on YouTube Casey Neistat, he got an electric longboard and he’s super big on there so he kind of raised awareness that these things were a thing and they’re actually really amazing.
detroit.dance: What is one of your most useless talents?
Rankor: I used to be able to stick a straw in my armpit and make it sound like a fart. Like, really well. Everyone in school tried to do it and they couldn’t, I still can. I don’t utilize it that much anymore.
detroit.dance: Do you have a least favorite vegetable?
Rankor: Absolutely not, every vegetable is good.
detroit.dance: How do you feel about Cool Ranch Doritos?
Rankor: I prefer those over every other Dorito.Except for the Buffalo Ranch ones, those slap.
detroit.dance: I’m going to send you these pictures, and I want you to tell me the proper placement for the eyes on the banana –
Rankor: I would have to say the eyes belong on the bottom because they look like a snake and I like snakes.
Make sure you check out Rankor’s Destination Detroit (Dequindre Cut), and his Recipe by Request that will be posted on Friday (Venison Backstraps with Red Wine Chocolate Sauce and Side).
Keep up with Rankor on his socials:
The Rankor Pit: