SKER originally wanted to bring what he saw occurring in other neighboring states to Oklahoma. Chris states, “By 92, we were already doing raodtrips to Dallas and Kansas City, going to key early raves and clubs there. I wanted to recreate the same kind of vibe here. I believed Oklahoma needed that ,and I believed that we could do it.” SKER’s passion for UAT led him to produce, promote and host dozens of events over the years. Starting with Kinko’s flyers a local DJs, the parties increased in size and scope, until UAT was able to hire headlining DJs from the coasts. Extensive street-level promoti0onsm ,amazing stylish flyers, and a knack for choosing key DJs from the Midwest and local scenes, led to UAT parties earning a solid reputation. Chris remembers that “I started with my first four parties in Tulsa, then I moved to the 405 and from 95 until 99, UAT parties were all in OKC (plus a few in Norman). We would regularly have heads drive from Dallas and Kansas City, Fayetteville, Stillwater and of course Tulsa would posse up to the parties.
For years, attendance levels of 600 – 700 was typical for these all-night parties, with the biggest UAT event topping off at 1,100 heads. This was all accomplished in conjunction with a strong OKC scene overall, thanks to the hard work of other key party promoters at the time. The mid-late-90s was the heydays, thanks to hard-working and skilled promoters like Ed Smith, Jeremy Dawson, Frank McCright, Steve Hernandez, and many others.
There was several party crews throwing numerous events, like Pozitribe, World Wide Soul Tribe, Star 7 crew, EBM crew, CloudKids, BGC Lush, Raver Supply, Enfilade, Mark Zero, Massive Q, the list goes on. We had an incredible scene then, all based on techno-house DJ parties that were non-alcoholic, mostly one-off events in some crazy space, and went til dawn.”
For the past 20 years UAT has adhered to providing Oklahoma with dynamic events, while sufficiently remaining rooted in its core belief: Represent Correctly. UAT officially ‘retired’ in 1999, with a party called “BoomBox” which was “a great success”, recalls SKER. “There were 450 heads including folks from Dallas, and it felt great to go out with a bang and get that love one more time from everyone.”
SKER produced and promoted parties heavily in the 405 until 1999, when he and his wife moved to Los Angeles after the birth of their first daughter. The couple moved back to Tulsa in 2001, so there was a 3-year span where he produced no events. But once back in his old home town, the bug bit him again, as SKER surveyed the scene and made plans for his return. Adapting his promotions to the post-rave scene, he launched successful long-running club parties such as The Down Lounge and Smoov, which were free parties that focused on house music. Working under the promotion name SK (“Sker Kreativ”), Chris had successfully rebranded himself while still retaining the aura and flavor of UAT. Tulsa had and has a strong scene of key DJs who share a love of the music, and in this environment SKEY was able to stay active in the underground and provide Tulsa with a much-needed musical does.
In the dance music arena what was once relevant often loses its potency shortly after it reaches its pinnacle. That statement is true for burgeoning genres that have commandeered notable support today. SKER continues to steady their course with nightlife expeditions that revel in nostalgia but are infused with modernistic appeal.
Chris Sker states, “Being a promoter is about establishing a connection with your crowd. In the OldSkool days, my crew would hit the streets with flyers in hand and build relationships with the people we were handing them to. Promotions in those days was a big endeavor, you had to focus on logistics and group organization. I believe that promoting today is a relic compared to what it was. The term of promoter in those days (for UAT anyway) meant hiring sound and lights, renting and paying for a venue, designing and printing full color double sided flyers and handing those out (in person), booking DJs and finally paying everyone after the event was over. Promoters put their own wallets on the line in those days. Today, you are considered a “promoter” if you spend $150 for some DJs for a nightclub and make a Facebook event. Sending out thousands of invites on Facebook doesn’t build a connection with your crowd. I can’t be upset at the way things have progressed. Kids today don’t know what the OldSkool was like, they don’t know how we used to do things. You can’t be mad at a fourth grader for not understanding trigonometry, it’s up to you to t3each them trigonometry so that they can comprehend what you are talking about.”
SKER recently began work with DJ SNAP to develop on an Oklahoma Archive Website dedicated to the OldSkol. Due to launch by October, the site will be called OK Represent. “The site is a labor of love, in reverence to all the people that experienced the OldSkool scene and still have love for those days and those events and those memories. It’s also a conduit of enlightenment, like a library collection, for the youthful fans of that culture today. So that the younger people can see how we did things, see what we accomplished, see how big and how amazing and how fresh our scene used to be.”
Over the decades, SKER and SNAP amassed massive collections of rave & club flyers, mix tapes, graffiti photos, and other memorabilia. Now with this website, anyone who wants to will be able to browse, listen, enjoy, reminisce, and learn. SKER laughs, “My wife’s definitely happy, there’s finally a good reason for me saving all those tons of boxes of flyers and tapes for so long!.” “We stated collecting flyers and mixtapes because that was our stuff and we liked it, it was fresh and so full of style. Now I’m doing this website because I want to preserve these images and these happenings, and present it for other people to enjoy. If we don’t talk about it, it’s almost like it never happened, you know. I don’t live in the OldSkool, but I like to visit there. And I know there are a slew of others out there who share the same sentiments.”
UAT is scheduled to host a very special 20th Anniversary Reunion Party in Tulsa in the fall. The event will be a throwback affair, with a modern feel, .Expect a limited size, focusing on quality and style. Key DJs from the OldSkool scene will be spinning ( all vinyl of course), while streams of old party flyers and photos show on the projector screens. SKER says there will be tickets on sale in OKC, so look for that information by late summer. Chris SKER will also host ‘Decked Out 2.0’, on Saturday July 13th at Colour in Tulsa. It’s a group art show with about 20 artists, each doing their work on a blank skateboard deck. Expect an amazing list of artists from coast to coast, covering styles from fine art to graffiti to tattoo to abstract and design. The opening night event was a huge success the first time around, and SKER says he’d love to see some more OKC folks make the trip. The show is a benefit fundraiser for SKERs daughter’s special needs trust.. You can keep up with SKER at the hyperlink “http://www.sk-promo.com” www.sk-promo.com As of print time, the site is not updated recently, but you can expect a full update after June 1. This will be the site to get information on UAT20 and Decked Out 2.0, and other events down the line (such as the 9th Annual Red party, coming in November).
Chris SKER heralded the UAT Krewe from 1993 until 2009, meanwhile estabishing Sker Kreative/SK to his events roster and producing DJ/club event sin Tulsa since 2003. He still produces his annual Red party each November, while organizing art shows. He also does art (murals and graphic design) professionally for a number of clients, and still to this day you can find hi in the graffiti yards getting up.
SKER shout-outs: Giant Love to my amazing wife LADY MIX, Super Respect to my brother my main man HEK; Props to my UAT Krewe boys CODAK, DEFIANT, DJ P, DUCKY, D-RANGE, MEEK, SEIKO, SRVLNC, AND ZEN. Shouts to my people DJ SNAP, Big Todd, JB AWHIZ, EVOL-M, Squirt D, East, Gear, Ed Crunk, Jeremy Dawson, DJ Love, Krisp-E, BIAS, Eratik, Ehak, Jef Diamond, Steve Morton, Action, Tony Aco, Li’l Melanie, Morgan Freeman, Entakem ,Manik, Chris Que, Tiny T; Respect goes out to the Tulsa crew DJ Moody, JOKER, Kartel, Chill, A.B., Darren K, Jitsu, Evolve, Matt Lip, .Ish, BSON, Rachel, CAM. Huge thanks to Andre for the magazine shine! Major props to all those that are still doing their thing, and everyone who represents our music and our Scene.
Interview from the April 2013 Issue of Muve Magazine.