A pioneering music producer known for his genre-bending collaborations and penchant for concept albums, San Francisco's own Dan "The Automator" Nakamura has been enchanting adventurous listeners for over 15 years. He started as a party DJ in the early 1980s and has since amassed a discography full of left-field favorites, working as the chief maestro behind classic records from Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gorillaz, Lovage, and Deltron, to name a few.

In addition to his many collabos, Nakamura recently finished a highly anticipated solo LP, his first since 2000's A Much Better Tomorrow. Omakase (Japanese for "chef's choice") features backing vocals on one track by none other than Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, and may include a duet with Busta Rhymes and LeAnn Rimes. When prodded about the bizarre-but-brilliant pairing, Nakamura smiled and coyly replied, "You'll just have to get the album and find out."

Nakamura is constantly on the grind making new music. With the solo joint done, he's been in the lab working on various follow-ups. Lovage, featuring Mike Patton (of Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Tomahawk and Faith No More fame) and Elysian Fields singer Jennifer Charles on vocals, released their aptly titled Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By in 2001, wowing heads and critics alike with its sexy, chill-out beats and innuendos. When it comes to talk of a sophomore album, Nakamura remains vague but optimistic. "We're gonna try to work it all out, but I would like to hope there's gonna be another one. Me and Mike work a lot together and I think that was a good project for all of us."

If there was one album that really put The Automator on the map, it was the 1996 classic Dr. Octagonecologyst, a twisted yet hilarious epic that teamed him up with Kool Keith, the demented lyrical genius who bum rushed hip-hop with the Ultramagnetic MCs back in the ‘80s.

Notoriously eccentric, Keith has released countless albums of wildly varying quality since then but has seldom reached the creative or commercial apex that he achieved alongside Nakamura’s choice production. Fans have been clamoring for another edition for nearly a decade, and it seems as though they may get their wish.

"I've done some new stuff with [Keith],” Nakamura says. “I think probably you'll be hearing some stuff, in the not too distant future.”

A big part of what makes Nakamura’s records so strong is the sheer diversity of influences. Never content to simply make beats, he concocts thickly layered arrangements, incorporating many different genres into his sonic stew. "I listen to all kinds of music," he states. "I'm not a big fan of modern country or modern R&B or modern jazz, though I like old country, old R&B, old jazz. I like modern alternative rock, hip-hop. So whatever I listen to probably has a little bit of an influence on my way of thinking."

His unorthodox approach has helped him connect with a wide spectrum of artists over the years. On Handsome Boy's latest opus, White People, the guest list includes luminaries from distant corners of the music world. Hip-hop heroes RZA, De La Soul and Del rock the mic, alongside indie faves Cat Power, Mars Volta and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos. Platinum superstars Pharrell Williams and Jack Johnson also lend a hand, but the biggest cameo coup may be John Oates, the ‘80s pop-rock legend sometimes overshadowed by his blond singing associate.

"We just had a massive respect for Oates because he was the forerunner, the forbearer of the mustache, you know what I'm saying?” he explains with a grin. “So when we were making this record we were like, ‘We gotta get that guy.’ So we called him up and he's a real nice guy, he's a cool dude. It was a very fortunate meeting of the minds."

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While San Francisco and the East Bay have spawned countless successful musicians over the years, there is no denying the fact that it is ground zero for DJ culture. Though the "turntablism" explosion of the mid-to-late ‘90s has since died down, The City and surrounding hoods are still globally recognized as a hotbed of Technics talent. To explain this phenomenon, Namakura takes us way back to a show in Stockton in the mid-‘80s, where he first witnessed the skills of two innovators, DJ Qbert and Mix Master Mike.

"I knew Q, but I didn’t really know how good he was,” he says. “I mean this is way early, I think he was in 8th grade or a freshman in high school, same with Mike. And I'm watching them like, ‘Oh … OK.’

“But see, it was all local, so I didn’t even realize that these guys were some of the best guys in the world, cuz no one knew,” he explains. “So I guess it just so happened that two or three of the best guys in the world were starting to show themselves [in the Bay Area], giving people something to look at."