Bret Wallace and I - Live at re:love (06/26/16)

What a way to cap off a weekend. I love playing at re:love. The family vibe, the spirit and the freedom of expression are just a couple of reasons why. Over the past couple of years the DJ's that are involved with re:love have become kindred souls to me. This past Sunday re:love teamed up with the Slinky crew and there were some killer sets by Zack Hill, Joplin and Alex Castillo. Bret Wallace and I closed the event with a back to back set that went from Deep House to Bass House to Tech House and all strains of House Music in between. Listen or download the set below. Hope you enjoy.

My EDC20 Story.

So where to begin? I guess sometimes the best place to begin is the actual beginning. So I started going to raves in early 1992 and that year is when the rave scene in LA grew to a place that the media began covering this “new scene” with sensationalized reporting with titles like “What are your kids doing at 2 in the morning”. What this coverage did was 2 things:

·         It brought a lot of people into the scene. All of a sudden more and more people started getting involved in the summer of 1992.

·         It also brought a lot of negative attention from law enforcement.

The second thing actually came to peak in 1993 where a lot of shows were getting shut down and busted. Then while all of this was going on a small afterhours called “Insomniac” was starting to get a lot of attention. Some of my good friends were DJing and attending these afterhours and it started to grow in recognition and numbers rather quickly. The promoter, Pasquale Rotella, was doing his best to keep the scene alive during some very turbulent times.

 In August of 1994 I DJed for Tef Foo (from CPU 101 and Circa fame) for an afterhours called One Roof at the Shark Club. This night is super memorable to me for a lot of reasons, including the fact that I met Frankie Bones for the first time, who would become and a friend and inspiration for years to come.

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My first time playing for Insomniac Events in 1994

In November of the same year, Tef booked me for the second One Roof party but this time he merged his event with the Insomniac 1 year Anniversary party called "Funky Breaks Techno and Acid". This was the first night I met Pasquale and after this event I played for many Insomniac events including Nocturnal Wonderland, Together as One (w/ Go Ventures), Willy Wonka and of course the Electric Daisy Carnival.

The last EDC I played at was in 2003 when it was at the Orange Show. I still supported however and continued to go many of the events including EDC in 2008 and 2010 and then somewhat more recently went to Nocturnal Wonderland in 2014. I was extremely impressed at the production value and the attention to detail that Insomniac had. These weren’t the raves of my youth that was for sure, but they grew into something that took what I loved and altered it and allowed it to belong to a new generation. It’s pretty awesome to see that happen.

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The last EDC I DJed at before this year was in 2003. This was the lineup.

I had heard some thoughts that Pasquale was going to bring back some old school DJ’s for the EDC 20 year anniversary this year and I heard my name was mentioned. While exciting, I didn’t think about it much until I actually heard from Insomniac. In April I got a message from a good friend that works for Insomniac asking if I would like to play for EDC20 on the Wide Awake Art Car. I quickly said yes and booked my room.

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Ran into the main man himself Pasquale at the end of Saturday at EDC

I haven’t been to EDC since it moved away from LA and I didn’t know quite to expect from the Las Vegas incarnation of the event. I have seen pictures, heard stories and seen videos. None of those things prepared me for what came.

We went on Saturday night to DJ at a Pop Up Warehouse rave that was hidden in one of the VIP areas. When we were first pulling up and you could see the venue in the distance, it just blew me away. It was huge. I mean I knew EDC was a big show, but this was crazy. Fire, lazers and fireworks were going off in every corner. My eyes almost couldn’t take it. It was a sensory overload. When I first walked in I checked out one of the bigger areas and it was just crazy. It was an absolute sea of people just going off to the music. Everyone was just feeling it. It is hard for you not to get swept up into that kind of energy.

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Picture I took from a Farris Wheel of the main stage at sun rise.

Tony Gamboa and I ended up DJing for 2 hours in this small hidden rave and it was awesome. Afterwards as the sun came up, my wife and I rode a Farris Wheel to get a better vantage point of the entire party. We were right by the main stage and just watching the stage production was absolutely incredible.

The next night was the day I was actually booked to play. I got to the venue maybe 30 minutes before my set. Luckily I was told where the Art Car was and I made my way on. Fester was on at the time and dropping an insane Old School Techno set. It was epic. I went on at Midnight and just had no idea what to play but out came the set that is below, which is a mixture of Disco House, Funky House, Deep House, Bass House and Tech House…or just simply…House Music!

After 20-30 minutes into my set the art car started moving and I didn’t know it at the time but I was soon going to be part of a Parade! The art car moved slowly as a crowd of dancers followed along and kept pace. We then parked by the 7Up stage and set up an impromptu stage and keep the party going. One of the things I loved was how many old school ravers where there. There were faces I saw while I was DJing that I had seen growing up in the scene for the past 25 years. It was awesome. Another highlight for me was when a woman from Australia said I played the best music she heard over the weekend and that I reminded her of Carl Cox! Sweet!!!

But to me, the absolute best thing about my experience at EDC was that I got to share it with my wife, my good friends, my younger brother and my youngest cousin. This was my younger brothers first experience like this. I was happy to have him witness, what is a huge part of my life both growing up and also currently. I think the experience was something that allowed him to know a bit more about his older brother and for that, well…that alone was worth it. Thank you Insomniac for allowing this old DJ to come back and experience what EDC has become. I hope to do it again. 

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My family and I at the end of Day 2 of EDC 2016

Live at Planet Irth (04/23/16 - San Diego Desert)

What a long and crazy night. I started things off in Newport Beach playing on a Boat Party that went from Dusk to about 11:00PM. I then headed off directly to the desert of San Diego to play at Planet Irth which was a 2 day camping event. When I got there Jef Philips was tearing it up and there was a solid crowd. I went on around 12:30am and dropped some Tech House and Techno. I went harder and played a bit more acid at the end of the set since I knew Mellinfunk was on after me. They had the new DJM-900NXS2 Mixer at this event and since I had one at home I have been learning how to play with the effects more. I experimented with the effects a bit more on this mix. Hope you enjoy.

Tracklisting:

Luca Doobie - “Little Helper 222-1” (Little Helpers)
Lo Coco - “Live” (NOPRESET Records)
Kreature - “Ambition” (Materialism)
Supafly vs. Prince - Erotic City (Central Station Records)
Larry Cadge - “Vivian’s Kiss” (Smiley Fingers)
Matt Tolfrey - “Yello” (Of Unsound Mind)
Mark Knight & Lee Van Dowski - “Fall Down On Lee” (Toolroom)
Riva Starr – “Velvet Zone” (Snatch! Records)
Green Velvet & Claude VonStroke aka Get Real – “Snuffaluffagus” (Dirtybird)
Emanuel Satie - “Alarm” (Gruuv)
Maximiljan - “This World (Upon You Records)
Joseph Capriati & Riva Starr - “Dippin’ Side” (Hot Creations)
Bise - “You Know” (PPMUSIC)
Alexi Delano - “Tokyo City” (the303 Music)
Paride Saraceni - “Just For One Day” (Tronic)
Whyt Noiz - “In 95” (SCI-TEC Digital)
Nile Rodgers & Eats Everything - Do What You Wanna Do (Cr2 Records)
Sasha Carassi - “3.44” (Harthouse)

Live at re:love (03/26/16) w/ Jason Blakemore & Bret Wallace

What a stressful but fun day. Dougal and I were running the event and we faced nothing but issues in the beginning. The park was packed due to it being Easter and the spot we usually ran was already over ran with families celebrating the holiday. So we looked around the park and found an ideal spot. The sound guys came and started unloading but I didn't see them unpack any DJ gear. My fears were realized when they confirmed they they only brought sound. I had to run back home and grab my XDJ's and Mixer. Luckily the first DJ was on a controller and laptop so this allowed me time to head back home and make it back in the nick of time. Bret and I were going to close out the show together doing a back to back set but when Jason Blakemore got there and asked to join us, well we knew it was going to be a good time.

We each played two tracks at a time and just went round robin style until the end of the night. It was a fun playing off them and trying to work in our various styles into a cohesive sound. So go check this out and download it. I think you will dig it.

Live at Techno Taco Tuesdays (03/22/16)

Well this was a fun time. It was a very sudden booking. I got a text on a Wednesday that they would like to book me for Techno Taco Tuesday in Vegas. I have heard nothing but great things about this spot so I was definitely down to do this. It has been a minute since I had a proper gig in Vegas. I was assuming the booking would be at least a month away, but when they asked if I had the following Tuesday available, figured I better take this opportunity. I drove out there after work on Tuesday. Got into Vegas around 10:00 PM and my set was at 12:30 to 2:00 AM. So after a quick rest at the hotel I headed over and the place was popping. It was located to a large tent that was attached to the venue and this is something that I heard the promoters did on their bigger nights or during the summer. There was a ton of friendly faces and people I haven't seen in a while. The vibe was excellent. My set seemed to go by so quickly. After a few hours of sleep I was back on the road to LA that Wednesday morning. What a whirlwind. Here is the set from this night. I hope you enjoy it. Tracklisting to come.