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.

Cybersex - 23 years later

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I got into my car this morning and decided I wanted to listen to something I mixed a long time ago. I don't tend to listen to my old mixes often but from time to time I will get a urge to listen to one of them. I decided to listen to the original Cybersex mix that I did in the late summer summer/early fall of 1993.

Electronic music was really evolving around that time. In 1992 I was getting into Aphex Twin and some of what could be more of the less straight forward techno music of the time. Also in 1992, a compilation called "Artificial Intelligence" by seminal label Warp came out and influenced me quite a bit. I found myself gravitating towards artists like, Black Dog Productions, Autechre, Seefeel, Beaumont Hannant, Locust and others. While I got myself more into this sound, I did find it difficult to play this style of music at raves. Although I did, it wasn't the stereotypical rave sound of that day. The mixtape was the key though, it allowed DJ's to not think solely of the dancefloor when compiling a mix. Cybersex for me was when I really started to think about programming and flow of a set rather than just slamming records together as that was the style of rave mixing that was pretty popular in the early 90's.

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This compilation highly influenced my musical tastes in the early 90s

Cybersex was really me getting a chance to mix the records that I wanted to without worrying about where I was placed on a lineup or the energy of the room. I just wanted to play the music I thought was cool and although I didn't know it then, was timeless. The mixtapes I created previous to this were merely promotional items that were meant to showcase my DJing skills. I took to making this tape as something different, it was a showcase of my musical taste rather then just DJ skills. This changed the way I took to mixtapes. I could play music I don't ever play out, I could just create sonic scenes that didn't have to relate to a dancefloor.

Listening to this in my car this morning I was surprised that this did not sound dated to me. I mean I could easily reference a time to this because I was there, but I think if played to new ears, one wouldn't think early 90's per se. It still sounded fresh to me. Side A was some great early tracks from Ken Ishii, Aphex Twin (under his Polygon Window name) as well as others. Side B was bit more straight-forward. I was also getting into progressive house and trance during that time and Side B was dedicated to that sound that would later lead into other tapes in the Cybersex Series.

This mix came out in October of 1993. I was 19 years old. That to me is pretty crazy in itself. To me it was one of the best moments for Electronic Music. Genres were breaking out, creating new sub genres that could become larger than the genre that spawned it. All of a sudden there were different styles being played in a night. For such a long time, it was pretty much House or Techno and now the variations and the stylistic lines were becoming more distinct. Looking back at it now, this tape shaped me as a DJ. It allowed me to be less rigid with genres which is a stance I still approach to DJing today. Good music is good music....

Live at Imagination Festival (01/30/16)

This was fun night. I haven't DJed at the Majestic Theater in a couple of years. In fact it was the last Imagination Festival a couple of years ago. TTV Events did it again and did it well. They nailed down every detail to provide a great event to the Ventura area. If you live there and you missed it, well you missed out. It was a damn great time. I recorded my set (along with Jason Blakemore's as well. I am sure he will post his soon) and have it presented to you here. It was a really fun time and I hope my set captures some of that. Hope you enjoy.

Tracklisting:

Ron Costa - "Shake That” (Suara)
Gene Farris – “The Way U Like” (Relief Records)
Green Velvet & Claude VonStroke aka Get Real – “Snuffaluffagus” (Dirtybird)
Green Velvet & Patrick Topping – “When Is Now” (Relief Records)
Eats Everything – “Big Discs” (Pets Recordings)
Riva Starr – “Velvet Zone” (Snatch! Records)
DJ Roland Clark & Sante Sansone - "House Nation" [Riva Starr Remix] (Saved Records)
Joeski - “It’s a Scat Thing” (Suara)
Harry Romero - "My Beautiful House" (Bambossa Recordings)
Genghis Clan & Mikey V – “Crave Me” (Dirtybird)
Will Clarke – “Can You Funk” (Dirtybird)
Marc Spence – “Nasty” (This Ain’t Bristol)
Will Clark – “Turn It Up” (Will Clarke)
Justin Martin - "Don't Go" [Dusky Remix] (Dirtybird)
Escape – “Just Escape” [Justin Martin Remix] (Aus Music)
Dantiez Saunderson & Per QX – “The Collaboration Track” (Great Stuff Recordings)

New Mix - Dark Transitions (January 2016)

I did this mix a few weeks ago for the Purgatory Radio show on Fnoob. Once again, this was recorded in one take with no pre-planning. I wanted to create a mix that was dark, driving but also added a little melody. I think it came out pretty good. I hope you think so too.

Tracklisting:

Pan Pot - “Punxsutawaney" [Alex Fitzpatrick Remix] (Second State)
Veerus & Maxie Devine - “Refurb” (Material)
Stephen Bodzin - “Power of Ten” [Maceo Plex & Shall Ocin Remix] (Herzblut Recordings)
Alberto Luiz - “Loqi” (Iceolator)
Ron Costa - "Shake That” (Suara)
Dosem - “Optimism” (Suara)
Joeski - “It’s a Scat Thing” (Suara)
D-Unity - “Bounce” (Funk’n Deep Record)
Pirupa & Brain Zoo -“Dee Pawa” (Drumcode)
Joseph Capriati -“Awake” [Julien Jeweil Remix] (Drumcode)
Maxime Dangles -“Fokal” [Sian Remix] (Break New Soil)