MOVEMENT
Detroit… Oh how i’ve missed you so – Techno for 4 days straight – Here we come….
Happy “kinda-New” Year
It’s been a couple of months since I made a post as you can probably tell. Took a break for a bit but now I’m back. Got a nice snow over the holidays plus a number of other happenings. Just past my 43rd and that was, well, uneventful. I did get the final ok to roll to Movement this year. It’s kind of strange though, I really want to go but the line up isn’t mind blowing so it’s more to see old friends and hang than really to “party” as it were. My roomie Doug is definitely along my speed so I’m sure we’ll both call it early each night by the rave standard but that’s ok. Shelley is really being great about supporting me to go on this trip again but I wish it didn’t cost as much because I’d really like to spend that towards the family coastal trip we are hoping to take soon. We need one too.
Music making has been slow going. Taking some courses on music theory via J.Allen(Slam Academy) on Udemy (*which I highly recommend). Lots of good stuff there I’m ready to put to action. Also trying to dive in to some of the plug ins I’ve obtained through NI. Reaktor alone is enough to keep you busy for a full year trying to pull back the layers not to mention the crap ton of others that came in the KOMPLETE 11 drive I picked up. I’m almost a little overwhelmed. I might just take one plug in at a time and make several tracks with each one as the focus (*that’s a really good idea – I should right that down). Probably the last good thing to mention during this stint of retreat is that I finally got to hang with my buddy Lee at his “Techno Fire Pit”. After the kids are down, we get together in his backyard to listen to the latest findings of techno goodness in front of his large fire pit with a couple of drinks. If the weather is right, there isn’t a lot more that I would rather do.
Jive Turkeys are upon us.
I think my body is finally recovering from the Halloween festivities. That was a crazy month. Big thanks to everyone that made it out to at least one of the shows if not all. Had loads of fun for sure. Freaky Friday w/ Graf was a blast, Sanctuary was the loooong night for sure and Halloween at Mollie’s was well, expectedly a good time! (*damn you Danari for those shots) It’s been a while since we’ve pulled out all the stops multiple times in a month so lots of clean up and sorting to do at storage. Although end of October usually marks my “No bookings until NYE” cool down period, there is a little push to put together a one of at Canvas again as well as a reunion party at Alchemy, but I cant say more ATM. Maybe in early Dec we can get something rolling. I’d like to get one Falk or Michalski back for a techno joint but we’ll have to see what the future has in store. Lot of gear issues, most of them worked out but some upgrades will need to happen before more guests come in so that will be a hurdle. More techno is always better right? Until the next update, try not to overstuff on Turkey and I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.
ALL HALLOWS EVE
I think my body might be giving up on me. With all the lifting and moving, loading and unloading, cable wrapping and speaker carrying, I’m surprised I am not in a wheelchair. SANCTUARY was a success for the most part. The Crystal Method event definitely put a damper on the crowd but as the night started to wrap up – BLAAM! we got the right pop. To be honest it went fast than I anticipated plus with Halloween only a number of hours away, I’m wondering where it all went. October, not to mention the rest of this year just blew by in a flash. It’s almost November and im already 3 parties in with Halloween still to go. This year we are returning to Mollie’s.
Mike McConnell and I are back at the Victorian village haunt after a 5 year hiatus. Between he and I we’ve done a few other things else where – we did CREEPSHOW back in 2013 at the new HiTone, That next year did the Burlesque event VAMPED OUT, took a break for a year or two then last year Mike and came back to the HiTone with CREATURE FEATURE. None quite like Mollie’s though. It’s hard to beat a house built in the Victorian period that has a built in ghost story for a place to do a Halloween party – come on! Regardless of any personal issues, the grounds laid from the dish events I put on to moving them to Mollie’s and joining forces with manager Doug allowed it to grow into its own entity. If nothing else I can be proud of that for sure. As luck would have it, we didn’t think this year was going to happen until we got a call and the rest is history. Speak of history, lets hope that this one will be a blast and one for the books. Regardless, I know I’m ready to have some fun and do it on Halloween proper! Like you know we do!
SPREAD THE WORD – Party starts early 8pm until 3am – 21+ as always — $10 cover
Costumes highly encouraged but not required — You bring your best and we’ll bring the rest.
CHECK OUT THE EVENT ON FB @ FACEBOOK EVENT – CLICK HERE
Spooky… ain’t it?
As luck would have it, just when you think you are going to have a quiet laid back Halloween holiday, up pops a multiple gig month with some unlikely gigs. I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Mr Hodges for a old school ish pre-Halloween get together on the 20th at Murphy’s. I helped by providing sound and lighting as well as securing a spot on the bill. Thinking that was going to be my October schedule, two more gigs pop up all with a side gig for a friend. Turns out the month filled up all within a week or two and during the month which is strange as well. Busy busy.
Now that two of them are under the belt, the next will be coming up on Saturday. This one will be the one I get to do with creative freedom. I get to pull out all the décor and deck the place out. I’m even going to bust out the dry fog machine. Whoop! The best thing about doing the decoration at Canvas (event titled: Sanctuary) is that the décor was meant for a much bigger joint. Plenty of items to fill the place up with. Giant ghosts, Dracula and Wolfman, as well as enough creepy cloth to choke a skeleton. This one should be a fun joint for sure. Although the city will be ablaze with parties on every street corner, i’m counting on the fact that folks know I bring the Halloween A-Game. Crystal Method is going to take up a number of old-schoolers but i’m hoping most aren’t going to want to venture the downtown trip and instead, park it at Canvas… who wants to deal with that madness anyways, especially on a holiday party night.
The next and final October gig is our return to Mollie’s for Halloween Night. It’s been 5 years since we put on a show there. Although D and I parted ways, the party continued after we left and has been a steady go-to for Halloween Night proper and that makes me proud. Especially when it’s on a weeknight, the crowd tends to be a bit insane. Let’s hope Doug and crew have keep the home fires burning since they will be handling the décor and atmosphere and all we need to do is bring the party and that we will, guaranteed! Matter of fact, we have a little something special up our proverbial sleeves for the night. It should make for a screaming good time! Muahahahaha… See you all there!
What’s that I hear?
FINALLY. I received my new Yamaha HS8’s. The clarity out of the box is pretty amazing. I was hoping for more low end than what is there but that will require some tweaking on room size as well as placement. They do have a kick if you turn up the low end far past where it should be but we don’t want to distort the sound or for it to be too loud. I only have these things turned up half way on the amp and they are killer. My neighbors are going to hate me.
I haven’t made any music on them yet as I’m still waiting on the other speaker (that wasn’t dropped off ) to show up. Long story short the guy must not of realized the other box that was labeled and look exactly alike was a pair. UGH. Anyways, I’m looking forward to the second one which I pick up today. I’ve got plenty of things to be working on! Did I mention these guys are massive. In respect to the Alesis I’ve been using for years, these are like giant cinder blocks on stands. I don’t think i would have room on my new studio desk, event if I wanted to put them there. I have been reading on the proper placement and it is recommended to have them away from the wall or else you’ll get bass distortion (YIKES!@) I just might have to pull my desk away from the wall. Sounds like a studio rearrange project on the horizon.
Almost September… like whoa!
Time seems to have slipped past me again – it keeps doing that?!?! It’s almost the end of August and I haven’t even started on my Halloween costume. In my mind it’s still summer. Well as you can see from the countdown on the right I have finally noticed how close the season is to a close. Time to get ready for fall festivities and my fav holiday of the year. This year has gone so fast that I feels like I’ve missed something. Oh yeah, a lot of 100° or above temps and can’t breathe 100+% humidity. Good ol’Memphis Weather. Seriously I don’t know how I make it through or anyone else for that matter. With summer coming to a close, the weather, you would assume, would start to take a dive but oh no… not in Memphis. It will still be 80 come December. We’ll get a magical weekend of 70’s then BOOM nothing but 40’s and scares of possible freezing rain. SIGH*
At least I have a bundle of updated Native Instrument plugins to keep me company! A recent death in the studio forced me to upgrade my mac and along with it most of my software since it was so old that the versions I had were all out of date with current hardware. JOY! The upside of having to spend a crap ton of money, was having to update software along which included an upgrade to KOMPLETE 11. Holy crap batman! This thing has more synths than you can shake a stick at. Frankly i’m a bit over whelmed as I feel like I’ve be under utilizing most of what I’ve had in the past. With some of the new synths like Monark and Prism, plus the updated and added LOGIC synths, I have instruments for days. I don’t know how to work half of this stuff. Luckily NI tossed me a free education signup for some brief how to’s on their base synth line. Even with synths I’ve had for years, I’m finding that I haven’t even scratched the surface- take MASSIVE for instance – WOW. This thing is really massive and not just for the squelchy edm sounds it produces, I mean this thing can do just about anything. The best part of the online education from NI is that it is keeping me engadged in the studio which is sorely needed. To be honest, just with Monark and the standard logic synths and drums, I have enough to go on for years but with Komplete 11 in my pocket the musical possibilities are endless – just got to keep on it. I just might have to upgrade my soundcloud account in the near future. O_o
Techno this and that.
Well, Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and with it, so has the MOVEMENT (aka Detroit Electronic Music Festival). Another year gone and another year I didn’t get to go for one reason or another. That makes 3 in a row I’ve missed and i’m not happy about it. Although the years are beginning to weigh heavy on this old man, I still have some fury left in me for some techno. I’ve been having to deal with the obligatory posts in “facespace” that start off with something like, “Whoa, those were the best 3 days of my life…” or “I cant believe how awesome that was..” or better yet my favorite, “I got to see (insert once in a life time artist here), I cant believe it!”. The worst part is not getting to hang with fellow techno enthusiasts such as my BT12 crew and of course not to forget my partner in crime Doug Hamilton aka EuroTrash. I miss that guy… Well, enough sulking about it. I have resigned to not missing another year. I think it is my source for recharging the batteries if you will. A wellspring of renewed creativity and motivation for all things Techno. (I think that’s why my wife doesn’t care for it O_o) So yeah, next year it is.
Until then, i’ll just have to find new ways to get motivated. Speaking of Techno, EXILE is this weekend and back on the decks is my TN brotha from another mutha – Will Azada who has been vacant for the last two bits. Back in the action, i’m sure he has plenty of craziness to share from his trip to motor city. Exile is at Canvas and as usual we ask for a humble $5 cover for a night of bangin’ beats that are sure to please. We start at 10 so come early – stay late and dance.
I smell bacon…
Whoa. I’ve neglected my duties here at Fist HQ. Lots going on at the moment on the adulting front. Where to start… let see this past weekend was EXILE – Mike McConnell filled in for Will. It was a bit dead until Musicfest let out then we got hit late like 1am with a rush of folks. So it turns out that folks have a way through the back. Skipping the $5 cover. Kind of shitty if you ask me however it’s to be expected. Especially with Memphis folks. They will pay 50 or more to go to a festival but bitch about $5 when its not something they consider worthy. Although this was a fringe group, it’s something I’ll have to keep an eye on now which makes doing events at Canvas a headache. For the love of the music, right?
Speaking of Mike, he and I will be at BBQFest on the river starting Wednesday next week (#TeamUsualSaucepects), each night putting some work on the decks making sure the hottest party on the river stays the champion it is. R-67 is our booth and its just a few booths down from where we were last year so… you should be able to find us! BBQFest, if you don’t know is a week long reason for the country in all of us to let loose, drink beer and eat PIG (every form of it)
Then, the following Friday, i’ll be back at Canvas for Michelle Kristen’s bday event which should be crazy and then again the following Saturday for the next EXILE. Make sure to stop by for EXILE if you cant make it to the party. Not sure if we will have an out-of-town guest dj or not – Detroit will have just ended and i’m sure Will has plenty of deck time he wants to use for new releases and such. (BooHoo – i’ll be unable to go this year). I’ll be interested to hear all about it though. Mecca, I will return soon, . . .
PopUp goes the weasel.
Last minute events can be lots of fun – lots of work too but worth it when you get to spend the time with fellow djs that you have known for years. Case in point – “Impromptu! dance party with Justin Hand & Guests”. Saturday, Ficus Tree label owner Jeff Gonzalez aka Service was in Memphis (for unfortunate circumstances) and we roped him in to come throw down with us, myself and “Soul in the City” front man Brian Hamilton, aka Dj Irie, at Canvas. Lorin Vincent (DJ Saturna) was also supposed to join us but her son Dash woke up with a 103 fever – family first right? We made the best of it though even though she was missed!
Dj Irie getting it started!
We managed to work it out schedule wise. it was loads of fun and honestly extremely nice not having to watch a door and take money. Although counting it at the end of the night isn’t so bad, the freedom of not having to care made all the difference. It was a great turn out and loads of faces to hear us get down on some house. Even I hung up the techno badge for a little soul and vocals. As it turns out there were other things going on that night but it didn’t deter us from doing the damn thang. If you missed it, well… maybe next time. As a tribute to those that support, I think a quarterly popup freebie might be in order! We’ll have to see, wont we.
Next month… March 4th at EXILE – i’ll be celebrating my bday – plan to party.
XBOX
