I can't believe I almost forgot to mention the Haitian relief benefit I'm playing at on the 19th alongside Mr. Ricardo, Kardinal Syn, Nexus6ix, MC Addition, and special guest (who is a last minute addition and does not appear on the flyer) DJ Bolivia. I've managed to score a peak hour set, so come on out to hear some of Chef Napalm's biggest choons. Not to mention supporting a fantastic cause, of course. As I understand it, all money will be donated to the Red Cross Fund for Haitian Relief.
Usual rules apply: come up and tell me you read about the show on Kitchen Heat and I'll buy you a drink.
Set times are:
9:00pm - 10:00pm DJ Bolivia 10:00pm - 11:00pm Mr. Ricardo 11:00pm - 11:20pm MC Addition 11:20pm - 12:30am kardynal syn 12:30am - 01:30am Chef Napalm 01:30am - 02:00am Nexus6ix
As an aside, I was inspired to design a flyer, but the promoter didn't like it. I'm still quite pround of it, tho. It's posted below.
I know that it’s coming up on two (2!) weeks since the Terrence Parker show, but it was such an inspirational experience that both Fred “Nexus6ix” and I have been busy beavers. We’ve got a bunch of irons in the fire, so to speak, but mainly it’s just been an ever-inflating creative bubble that I’m praying doesn’t pop anytime soon.
As I’m sure you’ve gathered, the show was incredible. I have never, ever, in my life seen a DJ cut-up house records the way Terrence did in the wee hours of September 20th. Most of the time I find the work of “turntablists” (Read: Scratch DJs) to be entirely un-musical. Don’t get me wrong; I admire their dexterity and sense of timing immensely, but I think there are very few who make their art truly danceable. That’s not to say they can’t be make their sets danceable, but when they do their styles become closer to that of a traditional club DJ than a scratch DJ. Terrence went the other way: he came at it from the club mixing side and applied the techniques of the turntablist. He knew those records inside and out, backwards and forwards, upside-down. He’d grab a record from his bag, put it on the platter, cue it up without using his tele-head-phone, and drop it into the mix like it was nothing. He pick out a record, cue it, and start cutting it up for awhile, put it back in his bag and mix in something else. It was less like watching a DJ and more like watching a wizard work magic or watching a saint work miracles.
To top it all off, he’s a hellova nice guy. A lot of DJs, even local guys, are at least a bit of a diva and will turn their noses up at you if you’re not “their people”. Terrence was absolutely the antithesis of the diva DJ. He seemed pleased to chat and we talked about records for at least an hour before he went on. It was a real pleasure to meet him and with any luck, I’ll be seeing him again soon.
The video below will give you a taste. The sound is terrible, but if you can get past that, there’s nothing but genius there.
The last little piece of the story happened when we had to shut it all down at 2:15am. We were packing up the gear and Terrence was talking with us and other patrons while we worked. Out of nowhere the obviously very drunk guy comes up to the both and says to Terrence, “Budweiser?”
Terrence says, “Na, man, thanks. I don’t drink.”
Drunk Dude responds, “No, for me,” and drops a couple of bucks on the booth counter.
Terrence just stares at him, stunned. “Dude, this is the DJ both. The bar is over there,” he says with a bemused chuckle.
The guy stares back at Terrence, confused. Then he responds, “Come oooon! Just gimme a beer!”
At this point Fred steps in and says, “Look, pal, do you see any liquor here?” and gestures to the wall behind the booth. “The bar is over there!”
Buddy mumbles a “Fuck you” and stumbles away.
Terrence looks back and forth between me, Fred and Tommy, eyes wide. Finally with a wry smile he says, “I spend a lot of time in clubs, but that’s a new one for me, fellas.”
It was certainly an amusing cap to a unique show.
Friday, September 18, 2009
IT'S HERE! I am very, very, veryveryveryveryvery excited and I'm looking forward to seeing lots of you out tomorrow night. If you can make it, tell me you ready about it on Kitchen Heat, I'll buy you a drink, and we can celebrate my birthday with TERRANCE-FUCKING-PARKER!
Fantastic night at Element on Tuesday. It wasn't a huge crowd, but they were appreciative. My friend and colleague Mr. Ricardo was added at the last minute, making five (5!) DJs for just over four hours. I had a chance to play twice, at the beginning for around a half-hour and then again in the last hour. That last set was by far the best. I had a chance to really pull out all the stops and drop some bangers. My brief playlists are below for anybody who's interested.
I'm excited to announce that I'll be playing alongside Hellacopta and DJ Double Dee at Element on Canada Day Eve. Come on uptown and celebrate Canada's 142nd birthday the right way.
Yup, THE Terrence Parker is coming to Saint John in September and I'm opening.
For those not in the know, Terrence is one of the famed second wave of producers to come out of Detroit in the early 90s. Unlike the majority of his contemporaries, Terrence favoured the soulful sounds of gospel, soul and house to the brittle timbres of Kraftwerk and techno. Expect to hear lots of horns, piano rolls, and vocals, not to mention some incredible turntablism. He's the kind of DJ who makes me embarassed to call myself one. We're all in for a treat, no doubt about it.
This show was announced a while ago, but with everything else going on I just haven't had the time to post it. For future reference, you can always see what I'm up to on the Schedule of Events in the sidebar.
I really excited about this show in large part because I'll be debuting a number of my own re-edits, remixes, and original tracks. If you want a sneak peak of what's been happening on the production side of the Chef Napalm omelette, you can check out the Chef Napalm myspace page. If you're a member, feel free to add me as a friend.
Seven weeks into the Open Turntable's run at Element and we had more DJs through the door than people. How sad is that? Attendance has been declining ever since we started on February 1 (60+ paying customers), but we've always had a core of 10-12 who at least put in an appearance.
Not yesterday.
Yesterday, we had a grand total of six (6) people who came out to witness the musical craftsmanship of the 7 attending DJs. And it was on, too; everybody was in top form.
To add insult to serious injury, plastered all over facebook today are the pics of those regulars giving it hell on the dancefloor the night before in the very same bar. I'm glad they had a good time, but could they not spend an hour and drop by the following afternoon. Apparently not.
As you can see, I'm finding it hard not to take this all personally. The thing is that a bad day like yesterday can spell the end of an endeavour such as OTT. I mean, it is entirely possible that Element's Sunday Club spun its last record at 8pm, March 15th, 2009.
The irony is that next weekend they'll all be bitching because there's nothing going on. Such is the fickle nature of the crowd.
Despite cancellations by Shonaman, Kraker, and Deuce because of the impending storm, Sunday night turned into a real treat for the ears. Everybody, including me if I may be so bold, was in tip-top form. Nexus6ix and Bolivia both put on mixing clinics, with Bolivia pulling off the fastest track drop I have ever seen. EVER. It's a pity only a few people were there to hear it. Due to the sickness of Farmer Shawn there is no recording, so they're the only ones who will, too.
Don't miss out again. Make sure you stagger down this Sunday, 2pm-8pm.
We've had three successful Open Turntables @ Element and I think I can safely say that this Sunday is shaping up to be the best yet.
2:00 - 2:45 Bogey Lowensteen - Electro-house new-comer. 2:45 - 3:30 Chef Napalm - That's me! 3:30 - 4:15 Mr. Ricardo - Funky house partner-in-crime. 4:15 - 5:00 DJ Bolivia - Progressive house legend. 5:00 - 5:45 Shonaman - Back for another round after a jaw-dropping set on Febuary 1st. 5:45 - 6:30 DJ Kraker - An Element electro favourite. 6:30 - 8:00 Deuce - New to me, but I've heard great things.
Not so successful show at A Khord. We had maybe a dozen people through the door to hear Kardinal Syn open. I went on at midnight as planned. I was two records deep, looked up and everybody was gone. WTF??? Apparently, they all left with the Kardinal. Almost a year after my last engagement at A Khord, I repeated my performance by playing for the barstaff.
It's times like this when you really start second guessing what you did. I don't think I played enough records to have driven people out, but there's always that nigling bit of doubt, that nasty little person at the back of your head screaming themselves hoarse that you played the wrong records or that nobody showed up because they already know you suck. Most of the time I can tell that vindictive motherfucker to shut his mouth. After watching people walk out on your set, however, it's tough to ignore those very real possibilities. By the time I'd arrived home, I'd almost decided to drop off all my records at the Salvation Army and sell my turntables for scrap. That may sound like the petulance of a child, but you have to appreciate that I've been DJing in one form or another since 1999. That's ten (10!) years, for anybody who's counting. If I'm not good enough now, I have to think that I probably never will be and that is about as sobering a thought as anyone will ever have.
As with many things, the light of day lends a clarity to the situation. I dragged my ass from bed on the low side of the morning and stumbled to my "studio" with every intention of packing up the whole works. But, I couldn't do it. As it turns out, I love it too much to quit. If I never play another show in public, that's OK with me, as long as can still make my monthly record order and play for the freezer and the water heater in my "studio". If the music that I love still has a place in my life, then all is right with the world.
A last minute booking at A Khord tonight with Kardinal Syn! If you're reading, the dirty beats drop at 10pm with the Kardinal. I go on at midnight. Drop by, tell me you read about it on Kitchen Heat and I'll by you a drink.
After six months (6!) without a show I'll be appearing at the freshly minted Open Turntables @ Element. In case you're the only person I know without Facebook, the sickness kicks off at 2pm and runs until 8pm. Or until you stop buying drinks. Whichever comes first.
A bit of a disappointing end to a great night: for no reason I can fathom, the levels on the recording are very distorted. After some testing, I narrowed it down to the mixer; a crap-assed Pioneer! Since there's no adjustment of the levels for the rec-out apart from the individual channel gains and since we kept said gains out of the red, there is no reason for the hot recording other than some internal fault. I've thought for a long time that Pioneer mixers were of questionable quality at an inflated price, and this lends even more credence to that belief. Why people continue to buy/insist on them I'll never understand.
For those of you who don’t know, the venue for NITELITE has been changed to the Gothic Arches in Saint John. Go check out the Facebook event for more details on that. Personally, I’d just as soon it was on home turf anyway. I think you’ll all agree that travel is nice, but the best sleep comes from one’s own bed.
My partner-in-crime, Richard “Mr. Ricardo” Carhart, is feeling the pre-show butterflies acutely. Strangely, I am not. Despite this being the biggest event I’ve played to date, and for probably the first time, I’m not experiencing any of the paralyzing apprehension I’ve encountered prior to previous shows. All I feel is a sureness, a rightness, a confidence in my skills. That’s not macho swagger or arrogance talking either. I certainly don’t think my (our) set will be the highlight of the event, although I will say we’ve got a trick or two up our sleeves that may make it something special and unique. No, it’s like being prepared for a big exam; I know exactly what will be asked of me and I am ready to face the challenge.
A brief word on our set: the poster says “Progressive/House”; I’m not at all sure that’s particularly accurate. There will be some house, and maybe even some progressive house, but I’d say the majority of what we’ve been playing is closer to melodic, minimal techno, if that makes sense at all. I’m recording, so watch for that coming soon.
If you’re attending, watch out for our sweet new T’s. Saint John DJ Farm in full effect.
As you can see, I'm doing a tag-team set with my good friend Richard "Mr.Ricardo" Carhart. It's just an opening set, but this is a really big show. Here's hoping it pays off in some more regular gigs.
It'll likely be a very (although I hesitate to use the word) minimal set, although maybe "deep" would be a better way to describe it. Underground sounds, for sure. We are opening, after all. In all likelyhood I'll record it, so watch for that.
It is a sad thing to be present for the end of something you thought was good and pure. Last night at A Khord I played three hours worth of delicious vinyl for...the barstaff. That's right; not a single patron walked through the doors from 10:30pm until we shut it down at 1:30am. The novelty has apparently worn off and now the fickle audiences of Saint John have moved on to other, lesser events. I'm told that the engagement at A Khord ends on March 27th and there will not be a renewal. I for one will be very sorry to see a club night in such a spectacular space come to a crashing halt.
No recording, I'm afraid. The left-hand turntable had a short in the audio cable and it was causing some dire distortion. It wasn't a total loss, though, as it kept me entertained trying to choose records that could handle a bit of additional distortion. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.
I'm filling in for DJ Nexus6ix tomorrow night. My three (3!) hour set will feature lots of the music listed below. Come on down and check out some lush wax in context. For all those of you overseas, I'll likely be recording at least some of it, so stay tuned.
Arguably the most internationally known DJ from Atlantic Canada, Bolivia has been spinning records for almost 15 years. Even though started playing the university bar at little ole Mount Allison, he's built himself quite a reputation and now plays all over the globe.
Bolivia turned in a solid set of progressive, tribal house; his signature style. Ordinarily, not my cup of tea, but I must admit he made it sound fantastic. In fact, if you go to his website it might even be there for download.
I had to leave shortly after Fred (Nexus6ix) went on, so I didn't get to hear him play. However, he has a new demo available here loaded with honest-to-god classics.
