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Tuesday, 24 January 2006
What New Year's Resolutions?
This is the first year in a long time I haven’t made a solid list of New Years Resolutions. Maybe it’s because I’m already doing pretty much everything I want to do. Oh sure, I’ve got some plans and goals for the coming year … but most of them I’m already getting done, or am in the process of getting in place.
Yeah, yeah, I should probably really resolve to get a flatter stomach and eat healthier and all that. And I intend to. I just don’t need to make a New Years Resolution about it.
One of my goals was to make more mash-ups this coming year, and I’m already doing that. I’m working on a “Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll” trilogy of mash-ups for local band Protection. We just released the first one, Protect Yourself While Having Sex, mashing them up with the early-90s dance track “People Are Still Having Sex” by the long-forgotten La Tour. It works seamlessly – perhaps a little too seamlessly, because if you’re not familiar with either track, it probably doesn’t even sound like a mash-up!
Just finished up Beethoven’s Fifth Gold Digger, based on a little something from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack – a disco version of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony – mashed up with Kanye West's ubiquitous "Gold Digger." We added some extra beats for a little modern-day dance floor oomph – not much kick-drum bass in those old '70s records. And finally, there's a little cameo from Usher. I think it's going to be our new big mashup hit.
Bootie is moving in March!
Other plans for 2006 are starting to take shape. We’re definitely ready to take Bootie to the next level, something we’ve been working on for a few months now. We were ready to move even before Annie’s Social Club took over the old Cherry Bar. And as much as it pains us to move the club – we absolutely LOVE the new Annie’s bar staff, and they’re really going to great lengths to turn that venue around – the fact of the matter is, we’ve outgrown the space. It’s simply too small and too hot for our crowd. Especially after our January party, which had something like 450 people crammed in there.
So starting in March, Bootie will be at the DNA Lounge. We’ve been a part of their Pop Roxx club night since its inception, and now we’re getting our very own night there. Great sound and lights, projections, a big stage, and webcasting and digital downloading of DJ sets – we really think this is the natural progression for where Bootie is going. Smash-Up Derby will now be able to become the house band, hosting the midnight mash-up show with a plethora of live performers and singers. We have lots of big ideas and plans – including ways to “warm up” the space a little bit. We don’t want to lose that “cozy” feeling of Annie’s – but at the same time, there’s a fine line between “cozy” and “uncomfortably crowded.”
I must admit, we feel bad that we’re leaving Annie’s so soon after they’ve started. As I said, they’re great people, and they seem committed to building up a “scene,” much in the same way the old Covered Wagon had a scene. Live bands, back-room karaoke, very rock n’ roll, punk, rockabilly, that sort of thing. I think they’re going to do really well.
Never trust a DJ in sunglasses
So we took January off from Bootie LA, meaning we were – for once – in town for the first Saturday of the month. Which meant that we could finally do a guest DJ slot at Revolutionary at The End Up. The promoter, Astroboy Jim, had asked about having me DJ there a few months ago, so as soon as I was available, I let him know. Hey, I don’t get many opportunities to spin electro anymore, so any chance I get, I jump on it!
We had the opening set, DJing until 12:30 a.m., which normally, would have been fine. I figured people would start trickling in around 11 p.m., and that I’d have a dancefloor by midnight. But I forgot one thing – this is The End Up. I hadn’t been there in ten years and I forgot – people don’t even GET there until 1 a.m. In fact, it didn’t really get jumping until around 2 a.m. – after all the other bars had closed.
How does this place make money? It’s certainly not from selling booze, because there was hardly anyone there before the bar was shut off! They probably make all their money at 6 a.m., when the bar opens back up!
So Keoki went on after me, unceremoniously mixing out of my set closer, our new Madonna vs. Blondie mash-up, Call Me Hung Up – which is turning out to be a big hit. He tried to clumsily and quickly beat-mix out of it in the middle of the bridge – you know, right before the big climactic choruses at the end – effectively ruining the “big finish” of the song. WTF??!! Is he clueless and doesn’t know how the Blondie song goes – or was he just rude and obnoxious, pulling a DJ diva trip? I think I know the answer. The song only had one more minute to go … but I guess if you’re a “superstar DJ,” it’s okay to just cut the previous DJ’s last song.
He put on some anonymous sounding, fast-paced “thumpa-thumpa” techno-house record, and cleared the dance floor of the measly half-dozen people who I had gotten to dance for the last 15 minutes of my set. No one stepped foot on the dance floor until around 45 minutes later. And he never took off his sunglasses. You gotta wonder about that. It’s a fucking dark nightclub. Never trust a DJ who wears sunglasses in a dimly-lit nightclub.
Plans for the upcoming week
The Trannyshack "Klubstitute tribute" show is tonight ... I just performed there last week for "Spoken Word Night," doing a live spoken word piece called "Vanilla Sex" that I wrote over 10 years ago. Yes, little-known secret: I used to be a "spoken word artist." Hey, don't hold it against me – it was the early '90. It was the thing to do.
My new favorite band, Morningwood, is opening for Head Automatica at Slim's on Thursday. I really really want to go, but I just found out today that it's SOLD OUT. FUCK!! So I'm going to try to get scalped tickets ... I really want to see this band! "Nth Degree" is quite possibly the most perfect debut single for rock band ... EVER. It's just a super-catchy declaration of purpose, a total "we're all in a band!" pop/rock gem – and they even spell out their name in the chorus. Fucking LOVE IT. Like I said, perfect.
And finally, Pop Roxx is this coming Saturday. I promise to get as drunk as last time. Maybe I'll even find my wallet (no one's charged any of my credit cards, so I suspect it's hidden somewhere in the dark recesses of the venue!) I hope so anyway!
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