ADRIAN DOES STUFF

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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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Wednesday, 18 January 2006

I (heart) my iPod

It took me forever to finally get around to buying one, and then, once I did, it was still about two months before I really started using it in earnest. And now..

I'm totally addicted. I take it with me everywhere. I LURV IT.

 

The running joke has been that I wouldn't buy an iPod until they came in BLACK. And now, I have two of them – a nice 60GB video iPod, and a 2GB iPod nano that MacZone tossed in for free when I bought my now-obsolete PowerBook G4. (Yup, only two months old, and it's already outdated. Apple just released the MacBook Pro, which is four times as fast as the PowerBook I just dropped $2000 on in November. I am sooooo pissed. But that's another rant.)

 

Pimp my iPod!

Macworld was here last week in San Francisco, but they might as well have called it the iPod Accessory Show. There were so many gizmos and cases and things for iPods. I got little plastic screen protectors for ours, but as far as buying a protective iPod sleeve or case, I think that's ridiculous. Some people are like, "Oh, but I don't want to get my iPod all scratched up!" WHATEVER. It's an iPod, it goes in your pocket, you might scratch it up. BIG DEAL. People like that are probably the same ones who buy an SUV, but then never ever take it off-road, for fear they might get a scratch. LAME.

 

I do, however, want this:

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Wednesday, 04 January 2006

My 2005 in review

The following is pretty much excerpted from my annual holiday greeting e-mail that I sent out to family and friends a couple of weeks ago. But it also functions well as a nice little year-end wrap-up for myself, personally. Sort of a "State of Me" address:

2005 was especially busy – what with this being the year that mash-ups finally became a part of the American cultural zeitgeist. Needless to say, we ended up DJing a LOT of different parties and events. Our monthly club Bootie – the first mash-up party in America – has been doing great, and our 2-Year Anniversary in August turned out to be the biggest event we've thrown to date, with nearly 600 people. Two weeks before that, we went to Los Angeles to launch Bootie LA, which turned out to be an instant success. So now we're doing two monthly Bootie parties in two different cities!

The best part about Bootie is being able to host international guest DJs, and we've met some fantastic people by having them spin at our club. In November, DJ Zebra from France returned the favor by bringing us and our friend Party Ben over to Paris to DJ. We took a little side trip by train so we could spin in Amsterdam as well, and it was a blast.

In other mash-up news, one of our most popular tracks, "Decepta-Freak-On" (Missy Elliott vs. Le Tigre) appeared as the first song on The Best Mashups In The World Ever Are From San Francisco CD compilation, which has really helped put our local scene on the map. Plus, I've been singing regularly with my new band, Smash-Up Derby, which has been so much fun, getting to sing new wave and pop songs over crunchy indie rock.

As we (gasp!) continue into our mid-30s, I must admit, we're really enjoying being on the other side of nightlife culture now. Instead of simply partying, we're now partying with a purpose. Instead of just consuming nightclub and music culture, we're creating it – and that's a good feeling.

Although Deidre has quit her day job, I've still got mine. In fact, this year marked the 10-year anniversary of me being the Art Director of the Bay Area Reporter. Obviously, I still like my job! I tend to stick with things I like. After all, I've been going to Burning Man for the past 13 years, I haven't missed a single Trannyshack Reno bus trip since it started nine years ago ... and Deidre and I have been together for nearly seven years!

We have quite a few plans for the upcoming year, including putting out another mash-up CD, starting a monthly electro club night, and making more music – both mashed-up and original! Someday, we'll move out of our downtown studio apartment – but with rents in San Francisco being what they are, we're not expecting to anytime soon!

What else? How were my holidays?

Horrible. On December 23rd, I DJ'ed the Bootie Mashup Lounge at Pop Roxx at DNA Lounge – which at the time, was really fun. At the stroke of midnight, on Christmas Eve, it officially became my birthday, so people ended up buying me shots, and Sarah, the bartender in our room, kept making me REALLY STRONG Red Bull & vodkas. I ended up getting incredibly drunk, and ... I lost our entire CD book ... you know, the one that's pretty much our entire DJ career. Yeah, that one. Plus, I lost my wallet too –- which had $400 in it, to be used for holiday shopping the next day.

Of course, I didn't end up realizing any of this until I woke up the next morning, totally hungover. I kinda remembered the end of the night – such as quietly puking in the cab on the way home – but other bits were a little hazy. Needless to say, I had no idea where the CD book or my wallet was. I ended up having the WORST birthday and Christmas ever. Two days of stress and anxiety, calling the DNA, calling cab companies, etc.... coupled with me just punching myself over and over and over again.

D was incredibly cool about all of it. Unbelievable. Of course, if she had gotten too drunk and lost all our CDs, I would have already filed divorce papers!

Good news popped up on Christmas day though, when DJ Earworm got in touch with us. A girl named Lindsey, who had been at Pop Roxx, e-mailed him, thinking that it was his book. He forwarded her email to us. Apparently, she found the CD book just sitting there at DNA Lounge. So we were able to get in touch with her, and she gave it back to us a few days later. Lindsey ROCKS! It was the BEST Christmas present EVER.

Whew! Just in time for our New Years Eve gig at Mezzanine, too, which turned out to be great. Got to DJ to a really fun crowd on the Bootie outdoor patio/smoking lounge, and I got to see two of my favorite local bands, the Lovemakers and Every Move A Picture. Woo-hoo! (I also saw She Wants Revenge, the worst Bauhaus cover band ever. It's one thing to be influenced by your idols ... it's quite another to sound almost exactly like them to the point of being pointlessly derivative. Don't believe the hype. They weren't even that interesting to look at.)

Anyway, needless to say, I will NEVER be getting that drunk EVER again. From now on, I'm sticking with beer!

Still haven't gotten my wallet back though ... A few months ago, while in LA, I found some guy's wallet in a parking lot. He had an Oklahoma ID, so I figured he had proably just moved to LA. I went to great lengths to track him down, call him up, get his address, and send it back to him. I was hoping I'd get some karmic payback for that in regard to my own missing wallet ... but so far, I ain't got zilch. :-(

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