Wednesday, 27 June 2007
Three weeks of relative calm
Ahhh ... I'm currently in the midst of a three-week period of relative calm. Sure, there have been some gigs – DJing a super-gay set at Pop Roxx on Gay Pride weekend, a couple of local Jameson Bartenders Balls for Smash-Up Derby to play, the San Francisco Magazine Best of the Bay party, performing as Princess Kennedy at Trannyshack – but overall, it hasn't been this crazy feeling of GO GO GO!!!
It's three weeks between Bootie parties, so that helps. Time for us to get all caught up, before the cycle starts all over again, as we launch headfirst into summertime, and all that that entails: Bootie anniversary parties in both LA (two years!) and SF (four years!) ... moving Bootie NYC to Luke & Leroy in July ... doing the The A+D Show in August ... recording a Smash-Up Derby album ... getting ready for Burning Man, and doing the last year of my Black Rock City newspaper, Piss Clear.
But right now, it's all good. D and I have actually (gasp!) hung out with friends, and have gone out to dinner with people! We actually went to somebody else's club for a change! We saw a movie in the LGBT Film Festival! (Okay, so that was kinda work-related -- Motherfucker: The Movie, a documentary about the famed NYC club night)
But anyway, it's been nice, although I know it's going to be ending soon, and then it's going to be Bootie-related stress all over again (I just realized how fucking ridiculous that sounds!)
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Tuesday, 08 May 2007
Success is killing me
I'm barely keeping my head above water.
This month, I'm promoting and DJing a Bootie mashup party every fucking weekend ... two in San Francisco, one in LA, and starting on May 18th, we go monthly in New York City.
Smash-Up Derby is playing five shows this month -- Philadelphia, Denver, New York City, and two in San Francisco. One of them is an acoustic show.
Plus, we have three other random DJ gigs ... which are almost kinda nice, seeing as none of them are attached to parties that we have to promote as well. We just get to show up and play.
I'm performing at Trannyshack tonight -- it's Pink Floyd: The Wall. I'm doing "Comfortably Numb" ... which is insanely appropriate for how I'm currently feeling. The entire performance is pretty much a metaphor for my life right now.
Except that I have no one to help carry me out the door.
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Tuesday, 20 February 2007
Remember when I used to update this blog?
I mean, at least even just every month or so. Good times...
Bootie Bootie Bootie, rockin' everywhere ... San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City ... and it keeps me damn busy.
And you know ... stuff and things. Stuff more important than keeping up with this blog, apparently.
To find out what the hell I'm doing, just click on the links at the left.
Unless it's my MySpace page. I fucking hate MySpace. Mysterious D now deals with all my MySpace correspondence. So if you get a message from me through MySpace, chances are, it's actually Deidre who is writing for me. Seriously. I can't stand MySpace. It's like surfing web pages in 1996 ... clunky, shitty, hard-to-read, crash-prone, buggy, and just plain ugly. WTF? How does a web site with such a horrible interface get so damn popular? Never underestimate the stupidity of 15-year-olds.
Now that I think about it, I probably would have said the same thing when I was 15. I hated all those people in high school!
Anyway, random tangent while I'm at the decreasingly important day job. Back to doing important Bootie club work, in-between the other work...
Looking at my schedule, I'm sure it'll be another three months before I post here again....
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Wednesday, 13 December 2006
Bootie Bootie Bootie, rockin' everywhere...
'Tis the season ... been busy as usual, which is why I haven't posted SHIT in six weeks. Of course, lots of stuff to report -- especially a lot of stuff about Bootie.
We heart Eric Kleptone
A few Bootie parties have come and gone, including our Bootie British Invasion with Bastard USA in the upstairs lounge, and guest DJ Eric Kleptone -- who also DJed at Bootie LA. Here's a silly pic of me and Eric at Bootie.
So nice to meet a mashup artist whose work we love and respect -- especially when he turns out to be SUCH a nice guy, and totally on the same page as us in regards to mashup bootleg culture. Such a similar aesthetic and attitude as ourselves. He totally rocked it at both Bootie parties, and it was so great hanging out with him and talking shop, comparing notes, etc. His shit is totally The Shit.
Bootie British Invasion
So in addition to Eric, we also had seven -- count 'em -- SEVEN other bootlegger DJs from the UK come over to take over the upstairs lounge at Bootie, doing Bastard USA. Bastard was the first mashup/bootleg club night in the world, which used to take place at a tiny bar called The Asylum in London. The night before Bootie, D had set up a dinner, which we jokingly referred to as the first meeting of "The Order of the International Bootleggers," or something like that. There 14 of us in total, as we invited all our local mashup DJ friends, and got everyone together for a four-hour marathon dinner/drink session! Anyway, here's a shot of us, as we took over the secret basement room of O'Reilly's Holy Grail...
The British Invasion party at Bootie the following night was a helluva a good time. We had around 850 people there, and Smash-Up Derby did a British-themed rock set, featuring only mashups by UK artists. The Bastard USA upstairs lounge was definitely something different for our crowd, as the British boys spun a lot of drum n' bass and other fast tempo bootlegs, which ended up being ... interesting. Anyway, here's a pic of Smash-Up Derby in full-on Union Jack glory...
Bootie NYC ... coming soon!
After that insane weekend, D and I flew off to New York City to do a DJ gig at the Hiro Ballroom, where we met quite a few people, including DJs ATOM, Moldover, and Lobsterdust. We stayed with our dear friends Halycon and Sam, and we pretty much barely saw daylight the entire four days we were there. We were out every single night until the wee hours of the morning, and we tried to hit quite a few parties. We even DJed a Burning Man-esque sexy party at a Brooklyn warehouse/loft.
Had a meeting with our potential Bootie NYC co-promoter, and it's looking like it's going to happen, so ... details coming soon!
BTW, I just gotta say that I totally LOVED New York on this trip. On previous excursions, I've always been a bit ambivalent about NYC ... like, it's a big city, and there's a lot going on but ... whatever. It's that "we're the center of the fucking universe" attitude that most New Yorkers seem to have that kinda turned me off. Like, "if it's not happening in New York, then it's not happening." And that's patently NOT TRUE. (Where's the equivalent of such San Francisco institutions as Trannyshack, Midnight Mass, or hell, even Bootie? That's right ... there's NOTHING LIKE ANY OF THEM in New York).
But this time, I was filled with this sense of excitement and opportunity. Sure, there's nothing like Bootie in New York. Therefore, I want to MAKE IT HAPPEN! Because, from what I hear ... if I can make it there, well ... I can make it anywhere! ;-)
My first Thanksgiving in San Francisco in 11 years!
D and I had a couple of good DJ gigs over Thanksgiving weekend, so this ended up being the first time we ever stayed in town over the long weekend. We used to always go on a desert roadtrip, something I've been doing every year without fail since 1995. But ... the DJ career is on an upswing, and so here we are, stuck in town.
So what did we do for Thanksgiving? GOT DRUNK. We thought it would be kitchzy fun to go to Tommy's Joynt with a couple friends ... the Thanksgiving dinner was sub-par, but the beer is always good. When we left, we decided to bar-crawl down Polk Street, but every bar was closed at 4 in the afternoon ... until we got to (where else?) our old watering hole, The Cinch. And the food was better there!
The next night, we DJed at Freaksgiving at Mighty. This was definitely one of our best DJ sets EVER. We had some chunks of our set already planned out from when we spun in New York City, but tonight, it just all fell into place and it was on fire! Some nice beat-mixed sections, a healthy dose of A+D tracks, and it all flowed perfectly. WOW! Just magical, and that so rarely happens. Lane Hartwell took some great pix here. Here's one of 'em...
The next night was Pop Roxx at DNA with our guest DJ Moldover from New York City, who we had met the week before. He does all his DJing with an Ableton Live rig... very cool stuff. Fun night, as usual.
A Very Bootie Christmas
DAMN. Last weekend's Bootie party in SF was SOOOOO much fucking fun! We were worried, because not only is December a notoriously bad month for nightclubbing (everyone is already out drinking for free at their or their friend's office Xmas party) but it was also pretty rainy out here in San Francisco.
But that didn't keep them away ... it was just like last month, we had around 850 people just going OFF! Plus, we were the after-party for the all-day Santarchy/Santacon thing happening so anyone dressed in a Santa suit got in for free. How much did I love looking out on the dance floor and seeing a bunch of drunk Santas getting down? Priceless.
We decorated the joint with Xmas decorations, and I even pulled off my hour-plus set of Xmas bootlegs without clearing the floor -- well, except for Voicedude's brilliant "Family Guy" mashup called "Carol of the Burgers" from last year's "Santastic" CD, but it was worth it for the few people who got the joke and went FUCKING NUTS when I played it!
Besides, it's only a little over a minute long, and I learned from DJ Instamatic last month that there are few things more gratifying as a DJ than deliberately clearing your floor only to bring 'em all back with the next tune! Most of what I played during the Xmas set is on our "A Very Bootie Christmas" CD, and we gave away LOTS of them tonight ... you can download it here!.
Smash-Up Derby rocked it -- we modified a few of our tunes to become Xmas songs. and we even brought our drunken Santa Claus up on stage for the last song. Our Ramones Christmas mashup -- "Christmas Bop," which mashed up The Ramones with "Deck The Halls," "Silent Night," and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" -- was our set closer, and turned out to be a big hit. We totally pulled that one out of our collective asses, coming up with it in rehearsal in probably less than a half-hour. It was sort of our tribute to Princess Kennedy's old holiday band, The Yuletards, who used to do punk rock Xmas songs. So much fucking fun!
And DAMN, the Fandango upstairs lounge was going off like it never has before (except when we do Mini-Bootie there at the club Pop Roxx ). They SERIOUSLY decorated the lounge (and made our meager efforts in the main room look lame in comparison) and also totally rocked it on the decks. DJs Malderor and Redstickman are both due for some main floor set time soon ... they had that upstairs room packed all night, and we didn't end up shutting it down until nearly 3 AM, when I finally ended it with (what else?) "Jon Whitney Houston."
DJ Jay-R turned out a great set, right after our midnight mashup show, which was Foxy Cotton doing his best Sarah Silverman impression by doing our A+D "Give Da Jew Girl Toys" mashup from the Santastic II CD. It's a "holiday party," not just a Xmas party!
I can't express enough how fucking shocked I am by how the evening went! The vibes were so good ... Santa and his elves were giving away free CDs all night, people were having a great time, it was just such a friendly, no-attitude, unpretentious, up-for-it crowd! (Which, for the most part, it always is ... but this time it was even better!)
I got stuck upstairs in the Fandango Lounge DJing till the bitter end, so Party Ben ended up doing a longer set than he was expecting, going from 1:20 or so till almost the end, when I came in to close out the night with DJ BC's "Imagine Santa" (again, from the Santastic II CD) which was so nice to see people slow-dancing to that. (And having the bar staff singing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" afterwards!)
Like I said, it was THAT kind of evening ... it surpassed all of our expectations of what a club is supposed to be like during the worst club month of the year. Thanks to everyone who came out!
My birthday party is coming up at Pop Roxx in two weeks ... this time, I won't be getting so drunk that I lose all our CDs. Not to say that I won't be getting drunk ... just not THAT drunk!
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Tuesday, 31 October 2006
Wow, I seriously suck at updating my blog!
Seriously. Seems like I'm just too fucking busy with Life to bother with WRITING about Life. Which kinda sucks, because there's a lot of cool shit going on with Life.
Okay, here's the brief update:
We made a bunch of new mashups. Six in total, actually. We just went on a bootlegging rampage, which we needed to do, since we hadn't exactly been very productive lately in the mashup creation department. Here's what we made:
Sexy Peek-A-Boo - Justin Timberlake vs. Siouxsie & the Banshees
Promiscuous Walk - Nelly Furtado vs. Aerosmith vs. Run-DMC
Nelly Furtado's Crazy - Nelly Furtado vs. Gnarls Barkley
You Believe Me All Night Long - Cher vs. AC/DC
Love Shack On Wheelz - B-52's vs. My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult
Gold Lion Tale To Tell - Yeah Yeah Yeahs vs. Love and Rockets
You can also find them all at www.RebelDJs.com.
Bootie Bootie Bootie, rockin' everywhere ... besides Bootie SF (with DJs BC, Lenlow, and Adam Balm from Boston's Mash Ave!) and Bootie LA, we also did a couple Bootie-style parties for corporate clients ... hell, we even DJed at a trade conference! Also, been working on launching Bootie Paris, Bootie NYC, and Bootie San Diego. It's all in the works, and very very exciting! We're even in the midst of trademarking the Bootie name and logo. Frickin' cuh-razy. How has it come to this? The whole bootleg mashup DJing and throwing parties thing was just supposed to be something we were doing because we thought it was fun and new and interesting ... and now it's somehow turning into an actual career. Funny how life goes...
We got a really nice article written about us the SF Weekly. It was for their Music Awards Issue ... we were nominated in the "Best DJ" category, and we spun for the VIP reception at the awards ceremony at The Warfield. No, we didn't win ... but neither did Mike Relm, who is fucking amazing, and we would have been quite happy to lose to him. Instead, some dance music DJ we'd never heard of from KALX Berkeley won. Oh well... at least we got that nice article.
Smash-Up Derby played at the Cow Palace! Yup, the same stage I saw Rush, Nirvana, and Queensryche! We played the Exotic Erotic Ball, and it was a blast! Got to try out my new confetti cannons too ... I think they'll work better in the DNA Lounge than the cavernous Cow Palace. Anyway, got to wear a corset from Dark Garden and rock out. BTW, that's the SAME corset that Budgie from Sioxsie & the Banshees/The Creatures has worn!
Good stuff coming up ... one of our bootleg heroes, Eric Kleptone from The Kleptones, is guest DJing at both Bootie parties, in LA and SF. And we've got a bunch of rowdy Brits coming to San Francisco for the Bootie British Invasion, doing Bastard USA in the upstairs lounge. Can't wait!
And then we're heading to New York for a couple DJ gigs, in anticipation of doing Bootie NYC. Woo-hoo!
There's the update ... like I said, lots of good stuff ...
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Wednesday, 27 September 2006
If a picture says a thousand words, then this is a 3000 word blog entry!
Been busy, as usual, so no blog update in a month. Ooops, sorry. Life keeps getting in the way of Writing About Life.
Got my journal from this year's Burning Man in the works, along with some musings regarding our Bootie French Revolution party, not to mention Smash-Up Derby at the Folsom Street Fair.
In the meantime, though, here are some pix. A 3000 word blog entry right here!
Visors are the new cowboy hats. Me at Burning Man, showing off my handywork. PDFs of all of this year's issues of Piss Clear are archived on the web site -- click here -- and scroll down.
My favorite pic from September's Bootie party, with DJ Zebra on stage surrounded by, um ... some very happy club people! One of my favorite guest DJ sets ever.
I am totally airborne in this photo. I love jumping off of drum risers! Playing at Folsom Street Fair was so much fun ... and Trixxie got us hooked up with totally gorgeous Stormy Leather corsets for this show. I want to wear mine ALL the time. I got to pretend like I was fucking a furry on stage while singing "I wanna fuck you like an animal" -- but I'm saving those pix for my next blog entry. But you can get a sneak peek here.
More later. For realz.
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Monday, 21 August 2006
My month of stress is over!
Well, August is almost over, and I survived, with my sanity and relationship relatively intact. DAMN.
It was just NON-STOP there for a while ... mostly gearing up for our MASSIVE Bootie 3-Year Anniversary Pirate Ball, which turned out to be the biggest party of our career. Over 1000 people there, with over half of them dressed up in some sort of pirate attire! Nine DJs, three performances to coordinate, plus, Smash-Up Derby performed a fucking mashup rock opera ...yes, we finally did Dean Gray: American Edit - The Theatrical Experience. It's been a dream of mine to perform that as a stage show, and with Foxy Cotton's help, we pulled it off!
The party was absolutely INSANE -- I practically had a nervous breakdown about four hours before the doors opened, and afterwards, I needed two days to recover. There was just SO MUCH going on, and so many little details to stay on top of. But it was A GREAT NIGHT, so much fun. I feel immensely proud. 
Two weeks prior to the party, the San Francisco Bay Guardian's annual Best of the Bay issue came out, and Bootie was voted "Best Dance Club" in its Readers Poll. To say that we were ecstatic would be an understatement! Over the past three years, we have worked so hard to create a party that is as fun and as mashed-up as the music we play there.
What surprised us the most is that this award didn't go to a nightclub venue (as it has in years past) but to just a single club night -– and one that happens only once a month! For a genre as wonderfully niche as bootlegs and mashups, it's a testament to the vitality of the Bay Area bastard pop scene that a club devoted to such a specific style of music could win this award. Plus, Smash-Up Derby won an Editor's Pick award, for "Best Slayer Meets Tori Amos." The great thing was that we all got to go to the Best of Bay award party!
So, in the midst of all of this, I also hosted "Smashed & Trashed" mashup night at Trannyshack, and did Bootie LA with DJ Tripp. Oh yeah, and then right after the Bootie Pirate Ball, I had to start working on Piss Clear, the newspaper I publish out at Burning Man every year. 60 hours of work in four days ... I ended up sleeping at my office one night! 
I was stuck there for 36 hours straight, working on that damn thing. But I think we've got a pretty good run of issues this year. I especially like the cover of the obligatory Drug Issue that Eric Shutterslut shot. Yes, that's my tongue.
But now that's all done, and really, all I have to do this week is get ready for Burning Man, and get all my ducks in a row for Bootie LA (the one we'll be missing while we're in Black Rock City) and the Bootie SF that happens six days after we get back from the desert.
Packing for Burning Man should be easy ... this is my 14th year, and I pretty much already have everything. The thing D and I are really excited about this year though, is that we're going to be DJing for the first time out there! 
We're doing Bootie BRC on Thursday and Friday night! Woo-hoo! Black Rock City really needs some dance music that's not JUST trance and techno ... and we're happy to bring the flava! It should be a blast. Plus, we're camping with a bunch of cute gay boys who are bringing a big 16-foot dome, so for once, we'll have a cool chill space in front of our camp.
Damn, it is SOOO NICE to have a week of relative calm before heading off to the desert. Time to breath, get all our shit together, not have the stress and anxiety of a looming deadline always bearing down on you. Ugh ... because that's what the past month has been like! Anyway, still got lots to do, so I'm not going to write a book here ... just a lil' update before I head off to Black Rock City.
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Wednesday, 19 July 2006
Yikes! I'm going to be very busy for the next month...
I've got a blip of free time right now as I wait for the editors to give me articles to layout here at my day job at the Bay Area Reporter. So I figure I better blog now while I'm thinking about it, because looking at my schedule for the next month or so, I am very soon going to have NO TIME for anything other than work stuff. It's all GOOD work stuff -- in other words, it's all MY work -- but it's still work.
Bootie post-party report
Bootie was last weekend, and it was a CRAZY NIGHT! Aaaaigh!
We got a good crowd early (cheaper admission before 10:30, plus the kids still love those free CDs to the first 50 people) which was nice for Smash Hitley, our special live guest from Toronto. He played keyboard live, which triggered various audio and video samples. Pretty cool ... definitely the most art-damaged Bootie performance we've ever had!
I must say, I really enjoyed Dada's set beforehand. Now that Smash-Up Derby is playing every month, he saves the rock mashups for the band. Most of the second half of his DJ set was very dancey, which I've been groovin' on. You can listen to an audio stream of the whole evening here.
Speaking of the band, we opened up with "Smells Like Billie Jean" for the very first time (it's always been our set closer). And we tried out a couple of new ones: a version of Earworm's Depeche Mode vs. Goldfrapp (we dubbed it "Personal Trained Jesus") and Tripp's Cure vs. George Michael "Close To Faith" (which didn't work as a DJ mix, but was great for a live band.) We also did "Don't Stop Believin' 1979" (Journey vs. Smashing Pumpkins) which we LOVE doing. The audio on the webcast sounds like shit (the vocals are always WAY TOO LOUD) and you can hear every bad note me and Trixxie hit, but trust me ... it ROCKED live!
Mysterious D and Party Ben both were there excellent selves. I especially dug D's set, as she mixed up some new faves with older "Bootie classics." Then it was time for our very sexy midnight mashup show, featuring Nicorette and Miss Glittorus (two very real girls, not drag queens) as feuding bi-curious baton twirling cheerleaders! Woo-hoo! Plus, it was fun to see Steven Satyricon, our gay go-go dancer, pretend to be a straight jock. So wrong!
After that, DJ Earworm was up, with a selection of mashups that seemed to be mixed with either electro or 70s rock. Yes, that was a Steely Dan mashup in his mix, along with Kelly Clarkson singing with the Doobie Brothers (soon to be a Bootie Top 10 exclusive!)
The crowd was kinda insane ... and definitely having a good time. We had a little over 800 people there over the course of the evening. A lot of new peeps, but familiar faces in the house as well. A totally fun night ... including the after-party at our house until 7 AM. Can't wait for the 3-Year Anniversary Pirate Ball next month!
So much to do over the next four weeks!
Of course, putting together this Bootie 3-Year Anniversary Pirate Ball is going to be kinda crazy. Gotta mix and burn 500 CDs, send out press kits, set up a liquor promo, make new decorations, just a zillion little things.
And Smash-Up Derby is mounting a fucking mashup rock opera! It's been a dream of mine to do a theatrical interpretation of the Green Day bootleg album Dean Gray - American Edit. It's sorta started off as a joke, but now it's taken on a life of its own. And then Foxy Cotton did this epic performance art-like lip-sync to "Dr. Who On Holiday" at our first Bootie at DNA Lounge back in March, and I just saw all these possibilities. So now Foxy and I are conceptualizing this mini rock opera. I know we're over-reaching here, and what I visualize is so ambitious, that there's no way we're going to be able to pull it off as nearly as epic as I envision. But even if we get half-way there, it's still going to be really cool.
Smash-Up Derby is in the studio!
Besides that, Smash-Up Derby is also in the midst of recording a ton of new mashups. Last night we were at Coast Recorders until 3 AM, laying down all the basic tracks. We got 11 songs down before we burnt out. Tonight we start working on overdubs, vocals, basic mixing, etc. Hopefully, in a month or so, we'll have everything mixed and mastered.
As it stands right now, the plan is to possibly release this as a full-length CD. Of course, for what we're doing, song licensing is a bothersome nuisance, so we'll probably be doing this underground style -- at least until we can find some sucker who wants to pay all the publishing companies and lawyers that represent the songs we're bastardizing! Where's our rich sugar daddy who wants to bankroll Smash-Up Derby?
I should be SO be on Rock Star: Supernova
My latest TV obsession has been the second season of Rock Star, the rock singer version of American Idol. Last year, it was basically a talent search for the new singer for INXS. Kinda creepy, but it made for great television. This year, it's a search for a singer for a new band called Supernova, formed by Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Gilby Clarke (Guns 'N Roses), and Jason Newsted (Metallica).
Watching this show is an exercise in frustration and masochism though. You see, back in March or so, I checked the Rock Star web site, to see what was up with the second season, and what one had to do to get on the show. That's when I found out that I had missed the San Francisco auditions by just a week! FUCK!
At the time, I was like, "oh well, whatever." But now that the show is airing, and I'm seeing who made it on to the show, I'm so mad at myself for blowing my chance to audition! Adding insult to injury, Storm Large, who used to live in San Francisco (she's now in Portland) and who my old band, Blue Period, played with a couple of times, is on the show! She's an amazing singer and she totally DESERVES to be there -- and I hope she wins -- but to see a colleague of mine on the show just rubs salt in the wound. Grrrrrrr....
And most of the people who made the final 15 contestants kinda suck. The women are interesting, but most of the guys are kinda generic, and half of them can't sing or have zero stage presence. I should SOOOO be on this show! I'm not saying I'd win ... I may have attitude and personality in spades, but Storm can easily sing circles around me. But I have a feeling I'd get pretty far -- and just think of the boost it would have done for Smash-Up Derby's career! DAMN. Oh well, maybe there's next year. Not sure how many more "rock star years" I've got in me, but ... y'know ... botox and dreadlocks keep you looking young!
Another year, another Burning Man
It's been no secret that I have not exactly been looking forward to Burning Man this year. This is going to be my 14th year on the playa, and my 12th year of publishing Piss Clear, my Black Rock City vanity project-turned-alternative newspaper. And frankly, I guess I'm a little burnt out. There are already too many good things going on in my Real Life right now ... therefore, another trip out into a pretend desert dystopia just ain't what it used to be.
Still, I'm going anyway. And in fact, I'm finally starting to warm up to it, after nearly a year of being a big sourpuss about it. Eric Shutterslut has assembled a whole team of gay boys to camp with us ... so many, that we may as well call our camp "Piss Queer." The best part? They're bringing a nice 16-foot dome for the front of our camp, so we'll have a much nicer "meet-and-greet" area than we usually do.
My printer deadline for Piss Clear is much earlier than it usually is, which sucks. I'm really going to have to hustle to get everything finished, and I'm not looking forward to the inevitable all-nighter I'm sure I'll end up pulling to get it all done. However, the good news is then I'll have two weeks of relative calm before we head out to the desert, and I'll need that time to do all the pre-production prep for Bootie and Bootie LA, before I go check out of Real Life for a week.
Oh, and I plan on checking out! Me and D both need it! Last year, I had the flu for the first few days of Burning Man, and it sucked. This year, I plan to make up for lost time, and I'm going to party like crazy the first few days ... and then become more sober as the week wears on. We're doing Bootie BRC out there, and I'm looking forward to actually DJing on the playa. How crazy is it that there are so many DJs out there, yet we've never spun a set at Burning Man?
Okay, that's more of an update than I've done in MONTHS. Now it's time to get back to work!
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Saturday, 01 July 2006
It sucks to have so many opportunities
"Yeah, it sucks to have so many opportunities." *said in jaded sarcastic tone of voice*
This has been the catchphrase of my life these past few months. I've been busy as all get out, just keeping my head above water, really. Remember when I used to update this blog? And there's been so much lately ... gigs, shows, trips, clubs, blah blah blah... SF, LA, NYC, DC, Seattle... did I leave anywhere out?
Basically, if you've seen me, it's because: A) you were at a party or club that I was working at ... either working, like DJing, or "working," like promoting; B) you're in my band, C) you work at the Bay Area Reporter, or; D) you're Deidre.
So much good stuff ... but a lot of stress and drama that goes with it, along with two near nervous breakdowns. All the while trying not to bitch about any of it because, let's face it, even if it sometimes really does sorta suck to have so many opportunities, no one wants to hear about it.
Anyway, suffice to say, a big long update should be coming soon ... or at least some edited highlights with pictures and stuff. As much as I like to write, I'm sure not very prolific at it. At least not when there are CDs to mix, flyers to design, songs to learn, parties to promote, mashups to make, etc.
More to come...
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Wednesday, 24 May 2006
Long overdue for an update
Yeah, yeah, I know, I am definitely long overdue for an update. There's just been so much going on ... trips to New York City, LA, Washington DC ... Bootie parties, Smash-Up Derby shows, DJ gigs ... along with just a wee bit of drama.
Well, the big update is still going to be overdue. But I thought I'd at least try to address that last part – yes, the drama part – because it seems like EVERYONE in our little local San Francisco nightlife scene is talking about it. And I'm sure a few people are coming here to my blog to see if I've written anything about a certain unfortunate after-party "incident." This is all I've got to say regarding the matter:
Suffice to say, we've been trying to amicably resolve this situation internally, with as little drama as possible. We try to defuse drama, rather than create more. Therefore, if you've heard about it, chances are good that you've only heard ONE SIDE of the story. Please keep that in mind before forming an opinion.
Obviously, this blog is not really the proper forum to discuss this sort of thing. If you really want to know more, you can always ask me directly.
More to come ...
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Tuesday, 25 April 2006
Trannyshack Reno 2006
This was my 9TH YEAR on this trip. I think I'm the only person with "perfect attendence."
So let's just say, after the balls-out insanity that was the Bootie party the night before (900+ people!), this year's Reno trip was a nice little vacation from our usually nightclubbing responsibilities. Not that it was a TOTAL vacation, because I still had to keep it together enough to at least DJ that night at the 1099 Club, and run sound for the show.The sound in that place sucked, and my live vocal number was a disaster. Whatever. Not that anyone cared. What a weird DJ gig. I did get tipped out $40 by one of the Reno locals though, so I must have been at least picked out some decent songs, as I attempted to beat-match off of a CD walkman (which, BTW, doesn't work).
Lots of chit-chatting and socializing ... guaranteed cocktail party in a metal box on wheels, careening at 60 mph down the highway. Yup, summer camp for freaks. Except that it was TOTAL winter. How winter? So winter that coming back, from Reno on Sunday, Interstate 80 was closed due to a snowstorm. We had to take a detour along Highway 50, which required putting snow chains on the bus. It took 10 HOURS to get back home to San Francisco. Ugh. Good thing I napped half the way home.
The ride back was a bit mellower this year. I think everyone partied so hard on the way up, that they burned themselves out. Remember people, it's a marathon, not a sprint!
Tomorrow, I leave for NEW YORK CITY! The last time I was there was 11 years ago. Woo-hoo!
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Wednesday, 19 April 2006
I went to London and all I got was ... a DJ gig at Uber, £500 worth of clothes, and a glowing review of the Trannyshack movie
Our trip to London was a glorious whirlwind of gigging, singing, shopping, and schmoozing – four days and four nights – and if we had stayed any longer, there'd be no money left in my bank account. Damn you, exchange rate! The U.K. pound is SOOOOO much stronger than the U.S. dollar right now – and you can tell. London is definitely having its go-go boom right now.
Everywhere you go, you can feel the buzz and energy of a city alive and flush with money – and all the activity, culture, and excitement that goes with it. Construction cranes are everywhere, clubs are packed, things are HAPPENING. Definitely an interesting time to live in London, that's for sure.
We were there to DJ at an electro/bootleg club called Uber, at 93 Feet East, and to see the new edit of the Trannyshack movie, now called Filthy Gorgeous, and screening as part of the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. I also performed that night in the Trannyshack show at the Horse Meat Disco in Vauxhall. Oh yeah, and I did some shopping at Camden Stables Market. Fuck, did I go shopping!
Always fly non-stop
We flew non-stop (after our Paris trip debacle, when we got stuck at Heathrow for 7 hours, I vowed never to fly transatlantic with a layover ever again.) and I slept on the plane, so when we arrived, I was shockingly not jet-lagged. We got there a few hours ahead of Jason and Lynda, who we were sharing a rented flat with. So we took the Piccadilly train into the city and got the keys to our place, which was on Old Compton Street, smack in the heart of Soho. 
I ran down to the Tesco market and picked up some beer, cider, and snacks, and got settled in. Jason and Lynda finally arrived, and we walked over to Marty's hotel, a few blocks away. Turns out Kennedy was staying at the same hotel, so we paid her a visit, before heading off in search of food. Marty and Jason were hell-bent on having traditional English fare – bangers and mash, basically. So we walked around for over an hour, trying to find a suitable restaurant. Soho is like the United Nations of restaurants – we found everything EXCEPT a traditional English restaurant. And when we did, it was, sorry to say, incredibly bland – after all, it's English food.
That evening, we went to the Intrepid Fox, a dark rock 'n' roll pub, and had a beer before it closed at 11 pm. Then we hooked up with Kennedy and headed over to Misshapes, at The Ghetto. It's the same venue where Nag Nag Nag happens, the electro club we really wanted check out, but missed by one night. Still, it was a fun party ... lots of girls with fauxhawks, very indie-queer, yet still mixed with some gay boys and straights. The DJs played a fun mix of indie/pop party tunes, and I must say, it's really weird to see an entire club of hipsters singing along to Kelly Clarkson and Gwen Stefani. (American kitzch? Sometimes, it's hard the tell the difference between irony and genuine adoration.)
I went up to the DJ booth to introduce myself and give them an A+D CD. To my shock, the DJ says, "I know who you are!" Then she opens the CD, looks at the track listing, and tell me that she plays "Decepta-Freak-On" and "An Honest M.I.A." along with a few others. WOW. Two songs later, she drops our Le Tigre vs. Missy mashup, and I gotta say, it's awfully gratifying to be halfway around the world at a hip London nightclub, and to hear your mashup spun for a packed dance floor.
Shop til you drop!
Eventually, Lynda and I walked home, but Deidre and Jason stayed out late. Although we were all mysteriously awake by 9 AM the next morning. Jet lag manifests itself in weird ways. So what do we do? We go shopping! We hopped the tube to Camden Town, and walked over the Stables Market, where I ditched everyone. I was power-shopping! I spent two hours at the Cyberdog store, trying on everything that caught my eye. Then I was off to my other favorite clothing boutique, Spank, where I spent another two hours. Finally, I made a quick stop at Punkyfish, and then got the hell out of there, before I broke my self-imposed £600 limit.
But I got fashions I simply cannot get anywhere else. Hell, I still wear the Cyberdog and Spank clothes I bought there five years ago. It's not like these things will ever go out of fashion, because they were never IN fashion, at least not here. But it's just the sort of cybergoth shit that I love. Cybergoth – not so much into the music ... but I LOVE the clothes!
That night was our gig at Uber, which is at 93 Feet East, way out in the East End. We got a little lost trying to get there, but it's on Brick Lane, a hip block of clubs and Indian restaurants. We walked in, and five minutes later, I'm singing "Sweet Dreams" with faux queen Holestar, as we had to sound check for our duet later that evening. Oh. My. God. It sounded fucking great. We had never met before in real life, and immediately, we're singing like we've been doing this number together for years. Brilliant.
Several bootleggers from GYBO were there, and it was SUCH a pleasure to meet them all! Holestar, Starsky, Churchill, Ian Fondue, The Doctor from Boom Selection, his girlfriend Harry ... we all went out for Indian food, which was so damn good. There were leftovers, and there was no way I was leaving it. So I got a doggy bag, which apparently no one does in the U.K., but fuck it. There's nothing I love more than coming home drunk and eating leftovers.
So Uber was interesting. In the main room was Poj Masta, spinning an amazing electro set that I'm sad I missed most of. Our room was the Pink Bar, which was actually perfect for us. Phil, of Phil n' Dog fame, said: "Oh, they're gonna love you. Just be American!" At the time, we had no idea what that meant. After DJ Payroll (the promoter and booker of Uber) spun an electro-heavy set, we got off to an unsure start, but then we figured it out. "American" means lots of rap and hip-hop. So we ended up just slipping into "Bootie Greatest Hits" mode, and it went off great. Princess Kennedy and Jordan L'Moore showed up around 10:30 to do their "impromptu" lip-syncs, which actually turned out to be a bit too early in the night. I don't think people were drunk enough yet. But by the end of our set, there were girls dancing on tables – always a good sign.
At 12:30, Holestar and I did our Eurythmics vs. White Stripes mashup duet, which went over quite well. Then I introduced her, and she closed out the night with a live set of indie vs. techno mashups. At 1 AM, it was all over -- which was TOO EARLY! However, just like at Bootie, out on the sidewalk outside the club, everyone was making plans for the afterparty. Starsky was kind enough to offer up his apartment as an afterparty pad, and we all piled in a minicab. TBC interviewed us in the back of the cab for his Radio Clash podcast show -- which you can listen to HERE -- and after making a quick pit stop to procure some off-license liquor (I'm still not sure what that means, exactly) we were there. We hung out until the wee morning hours, drinking, chit-chatting, trading stories ... we were eventually treated to an impromptu DJ set from Josh Console! We didn't get home until 8 AM!
After some pub grub for dinner, we parted ways, and D and I headed off to a club night in Hoxton called Family. There, we met up with Jonty Skrufff, of Skrufff.com fame, and listened to some obscure electro, which was nice, if not a little anonymous sounding. Good crowd, good mix ... a very "in the know" crowd, to be sure. We saw lots of people NOT able to get in. Didn't WE feel special?
Afterwards, we were going to hook up with Kennedy and go to Duckie in the Southbank ... but our minicab driver had absolutely no idea where he was going, and when we ended up crossing the river back into Soho, we just said fuck it. I had to direct him around London in order to get us back to our Soho flat. "How long have you lived in London?" he asked. "Uh ... three days," I replied. Now I see why you shouldn't take minicabs if you don't have to. That cab ride cost us £20, which ended up being like $36.
The new edit of the Trannyshack movie is great!
Filthy Gorgeous is tightly-edited, quick-paced, and utterly fascinating from start-to-finish. Practically all the problems that plagued the first cut have been fixed. Somehow, despite cramming more in, they still managed to cut the running time down by 20 minutes. It's an exhilarating documentary, and really captures the spirit of Trannyshack, not to mention the history and several amusing anecdotes and characters. Everyone in the Trannyshack scene should be really happy with it.
After this plays the festival circuit, I can totally see this getting picked up for distribution. At least I hope so. They're going to major bucks from a distributor in order to clear all the music anyway, which looks like it's going to be a nightmare. Sure, getting someone like Peaches to sign off on "Rock Star" (which, I'm happy to say is still my performance in the opening credits) will be easy and reasonable compared to getting Kiss to let them use "Do You Love Me?" for the closing credits (which I'm sure if they said yes, would still cost an arm-and-a-leg.) And that version of "Star-Spangled Banner" at the beginning that features Deer pulling an American flag out of her ass? Forget about it. Better start booking some people right now to record cover versions to use in the film! (By the way, Smash-Up Derby is totally available and works for cheap.)
Although Deidre brought up an interesting point, in defense of the filmmakers. She says that explaining the sort of drag that happens at Trannyshack already required an 80-minute documentary. But putting faux queens into the mix just confuses the matter even more, and that it's too hard to explain to "normal" people. See, to us, faux queens are just another piece of the puzzle. I was like, "just add a five-minute segment about it!" But Deidre says it's too much to explain. Perhaps she's right. Still, I miss the faux queens, and wish they could have been represented more in the film.
But seriously, other than this minor qualm, everything about the movie is totally brilliant. There's a little bit of nearly everything, and I can't wait to see if and how this elevates our little underground drag scene.
I was in the second show, which was fine, because the crowd was more drunk! I did my Smash-Up Derby medley, which Holestar was going to join me on vocals, but there was only one microphone. So we traded off lines on "Tainted Love" and then I tried to lean back so she could do backups with me on the rest of the number. And then the microphone kept cutting out. Like I said, janky. But it didn't matter, because the crowd was TOTALLY into it. They were singing along to EVERYTHING. Princess Kennedy joined us on stage, and together, the three of us just rocked it out as best we could. The confetti batons didn't go off like they were supposed to, but it didn't matter -- the crowd loved it anyway!
Most of the other Trannyshackers were staying in London a few more days, but we were all leaving in the morning, so we said our goodbyes ... when we left, Holestar, who had just moved to London from Vienna, was chit-chatting with Suppositori Spelling, who also just moved there! (We're going to miss her....)
When we woke up the next day, Jason and Lynda had already left. I miss our little Soho pad... other than the fact that there was no elevator (and we were on the fourth floor) it was a really great place to stay. (And only about $45 a day for each of us) We met up with Kennedy at the tube station and headed off to the airport. It was probably one of the best trips we've had in a long time... and I still never ended up all that jet-lagged!
All of our London photos are here
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Tuesday, 21 March 2006
First blog entry in two fucking months!
I gotta admit – maybe I'm just not cut out for the blogging shit.
I mean, damn, it's been like TWO MONTHS since I last wrote anything for this here blog. But it's not like it's because I have nothing going on. In fact, it's just the opposite. TOO MUCH is going on – at least, too much for me to sit down and waste an hour writing about it all. Not when there are clubs to promote, mashups to make, bands to sing with, and parties to go to!
Okay, so what the fuck has been going on? Well ... mostly club and DJ stuff, which is all good. There's now something Bootie-related three out of four weekends a month: Bootie SF, Bootie LA, and Mini-Bootie at Pop Roxx. So there's always a steady stream of "projects" to do, which is keeps us busy. Stuff like...
Seems like we're ALWAYS working on the club in some form or another. Yes, Bootie is our baby – and the baby has been needing lots of attention lately. We had our grand re-opening at DNA Lounge on March 10th. It was a big move for us, moving to a venue that's three times the size. Mysterious D had a theory that if we moved Bootie to a bigger space, that more people would simply magically come. Party Ben and I were a bit worried when we initially made the decision two months ago to move Bootie to DNA Lounge – the space is huge, and we had gotten used to the crammed, cozy confines of Cherry Bar/Annie's ... but damn, that girl was right!
The night was full, and I feel like we definitely still kept that friendly Bootie "vibe," despite the bigger size. Friendly, mashed-up crowd, lots of smiling faces, and a LOT of dancing. Trying to clear the stage for each drag performance was rough, because everyone wanted to jump up there and dance! The Lusty Lady go-go dancers added a sexy touch, without being all bimbo-hoochie (they're VERY Suicide Girls, which we like). Go-go 'it boy' Steven Satyricon was back, now that we have go-go platforms for him! And people were just nuts!
DJ Dada broke out from his "rock mashup" thing and got a dance floor going 20 minutes after we opened the doors! DAMN! Mad props to him ... I thought he spun a great set of choice mashes that bridged the gap between rock and dance. Smash-Up Derby went on around 11:30, and it took us a couple songs to find our groove, but when we did, it felt so ON. Princess Kennedy hopped on stage to go-go dance with us, but rocking out in 5-inch stiletto heels is rough! She accidentally fell onto my co-singer Trixxie, and they both toppled onto Jason, our guitarist – during his big Nirvana guitar solo on "Smells Like Billie Jean" –- and he didn't miss a note! It was brilliant. I'm going to love being in the house band!
Party Ben and Mysterious D did most of the spinning that night, as I was running around like crazy trying to run things! I really need to hire a floor manager next month, because it was actually NO FUN for me trying to crack the whip to make sure all the shows and sets went off on time (which they didn't). But still, we had two of the best mashup shows ever, with Foxy Cotton doing a very conceptual performance to Dean Gray's "Dr. Who On Holiday" that actually was a bit political, and Glamamore, Suppositori Spelling, and Hoku Mama Swamp performing to our own "Beethoven's Fifth Gold Digger," which involved lots of ghetto fabulous posturing. Suppositori Spelling is moving to London next month, so watch out UK, that's all I can say!
At 3 AM, we finally shut down, closing the night once again with Arty Fufkin's "We Belong Together Time After Time." Trixxie Carr had made a whole bunch of pirate decorations for us, and thankfully, they were real easy to take down. We taxied over to the after-party which was NOT at Party Ben's! (He had to fly to Nebraska the next morning ... hey, I thought the only reason we moved the club was to be CLOSER to Ben's for the after-party!)
Anyway, D and I were on such a high for the next few days ... it was a great night ... even though it was freezing cold outside, and it even snowed (which it never does in San Francisco). Can't wait for next month!
London or Bust!
But before the next Bootie, we're heading off to London next week, where we're going to be guest DJing at Uber, an electro/bootleg night put on by DJ Payroll at 93 Feet East, a very cool club in the East End.
This just so happens to fall on the same weekend as the London screening of the Trannyshack movie in the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (It's been recently re-edited and re-titled Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story). Of course, with London being overrun by a bunch of San Francisco drag queens, that pretty much sealed the deal for us. We just HAD to go! So it should be a pretty exciting, whirlwind weekend.
We've rented a flat in Soho with Jason El Diablo and Miss Lynda, and we're all flying over there next Wednesday. Princess Kennedy and our friend Marty are also on the same flight! This is going to be a blast! I'm going to be singing a number at Uber with Holestar – she's a faux queen – and again at the post-screening Trannyshack show at Horse Meat Disco. Definitely mixing business with pleasure on this trip. And I cannot wait to go shopping at Camden Stables Market. Last time I was in London, I spent about $1000 on clothes from Cyberdog, Spank, Combination, and Vicious ... my favorite streetwear fashion labels from the UK. I've been saving up, so don't be surprised if you see me in some new cybergoth duds in April!
I can't believe we're blowing off Bootie LA for London
Yup, we're playing hooky from Bootie LA so we can go to London. This is why we have co-promoters, right? Paul V. and Party Ben will be babysitting for us on Saturday, April 1st, and I'm sure it's all going to be fine. It does feels weird to throw a club without being there though.
But not in LA. Apparently, there are still a lot of people who have yet to hear the sort of mashups that we throw down, so it's still exciting and new. They're really actively participatory – when I send out an email to our Bootie LA list, they actually click on the mashup links. People come up and request mashups that they know you've created. Obscure stuff too! I couldn't believe it when someone came up to request the A plus D mashup, "Real Big Time."
And when Smash-Up Derby played there in February, it was insane! We really need to get our asses down there more often. If only gas wasn't so expensive...
Speaking of the little mashup band that could ... funny how we're starting to get some really good gigs lately. Yes, the band that I pretty much started for shits and giggles, when my career-oriented band Blue Period died a hard death. Besides the Bootie gigs that I set up for us, we're starting to get some really good shows coming our way. About a month ago we played a private party at Great American Music Hall, and we felt like total rock stars. We played every single song we know (about an hour and ten minutes worth, as it turned out) and they loved it. Even got tipped out at the end. Woo-hoo!
I'm starting to realize that I need to send our promo kit not to venues, but to corporate event planners. That's where the money – not to mention our audience – really is!
Two days later we opened up for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and we got a great response. We definitely felt the love! It's always weird being in a cover band (admittedly, a very fucked-up cover band, but still) playing with bands that are doing original music – but we always seem to win people over.
Some gigs in the works for Washington D.C. and Seattle ... hopefully they'll come through.
Other random things going on
• Secret CD Project #2 is finally finished. We sent it off to the manufacturer last week. I can't wait for this thing to get out there. Definitely a step up from the last one ... and the cover is all kinds of parody brilliance. I giggle everytime I look at it!
• We played a DJ gig for Yahoo, and a week later flew to San Diego for another Yahoo party. Now that the term "mashup" has been appropriated by the tech geeks, we're getting hired for all $orts of corporate gig$. Trust me, I'm not complaining.
• Marcy Meow moved away. I miss her. (But I have a sneaky feeling that she'll be back.)
• We finally got digital cable and a DVR! Woo-hoo, so high-tech, so "the future is now." I mean, having your life revolve around when a particular TV show comes on (I'm talking to you, Project Runway. And you too, Lost) is soooo last century. Tivo rocks.
• I wish Santino had won Project Runway. I don't care what anyone says, he was our favorite. We even ordered the Santino t-shirt.
• We're seeing Vitalic on Thursday. And Pop Roxx is this Saturday! DJ Oli from the UK will be joining us on the decks!
• We leave for London in a week! Aaaaiggh! I'm glad we just got new cell phones that work over there ... oh yeah, and MP3 ringtones that you can create yourself pretty much rock! Of course, my ringtone is our own "Call Me Hung Up" mashup. Why yes, I AM a dork.
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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:
Yes, I must admit, we're addicted to this show. We love staying home on Wednesday nights now! Because then, right after Lost, it's ... my new favorite show on television: Project Runway. As the SF Bay Guardian just wrote, this show makes Queer Eye for the Straight Guy look like Monday Night Football! In other words ... I LURV IT!! We love Santino ... definitely this season's reality TV breakout star. (And he reminds us a little of our friend Mr. Anthony – only much bitchier.)20:50 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
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!
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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Wednesday, 14 December 2005
I went to Europe and all I saw was the inside of a nightclub
At the end of November, me and the Mysterious D, along with Party Ben, flew to Paris for a couple of DJ gigs.
However, the minute we got back, we had to hit the ground running, with DJ gigs at two corporate holiday parties, followed by back-to-back Bootie weekends, first in LA, and then here in SF. Plus, there were two random Club Six gigs, including D and Ben DJing at the Live 105 Not-So-Silent-Night Afterparty with Princess Superstar! So, in other words, it's been a bit difficult finding time over the past two weeks to get around to blogging about our European travels.
But you know, it wasn't like DJing in Paris and Amsterdam was any less whirlwind than DJing here! People keep asking us how Europe was, and all I really remember are nighttime scenes. We saw so little of daylight while we were there! We got there on a Wednesday afternoon, and DJ Zebra picked us up at the airport. We valiantly tried to be social and stay awake through our jet-lag, but eventually, our bodies had had enough. Ben stayed with Zebra, and D and I cabbed over to Marco's apartment in the St. Germain de Pres – mind you, this is the first time we actually met Marco. We'd only ever had e-mail contact! But he turned out to be the Best Host Ever, giving us his bed while he slept on the pull-out sofa in the living room, and letting us use his computer whenever we wanted. Very convenient.
Anyway, after twelve hours of sleep, I was feeling refreshed and ready to hit the town. D, on the other hand, had some sort of horrible stomach flu or food poisoning or something. The same thing happened to both of us back in 2000, when we flew to London. We're wondering if it has something to do with airplane food and 10 hours of transatlantic flight, if it fucks with your body somehow. Anyway, she was pretty much out for the whole afternoon, while I ran around Paris with Ben and Zebra trying to figure out how to buy a train ticket to Amsterdam, so we could get to our gig the next day. We eventually went to the Gare du Nord train station, and thankfully, Zebra was able to help me get a ticket – even working us into first class for the first leg of our Thalys train trip to Brussels. Woo-hoo!
That night, D was feeling better, so Marco made us pasta for dinner. We gotta remember stuff like that. You see, anytime we ever have an out-of-town guest DJ, we usually just take them out to eat. But we realized HOW NICE it was to have a simple home-cooked meal. It was real cozy and sweet, and we totally appreciated it. Marco rocked!
After zipping over to InterFrance, the radio station where Party Ben was being interviewed, we all went to the Rex Club, where several electro DJs were spinning. It ... was ... great! Me and D and Ben are all sitting around, LOVING the music, and realizing that we own a good many of the tracks being spun: "My Friend Dario" by Vitalic, a very cool Kaiser Chiefs remix, Mylo, some other obscure electro stuff – and we're wondering – why isn't there a club in San Francisco that plays this same sort of stuff? Electro is obviously alive and well and Europe – why is it so dead in SF? Are there places spinning this that we just don't know about? I mean, I guest DJed at Future at the Underground, and I know Earworm drops quite a bit of electro into his sets. But is there any electro SCENE? I resolved right then and there, that night at the Rex Club, that I'm going to start a new electro club in San Francisco – and I don't care if only 20 people show up. I really want to spin this music.
So anyway, at around 3:30 AM, D and I left everyone and cabbed back to Marco's where we ended up having really loud sex – so loud that we didn't hear Marco come home! But when we were done, we saw that the living room light was on ... OOOPS! Two days later, I would apologize to him. He just said, in French-accented English, "Oooh, don't worry. It eeez naturaaaal." I love the French!
The next day, we hauled our tired asses to the train station to hop the Thalys train to Amsterdam. We'd never done the "take a train through Europe" thing, so we were looking forward to it. It only took 4 hours, but the sun sets so early this time of year, that we were only in Amersterdam for an hour before it was dark again. We made our way to the Supperclub, where we were booked to DJ. We walk in, and no one knows what to do with us. Eventually, I wander around and ask someone where I can find Bob. He points me upstairs to the office, and when we walk in, Bob greets us warmly, but then says, "Wait! It's the 25th already? Hold on, let me make a few phone calls." Turns out, despite our e-mail exchange a week prior, he had forgotten to book us, so he had to rearrange the DJ schedule a little bit. Good thing he was there in the office when we came by!
So we ended up spinning in the downstairs lounge, instead of the restaurant, which was exactly where we wanted to be anyway. (We don't exactly specialize in the sort of chilled, trip-hop, lounge-house thing that gets s