a dragon by any other name
I often wake up earlier in summer than I do in colder months. I find this to be especially true on Sunday’s. I have always held the 7th day in great regard. It seems to me we should all have something (at the very least) that makes us rejoice in its arrival. For me the rejoicing comes every Sunday at sunrise. And I aint just sayin that cuz it looks dope on paper either.
Today I linger (under the sheets) longer than usual. I can hear the early morning train making its slow decent north and a part of me goes along with that sound, wishing I too had a destination. I think about a million tiny things that I have to figure out soon. I pull the covers over my head and try to imagine a calm easy fix. When I open my eye’s there’s no magic lamp in sight, so I get up and take a shower before I lose interest.
I move in silence from the bed to the shower, from the shower to the closet and back to the bathroom to inspect myself in the mirror. I read somewhere once that you should smile in the mirror every morning. I think about this as I quiz the face staring back at me. “How did we get here”? I ask, the answer is always the same, so I don’t bother waiting for it.
Instead of reading the paper or turning on the television I turn on my computer and start to look for music for tonight’s show. I am doing this when a friend calls to invite me to breakfast. I’m a sucker for breakfast and good company so I say yes and leave to meet him.
We probably talk for 20 minutes before we even order. I’m always happy when people don’t trip that I jump from topic to topic with little room for transition when I have lots to say. In between sips of coffee I get sleepy again. As I listen to him talk, I suddenly have the urge to curl up next to him and fall asleep while he finishes his thoughts. This has nothing to do with being bored, I’m just comfortable with people who speak from the soul and don’t edit themselves for fear of being judged. Comfort for me = sleepy. So it’s actually a compliment if while in your presence I suddenly need a nap. HA….
But I don’t say a word, because that would mean I would have to explain myself, and today I understand me less than I care to admit. So I fight the urge to sleep and listen intently.
Back at home I start to sift through tons of music again. I’m excited that I’ll be spinning not only for musicians I dig, but for the friends we have in common as well.
I sift through the old and the new and make a mental note that at some point during the course of the evening I should drop a neo-retro soul set. I make out like that’s a new idea, but ain’t nothing neo (new) about soul. Right? Right!
I first became acquainted with tonight’s band (Little Dragon) a little over a year ago. I liked them from jump and am more than excited that JQ has asked me to open up for them. The fact of the matter is the old adage (Everybody wants to be a DJ) is true. I recognize and understand that. You’d be hard pressed to get me to even call myself a DJ on most days. I don’t claim to know anything about the fundamentals of Turntabalism. I don’t pretend that what I do is spectacular by any means, but on the real I respect DJ’s more than I can even put into words and the love I have for music is greater than anything I’ve ever deemed artistic.
I remember every song my mother ever played to get me fall asleep as a child. I remember what was on the car radio my first day of kindergarten, where I was the first time I heard Pete Rock and CL Smooth and what I was doing when I heard the news that Marvin Gaye was no longer with us. So to say that I love music is only part of the story.
I share this with you, because that is exactly what I feel I am doing. If you come out to a show and see me standing behind borrowed equipment with a box full of music it is ONLY because I have been asked to SHARE with YOU, and I am up for the challenge. I think about that every time I start to pack up after a night of playing music and someone come’s up to thank me for playing something that made them think, move or reflect. It’s powerful (this music thing) trust me. It has saved my life on more than once occasion. But there are those times when I get schooled at the end of the night too.
Oddly enough, even with my ear for music I have never in my entire life gone up to a DJ at the end of the night and told them everything (I think) they did wrong. Who am I to assume my opinion is that necessary? But alas this is not the case where I am concerned. Even with my explaining to people regularly that I’m not tryin to floss I still get dudes rollin up shaking heads and speaking to me as if I know nothing about Music or the proper ways in which to present it. It’s condescending to say the least, and after awhile you stop remembering the good things people say and only respond to the well meaning would-be experts who posted up in the audience waiting for the right moment to drop science.
The Little Dragon show is no exception. I am nervous and the room smells of sweat and funk (not the good kind either). I focus on setting up and reach for my Nag Champa and light a few cones before I start the night off with a Dilla Instrumental. I slowly drop in some poetry by Etheridge Knight (Hard Rock Returns to Prison). I am starting to mellow out and enjoy the moment when the sound suddenly fades. None of the Bands have had a proper sound check so during my set they check mic levels and vocals and my comfort seems suddenly non-existent. Armen crosses the room to reassure me everything is going to be okay. It’s a good thing I don’t play poker. Eventually I decide to listen to him and just go with the flow.
By the time I drop Tea Leaf Dancer by Flying Lotus all is good. Not only has the keyboard player from Little Dragon come up and asked me what a few joints I’ve played are, but so have several women posted up at the bar. It’s always nice when strangers walk up with a question that does not result in bad requests being denied. I’m just sayin.
As Sunday comes to a close I look for one last song to play before saying goodbye. In the short time span of the evening I was able to share music, introduce one of my favorite people (Armen) as being newly signed to “Waxpoetic” and listen to a band from Sweden that I only learned of a year earlier.
I am in that happy/ comfortable = (sleepy) mode thinking about everything that has happened when a friend walks up and suggests that he soo could show me how to dj. His girl is with him and watches as my face fades from comfortable to embarrassed. I knew he probably meant well, but it was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back. I calmly remove my headphones and mumble that I thought that is what I was doing and then went back to it. What I should have said was “Why would you want to come over here and take the moment from me? You can’t just let me have this? Moments like this keep me from lingering in bed too long and wanting to board trains headed for anywhere that does not resemble this. Who are you to assume it’s not good enough?” But I didn’t say any of those things. I played my last track. Packed up my borrowed equipment and drove home in silence. Accidental or not it still left a mark. Apology or not it still get’s archived in the mind.
A dragon by any other name is still a dragon. If that doesn’t make sense to you, you’ve probably crushed a dream or two in your day.
Be Easy~