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Current mood:  inspired
A friend of mine wrote me asking:
What's the most exhilerating set you've ever played?
After writing the response to her I thought this might be something fun to share. So being that it was written to her some of the grammar might seem kind of weird but here's my response that I wanted to share.
I've been waiting to respond to this to make sure i had enough time to put some thoughts into it.
I guess you could say that there is different forms of exhileration. I'll list the ones that come to mind right off the bat in no particualar order.
1. Tropicana - If there was one that would take the cake this would be it. I argued with the venue owners for an hour to let the party go til 2. They were lied to, so was Andy by Toney from Stoney's skate park. After all the deliberation they agreed to let it go til 2. Luckily my set was from 1-2. I got on and premiered Phokus' and my first track together "Blackhole Burnout". The vibe couldn't have been better. That was a truly definining set musically. I really felt like I hammered the crowd, our track almost tore the roof of the building and on top of all this girl that I was crushing on Pebbles tore of all of her clothes during the peak while dancing on the subs right in front of me during the last 15 mins of my set. We ended up kissing over the decks in front of the whole crowd while the whole place was screaming their heads of. It was truly epic. I'm not usually into girls getting naked at events, djs doing this or that blah blah blah, but it all happened perfectly.
2. The Velour Lounge (chico) - Small place fits 100+ a little more. Played a set there a few years ago that was another defining set as they go. They gave 2 hours and 45 mins to do what I wanted. I dropped some of freshest progressive and dirty breaks that were out and it was this amazing experience. It was a smaller crowd but the place was packed the setting couldn't have been duplicated. Lacey told me after that set that she literally left her body while dancing and felt as if she was floating above it. I think that pretty much sums up the whole place. I later came home and was so inspired that I recorded, "Broken Brown" (http://www.stilldream.org/gamma/music/brokenbrown.mp3), so if you're curious what it sounded like without being there listen to that mix.
3. Blackout - Just one of those sets where I had my finger on the button. I could do know wrong. After a full night of straight bangin techno, I was closing the party from 2-3. Decided to instead of straight keeping with the theme I would end it with some tech trance. I figured people would appreciate the breakdowns and build ups, as well as the melodies after hearing so much full on bangin music. Played some stuff from John 00 Fleming and other artists and literally killed it. It definitely had one of those feelings where the crowd was surging forward during the peeks then hammering them back with the drops. It was this wave effect between my energy, theirs and the music.
4. Bumpin Jumpin Jetrock - Last summer 2008 hadn't played in SF for awhile came back with a new sound, a mixture of techno, breaks and electro where they were all smashed into one. Was playing in the breaks room was supposed to do a tag set with Phokus but he couldn't make it so had the hour to myself. Straight destroyed the place, people didn't know what hit them. Reviews came from a lot of well respected bay area djs with questions like, "What the fuck were you playing, I don't know what its called but I call it Awesome!". Its one thing to have reviews from the fans, and attendees, but when you can turn the heads of seasoned DJs your stepping in the right direction. That night then inspired the mix, "the ebb and glow" (http://www.djgamma.com/sound/gamma_ebb_and_glow.mp3) and has honestly opened the doors to where I'm at now where I just mix whatever the fuck I want these days. Techno, Electro, Breaks, Tech funk, Dubstep you name it. Sometimes I call the sound "Warble Techno", looking to produce some of the stuff so I can pinpoint the sound.
5. Burning Man - Camp IGS - This was just one of the most random sets ever. I had some friends who were supposed to play this gig out at Burning Man out on the Esplanade. I got there, didn't know anyone, introduced myself, they were like oh sure rock it man, gave me free will on the decks. It was a freezing night so the crowds were smaller but the moment was there. I'm not one who parties their ass off out at Burning Man, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to getting fucked up especially while playing but the stars aligned that night. People were coming up while I was playing and dropping beans and m*#hrooms on the decks all night long. IGS camp kept my full sized water glass filled with Gin and Juice who knows how many of those i drank but most likely 10+ and I ended up playing a 5-6 hour set it was intense! Here's what really made it special. During my set this guy comes up and says, "hey man mind if plug in they told me I could play with you, but it was up to you". I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing especially because I was playing some pretty bangin techno and what was this guy going to plug in? A mic cord that lead to his Harmonica! I reluctantly agreed. I think me and that guy played for like 2 hours straight. He was older frumpy looking dude but boy could he jam. He ran his harmonica through an effects processor on his belt then into the mixer and he knew how to play. It was amazing! who would have ever fuckin guessed. We were just playing like it was nobody's business. We kept in touch for awhile but haven't talked in sometime. Last I heard he was touring Ibiza!
Guy is phenomenal, check out some of his videos.
http://www.hyperharp.com/
Also a part of the group Astro Beat Circus:
http://www.astrobeatcircus.com/
Add that to in the morning when I was walking my tricycle back to camp around 7 or 8am, I stopped at the Porto Potties. Coming out, I ran into Wednesday and met her friend for the first time. Lacey. As dazed and confused as I was from that night we didn't talk much but later bumped into her again November and started dating immediately after. Who knew it was going to turn into a 4 year relationship? We always kind of considered Burning Man to be our anniversary, even though we didn't start dating til a few months later.
There's 5 events with 5 different exhilirating points to each. There's more there as well but those are the first that come to mind.
Fuck I feel all weird from reliving all those situations and the energy that is associated with them.
:)
Good times. Sorry for writing a book but I wanted to convey these correctly.
~Paul
9:48 AM
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