..|.|.|.. The Elevator Club » Uncategorized

..|.|.|.. Nick Warren

mike — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:28:46 +0000

I mentioned last week that I have been thinking about how much easier it is to be an artist now: you have inexpensive, powerful tools at your disposal and it’s easier than ever to connect with your audience. I’ll discuss that a bit today, but first let’s find something to listen to.

Nick Warren’s set on Friday night was amazing. He is a fantastic DJ. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I didn’t think he’d be so good. It’s hard to convey the energy in the room that night, but you can hear his mixes here and here (I’m listening to the second one as I type this). You might also want to check out this video.

Nick was DJing off a laptop, and he wasn’t using headphones at all. Stochastic pointed out that we could see his screen in the mirror behind the DJ both. So here’s the thing: he was using a 2-year-old Apple laptop (the same one I have) and Ableton Live software (I have that too). And this got me thinking about about how great a time it is to be an artist.

When I show up to see professional DJs, they’re using the same equipment I do. The same computers, the same CD decks, the same turntables, the same mixers, the same software. They connect with their audiences the same way I do as well: Twitter, Facebook, etc. Granted they probably spend a lot more time at it than I do, and granted most of them have PR people helping spread the word.

But the path from here to there is straightforward, and anyone can get there using the same tools. Stochastic started DJing about a year ago. The first thing he did was buy a professional setup: two Pioneer CDJ-1000s and a DJM-800 mixer. The same thing you see in the clubs. Then he spent a year practicing. A few weeks ago he flew to Chicago to hear one of his favorite DJs play a seven hour set. His takeaway: “I’m at least as good at mixing as this guy, if not better.” Pretty cool, right?

The same thing is happening everywhere. The tools the pros use are available to everyone, as are the means of publicity and distribution. It’s one heck of a lot easier to pick your path and walk it these days. Now we all just need to get a little bit better at calling attention to ourselves…

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Niki McNally

mike — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:47:54 +0000

Happy Birthday, Niki! Actually I think it was a few days ago, but her big party is tonight. She and Behrouz will be rocking the house at Quo.

I recommend listening to one of Niki’s mixes while you enter the contest to win free bottle service.

Here’s a message from Niki:

Subject: My B-day Party Info

Hi,

This is an important day. I am a celebrating my B-day! I have been alive for a quarter of a century! (For those of you that are wondering how many years that is – It’s 25 years! And, NO you are NOT smarter than 5th grader!) LMAO!
Anyway, Please join the festivities tomorrow evening. I will be opening for San Francisco’s finest – DJ Behrouz. I will have a table and complimentary bottle for my guests in the VIP section. To join send an email to Nikimcnally@gmail.com with the names of you and you guests. When you arrive at the club say ‘Niki’ at the door for my guest list. I Hope to see you tomorrow!

-AND REMEMBER -

“Inside every older person is a younger person -
wondering what the hell happened.”
- Cora Harvey Armstrong

Love & Kisses
Niki
——————–

To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox%2Freadmessage.php&t=1368580093362&mid=1cc1f81G2435e76bG4088563G0

Check it out tonight. You’ll be glad you did.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Derrick Carter

mike — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:11:05 +0000

Derrick Carter is spinning at Sullivan Room tonight, and I might have to check it out. I caught a bit of his set there last summer, but didn’t stay nearly long enough.

Here’s a recording of DC & Sneak in London last April.

Wikipedia has this to say:

Derrick Carter (born October 21, 1969) is an American house producer and DJ from Chicago, Illinois. He is regarded as one of the best underground house key players currently active and is particularly popular in Europe.^[1]

That doesn’t really do justice to how much of a legend this man is, especially in the Chicago house scene.

Get your tickets here.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. 2009 – A Retrospective

mike — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:27:36 +0000

As 2009 draws to a close and we face the new decade, it’s important to look back and celebrate all the great things that have happened. I tend do this through music.

A month or so Vegas gave me a gift certificate to Traxsource.com and I downloaded some of my favorite tracks from the past year. Then I mixed them into a high-energy hour of goodness.

Here’s the result.

Mousse T. & Suzie – All Nite Long (D.I.S.C.O.) [John Dahlback Remix]
Sultan & Ned Shepard – Together We Rise [Original Mix]
Carl Cox vs. Yousef – I Want You (Forever) [Deadmau5 Remix]
Your Call – Inland Knights
ATFC – I Called U (The Conversation) [ATFC's Heated Conversation]
Da Mongoloids – Spark Da Meth [ATFC's Wildstyle Remix]
Dennis Ferrer – Sinfonia Della Notte
Andrea Bertolini – 5 Stars [Original Mix]
Maetrik – Envy [Original Mix]
Sebastien Leger – The Rhythm [Format B Remix]
Wolfgang Gartner & Francis Preve – Yang [Original Club Mix]
Erick Morillo feat. Deborah Cooper – I Get Lifted [Michael Gray & Danism Remix]
The Heller & Farley Project – Ultra Flava [Martijn Ten Velden Remix]
Joris Voorn – Chase The Mouse [Original Mix]
Syke’N'Sugarstarr – I Don’t Know [Syke'n'Sugarstarr Main Mix]
Wolfgang Gartner – Latin Fever

Happy New Year!

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Soulful Xmas

mike — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:15:33 +0000

Snowed in? I have the perfect solution for you: my soulful Christmas. It’s what I listen to when I’m trimming my tree. I recommend the same for you. A little bit of soul, a little bit of funk, and a whole lot of Christmas cheer! You can download the whole enchilada from iTunes here.

Ummmm…yeah…this might be the best Christmas ever…it might be…maybe.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. My Eight Dollar Phone

mike — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:22:05 +0000

I am an AT&T wireless subscriber. Their service leaves a lot to be desired, but they consistently have the best phones (and who needs to actually make phone calls anyway, right?). I bought a Blackberry Bold last January and signed up for a two-year contract. It was a big improvement over the Curve, but the battery life sucked and the trackball started sticking. Fast forward almost twelve months.

Last week I was in a meeting and someone pulled out the new 9700. For me it was love at first sight.

So I called AT&T and asked them how much to upgrade. They said they’d give me $100 off and “only” charge me $230. I said no thanks. The next day I was walking past an AT&T store and decided to give it another try in person. This time they told me it would be $150 to upgrade and they would give me a $100 rebate.

“So in effect I will be paying $50 for it?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Sign me up!”

So we go through the whole process and the guy rings up the transaction and says…

“Actually, we’re only going to charge you $100 plus $8 tax, and we’ll still give you the $100 rebate.”

So my brand new top-of-the-line Blackberry Bold 9700 cost me eight dollars. I love not having a track ball and the battery life is worlds better. From a business perspective I see how this is good for AT&T, but I’m still not sure how RIM (the manufacturer of the Blackberry) is making any money on this deal.

For you music lovers out there, the 9700 comes with a 2GB MicroSD card to hold extra MP3s.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Erica Rhone

mike — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:57:39 +0000

I was at Cielo a few weeks ago and I was introduced to Erica Rhone. Who is Erica Rhone, you ask? She is a DJ, and you should check out her Web site — especially her downloads page. I’m particularly fond of her “Conundrum” mix.

She will slay you with her techno. I’m serious, check it out.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Matt Darey

mike — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:50:05 +0000

Stochastic and I caught Matt Darey’s set at Cielo on Friday night. I had never heard him before and wasn’t sure what to expect. He was good. Really got the crowd going and his mixing was smooth. He started out very techy and electro, but settled into vocal trance later in the night.

One of the tracks from his set that spoke to me:

Deadmau5 – Dr. Funkenstein

I pulled down a few others but my Shazam is acting up on my Blackberry so I can’t see the list. At any rate, he’s worth checking out if you’re into vocal trance.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. It’s almost too easy

mike — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:52:41 +0000

I started DJing almost six years ago when my friends Matt & Adriana asked me to spin a set at their wedding. I had no idea how to do that, but they had faith in me. It all worked out, and I’ll make sure to post that first set so you can listen.

The point of my story is that DJ equipment was big and expensive back then. You needed two turntables and a mixer to really do it right. That meant $1,000 minimum and a table in your house covered with gear. So I cheated and did it all in software.

It worked, but it was a pain in the butt. First, it was hard to hear what was going on. To DJ properly you need to use one ear to listen to what the audience is hearing and the other ear to listen to what’s coming. The blend allows you to mix two songs together in a musical way. To mix with the particular software I had to shut myself out of what the audience was hearing in order to mix what was coming. This meant that I wasn’t truly present in what people were feeling on the dance floor.

The second problem was that a laptop doesn’t feel like a musical instrument. I would be crazily mousing around during gigs. It’s hard to get a groove going with a mouse, and it’s not fun for dancers to watch.

Fortunately, we’ve come a long way since then. Today Apple is selling a device that hooks up to your laptop and gives you the equivalent of two turntables and a mixer. You plug it in, grab songs from iTunes, and start mixing. The best part is that it only costs $225 and it doesn’t take up a table in your house.

I’m not saying this is the solution for everyone, but it is a great way to get started.

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…

..|.|.|.. Thanksgiving

mike — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:40:39 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I hope you all got enough to eat. We’ve all got lots to be thankful for and this is a feel-good holiday.

I am usually aware of the music that’s playing wherever I happen to be. One thing that bothers me every year is that we start to hear Christmas carols before Thanksgiving (and sometimes even before Halloween). I feel strongly that we should agree as a society to wait until after Thanksgiving to start playing Xmas music.

Is everyone with me?

There is, however, a problem. A gaping void in our society that forces us to play our holiday music early. What’s this, you ask?

Someone needs to write some Thanksgiving carols.

The best part is that retailers can use it as the theme for Black Friday shopping. Let’s all get to work!

- mike
elevatorclub.com

…:: step inside ::… listen…