Bass, vocal and rhythm has deeply rooted with Erin’s music selections these past several months. Like most DJs, we all have our genre(s) that we love to listen to, Erin gives her first proper stab at the DnB. Her choice tracks are clean and refreshing to our ears without getting too grungy and hard. The Broken Dreams concept was conceived while on a trip to New York City this last month with featured tracks from Seathasky(Heartache), Motta and MsDos(Soul Sister), and Spectrasoul(The Gift) and great remix of Toni Braxton(Making me High). Artwork photographed by Erin, 15,000 feet off the ground, just fitting for this mix.
Tag: New York
David Terranova Spotlight ~ the Creative ~ Pt.2 (of 2)
David Terranova: the Creative
Flash Developer/Video/Music Producer/Designer/Photographer
Education? What has been the most shape shifting influence in your artistic taste?
DT: My early education was a mess, I moved a lot, and whenever I was in Italy I was just generally doing bad at school as a form of rebellion as I didn’t want to live there. Which is why I left school at 16 and went to London and 3 years later started my first job as junior designer in an online advertising/creative agency which at the time was a 2-man-band. The work was extremely commercial, building websites, games and online adverts for big movie releases. I taught myself Action-script reading Colin Moock’s first book on the subject, and over time also learned other web programming languages, enough to become Head of Development in the company, which within almost 5 years employed around 50 people. I see real education as the stuff you learn by yourself on the job, which is pretty much the only way I have learned things.
Black Albino by davidterranova
As for the shape shifting stuff, I find that it’s always shifting depending on who’s around me. Styles and moods come and go in cycles. My latest shift has been working with Will Calcutt, an understated artist for Ghostly Intl. who has a way of creating timeless imagery that has really stuck with me and has become something that I’m into at the moment: vintage, twisted, dark, grainy. His concept for the video work for Black City is truly inspiring and I haven’t seen anyone else making anything like it. He’s been working for months on building a complex After-Effects setup that gives everything this really old look, whilst slowing everything down by enormous amounts and morphing it all up. It’s very special and it represents Matthew Dear’s image perfectly.
He also introduced me to the work of Mike Cina (who we’re making a small doco on) who is another artist for Ghostly. His work really blew me away, I’ve come to understand a lot of art that previously meant nothing to me, mainly based on his sleeve designs that are really reminiscent of artworks of past eras that are just timeless. Timelessness, everyone is trying to replicate old technology, whether it’s 20s silent movies, Super 8, 80s VHS, 90s rainbow music videos.
My girlfriend has a great taste in graphic design, photography and movies, so we’re in a vicious cycle of inspiring each other with all sorts of things. Since being with her my taste in things has changed a lot. When you have the right people around you, your influences keep moving.
You come from a demographic of graphic artists/web developers, freelancing, or working for agencies for clients such as MTV, Pixar, Playstation, Disney. Did your experience in video direction/editing come from all these jobs?
DT: Not really. I consider all of that commercial web stuff a completely separate life to what I’m trying to work towards. My two brothers own a TV production company so I’ve always had the good-fortune of being able to use their equipment when available. At 22 I was going through a huge life-change one day: I broke up with my girlfriend, quit my full-time job (the one as head of development) and pulled out of a house mortgage that we were about to sign the following morning. I decided to shave off all my hair and film it that evening, and that was my first experience of Final Cut (See Below), using my brothers’ edit suite with them showing me how to use the keyboard shortcuts. I remember getting really excited when I discovered Apple+J (speed control)!
This transition as Creative Flash Developer into making random experimental videos has really taken its toll. Going from working for advertising agencies on a juicy day rate doing Flash work, to making videos for struggling record labels means that I’ve taken an enormous pay cut which has affected my lifestyle in a big way. This also means that I’m stuck with a dinosaur of a laptop that I can barely use Final Cut with, keeping open only one program at a time. As I work with Final Cut and Ableton Live together at the same time, things get extremely slow.
On the side I have to take on the occasional commercial project that enables me to afford getting coffee every morning from yourcoffeeandtea.com, for example I’ve just finished a micro site for Volvic, or before that I was filming and making backstage videos at X Factor (not sure if you have that in the US yet, it’s been going on for years in the UK), which is all a reminder of how fluctuating my position can be. Rebel Rave has given my name a certain amount of presence online, which was really exciting at first. But then things happen that make you realize that the value of your name being on the web doesn’t mean much at all, and within a couple of months it can just disappear into the depths of page 100 of Google, while you’re still stuck in your little room on your aging equipment struggling to get a decent paid job.
Creative process?
DT: I don’t really have a process. My friends and I are connected through party scenes, which in my opinion is the thing that drives most people’s careers in this field: everyone I do the cool work with (outside of RR) are people I go to parties with, it’s where you find lots of talented people doing really cool things who eventually you cross paths with during the day for work. It sounds weird, but techno music has been the thing that moved me away from commercial web work and drove my career forward as an artist, all thanks to connections made at parties. So I guess part of the answer to your question, which is only specific to my own personal experience, is working with talented friends who I find are on the same page as me.
When it comes to dealing with a performer though, I don’t like to pre-plan too much. I like to sit down with them and explain what I’m after. The last thing I worked on was with a very cool contemporary dancer called Rob Davidson, he’s got a really specific style of using his body, so I gave him the lowdown of what I was after, and together we agreed on various elements of his performance, mixing his own style in performance with my own style in video. This is just an uncut version of what I’m working on:
The last 10 years, in your observation of interactive media, working in music and fashion, what do you see as being the best advancement and trends?
DT: Well I think everything at the moment is connected to the fact that regular people (like me, self taught non-professionals) are more and more able to download software with which they can create content that is at the same level as the larger establishment, whether it’s in music, film, fashion, photography, visuals etc. And together with the advancement of web and social networking, regular people can get launched into worldwide stardom in a matter of minutes… this is old news, but it’s definitely because of this that trends are where they are today. There’s just so much content being pumped into the web every single minute, most of it is really bad, but it’s the bad stuff that pushes things forward. For example when photographers started buying the 5D to film their photo shoots, all you saw all over the net were these bad videos of models pouting and touching their hair not knowing where to look, cross-fading on top of some pop/folk music. I found this particularly frustrating, and it was for this reason that I wanted to get into fashion films: because I saw what was being acclaimed by the fashion industry and I think I and a lot of upcoming film makers could do better. Fashion videos are going through a really interesting period now, every magazine is going crazy for them, especially with the new possibilities of distributing via the iPad. I’ve always loved Show Studio’s video work, although it was only recently that I figured out it mostly came down to Ruth Hogben, another self-taught filmmaker.
To answer your question, I think that there are lots of interesting trends being pushed in various directions, all of which comes down to “regular people” making enormous amounts of professional content that is pushing the boundaries at such high speeds. Every few weeks something arrives that make everything before, look dated. In a very vague comparison, this is probably something that used to only happen once a year of even once every few years.
VJing? Software? Controllers? What do you consider comprises of good/original visual elements for a 1-2 hour set?
DT: I forced myself to learn VDMX in a month for Damian’s live tour. I’ve played around with Quartz Composer, but never used any of my Quartz files when VJing live. Before all of this I’d played around with Modul8, but found it a bit rigid to use. I got onto VDMX it just felt so fluid and flexible, I love just being able to build your own interface inserting whatever tools you need and removing the tools you don’t. I particularly love the power of oscillators; I wish they were something that could be used in other programs like Ableton, Final Cut or After Effects.
I use my filmed footage for VJ content. I remember when I only had 1 month left before Damian’s live tour; I had to create 10 different “scenes”, one for each different song, while trying to figure out how to work VDMX. The clock was ticking and I was running out of ideas and I was in a huge panic. My friend, Marko Perendija had helped me out a lot on that project, we ended up in all sorts of all nighter situations, editing all day round the clock without sleep, filming in the city at 3am. One of the scenes is about this scary rabbit, it’s one of my favorite scenes, in fact, it was just me in my brother’s office at 4am in front of a camera, light and tripod, wearing a rabbit mask and a white boiler suit. I cut holes in the boiler suit’s hoody for the rabbit’s ears to go through, so I couldn’t take the mask off until I finished as it was all quite fragile, and the only way I could look out was through the rabbit’s nostrils, it was a nightmare to test the shots, focusing, light angles and everything else. Sweaty, claustrophobic and frustrating, all that for one of the ten tracks. I just hope no one in the apartments in the opposite building was looking in, must have been a sight.
I’ve jumped into VJing not knowing how you’re “supposed” to do it, I just did what seemed natural to me. I filmed stuff in slow motion and play it back, tightly reacting to the sound and mood. My style displays a lot of contrast and opposites. Techno is energetic and fast, so I love playing slow-motion footage over techno, it’s all about fluidity and smoothness against the aggressive beats. I don’t really enjoy the type of visuals that show these crazy images flashing every tenth of a second. When you have slow-motion footage of weird inverted erupting clouds (I made this in the Rebel Rave U.S. Tour visuals), combined with a sound-reactive flicker, that’s what really gets me excited.
On a completely different note to VDMX, I’ve always made Flash based visuals for private parties or friends’ nights, way before I started making videos. I have a whole load of generative animations that I’ve built over the years, most are entirely code based, and others are mixed with time line animations. It’s just a variation of circles, dots, lines, and random shapes, white on black, moving about on screen in an ordered-chaos type way… So I built an engine that just loads in these different scenes in random order, for random amounts of time. This means that for events I can just plug the laptop in and let it run all night on its own without having to interact with it. (Some of the scenes are on my site under Flash Toys). The last time I used this was a couple of months ago for ReSolute in New York, when Lee Burridge played at Love.
Laid back snack attack (fix mix) by davidterranova
Music works?
DT: I always played instruments, I studied classical music and dreamed going to the conservatory school of music in Rome. In the past 3 or 4 years I’ve been making more solid music in my spare time. I know a certain amount about music theory, scales, chord structures, harmonies, so my tracks are always driven by slow dark melodic loops that keep building up. I enjoy making slow and dark grinding music that is perfect for playing in your car at full volume or driving down the highway at night under torrential rain.
Camera selections? Video FX? Output settings?
DT: I own a Sony Z1, I used it for the RR videos, I don’t particularly like it but it does the job. Whenever possible I rent the Sony EX3, which in comparison is a dream, and the frame-rate feature is something I use a lot. Richie Hawtin’s video and the fashion films were all filmed on the EX3. There’s some crowd scenes I filmed at 60fps that are just really impressive – I want to make a small separate video with them on their own to some weird music, it’s quite disturbing in a way, especially when you see huge Italian crowds of Hawtin fans raving in slow-motion! Gives you the shivers, very cool in a dark way!
My girlfriend owns a Canon 5D MkII, which I’ve used a few times to film, it’s great but I still prefer the EX3 as there’s no way you can film properly without using extra rigs, and also because it doesn’t seem to handle fast movement. Not sure if it’s because of the low bit rate or if it’s just the way that it refreshes itself. If you point it at a train directly from the side of the track from closeup, the train will seem to be slanting forwards, so all the vertical lines come out diagonal, which is a good way to see how this camera seems to be working in rows from top to bottom. It’s OK if the camera’s locked off and if the subject is relatively still, but if you’re hand holding it and moving fast, or if the subject is moving around quickly, the image appears to be distorting. Anyway, maybe I’m missing something… probably a lot of professionals would disagree with all of the above or have a simple solution!
For web video I just always use Vimeo, which works best with H.264 5000kbps at 1280×720. Any higher than 5000 and it can get choppy on slower machines – like mine!
For live shows I can’t really say with confidence. From what I read online I always use 90% JPG compression at a 1024×576 resolution. Again this works best with my sluggish laptop, I imagine you can go a lot higher.
Who/what inspires you on a consistent basis?
DT: I can’t think of someone/something that consistently inspires me. One day I’m completely taken by an artist, I learn all about their work, the next day he’s just a bookmark in my Delicious account, then I probably won’t go back to as by then I’m busy reading up another artist. This is the problem with the web, there’s too much stuff coming at you every single hour.
Probably the most consistent “inspirations” for me is the “night”, when I’m on a certain project I can literally work 3 days in a row without sleep. This works when I’m at my brothers’ office in London, a closed-in tiny suite surrounded by top of the line equipment and coffee mugs, now that I’m in New York I haven’t been able to work like this.
Advice for students pursuing design as a career?
DT: #1 Bad answer but most truthful: I’m the last person to ask for advice. I don’t really know where my career is going and my plans for the future are somewhat blurry. But if you really have to know: Go party!
#2 Ideal answer: Always take on whatever may seem impossible for you to achieve. Things always work out in one way or another, you’ll come out the other end having learned some-thing new. It’s the only way you move forward.
Visao Media would like thank David Terranova for doing this interesting spotlight and look out for David’s upcoming films for Damian Lazarus’ Fabric 54, JPLS, Plastikman & more.
Richard Prince ~ Art Talk
International artist and an amazing collector(of books), Richard Prince has had an interesting reputation with pop culture and lawsuits as they’ve raised philosophical questions about authenticity and authorship. He’s taking a liking to cowboys and nurses from 50’s and 60’s pop culture and re-photographed famous subjects and rehashed them into something new, something worth discussing and something he makes tons of money on.
Inspiration: Just do it and continue doing it.
DROP A HOUSE {Launch of the Lines} ~ March.13.2010
::: DROP A HOUSE ::: {LAUNCH OF THE LINES}
MARCH 13TH, 2010
FASHION PARADE – Hosted by Perry Ullmann “make me a SUPERMODEL”
THE GUILD THEATER – SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
Music and design consumes our daily ritual throughout the year. Looking back at the galleries and events we attended in 2009, we thought it would be great to come back home and throw a rock in this pond we call Sacramento. Whether it’s art, music or FASHION it’s time to show Sacramento a thing or two. Ok really, we’re excited to be presenting DROP A HOUSE, we connected with a collection of talented designers in launching their lines. What’s makes it special? Like most of our shows, it’s created by artists & designers and you’re just going to have to find out. Presented by Visao Media.
SHOWTIMES: 7PM & 8PM
Tickets are available at MOSAIC SALON(2700 J Street).
Press/Buyer Registration is now open at LAUNCHOFTHELINES.COM
the designers:
BOBBY TRENDY
BENZO COUTURE
VITTORE BROTHERS
LAUREN OTO
RICHARD HALLMARQ
Music by Alx-T
Make-up by Lily Lam
Midnight Society ~ A Drum Nation
Midnight Society is comprised of the New York based production team, Curtis Atchison and Erik Elias. Their sound is an exact fit to the name “Drum Nation”. The tribal sound in house music has been a favorite of ours over the years. Midnight Society’s productions truly represent the sound of the New York club scene, fashionable elite body movers and shakers. Enjoy!
MS: “Together, we have been a DJ/Producer team for nearly 10 years with over 20 years in DJ experience. In the studio, Erik and I have produced more than 80 different releases that stretch over 30 record labels across the globe. These records include appearances on nearly 150 original tracks & remixes currently on Beatport, several Billboard charting records and/or remixes, including a number one, two top fives and many other top 10 & 20 singles, plus numerous appearances on commercially released CD compilations mixed by DJs such as:
• Carl Cox (F.A.C.T. Australia II, DJ Face Off w/ DJ Simi – DJ Magazine Compilation UK)
• Peter Rauhofer (This Is Roxy Vol. 3)
• Tom Stephan (Warming Up, Firin’ Off – Ministry CD Compilation UK)
• DJ Escape (The Circuit Party Volume 8.)
• Jesse Garcia (Best of Stealth 2007)
• Chus & Ceballos, Joubin (Blended Sound 002)
We also own and operate our own record label called SoundGroove Records which represents close to 100 different national & international dance music acts (DJs, Producers, Remixers, Vocalists, etc). As DJs, we have played in various bars & clubs all over the world, including a number of high profile events in Montréal (Divers/Cite and Black & Blue), Brazil (New Year’s Eve – 2008 / Rio De Janeiro, Gay Pride – 2008 / Florianopolis) and Mexico City (Gay Pride). We currently hold a quarterly residency in Miami Beach for our own label sponsored event called Drum Nation, and have held weekly residencies in New York at G Lounge and Alibi. Our sound focuses primarily on House Music and can accommodate any style party or dance floor, from more deeper after-hour grooves, to big room anthem and everything in between.”
MS: Inspirations – We both get our initial inspirations from the same places and same eras of House music. We were both major fans of the old Twilo, Sound Factory & Factory Bar eras. You had Frankie Knuckles bringing you a lush and soulful sound that wasn’t afraid to get a little rough on the edges. Then you had Junior Vasquez working the futuristic Wild Pitch sound from DJ Pierre, old school Armand Van Helden tracks, as well as big room vocals with his definitive Sound Factory remixes. Then there was Danny Tenaglia with his seemingly magical way to blend classics and future sounds together. He could go from a beautiful deep house vocal to a club shaking techno groove and somehow have it make sense. Many of the big New York, Chicago & UK producers in the early to mid 90s helped us build a foundation or our own production styles.
We’re probably most known more for our tribal sound. I love percussion and basslines more than anything on a record, and Erik really gets into the grooves as well. But we also like to branch out into tech house, deep and progressive house as well. On a production level, Erik tends to go harder and dubby while I tend to get a little dreamy & proggy. In the end, we manage to fuse our ideas together for one final project that works.
Drum Nation – Miami (aka The Fetish Ball) at Twist (11-13-2009) by Midnight Society
Five favorite Releases / Remixes:
1. DJ Duke – Blow Your Whistle (The 2009 Remixes) – SoundGroove Records
This was one of my favorite records when I first started going out to clubs and was a big hit in New York when it first dropped. I managed to find DJ Duke through a network website, asked him about doing some remixes and he agreed. I wanted to make sure the single had its signature grooves, such as the recognizable bassline and vocal samples, and update it just enough to make it sound more modern. It’s almost impossible to improve on a classic like this, but I think we did a pretty good job. Junior Vasquez helped me get the buzz started by playing our mix at his birthday party at Pacha. Then, Tom Stephan really kicked it up with his A+ remix, as well as Manny Ward & Lorant who also took the track into deeper, darker territories.
2. In-Grid – Shock (Loop 128 Records)
This record almost didn’t make it to the public! This remix was originally done for a label in New York, but they dropped it. I gave this out to a few friends, including DJ Petzi from Portugal who just did a record with us on Magna Recordings and was starting his own label. He went through the process to get the licensing and released this mix as an exclusive along with one of our other unreleased singles. The original was more on the trance tip, but the vocal could literally go in so many different directions. We managed to take the vocal and really strip it down to a minimal, tribal groove with just enough synth to pick the track up when necessary.
3. Cybernatrikx – Dirty Pleasures (SFP)
This one goes back to my earliest days in producing when I was living in New Jersey. I think every producer needs to have at least one gratuitous moaning track, and this became ours. A slow, but steady beat & bassline full with a lot of pitched up (or down) spoken word samples from various films that we will not discuss right now. The studio sessions were as crazy and as silly as the record, which eventually lead us to the belief that every record could be that much better with a dirty girl in the background.
4. D-Lav, Shlavens & Craig Mitchell – Noises (SoundGroove / Bimotor DJ)
This needs to be said before I even go further about this song… Craig Mitchell is a genius! When he played me this record the first time, I literally begged him to remix it. Under his alias of Oliver Twisted, he does some of the most amazing spoken word stuff for house records and I was psyched when we were able to pick this one up for our label. Craig, along with his partners delivered a hot package of teched-out house mixes, and we went to town with a well deserved big room tribal version. The remix cast was a basic who’s who of some of the hottest underground talent at that time. Cytric, DJ Petzi, Evolved, Rick Corbo, Holosound… And we recently had new remixes done earlier this year from Edson Pride, DJ PirrA and Andy Notalez. Plus we have two bootleg versions that will never see the light of day. One was created by DJ Paulo that I still like to blend in with our own mix, and a version we will simply called the “Dancefloor Techno Bootleg”. Everyone who was at the WMC that year when we dropped it knows what we’re talking about. Just like the record says… You can’t stop the noises!
5. Brain Candy – Midnight Society presents The Tone Depth EP (Nervous Dog)
To limit myself to just 5 records is hard, because there’s so many others I leave out. I have so many stories I can tell with almost every record we ever did. We could easily talk about “Space Jam” with Alan T, which is one of our most successful records to date, or talk about “Party People” by Altar & Jeanie Tracy which got us our first number one single on Billboard. Dawn Tallman, Tracy Young & Ceevox, the list goes on and on. But I think this is the most important one to me because it’s my very first official song on wax. It also ties back to when I met Erik the first time since it was at his DJ competition where I met Kevin Williams of Nervous Records and gave him the demo. This was one of the first records I ever produced nearly 10 years ago; a straight up tribal banger of a tune, full of drum samples and peak hour energy, and your usual sci-fi sample slammed right in the middle. I created it right before a gig I had in Boston at the now defunct Axis in ‘99 just so I could have something of mine to play for the first time in a big room. I think every producer remembers the first time they get signed. When I got the call about this being picked up for print on Nervous Dog I was literally speechless. Then to see the record on print with the names on it.
And to top it off, it was the first time I ever heard Danny Tenaglia play one of our records. I think Erik and I were on the dance floor screaming at the top of our lungs for throughout the duration of the song… Or at least I was mentally. Alan T bounced by us with his megaphone grooving to it, and then to have Danny announce who did it after it was done! It’s something I’ll never forget as long as I live.
Larry Levan – VM Remembers A Legend
Over years of searching, discovering and listening to music, I recently took it upon myself to find some serious dance tracks for a small little gig I have right now. I first heard about this guy with my interview with Danny Tenaglia who gave me the dance music history lesson, one on one. One of those people, he discussed was Lawrence Philpot, aka Larry Levan, legendary disc jockey of the Paradise Garage, record producer and remixer. So, I thought I would share to you who he is with some Tribute Tracks:
Overcome – Flora Cruz (Phil Hootons, Mel Cheren – Larry Levan Tribute Vocal)
[audio:http://www.visaomedia.com/audio/Overcome (Phil Hootons Mel Cheren Larry Levan Tribute Vocal).mp3]
We Got The Funk – Positive Force (Remastered 12 U S Re-edit Version)
[audio:05 – We Got The Funk (Remastered 12 U S Re-edit Version).mp3]
Work That Body – Taana Gardner (Club Version)
[audio:07 – Work That Body (Club Version).mp3]
Aerosyn-Lex: The KDU
We would like to acknowledge the inspiration and awareness amongst young students who aspire to be fashion, graphic and creative designers pursuing a dream. Don’t give up and stay focused.
Aerosyn-Lex COMPLEX Magazine Feature : The KDU from Aerosyn-Lex on Vimeo.
We previously highlighted the KDU, for their Royal Magazine printed artifact Summer Solstice, earlier this year and wanted to share more from this design collective which seems to be growing across the globe.
See this short video of Aerosyn-Lex, art director for URB and partner of The KDU design collective and the SVSV clothing line featured in Complex magazine. The feature in this video we admire as designers, is the fact you see designs created from handwriting tools and ink. A true Typographer!
The new FUTURECRAFT Identity by Alex Trochut, another awesome Typographer. Designed for the KDU.
System Audible: V-ROC 01
OK party people!!! System Audible collaborated to do the first V-ROC Mix Series for Visao Media, lets just say we are more than delighted to have their 2-part mix exclusively here. The SA collective is continuing to strengthen NY dance culture with a positive outlook. What makes their night life/parties positive? By focusing on what inner city night life needs, and that’s positivity and creativity in all forms. The V-ROC mix they provided, has a soothing deep sound from latin percussion instruments with timeless vocals awakening any sound system. Some keywords to illustrate System Audible: innovation, progression and sense of community. Direct from New York City, our spotlight with System Audible.
System Audible started as a DJ collective/party 3 years ago, originated by Borali and his partner Ron Steiner(Team 1) and were soon joined by Doug Galorenzo and Jeff Vigilante(Team 2). The four organized monthly events all over the city including Pacha, Shelter, Rebel, Element, and Water Taxi Beach. In the past SA have hosted and collaborated with artists such as Danny Tenaglia, Antranig, Burchan, Eric Kupper, Onionz, Ivano Bellini, Timmy Regisford, Silverbull and Stimulus Response to name a few. Recently, SA had success globally in Club Vertigo (Costa Rica), Club Vessel (San Francisco), and Central Park (Florance, Italy).
SA’s goal is to bring good people together with good music to produce a good vibe. Each DJ in System Audible has their own unique style and groove, which makes for musically eclectic nights. System Audible is always conscious of the roots of the Dance music culture. So don’t be surprised to hear anything from Frankie Knuckles to Manu Dibango, or Mr. G to Pink Floyd.
VM: Music is an art form, any other forms of art you love?
Ron: Without a shadow of doubt, the other art form that I love is dance. Especially, dancing to that infectious 4/4 beat that house music provides. There is something hypnotic when those BPM’s hover in the 124-130, which is how I like my house music. Dancing to anything above that, you wont last very long, but in that range we are talking musical bliss of dancing for hours. It allows you to release anything and everything that might stress you. In that moment dancing in the darkness, acting like a child on the floor with all your friends. You’re apart of something, when the whole dance floor becomes ONE. In a time and age when everyone on the train is lost in their own world. Whether its on the phone, texting, listening to their Ipod, no interaction whatsoever with anyone. Having those dance floor moments is something I will always cherish and I will spread the gospel that is House any chance I get!
Why I love New York?…
Ron:Well I was born in Queens, but raised in the Burbs of CT. We would come see grandma & grandpa every weekend when I was young. There was always that magnetism that the city had. I didn’t know what it was but I wanted to be there. It’s the city that never sleeps and being the night owl that I’m it was a perfect fit. “At midnight I really come alive, midnight, my fantasies run wild” From the classic T-connection Midnight, pretty much sums it all up. Pretty much any night, till the wee hours of the morning if I need to I can hop on a subway and go listen to some of the greatest DJs in the world.
When making a mix I will usually outline a few specific genres I want to touch prior to making the mix. I love starting out a mix with a acapella and a twisted spaced out beat. From there I will just let it flow. I have a library of over 20,000 songs to choose from at my fingertips. Some songs will just flow with each other. It might be a couple vocals that will speak to each other. It might be a track that has a element that will remind you of another track. I love to have that free flowing creativity with each of my mixes.
VM: What was the first CD you bought?
Borali: Wow, that’s something I haven’t thought about in a long time….lol. My family and I came to New York in ’88 with 5 suitcases and no money. I didn’t have a CD player until maybe 91. Living in downtown Brooklyn at that time, Hip Hop was life and I was engulfed in it. I was too young to go to clubs but back then, my school would organize block parties and dances in the gym. KRS-ONE and Rob Base came to perform at one of them. That was the first time I saw a Dj set up and I was sold.
The very next day I bought 5 albums that to this day, are still my favorites. LL Cool J – Walking with a Panther, A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory, Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill, Shabba Ranks – As Raw as Ever, and Eric B and Rakim – Paid in full. Two days later, I made my first mix tape. Hitting PLAY or PAUSE at the right time to make the cut. I even remember pressing the Pause button just a little bit during the recording to make a fake scratch sound. Eventually, hip hop lost that certain edge for me and i fell in love with house. But never the less, I still keep that block party/ “mix tape” mentality and incorporate it in my sets and parties.
Why I love New York?…
Borali: I love it for its diversity and accessibility. We have everything here. The people, history, architecture, art, music, food, you name it. Every street has its own story. There is no place in the world that has the same characteristic. At any given time you can have anything you want at any given time. That’s the magic of this city; it constantly builds on itself to create something new and different.
VM: If you could change the world with music how would you do it?
Doug: I think the set we have done provides a good definition of our sound. It is definitely on the the tech-housey/minimalish side. However, it doesn’t lack the soul that all too often minimal does. With tracks from forward thinking producers such as Mathias Kaden, Alex Jones, and Tiger Stripes you can hear the ELEMENTS of house music creeping back into the music. The afore mentioned producers are leading the charge to bring some emotion back into the techy side of things. I believe the music is correcting itself. It swung too far to the bleeps and blops and now the pendulum is coming back the other way. Also in the mix we dropped in a few classic acapellas that defined our club “upbringing”.
My goal is to affect people on an emotional level. If I can make one person who has had a bad week at work or is going through tough times, forget their problems even for an hour or two on the dance floor, then I have changed the world. Our goal and I know speak for the group here is to make people smile. We want our parties to be a sanctuary and emotional release where people know they can come and have fun.
Why I love New York?…
The reason I love NYC is because its like a long term relationship. Cities like Miami and Vegas are great on the surface, but when I dig deeper I find them to lack the soul that NYC does. I also love the NYC attitude. It’s one of acceptance of who you are, and people here have such hectic lives with the pace of NYC, that when they party, they party. People outside of the city have a misconception that we are mean and lack hospitality and that’s categorically false. We just don’t have time for bullshit.
VM: Jeff what is your musical thought process?
Jeff: I would like to think that my thought process and musical flow is as unique as the music I play. My musical taste has evolved so much since I first started DJing. I have begun to be more daring and experimental with my track selection. I use to stick to “safe” tracks or tracks I knew people would dance to because they knew it, heard it before, or it was or it was popular at the time. I think this is a formula that many DJs tend to stick to… and hey, why not? It works! But, it will never get you recognized and you will only blend in with all those who do the same. To dare to be different… AND make it work…. now, that’s a whole another level! This is what I try to keep in mind while buying music and every time I spin, whether it be in front of a crowd or by myself in my room. I try to keep my track selection as new and innovative as possible, yet remain true to house music’s roots.
The set that Doug & I have prepared for the V-ROC Mix, is one that definitely represents where I/we are currently at musically. Yes, it is more of a techy & darker sound – but I don’t label myself as being a techno/minimal DJ, rather, a DJ who plays “quality-music”. That is, if it’s good – house, deep, minimal, electro, techno, etc… it’ll be in the mix.
VM:Who is responsible for your interest in house music?
Jeff: To be honest? I would really have to say that my mother is most responsible for my love of music in general, which was probably instilled in me by her unconsciously through the very passion she exuded for all sorts of genres. Growing up, I was exposed to so many different kinds of music at home – classic rock, older dance music, disco, etc… At an early age I learned to play the drums fairly well and the guitar (sort of). I was even in a few so-called bands at one point in my life that never seemed to pan out. Good thing, because I eventually got my hands on some vinyl and turntables and never looked back since! I guess it was just in my blood to DJ!
Why I love New York?…
Jeff: NYC has been home to so many of the most influential and important pieces of house music history. Between the legendary clubs and the larger-than-life DJs that have resided at them… nothing else compares. I love NYC because of the people. They constantly keep me in check, musically. When you have clubbers that have been in the scene a while, they aren’t easily impressed having lived through The Garage, Twilo, Tunnel, and Vinyl days. My belief is that if you can get a crowd jumpin here… then you can make it anywhere.
VM: Upcoming gigs?
SA: We just got a confirmation for a system audible event at Pacha October 3rd with Sander Klienenburg in the main room.
VM: We would like to thank Indy Bocanegra for making this happen, you bring warmth from the sun for us all to FEEL. Thank you.
Listen: V-ROC Mix_SystemAudible_Ron & Borali_August 2008
[audio:VisaoMedia_SystemAudible_Ron&Borali_Aug2008.mp3]
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Listen: V-ROC Mix_SystemAudible_Doug & Jeff_August
[audio:VisaoMedia_SystemAudible_Jeff&Doug_Aug2008.mp3]
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Links:
www.systemaudiblenyc.com
www.myspace.com/systemaudiblenyc
VM Artist Spotlight – DJ Michelangelo (NYC)
New York, is and always will BE, a place for a certain brand of artists, specifically DJ’s, to express themselves and BE themselves. Today in dance music, DJs play an intriguing role, night to night, day to day and yes, it has been years. Who are these infamous magic mixers of the night? And out of them, WHO could possibly turn down a chance to open for the man himself, the maestro, DJ Danny Tenaglia? A “Big Hearted Italian”, from New York that’s who. DJ Michelangelo(NYC) turned down the offer only to make it his goal to accept the offer a year later to open at Vinyl with Tenaglia. Proving himself worthy, he played 6 more times at Vinyl/Arc until it finally closed its doors in 2004. The rest as it seems is taking Michelangelo on a fun musical journey.
Emerging himself into the blend of tribal, acid and deep house mixing, he comes from the same musical background many of us share, early 90’s hip hop, HA! Remember making mix tapes, Yo! MTV raps, Z. Cavaricci jeans and Cross Colours. Michelangelo is no stranger to droppin 80’s and 90’s music into his sets. His recent Miami, Las Vegas, Mexico and Toronto gigs have pumped up the fun factor for these world-renowned venues. A business man, an entrepreneur, an art collector and an entertainer, he’s doing what he loves. And for him, Djing “is just a hobby”. We got a chance to reconnect with Michelangelo after his brief visit to San Francisco.
VM: What were you like growing UP? Danced in front of the mirror, hung with the boyz, watched mom cook, played videos games?
M: I was a little wise ass! Always stirring something up. I hung out w/ “the older kids” & was into graffiti….been playing hockey since I was 10 which kept me out of trouble the rest of the time 
VM: How did you start Djing, what did you start with, first tracks you loved playing with…..
M: A friend had DJ equipment & I started out using his set-up. It was a decent rig. Tech 1200’s (that’s vinyl turntables for some of you) & a nice Vestax rotary mixer. I can’t recall a specific record I loved to play at the time but I was into the semi-cheesy BXR & Platipus records.
VM: You are quite a character. You are business minded, love music, a jokester…What best describes your character and how you entertain people who love the music you play?
M: Many people think they are either to old or to cool to do or act a certain way. My take on that is: There is a time & a place for EVERYTHING. I’m just tapping into my inner child & trying to get others to do the same…Lately I have been getting really silly…. I basically DJ all the time w/ that propeller hat. Last week in Toronto I busted out some new toys. Lucce Libre mask, clown nose, few other things but I’d rather it be seen live I try to apply this “inner child” to my work projects as well. You can’t be afraid to fail or mess up….Mistakes are the currency of creativity!
VM: What would you say is the underlying factor in getting “the call” to open from Legendary Danny Tenaglia himself?
M: Well I was going to Vinyl every week & I had some tracks which I would have LOVED to hear out. My good friend Special Agent Eric Ortense intro’d me to Danny & I was dropping off CD’s in his music bin ever so often. At the time Danny lived on my route to work so it was an easy drop. I think Danny appreciated that I was giving him UNmixed music & not trying to prove that I was a DJ. We also have similar personalities & taste in other things.. but over all I think its the fact that we are lil I-talians w/ big hearts
VM: Most memorable moments from playing around the world?
M: My most memorable moment is closing for Danny one night @ Vinyl. He had to leave early to drive up to a Montreal-Stereo gig. I played from 5am-10am & really felt like I had something going in there. I really gave it my all… once I stopped I was so drained I couldn’t even drive home. Hats off to any DJ that plays extended sets!
VM:What artists move YOUR body?
M: Anyone from the likes of: Mr. G, Switch, Dousk, Jorvis Voorn, Len Faki, Paul Ritch, Mateo Murphy, Maskio, Samuel L. Sessions, The Fix…all I can think of now.
VM: You are an urban art collector and shop online. What piques your interest for a purchase?
M: I love collecting pieces from some of the graffiti legends I saw growing up. Especially “Ghost” (www.cousinfrank.com).
VM: In the world and society we live in today, what is your biggest hope in change for the near future?
M: Energy Independance…
VM: DO you have any productions you are currently working on?
M: I’m in the process of setting up a new studio….stay tuned but don’t hold your breath!
VM: You are very busy with your family businesses, music, clothing line, traveling…. what is your bottom line for rest and happiness?
M: Finding the balance & not letting any one aspect get overwhelming. Have big dreams but enjoy the ride as you go.. & ALWAYS be thankful for what you have…especially HEALTH.
VM: Favorite early 90’s hip-hop album?
M: Nice & Smooth – Ain’t a Damn Thing Changed
VM: You love New York because……
M: You can find anything & everything! NY will always be my home base…
VM: Upcoming Gigs?
M: I’ll be playing w/ Victor Calderone 7/5/2008 in the Hamptons & I just got confirmed to play with Danny Tenaglia at Space in Ibiza 8/21/2008.
Michelangelo, keep doing your hobby and we look forward to seeing more of you and around the globe. Check out the fresh gear from Michelangelo’s T-shirt company www.ASTROSAUCE.com.
Listen to Michelangelo’s Mad Hatter Mix (May 10th, 2008) Live at Pacha, NY with Danny Tenaglia
[audio:http://djmichelangelo.com/uploads/Michelangelo_Live_PachaNYC_Danny%20Tenaglia_Mad_Hatter_Party_5_10_08.MP3]
Links:
www.djmichelangelo.com
www.myspace.com/michelangelonyc