5 posts tagged “dj”
Don't really have too much of an update on my life, but I figured that I might as well provide one anyway. Things are pretty much as they've been for awhile, other than the fact that I am lagging behind at work now. I've spent too much time slacking and it's finally caught up with me. I'm starting to freak out a bit, not only because of the workload, but also because of job security. We've lost three pretty big clients in the last three weeks. Luckily, some of them we will have for a bit longer, so it's not like they're instantly at the door... but either way, our bottom line is hurting and the President announced today that down the road it will have an effect on staffing. Luckily we do have two new clients in the mix now too, but they're not as big as the ones we lost.
I am still waiting to hear back on the interview I had before Memorial Day. They say they should have something by the end of the week - the fact this is dragging out pretty much tells me I won't get the job though... which is unfortunate because I'm really getting sick of what I'm doing at my current job (at least it's a nice change from hating it because of my coworkers, right?)
On another note, my friend Dale came over on Sunday and we spent the day putting together a tag team mix. It's a little short for a tag team and the mixes aren't completely flawless, but overall it's a good enough product to release to the public. I definitely can say that I enjoyed putting together the promotional e-flyer for it though! And here it is: Duel on the Decks: DSM vs Cloudkicker Round One!
I also have another mix featuring just myself in the works, it's just about done, I can't wait! It's a lot darker than the mix Dale and I made - more a long the lines of my current mixes. I also put together a custom intro for the new mix by recording audio samples from my The Crow DVD and spliced different pieces together. If you feel like taking a listen, here is the intro (I'll post the mix later once it's finalized ;))
And biggest apologies for anyone in my neighborhood - I'm sure you're not appreciating of the fact that probably only my face appears in recent posts in your 'hood. But too bad, I'm on a slacking spree and you're my victim!
So to follow-up on my last entry, I decided to go from the club to a warehouse party to support some of my DJ buddies. I had been afraid that since it was so late, I would've missed their sets. Luckily, my buddy dale, DJ Cloudkicker, hadn't played yet and I really wanted to catch his set. So I ran home real quick, drank a glass of water (I was MAD dehydrated myself, not sure why) stopped and got some gum, and then headed to the warehouse party. It really worked out well for both Dale and I. His gf had backed out on him so he had to catch a ride from someone else and that ride was leaving, so he needed a ride home. Well, I didn't feel like paying to get into the party and Dale had a guestlist spot. So, I promised him I'd give him a ride home if he gave me his guestlist. Sweet.
The event itself was nothing spectacular, but Dale did rock the house. Saw some of the "kids" in the scene I don't bump into too often (by kids I mean the younger crowd, some are even under 18). I also caught part of the set from a former Subterrania DJ, Supergirl. She's a cool girl but just didn't fit within the scope of what we wanted from our DJ collective a few years ago, so we gave her the boot. Her set was as cheesy was always, but her mixing skills have gotten a LOT better since the last time I heard her spin. After her is when Dale played, and I was excited to see him work that crowd really well. Too bad the poor guy was so nervous, he didn't enjoy the set as much as he could've. The last DJ I saw was another friend of mine, DJ Hyperglycerine, part of that kid crew. I wasnt' that excited for what he was playing (hardcore at 3am isn't bueno in my book) but he definitely had the kids there jumping. I was pretty envious, I wish I had a bunch of kids to follow me around and cheer me on just for the sheer fact that I'm their buddy. I ended up taking off around 3:30 to drop Dale off then head home. I did however leave my DJ needles there for Gavain (Hyperglycerine) to use because he forgot his... I told him I wanted them back Saturday otherwise he couldn't have them - I just got them back last night, ugh. Here are some of my favorite snaps from the party:
As for my Saturday, it was pretty uneventful. My old ass can't quite handle the party all night shit the way it used to, so I slept in and spent most of the day being lazy. Sunday on the other hand got way out of hand. My friend was having a birthday party at a local club, and my friend Tony was spinning so I figured I HAD to check it out. I was planning on going long enough to catch Tony's set, mingle a bit, and leave. Yeah, that's not quite how things worked out. Tony's set got delayed a bit because one of the stages wasn't set up. Eventually they got it all worked out, he went on, and towards the end of his set a bunch more friends (I don't know why I say friends, they're all more acquaintances than anything) keep showing up. I was doing well about drinking for the most part, then all of the sudden I got my hands on the magic beer cup - it just kept refilling itself, it was great. The kicker was the shot of Patron someone talked me into doing. Okay, well she's hot and I figured doing a shot with her wouldn't be a bad thing.
Anyway, the whole Sunday thing was a ton of fun. It really wasn't a dance event or anything like that, even though there were 3 stages with a buttload of DJs, it was definitely more of a social event, kind of like Kazmos. I ended up being there until after midnight, and had to give a ride to my inebriated former business partner (I knew as soon as I saw him that I'd have to, he had that "I need a ride home" gleem in his eye, bastard). He threw $3 my way though, so I can't complain. He offered more but I figured I wouldn't take advantage of his drunken state (in a monetary way of course... I'm neither a pitcher nor a catcher so don't even go there). Back to that girl I mentioned buying a shot for... she's 20 and somehow was given a 21+ wristband by the door guy. I've been friends with her on myspace for awhile and have dropped casual hints of interest in her direction. Yes, 20 is definitely under that standard I've set for age of people I'll date, but she's really attractive and seemingly has a good head on her shoulders. She reminds me a lot of my ex in HS, Heather. Don't know if that's good or bad. I spent a fair amount of the late evening drooling over her, drinking, and talking with my buddies. All in all, the event was a lot of fun. But as it was probably evident, I suffered for it on Monday. Here are my fave pics from Sunday (there's a few in there my friends were kind enough to take for me, normally I don't end up in ANY):
Other than the partying on Sunday, I had a chance to chat with my mom. It sounds like things are going okay in her world. Luckily all that flooding and tornado action didn't effect her area. The only bummer thing to hear is that she's now starting to poke around a bit for a new job. She's not real happy with her boss - one of her coworkers yelled at her about something and her boss did nothing about it, claiming that the coworker was yelling at him, not her (??) and my mom went to their HR department while her boss was on vacation and told them what was going on. Apparently her boss is being a dick now that he knows what she did, so she's seeing if there's something better she can do with her time (and hopefully something that'll pay her what she deserves, she's not making shit at her current job). Otherwise though, she seems pretty happy. She's excited that the 4th of July is drawing closer since she'll be in town visiting. She's not too excited about my possible interview with another Denver company, but would rather me do that than just stay where I am and be unhappy for awhile.
Crazy?
Not quite. Honestly, I haven't been working real hard at my job lately... not good. Luckily I'm not totally overwhelmed (thus some of my slacking) but I really need to get on the ball and get some stuff knocked down so I can stop stressing. I also have that sneaking feeling that I'm forgetting about something important... one of those "gee, did I leave the oven on" kind of thoughts, but relating to work instead. Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of things to take care of... but instead I'm wasting time on Vox. Go team! Sucks that I'm still exhausted all the time though, gotta figure out a solution to that problem.
I still haven't received the email from the interview coordinator at the sports company yet... I'm supposed to go in on Friday, (I think) but haven't heard anything to confirm just yet. Hopefully everything is still a go. I will try calling her tomorrow, but she's only in the office between 9 & 2 everyday otherwise I'd try right now.
Last night I went to Guitar Center to purchase two CDJ-800 tables. They are turntables made to play CDs. I've been getting more into digital tracks. I LOOOVE playing vinyl, but anymore it's hard to find the tracks I want at a decent cost, so going digital is a great way to circumvent that. The only problem is that I have no means of playing the tracks at home. It makes it hard to lay out a track selection for a gig. It makes it even harder to record a mix for a demo release. It's been quite a long time since I've released a mix and I think if I get some newer mixes done, it'll lead to more recognition in the music scene here. Anyway though, back to the Guitar Center trip...
I got there about 8:50 (yeah, I know walking in 10 min before they close probably isn't the most opportune time to transact something like this) and yet not a single sales person even so much as blinked in my direction. I stood in the DJ equipment room for 15 min without anyone even noticing I was there. Which wasn't real good because I was considering maybe going with just one CDJ-1000 versus two CDJ-800s. The 1000s are a much better product than the 800s, but when it comes down to it, the 800s would work okay for home use. Anyway, I ended up walking out of there about 9:10... it's a shame, I was willing to drop at least $1,400 (onto my GC credit card of course) and no one even took time to say hello. I keep debating whether or not to call their General Sales Manager and let him know that his staff was more concerned with counting out their drawers and leaving than making a pretty much guaranteed $1,400 sale. Maybe it'd help me get the discount I was hoping for on the equipment, that and maybe it'd learn 'em that they shouldn't neglect potential customers like they did me. Either way, I probably won't be making any purchases at that Guitar Center in the near future, which is unfortunate because it's only about 5-10 minutes away.
Looking back in the week, there's not too much excitement that's occurred. The weekend itself was rather interesting. On Friday night I went out with my friend Tab for dinner and then we headed over to the club. Tab and her husband are currently in the process of separating. I guess she just isn't real happy and is looking to get out of the whole thing.. it's not because her husband is a terrible person, in fact she admitted that most often their fights are one she's ultimately caused by pushing his buttons. But anyway, she is rather fond of women and has started seeing one. Well, her "girlfriend" was to meet us at the club with her sister. I thought this would be alright, except for the fact that her girlfriend is taking a bunch of different meds for a bunch of different mental health issues. I normally don't care, but Tab had mentioned the effect alcohol has on her because of the meds... well when we met them at the club, she had already had one shot. She wasn't totally drunk or anything like that, but immediately took shot number two with Tab after we bumped into them. We went out to the patio so her friend could smoke (and admittedly, me too). Well her girlfriend had to sit down because she was suddenly becoming really drunk. I got wrapped up in a conversation with some other friends I bumped into, and the next thing I knew, Tab's girlfriend and her sister went streaking by... this isn't good I thought to myself. I finished up the conversation with the guys I was talking to and went with Tab to try and find out where they went. Well, her girlfriend was in the bathroom, apparently REALLY drunk. We all knew she needed food, so I volunteered to go get some from a nearby convenience store. Well, her sister decided to walk along with me (which I didn't mind one bit, her sister was a total hottie - too bad she's married with a kid and lives in Washington state).
When we got back with the food, there were a couple of security guards standing outside the women's bathroom... not good. I kept my distance, figuring if they needed the sandwich stashed in my pocket, one of them would grab me. Well, before that could happen security took Tab's girlfriend out to the back alley. She couldn't stand up on her own or anything, sounded really wasted, like me when I've had way wayy wayyyy too much to drink. Her sister went to go get the car and in the meantime we were chatting with the security guards. Then it dawned on me that the girlfriend had been whitewater rafting all day and she was probably seemingly wasted because she was really dehydrated. So we got her a couple of bottles of water, etc while we waited for her sister to arrive with their car. Tab and I ended up having to get in my car and show the girlfriend's sister how to get home since she was from out of town. So we finish up with all of that, I drop Tab off at her car so she can head home, and I have to go back to the club to get my credit card - I had opened a bar tab and not had the chance to close it before we had to leave. I got back and closed my tab. I was a little upset because the bartender was a real bitch to me. Normally she's pretty sweet and nice, I don't know what her problem was that night... but anyway, I decided that I'd head to the warehouse party a couple of my DJ buddies were playing at since I didn't want my night to be over and I'd decided I was done with the club after all the crap that had gone on. This post is getting pretty long, so I'll post about the warehouse party and the rest of my weekend in another entry :)
Not that I can call myself a budding photographer, but I've always had a closet passion for snapping pics. I once brought up being a photographer to my mom, yeah... that didn't go over well. She cited my dad's schizophrenic brother's unsuccessful dabbling in photography as reason to why I shouldn't even THINK about pursuing the craft. She was livid, I was young... end of story: no formal photography training for Nick, only a dream.
Last weekend was one of the best parties I've been to in a long while. The vibe was excellent, music was good (for the most part) and it was nice to release and have a good time. I often find myself stressing out or spending too much of my time reminiscing about "back in the day." Being in better spirits on Saturday allowed me to make my rounds and try to get some good pics on my unsophisticated piece of equipment. I snap with the Casio Exilim EX-Z70 - not a heavy duty camera by any means, but it's small and compact. It fits wonderfully in my pocket when it's not in use, so it's great for an amateur like me. Here are some of my favorites from Saturday:
Every week at Kazmos I try to make sure I take plenty of pictures, a service to our DJs if you will. We don't make enough money to pay them (they get a couple free drinks) so I figure I'll try to catch their best side as thanks for coming down to play for us. I finally uploaded a bunch that have been sitting on my camera for awhile, and figured I'd showcase my "talent" - I'm pretty content with how some of them came out!
He stood, hand poised, waiting to make his first move.
His legs like jello, his face covered with perspiration.
The big moment is at hand, but can he appease those in waiting?
He grips the wheel, steady... steady.
He can feel the energy build, all the while he doubts himself.
Is this the right one? Is this the right way?
But he wouldn't have it any other way.
He counts down in his head 1-2-3-4 2-2-3-4 3-2-3-4.
It's almost time, can he pull it off?
He takes a deep breath - it's go time.
He let's go of the wheel.
Hearts racing, trying to hold on.
Steady now, steady.
The horses are gone, everything's in time.
He rips off his gear.
Grabs the fader, grabs the knobs.
The beat drops...................................................
FLAWLESS
He is the DJ.
He is the shaman.
Our journey now begins.
Not with a story, but with a bassline.
Feet shufflling, fists pumping.
Our souls lost in a sea of transcendentalism.
Now is the time, now is OUR time.
Out of body, out of mind.
We come together as one under the beat.
Dancing together.
Uniting as one.
Tonight is our night and he is the shaman.
