Category Archives: The Mixdown
Sea Monkey
Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of Sea Monkey.
Link: http://www.myspace.com/seamonkey82
Listen to an exclusive ZapTown Mixdown by Sea Monkey (1:11:03)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
You’ve been known to champion styles of Drum ‘N’ Bass that haven’t received much play in Indiana such as Atmospheric, Liquid, and Sambass. What kind of reception have these less established styles received?
Overall, I think all of the different styles I play have been pretty well received. The music that got me interested in Drum & Bass was actually of the dark, aggressive variety, but it didn’t take long for me to realize how prominent and over-represented it was, and when that’s the sole flavor of Drum & Bass being played over the course of the night, it’s no longer intense and crazy, but becomes a sterile, repetitive caricature of itself – who can play the tunes with the most epic drops, the most menacing stabs, the spookiest horror movie samples. There are so many different moods to explore within Drum & Bass, and I think there are others who recognize that need for variety just as much as I do.
You have a high attention to detail in regard to your mixing technique. Many DJ’s prioritize Turntablism (manual manipulation of records) and track selection over solid mixing. Why did you choose to develop this method over others? Are there downsides?
It may be a bit of an oversimplification to put it this way, but as I see it, there are two types of mixing – active and passive. In active mixing, a DJ will try to show you all of the things they can do with the turntables, mixer, and/or other hardware they are using to perform. In passive mixing, a DJ strives to blend tracks together as seamlessly as possible, making their own presence transparent, and putting all of the focus on the tracks themselves rather than what he or she does with them. I don’t believe that either is right or wrong, and I think that the style of music one plays often lends itself to one or the other. Much of the music I play is very layered and melodic, so it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of quick cutting, scratching, or beat juggling. While I admire and respect the talent that goes into active mixing, for me, setting the mood and smoothly transitioning between tracks takes precedence over flashy showmanship. The downside of this is that many people expect watching the DJ to be as entertaining an experience as listening to what the DJ is playing.
I’ve heard you spin sets that have shown a progression not just in tempo but in mood, style, and sub-genre. It’s almost as if you’re telling a musical story without lyrics. This is in direct conflict with the approach that many DJ’s take where they simply try to respond to the crowd. What are the pros and cons to a conceptual method?
I feel like most DJs put a lot of importance into feeling out the crowd and trying to respond with the appropriate music. For me, DJing has always been about finding the music that I’m passionate about and sharing it with others. While I do consider the crowd I’m going to be playing to and how my set will fit within the context of the rest of the lineup, I usually have a pretty specific idea of the arrangement of tracks in my set before I start. Being a crowdpleaser is easy and only requires loading up your bag or your hard drive with whatever is popular. For me, it’s much more gratifying to treat a DJ set as a composition and take the willing amongst the crowd on a musical journey.
You come from a generation of DJ’s that are pre-Serato (software that allows DJ’s to spin digital files instead of records). How do you feel about the advent of a generation of DJ’s that have never touched vinyl?
Serato is kind of a double-edged sword as far as what it’s done for DJ-ing. On the whole, the idea that you can carry your entire music collection on a hard drive and manipulate it just like vinyl is great. However, DJs downloading low bit rate and/or transcoded MP3s, or worse, rips of tunes from MySpace and YouTube, and using them to DJ with is an unfortunate side-effect of the digital revolution. Another gripe I’ve had is that since the advent of Serato, I have been to a lot more electronic music events where there was dead air between DJs as they hooked up, and battled issues with, their hardware. For example, I’ve shown up to gigs where a Serato box was hooked up with the intention of multiple DJs using it, but it lacked an AC adapter, and without a laptop to power it via USB, this left me unable to play vinyl without completely unhooking all of the cords and plugging the turntables directly into the mixer. I’m still a purely vinyl DJ myself, but I acknowledge that I have an irrational obsession with an obsolete medium. I did buy Final Scratch way back when it required its own Linux partition and was incredibly buggy. I only used it for one live performance and had it crash mid-set before deciding to get rid of it. Beyond the fact that it was an unreliable product at the time, it just wasn’t as fun as using actual vinyl to me. Also, I felt a bit guilty, as it was the only time I have ever played out tracks that I didn’t legitimately own in a live performance.
I view the Drum ‘N’ Bass community in Indiana as being one of the purest scenes because of the fact that it has a higher percentage of DJ’s and producers per capita than most music-based communities. Most Drum ‘N’ Bass enthusiasts that I’ve encountered actively create and contribute. This is different than most genres where the fans mainly listen and attend shows but don’t make or spin music. How does this affect the development of the music itself? Do new styles and sub-genres spring up quicker because of this?
It’s difficult to assess the rate of evolution of Drum & Bass in relation to other genres, or to attribute that evolution to a greater involvement in the Drum & Bass scene amongst its enthusiasts, but I will say that 2009 was wonderful for Drum & Bass. Three of my favorite albums of the year, amongst all genres of music, were three very different styles of Drum & Bass. Those were Bop – Clear Your Mind, Fanu - Homefree, and Consequence – Live for Never. All three really showed that Drum & Bass *is* still evolving and that there is plenty of new territory to be explored.
For popular music, it seems as though there is a balance between the crowd and the DJ. The DJ may introduce the crowd to new sounds but ultimately they can’t play out songs that are too much of a departure from what’s established or the crowd will stop supporting them. Does the crowd/creator dynamic that I mentioned above affect this relationship? Is it easier to introduce radically different tunes to the Drum ‘N’ Bass community?
I feel like the Indianapolis Drum & Bass scene has become quite varied and open to new and interesting styles of Drum & Bass. I think the minimal and atmospheric styles present the biggest challenge for DJs and crowds alike, because they require you to approach Drum & Bass more as thinking and relaxing music than simply as dance music. The Consequence and Bop albums I mentioned above are perfect examples of this. They aren’t albums that make you want to throw your hands in the air, shake your ass, and jump around. Rather, when I hear music like that, I tend to want to close my eyes and let the music take me somewhere else.
For a long time, I saw you take the responsibility of archiving most of the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) events that you attended both through photographs and by recording people’s sets. Did this benefit the community in the way you thought it would? Can you describe the importance of documentation in this context?
I’ve received many thanks and even a few donations to help maintain the costs of running the site over the years, so I’d like to think that it has benefited the community. When I started, I really just wanted to do anything I could to help support electronic music in Indianapolis. Also, since I’m not a terribly sociable person, while at events, the camera was what I could hide behind when I wasn’t behind a pair of turntables. It was a lot easier to remain active within the scene and attend several events per week when I was working nights. After my work schedule changed, it really started to wear on me, and after two and a half years of helping run Broke(n) Tuesdays at The Melody Inn, I desperately needed a break from it all to be a hermit for a while, as evidenced by the significant decline in the volume of pictures and recordings over the last year or two.
Induceonline.com has long been known as the focal point for photos, songs, and DJ sets from Indy’s Drum n Bass community. Are there any plans to update it or create a web 2.0 presence for it using contemporary Social Media platforms/services?
I’ve never been great with design. The Induce brand was actually created by my friend Alex many years ago, and initially, he had a lot of big ideas about managing DJs, Artists, Lighting & Sound Techs, and various other projects, so he hired someone who created a nice site design incorporating pages for all of these services. However, he went on to pursue other things and I started using the site to help promote any and all Indianapolis electronic music, Induce affiliated or not. Since most of the site design was irrelevant at that point, I took it all down and replaced it with the very simple folder structure that exists today. Some time around 2006, I think, I turned all of the picture folders into PicLens galleries (which took a painfully long time), but beyond that, nothing’s changed except the content. I don’t have any plans to update the appearance of the site, but if some ambitious site designer wanted to do it free of charge, I’d be willing to see what they had in mind.
Any performances, releases, mixes, or anything coming up that people should watch out for?
Upcoming Gigs:
Aug. 31st 9:30PM – 11:30 PM
The Melody Inn
3826 North Illinois Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208-4017
DJ Deanne
Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Deanne.
Link: www.djdeanne.com
Listen to an exclusive ZapTown Mixdown by DJ Deanne (58:17)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)
How did you get started doing DJ work and what motivated you to learn the craft? What influenced you to get into the type of style and sound you currently DJ? How did that transcend into your life and become a part of who you are?
I have two Bachelors degrees in Finance and Sports Medicine under my belt. My short career in the banking/finance industry was long enough for me to know that’s not where I wanted to be. I came out, got divorced and moved to Florida back in ’96. I started going to clubs and hearing music and seeing all kinds of things that I had never heard or seen in my life. Remixes, to anything, were like crack to me. This was in the days of Napster and Audiogalaxy and my 56K modem and I would download endlessly. I had built a pretty healthy library while in Florida and I couldn’t get enough new music. I started going to school again and transferred to IU to pursue a degree in Sports Med. When I moved to Indiana I had all this music and made friends with guys who were successful DJs in the city. They introduced me to DJ’ing as an outlet and a more hands-on, personally creative way to listen to my and their music. I bought my first vinyl in 2000 and started practicing at a small little gay bar in Bloomington where I was bartending. I got my first set of turntables as a gift and bought the rest of the equipment that I would need to get started. I found that I had a talent and it kind of turned into an obsession. I started DJ’ing the Monday night drag shows and couldn’t wait for the queens to be finished so that I had the last hour or two to really play. I made a few key connections and was able to play a Pride Festival Tea Dance at Talbott Street. The only people that were there were my 30 friends or so. But what I felt in that big room with the lights, the big sound, the shirtless dancing boys and the fear and exhilaration of playing was enough to seal the deal for me. I had to make a decision between grad school and the chance to maybe play again sometime in the future. I didn’t choose grad school. I just kept practicing and practicing. The residency came and my life as a DJ really began. My sound was influenced at first by what was being played in the gay clubs in the late 90′s – alot of anthems, big remixed vocal tracks with dramatic breaks, and a hard circuit sound that was perfect for the party kids. I still love a little drama, a good vocal and I’m a sucker for a break and a build. But, over the years my taste has evolved. I love the energy of the gay/circuit sound but I prefer music with more variety and depth, fewer screaming divas, and a more sophisticated sound that reaches out to and beyond the gay scene.
How has this city influenced you and your work?
Indianapolis is an interesting and challenging city to spin for and I, myself, wear two fairly different hats. On the one hand, my initial and continued success has come from playing to a mostly gay audience that likes primarily commercial, vocally driven tracks. Over the past two years, however, I have been more involved with the local EDM scene outside of the gay clubs where there is a greater appreciation for a more underground sound that I have always found myself more connected to. The challenge for me is to blur the lines between the scenes and appeal to the audience in a way that keeps the dance floor moving, opens ears and minds to new sounds, satisfies the artist in me and, more importantly, the music lover on the dance floor. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. That’s hard to take at times because I want every party to be off the hook, but I haven’t stopped trying to do what I do how I do it. This city pushes me harder to be unique, a dance floor sociologist, and a stronger, more confident artist.
You have been trying to create a more international presence with your work. How are you making that happen?
I have been focusing on that. I tell you it takes a lot of patience and hard work and sometimes the right connection to break out. I was recently picked up by Give Me a Beat Productions, Inc. out of Miami and I am looking forward to more opportunities to come with that relationship. I have begun producing my own work and working on remixes and I’m excited about seeing how my individual sound will develop. But always, my main focus is to continue to put forth all my energy and my best work every time I hit the stage, produce one of my shows or record a new promo. I’m my best advertisement.
What trial and errors did you encounter while developing your style? How did you know that this is the sound that was right for you?
Hell, every time you play it’s trial and error. Some tracks work and some don’t. A track can drive the floor crazy one night and send them straight to the bar on another. It’s a thinking girl’s craft when you play live and the errors can really mess with your head if you let them. Knowing your audience, your music and when to drop each track is key. That’s the dance floor sociology I referred to earlier. The thing that has been most instrumental (at least early in my career) in the development of my sound and my confidence in it are my weekly mixshows. I have been recording a 2-hour show in my home studio every week for the past 6 or 7 years to an audience of one. When you construct a set and you don’t have the pressure of killing a dance floor it eliminates a lot of pressure. Listening to the playback, you can hear technical errors and evaluate the strength of the set. I’m my own worst critic and it’s helped me to fine-tune elements of my performances, to be a better technician and to tell a better story. I have also used the opportunity to break in new music and develop my own unique sound that really speaks to how I feel in that moment. I don’t like to sound like anyone else, never have and never will. That philosophy has been well received and I have created a national fan-base as a result. I have just translated the production freedom and the formula of that show to sets from 1-8 hours long, for gay or straight audiences, in big rooms or smoky dive bars from here to Miami. Fortunately, it’s worked so far.
Why become a DJ? What gives you the most satisfaction when DJ’ing?
When I started DJ’ing, I didn’t really think that it would really click like it has and that this is what I would be doing. Though I have always loved music, I didn’t use to dream about this as a kid or anything like that.
Remember, I was a late bloomer to the club scene so all of it was so foreign to me until my late 20′s. I entered the game kind of late after I had lived a little bit of a party lifestyle, so I can’t say I got into it to live the rock star life. I just realized it’s really what makes me happy and being successful at this has turned into my dream. I thrive off the interaction, connection and communication with the audience. My job, if you can call it that sometimes, is to play great music that people dance to, to help them forget about all the other crap that’s going on in their life for a few hours and just have fun. That, in and of itself, is very satisfying to me and why I do it. I love sweaty bodies, smiling faces, hands in the air and screams of joy. Let’s face it, like any other DJ, I kind of like the attention, too. But the art and skill of the job, to me, lies in accomplishing all those things by weaving the the perfect connective thread throughout a set – it’s construction, the story. And when I see people get that – appreciate that - whether it’s a look in their eye, a nod toward the booth, a different groove in their dance step or a direct word from them to me, that’s what really turns me on.
What are your guilty pleasures?
In life…pasta, mushy love stories and Grand Marnier. Musically… Grease 2 (sickening, I know) or any other ridiculous movie musical from the ’80s and ’90s, private unreleased promo tracks, lasers and percussion.
You have performed with a live drummer/percussionist on stage before. How did that work out for you and what did it bring to the stage not only with your impression but the crowd reaction? Are there other unique things you have tried in the past, and any specific plans in the future you might be experimenting with?
Every two or three months Joe Melton joins me on stage at Talbott Street. We have an amazing time together. We never coordinate the set. It’s totally spontaneous and off the cuff. I never plan a set anyway, but he has absolutely no idea what’s coming next. We have built a relationship where he trusts me and the direction that I’m going to take him. In that I love percussion, it’s fun playing a set that is supported and complemented by a live percussionist. Having him there gives me the freedom to go a little harder throughout the entire set than I normally would, too. The audience gets so hyped about having something different there that the energy is off the charts. I can basically play whatever I want and it works. I love it! I have also coordinated production routines with the female impersonators (hot spots), dance groups, live vocalists and performance artists. I’d love to bring in a complete drum line and have them just tear up the stage with a marching band arrangement to a hot tribal house track! I like to keep the crowd entertained and any opportunity to mix it up a bit is fun for everyone.
One thing I think is great about the DJ scene is that there are an outstanding visual presence of exceptional women creating amazing things, as well as men. Growing up in the punk and hardcore scene for me, gender was apparently male dominated. Do you feel that gender and this underlying freedom is important to you, or is it really not something that is as apparent as say the punk scene was? How do you see the role of gender with electronic music in the future and its need of unity for the future of the genre?
Personally, I hate concentrating on the gender aspect of what I do. But, it’s often unavoidable. This industry is male dominated and there is no denying that and, to be honest, it’s more prevalent in the gay scene than any. Many women in that particular scene find themselves fighting the tendency of promoters to lean toward the buff, shirtless, hot, male DJ with questionable or, notably, unoriginal and cookie-cutter talent over exceptional female DJs who have put in so many years of hard work trying to deliver great music. These days it seems anyone with a gym membership, a laptop and a clever marketing strategy can go from go-go dancer or porn star to DJ overnight. It becomes incredibly frustrating to try and get attention when you’re up against something you can’t compete with. The same is true in the straight scene. There is a definite male predominance, but there are also many successful and talented female DJs and the scene seems to be a little more open to women walking through the door. However, there is also an increasing trend in female celebrity and model DJs. They’re hot, they’re barely dressed and they’re hard for a serious jock to listen to. But, they’re getting booked. Is that really helping to create unity or not? It’s hard to say. I have my strong opinions on “DJs” getting gigs for their shtick and not their talent, whether they be male, female or extra-terrestrial. At least in our local EDM scene so many of the promoters are willing to feature DJs that cross all divides, whether they are white or black, gay or straight or male or female. It really is about offering great music to the city. I’m a DJ who is also a girl. I’m not selling sex, I’m just trying to peddle my beats.
Tell me about what you are doing now and some of the important highlights for you that happened in the last year?
You know I have my monthly party, Ascension, at Talbott Street on the first Saturday and the party is still going strong after 5 years. My monthly open deck project, The Side Room at Talbott Street, is getting good reviews and uncovering some fresh talent in the city. That goes down on the last Friday of every month. I still have my weekly mixshows on PartyRadioUSA.net and GayInternetRadioLive.com. I have been really busy in the past 6-9 months playing a lot of the local parties that are coming up, like Jackola’s High Five and Fwd:Indy, Taylor Norris’ Get Down at the Red Room, and Muzique Boutique’s Keeping It Deep to name a few. Playing some of the big shows in the city with Paul Van Dyk, Donald Glaude and Collette were fun. Getting representation was a big deal and that has resulted in more gigs already. I just got back from Miami and I’m going again in May. It’s going to be a busy summer with lots of things going on around Pride and hopefully a new monthly event will be beginning, as well.
What are your plans for 2010 and what do you want to accomplish in the future as a DJ?
I have a little business venture in the conceptual stage right now that I look to have up and running later in the year. I, obviously, want to play outside of Indy more. That’s my main focus. Whatever I have to do to get out there and jam, I’m going to do. I want to produce, remix & create. You can’t be a DJ forever, but you can make music until you die.
DJ Action Jackson
Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Action Jackson. Fresh to the city of Indianapolis, but certainly no stranger here, Action Jackson can be seen tearing up the decks at OMG! at the Casba on Wednesday nights or down in Bloomington putting pressure on Killroy’s dance floor, a few small examples of Jackson’s busy DJ schedule. A balance between Indianapolis and the university city act as building blocks for Jackson’s growing and creative talent. Plan on your eardrums having a good time when in his presence.
(Action Jackson performing at Blu. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein)
Links:
Action Jackson: http://actionjackson.bee-town.com/
ZapTown’s photo coverage of Action Jackson at Record Store Day 2010: http://www.zaptownmag.com/2010/04/record-store-day-at-luna-music-photo-recap
Exclusive ZapTown MixDown: Action Jackson (43.42)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (60.0MB)
Tracklist
1.Paul Simon 2. Al Green 3. Morrissey 4. Level 42 5. Get Famous! 6. Janet Jackson 7. Fleetwood Mac 8. Talking Heads 9. BreakBot 10.Lykke Li 11. Jinder 12. Out Hud 13. Classixx 14. Michael Gray 15. Prince 16. Telephoned 17. Soulja Boy 18. The Martin Brothers 19. Gyptian 20. Bag Raiders 21. New Order 22. Ciara 23. Sheila E 24. Ready For the World 25. Michael Jackson 26. Riton
What made you want to become a DJ? What are the things that attract you to being a DJ? How long have you been a DJ?
Well I’ve always been really into music and dancing, but I never imagined I’d be a DJ. The first DJs I really experienced were at this now defunct under 21 club called the Junction. DJ Topspeed used to play there every Saturday and it was the highlight of my week in high school. And I would always listen to the DJ mixes on 96.3, I guess that was my first exposure to it.
Then I started tinkering around with it back in 2003 or 2004. I wanted to get into production so I bought a turntable off of eBay to sample records, I had no idea what I was doing but eventually bought another turntable and then started doing house parties at IU and then got my first club gig at this place called the Jungle Room (RIP). It’s snowballed since then, and I’m fortunate enough to do this for a living now.
Give me a little history about your career and your time in Bloomington? How was the reaction did the university town have towards what you do?
It’s a really good town to come up in. There’s people there from all over the country so you’re exposed to a lot of culture and people are really open to all kinds of music, new and old. Also, there were a bunch of great DJs that kinda came up together around the same time in Bloomington. Basically towards the very end of the vinyl phase before everyone switched to serato and quit lugging records around, DJ Wushu (now in Denver), DJ Metrognome and I (now in Indpls), Flufftronix (now in Philly), and DJ Sleeper (now in LA).
But yeah sorta what I touched on above, I started at one club and it just sorta spiraled from there. Also, in 2006 Flufftronix and I formed Rad Summer and started our Daft Crunk party, that sorta put us on the map nationally I guess.
Before we go on, let’s talk about your style. You are very adaptable to different genres and styles. What attracts you to using these various styles? Is it a conscious thing or do you have a pre-planned agenda before you go into a set? The ’80s genre seems to be the most accessible as of late, why? With that you are not afraid to incorporate songs that many people would not normally put on the dance floor, yet it works for you? How is that so?
I just have a genuine love for music. I also get bored dancing to or DJing at the same bpm all night long so I like to jump around a lot regarding the tempo and genre. I try to keep it from being ironic or cheesy though and make sure that it makes sense and flows nicely. I don’t really have too many details planned out beforehand but I do like to just have a generel idea of where I’d like to go during a set. As far as being not afraid to play left-field songs or not so obvious choices, I think that there’s a way to make almost any song work on a dancefloor. Whether it’s through sequencing it in a certain way or throwing some hip hop drums on top of it or whatever. But at the end of the day it’s not that serious, and I don’t think anyone should ever be afraid to take chances while DJing, it’s partying for godsake. And yeah IMO, the ’80s were the greatest decade for pop music so those songs have aged very well. But a lot of them are approaching 30 years old so I expect their popularity to eventually start to wane a bit.
What are some of your favorite songs or key tunes that you pull out to get the crowd going?
Waka Flocka – O Let’s Do It
Gucci Mane – Lemonade (Heroes & Villians Remix)
Cajmere – Percolator
Tony Toni Tone – It Feels Good
You are now living in Indianapolis and making quite the presence within the city? What made you transition from Bloomington to Indianapolis? And to note, you still have ties to Bloomington. Tell me what it is like bouncing back and forth between the two cities? What differences or similarities do you see between the two.
I’m from here originally, I went to IU for school. After graduating, I was real hesitant to move back because I didn’t feel like there was a place for the kind of music I liked to play here. But in the past year or two between what MOKB, ASquared, Slater, Heavy Gun, Rad Summer, etc… have been doing there’s so much opportunity, and it’s a really exciting time for music in Indy right now. Also I feel like there’s not much more that I can do in Bloomington. I still love it though and play there once or twice a week, so I haven’t given myself the chance to miss it. The biggest difference is the University obviously, so there’s a much larger audience of young people, they also tend to be a bit more worldy/up on new stuff because a lot of them come from the coasts. They also are usually more enthusiastic in Bloomington but Indy is catching up fast!
What is it about Indianapolis and Indiana do you admire? What would you like to see more of?
Well the best part is that all the people mentioned above are all friends, and we work together. I guess I’d like to see the scene continue to grow and go in the direction its moving right now. More national acts making stops here, people continuing to come out and support all the local cats doing there thing, and I’d love to see an artist put the city on his or her back and make it big out of here nationally. And the low cost of living makes it a great place to be an artist full time.
What things would you like to try or experiment with? Do you find anything that is changing within your sets? Where do you feel like you shine the most?
I really love my Wednesday party OMG! at the Casba in BroadRipple, because it’s an open format night. We’ve had all different kinds of DJs guest, national and local. I try to break a lot of records there and try out new things that I’ll later incorporate more often into my sets. I’d like to do more stuff with bands in the future, I did a great show with Jip Jop a month ago that was challenging but fun as well. I was running and looping Motown acapellas while they were playing the instrumentals.
What do you feel you are doing to push yourself as a DJ? What about pushing the genre and the scene forward?
Just surrounding myself with other good DJs is the biggest inspiration. I also try to stay on top of music and know my history. As far as pushing the scene here I’m going to continue to throw bigger and better parties and continue to share my love of music with others
What gives you the greatest satisfaction with being a DJ?
Just seeing people come out, forget their problems, and dance their asses off for a few hours.
Tell me about what you have coming up for the rest of 2010? What are some of your goals?
Definitely trying to focus on remix work and production, hopefully finish up an EP by the end of summer. I’ll still do a lot of traveling this summer, as well: Philly, Denver, Minneapolis, Louisville, Chicago, etc.. And continue to be better at what I do and most importantly have fun doing it.
DJs Mason Williams and Jonny Yuma
Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Mason Williams and Jonny Yuma, your hosts for Bloomington’s New Wave Night and Biff Bang Pow!
Link: New Wave Night: http://www.newwavenight.com/
Listen to two exclusive ZapTown Mixdowns from Mason Williams and Jonny Yuma.
Podcast 1: New Wave Night (41:17)
Podcast 2: Biff Bang Pow! (39:11)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (38.4MB)
In the age of digital mixing, what is it about the 45 and vinyl that attracted you to do what you do? How do you deal with the inconsistencies of vinyl? It’s an acceptance that both the DJ and the listener must understand.
Mason Williams: I love vinyl but I’m not a vinyl snob. I also love my MP3 player. I DJ with vinyl because it seems like more of an art, it makes me feel like I’m doing something live. With vinyl and turntables you’re constantly messing with your gear, you have to twiddle and fidget constantly. Records fuck up, they skip, they get bumped…they’re alive. People react differently to vinyl DJs too, we’re doing something that they can’t do with their iPods and laptops, something physical, no playlists, no safety net, pure spontaneity. Nothing sounds like vinyl either, it’s so raw and real.
Jonny Yuma: I, like Mason, have an iPod and I couldn’t live without it. Vinyl purists get all pissed off about them, but I think if you are a true fan of music, the iPod is something that you cannot live without. As far as DJing live, I like the limits that vinyl gives me. If I DJ-ed with my iPod or my computer I could basically go out on to the internet and find any song I wanted. It would be limitless. With records you are limited to what is available on record and if you can find it on wax. To me, creating art is about giving yourself limits and boundaries. It keeps your medium pure. Plus there is nothing more fun than hitting garage sales, flea markets, church basements etc and discovering gems for 25cents then going to the club and dropping it and watching people dance to a record that was basically thrown away by someone because to them it was useless. As far as inconsistencies in vinyl, I think there is more inconsistency in the digital file. If your digital file gets damaged then you are fucked, at least with vinyl if you have a skip or something you can lay your finger on the needle and plow right over it. You cant do that with an mp3.
What were the things that originally attracted you two to individually become DJs?
Williams: I got nagged into DJing by one of my best friends who had been DJing for years. I started making mix tapes for friends and girls I had crushes on when I was about 12 years old. The mix tape was a major form of communication for me all through my teens. As someone who has suffered with lifelong shyness, the thought of getting up in front of people and entertaining them was… well, it was something that was never going to happen. My first real DJ gig was a sold out new year’s eve party at one of Cincinatti’s most popular nightclubs. People responded to my awkward, eclectic mix and I was hooked immediately. So the short answer is: nothing. I was harassed into making a “live mix tape” by a friend who believed that I would be a solid DJ and that was my introduction to “DJ culture.”
Yuma: I’ve been DJ-ing off and on for about 20 years. I got my first radio shack mixer when I was in my late teens to make mix tapes with, I liked it when radio DJs mixed the ends and beginnings of songs to make one long song. I love the seamless mix. Not so much beat matching but mixing. I can beat match, but I think there are other people who can do it better, so I just try to make my mixes interesting. I’m also a vinyl nut and have thousands of records so DJ-ing gives me an excuse to buy records.
How did you two meet, and what led to collaborating together as DJs? What is your Bloomington connection and how did you get to where you are today?
Williams: I met Jonny at a Borders bookstore in the spring of 2001. We both had recently become fathers and shared that “record nerd turned first-time parent” face. We soon discovered that we also shared a passion for Polynesian culture and incredibly strange music. Jonny had already been DJing for some time at that point and eventually helped get a vintage soul and funk night up off the ground here in Bloomington. One night he invited me to spin a few records at the soul party and we seemed to really work well together. A year later when I was hatching the new wave night idea and wondering who to partner up with Jonny was the first person that came to mind.
Yuma: Yeah, what he said.
What music influenced you growing up?
Williams: My brother is 8 years older than me, I got all of his rock n’ roll hand-me-downs: Alice Cooper, Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent etc… I thought rock & roll was the only form of music in the universe. The first band I obsessed over was KISS, I was a card carrying member of the KISS army! One day, I opened up a copy of big brother’s CREEM magazine and saw a picture of The Sex Pistols… I thought “Hey… another band with a blood soaked bass player, I should check them out.” Two allowances later I picked up Never Mind The Bullocks from there on out it was nothing but Punk & New Wave until I landed a job at a local record store in the late ’80s and got turned on to everything else that’s out there.
Yuma: The first records I listened to were my mothers 45s. Her dad would buy her one 45 a week if she kept her grades up, so she had hundreds of 45s spanning everything from teenybopper to garage to soul to rock. She was heavy on the Beatles and Stones but she also had some real rare weird garage and soul. She passed them down to me, and I played them til there were no grooves left. Later on as my tastes developed into my teens I was all about heavy metal. In high school someone introduced me to Echo and The Bunnymen and i was hooked. After that is was Smiths, Cure, U2, Duran Duran, etc., all the way. As time went on my tastes expanded and my bloated record collection is proof of that.
Although you are commonly known for your New Wave shows twice a month, it did not start out that way? Tell me about the idea to jump into the type of ’50s and ’60s wild dance music that became “Biff, Bang, Pow.” What influences led you to experiment with this type of dance music?
Williams: In the beginning I started a monthly dance party/hang-out night called Nervous Shakedown, it was created to fill what I considered a void in Bloomington’s nightlife scene. It was a simple concept: just play rock n’ roll records. We played everything from Sun Rockabilly records from the ’50s through New Wave classics of the ’80s and even threw in contemporary curveballs from the ’00s. It was pretty much a hit right out of the gate, the “new wavers” wanted a whole night of new wave, the rock n’ rollers wanted more raw rock n’ roll and none of the “80s crap” so we decided to split Nervous Shakedown into two separate club nights…the New Wave and Punk records from the late ’70s & ’80s found a home at New Wave Night, the ’50s & ’60s stuff ended up going to a night we decided to call Biff Bang Pow (named after a b-side from the amazing mod band The Creation). I grew up on junk culture… Happy Days, Gilligan’s Island, American Graffiti… I’ve always loved b-movies, drive-ins, camp kings like Russ Meyer & John Waters. I love the images I’ve seen of ’60s go-go clubs like the Peppermint Lounge, places where people just went wild and twisted the night away. Places where a girl could wear her best a-frame dress and get a drink called a pink lady or an aqua velva. Biff Bang Pow is like putting a ’60s discotheque in a blender with a ’50s sock hop. It’s a convoluted concept that makes for great escapism. Jonny kicks every Biff Bang Pow off with an hour’s worth of Exotica. It really sets the mood, once you’re good n’ dreamy we let loose and try to bring your favorite cult movie dance party scenes to life…a little Hairspray here, a little Beyond The Valley of the Dolls over there. Mods vs. Rockers all dang night. It’s a challenge though, songs from that era are usually around 2 minutes long, we play around 150 45s in an average Biff Bang Pow set.
Yuma: Mason said it all here.
How about the New Wave aspect, how did New Wave Night become reality and did you expect its popularity? For me, I was too young to make it out to a club to experience the music, but I was old enough to have it be an important part of my life at the time. Tell me about the crowd mix and your perception of it all. What you two are doing is not only channeling the youth to give them a taste of the roots of modern indie electronic music and the punk sound, but also giving people who were immersed in the decade a way to re-live and experience the vibrancy of that musical decade.
Williams: New Wave Night started as a one-off and got turned into a monthly before the first one even happened based on the amount of attention that it received, by the third one it had gone to twice a month and remains on that schedule. The music of the ’80s is something a lot of people take very personal. It’s the music of their lifetime, they are connected to it. I can’t hear The Plimsouls without remembering renting Valley Girl (on VHS) 1000 times in high school or hear The Go-Gos without thinking of watching the opening credits of Fast Times at Ridgemont High with a gang of pimply faced goofs at my side more than ready to catch another glimpse of Phoebe Cates’ boobs. First kisses, proms, dead pets… it’s all in the music. It’s not uncommon for me to get stopped in the parking lot and thanked by someone who has obviously shed a few tears on the dance floor. In my opinion. New Wave is some of the most infectiously danceable music ever made, and I believe it will get discovered again and again. I meet a lot of young people who consider the current music scene “the musical dark ages.”
Yuma: Both Mason and I grew up in the ’80s, it was the music we listened to while going through the major milestones of our youth. It’s in our blood, it comes natural, and we know what’s good and what is bad. Younger kids who come out to NWN who didn’t grow up in the ’80s, like we did, but love the sound thinking of us as their personal New Wave tour guides.
Williams: New Wave Night is truly a labor of love, I think a good DJ has to follow his heart and play the music that means the most to him or her. You can tell the difference between a DJ who is “feeling it” and a DJ who just downloaded a playlist and is going at it all willy nilly. The music has to come first, you have the records THEN you DJ. A lot of DJs do it the other way around…they start DJ-ing and then try to gather enough music to make it work.
Retro or timeless? How do you view it and how do you keep what you do respectable instead of simple re-hashing from a decade long gone, like say a radio station doing some kind of ’80s retro-rewind? or the conception of “oldies” music?
Williams: We play classics not oldies, you don’t call Shakespeare an oldie! We could easily build a successful night by simply playing nothing but hits and obvious choices, that’s the easiest way to keep people dancing. I like to think that what we’re doing is fresh and alive enough to exist outside of the retro scene. We play the big hits of the era because we love the songs, surprisingly the biggest reactions of the night usually come from unfamiliar territory. We may get you on the dancefloor with a radio staple but before you know it you’re flailing around to a song you’ve never heard before, and you’re caught up in the weird energy that others around you are also experiencing… that weird energy that comes with discovering something new… and the vibe has gone from “Oh My God I Love This Song!!” to “Oh My God Where Has This Song Been All Of My Life!!” As a DJ the ultimate thrill for me is getting 100 people to applaud a song that you know 99% of them have never heard before.
Yuma: We play the hits and the misses but all songs are top notch. We might play a song that we love but was never played on popular radio at the time. Most of the people at the bar don’t know that it wasn’t a hit. They just think “hey this is a great song, it must have been a hit.” So in that sense we are broadening the genre a bit, creating hits in people’s minds.
One thing that is immediately impressive about you two together is that when you get out to one of your events, both of you are so happy to be there and dancing around yourselves that it immediately allows the people there to let go and just have a good time. What does that mean to you?
Williams: Me and Jonny come from the rock n’ roll underground, New Wave Night comes after years of absorbing the culture. We’ve both spent most of our lives going to shows and digging for records. We’re not going to go to all of the work of promoting, hanging flyers and lugging gear around to put on a boring show. We try to present our dance parties with the raw energy of a punk show or at least give it enough pep to appeal to someone who might otherwise only enjoy live music. Honestly once everything gets going I rarely come up for air, it’s not until I see photos of the dancers that I get the reward of looking at their smiling faces.
Yuma: In the ’80s people danced to music. The ’90s and especially indie rock killed the dance floor. Its slowly coming back though, dancing is becoming more popular again thankfully. I dance to the songs I play because its dance music. To me if a DJ doesn’t get down and dance to what he or she is playing then they don’t like the music. If you have a good time then the people you are playing to will have a good time too. Its infectious.
Williams: My focus is on the dancers, I’m not here to show off rare records, I’m here to get lost in the moment and hopefully inspire some foolish behavior.
As DJs tell me what you would like to accomplish? What new things would you like to try, and how do you keep pushing the envelope to keep the momentum you have set in place?
Williams: Most New Wave Nights have a theme, usually a tribute to an iconic artist or sub-genre. We’ve never done 2 NWNs in a row with the same records. I believe that keeping it fresh is as important to us as it is to the crowd. So in that respect we’re always trying out new twists. After all, me and Jonny are usually playing for each other and just hoping the crowd follows along. We request songs from each other all night. DJ-ing with a partner is kind of like being in a debate, you’re constantly scrambling to find a record that will blow away or at the very least compliment the record your partner is playing. I would love to see more people show up prepared for virtual time travel, dressed in period clothing, cell phones off, ready for pure escapism. We’re offering a 6-hour space where it’s ok to act like a teenager…embrace it people.
Yuma: Yeah, what Mason said. My goal is to keep digging for the best tunes and mixes. Im a huge fan of the remix 12″. I have thousands and keep finding more. Mason doesn’t play too many remixes, he usually goes for the album cut or the 7″ mix. In that sense we compliment each other. I like to extend the song and keep the dancers moving, however if the song is longer than 8 minutes I usually fade it or try to mix it into another song to keep attention spans up. You never want a bored dance floor.
What things, shows, etc. do you have planned for 2010 and beyond?
Williams: New Wave Night every 2nd & 4th Saturday at The Root Cellar, Biff Bang Pow!! whenever someone will let us + one offs, weddings, birthday parties and boat launches as we’re asked.
Yuma: Im DJ-ing at least once a week somewhere in Bloomington either with Mason or with my friends Heath Byers (DJ Whitelight/Whiteheath) and Dan Coleman (DJ Junebug) at our monthly night at the Root Cellar — Soul In The Hole. In 2010, I want to keep the momentum up yet try to pace myself to not burn out. I’ve been doing it too long to stop now.
