Showing posts with label RBMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RBMA. Show all posts
Monday, March 22, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Moodymann RBMA Interview
Photo by James M Rotz
House Music Picnic, Belle Isle, Detroit, MI
August 2008
Moodymann did an interview for this year's Red Bull Music Academy in London. He has been releasing music since the early 1990s, and has done three interviews to date, that I know of. The first was for Real Detroit Weekly in preparation for the first Soul Skate party during the Movement Festival weekend in 2007. It's the May 23-29, 2007 issue, page 28. It's not online anymore, sorry. It's a very short interview, most of the interview questions have more words than his responses!
The second interview was with Gilles Peterson for his BBC radio show. Nice interview...
But my favorite by a long shot, no contest, totally powerful and enlightening and moving is his recent interview with Benji B for RBMA.
He did the interview with a group of four women, including Traci, manager for Mahogani Music. He spent the first bit getting his hair done while chatting about Detroit. I know this presentation of his persona can turn people off a bit, just from reading comments on a few blogs. But it's clearly his representation of his Detroit. I'm not offended by this persona, nor am I wooed by it. I accept his version of Detroit and appreciate what he is going for by bringing it to London. What is way more significant to me are his words and ideas.
He spoke at length about identity and image in Detroit electronic music; specifically about Detroit artists tending toward invisibility, or masked identities. He first tributed this tendency to the Electrifying Mojo, Charles Johnson, Detroit radio DJ during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Mojo is heralded by most of the artists I have interviewed, and by most Detroiters who grew up during those years and were into music, as a defining institution in the history of Detroit techno and house music, but also for Detroit music more generally. Mojo kept his identity hidden. He did not do appearances, shows, or parties. He was on the air doing his thing and that was it.
Moodymann and other Detroit artists keep their identities hidden, mask their faces in performance, and participate very little in any kind of media representation; artists like Mad Mike Banks and Underground Resistance, Scan 7, and Gerald Donald in his many groups - Ectomorph, Dopplereffekt, and Drexciya, to name a few. They are generally not doing this from a philosophy of militancy, aggression, or racism. The philosophy, as expressed by Moodymann in this interview, and by Mike Banks in a few select interviews and in a conversation with me, is that the music is of foremost importance, it should be put out there, up front. The music should be out there for people to receive in some way with no human image attached to it. It doesn't matter who the person is that makes it, it's just music and the listener gets what she/he gets from it. And this leads into the concept that music is universal. This is a fundamental idea that fuels the productivity of a lot of Detroit artists. As an ethnomusicologist, I am not inclined to go along with universalism without interogating the concept. But I am willing to embrace it's importance in Detroit's techno and house music culture.
Finally, Moodyman explains that his reluctance to share his identity, ideas, and experiences also hinges on his daily life growing up in Detroit. He says the only white people he saw were the white man coming to turn off the gas, or the white man coming to take his father to jail. Protection of his identity and of his craft fueled his need for privacy. After years of traveling around the world and realizing that white people outside the US are way different from white people as a mass within the US, he has grown to understand and respect the interest that all kinds of people all around the world have for his music, and Detroit's music in general.
I'm glad he doesn't do a lot of interviews, because this is a really meaningful and important interview.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Producer School: Mike Huckaby and Brendan Gillen
Okay, so I have been way out of touch, out of town, and out of internet access. But now I’m back. I meant to leave a “bye-bye I’m taking a little break” post before I headed out on my holiday, but I did not get to that. I’m sorry. I’m back and I’ve been busy.
I’ll just start with what is fresh in my head: last night! I went to the Red Bull Music Academy Producer’s Session at River’s Edge, a grille downtown by the Detroit River. I am so glad I went, it was producer school with freaking Huck and BMG!! Mike Huckaby, producer, DJ, and music production software instructor, gave a demonstration of Native Instruments music production software Reaktor and Maschine hardware. It was interesting to watch him show the transition of a musical creation from a single tone/chord/beat into more complex phrases and layers using all kinds of sonic manipulations available in the software. He also talked a bit about creating your own instruments in Reaktor, which sounded pretty neato. Mike has been producing successfully for decades and is extremely important to Detroit electronic music because of this, but also because of his role as THE buyer for the main Record Time store in Detroit for a lot of years. Many younger DJs and producers in Detroit worked with him at Record Time and describe him as a mentor who educated them and influenced them in profound ways.
Here’s a nice bio from the Red Bull Music Academy site:
Mike Huckaby is a dance music purist extraordinaire. Being an integral part of the Detroit dance scene, he was the man behind the legendary Record Time store and as such gathered an encyclopedic knowledge of music. Mike is one of those rare guys who know all the roots and culture of electronic dance music, who see beyond the hype and divisions in the scene and know exactly what this music is. He is the kind of purist whose love for music has literally had him flown around the globe. Huckaby also produced for labels like Rick Wade's renowned Harmonie Park outfit, London's Cross Section or his own ventures Deep Transportation resp. Synth. Apart from his activities as a DJ and producer, he also works as a sound designer and a tutor for the software company Native Instruments, and Ableton teaching Reaktor and Live around the world, as well as for a special Detroit youth foundation project called "YouthVille". Tune in for a very special classics mix from his vaults in the Motor City...
In light of discussions and debates on musical production using computer software, I would like to make a few suggestions for advocates of this software. But first let me say that my mind is totally open to all the various ways to produce and perform electronic music. As long as I’m moved, I’m good. Now of course, vinyl and analog gear are extremely important to the production and circulation of electronic music. People who buy vinyl need to keep buying vinyl because it needs to remain viable. People who play only vinyl, keep playing that black gold, because you are few and far between, and you help “Keep Vinyl Alive!” I still want a shirt with that on it. Theo Parrish wore that on his shirt at the Roots of Techno conference that I organized in 2006. Okay, so here are my suggestions to computer production software advocates: please don’t repeatedly profess how EASY it is to use. That will just fuel the fire of the staunch vinyl advocates, encouraging them to proclaim even louder that easy does not mean better, and it certainly does not mean better music production. This fact is something that Mike did talk about. He acknowledged that computer software has made it easier for more people to produce music, but he also acknowledged that this often means that more people are going to be flooding our ears and pockets with more mediocre music. Keeping yourself viable and successful means that you must really learn whatever software or gear you are using so that you can really tap into your own creativity and produce important, meaningful music. A lot of talented musicians have told me that same thing here, whether they are talking about choosing a type of computer software, or about analog gear. It is important to acquire a limited number of musical production tools and really learn how to use them well.
Here, just watch this Ghostly video and listen to what Todd Osborn tells ya:
Oh yeah, and one other suggestion, make sure you have zero computer glitches when you are demonstrating or performing using a computer. I know, this is out of your hands for the most part. But still, just do that.
Brendan M. Gillen, BMG of Ectomorph and Interdimensional Transmissions, gave a demo of Abelton Live following Mike’s demo. And wow, he started off talking some trash that had WhoDat and me rolling on the floor. It was hilarious and I’m not sure whether the other folks there just didn’t know he was making jokes or they were just angry that he was being critical of music production software. And he uses Abelton to produce and perform, so it’s not like he got up there just to talk trash about it. He was making a point in a humorous way about how easy it is to make and perform music using computer software, but music that is not so great. This is the same issue that Mike Huckaby was talking about, they just explained their perspectives in totally different ways! So Brendan was up there talking about how he has seen DJs get up and use things like Serato as elementary school iPod DJing. My abilities to retell funny stories and maintain the humor in my retelling are second-rate, so just trust me when I say that it was pretty damn funny. Brian Gillespie, the primary organizer of these RBMA info sessions in Detroit, mentioned that the video of these sessions will be available online sometime soon. If it is publicly available, I’ll post it here and you can watch and laugh for yourself. And then you can go to producer school on your own time.
Brendan also pointed out that sometimes, all it takes is a DJ up there with a pretty lame beat pumping his fist to get the crowd going. He lauded DJs for getting caught up in staring at a screen all night… “It’s called checking email,” he said. He explained that it should be standard for there to be a small camera pointed at the DJs laptop, and even other equipment up there, capturing what the DJ is doing and projecting it up on a big screen so that the crowd can see what the DJ sees and does. One reason for this is so that DJs cannot just stand up there and pretend to be playing live, but in reality, just push play and then dance around. I’m not sure how common this is, but lots of people talk about this so it must happen sometimes. He also wants this to be standard practice so that people who enjoy watching a DJ perform, watching their hands move on the equipment can really understand what is going on during the performance. It doesn’t have to be such a secret or a mystery. I would love to see this happen sometime, because I really enjoy watching DJs perform, no matter what type of equipment or performance tools they are using. Not because I want to keep track of what music they are playing (I like to pay attention to the music too of course), but because it can be really interesting to study how they manipulate the equipment to produce the sounds you are hearing. Brendan explained that if you can’t see what software the DJ is using, then you can’t really understand how the sounds are being produced because you don’t know how the other equipment, like a mixer or drum machine are interfaced or programmed with the software. Brendan had an AKAI APC – it’s kind of like an MPC, but the APC is able to interface with Abelton Live software so that you can manipulate the musical samples that you have set up in Abelton on your computer using knobs and buttons instead of a mouse and keypad. Brendan explained that he likes it so that he can get away from keeping music so visually oriented. He wants to be able to interact with the crowd in a way that he feels he cannot using just a computer.
I really learned a lot last night and tried to write down as many notes as I could just so I could get a grasp of how Mike and Brendan talk and think about music production. There’s a pretty specific vocabulary and if your not actively doing it, like me, then you really have to be tuned in to words and phrases to understand what’s going on. There was one other presentation in the other room of the upstairs at River’s Edge, DJ 2ndNature gave a demo of Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro. It would have been interesting to stick around for it, but Mike and Brendan were both talking outside on the upstairs patio and it would have been a bit nutty for me to pass either one of them up.
Brian Gillespie, local producer and DJ, and RBMA representative for Detroit (official title? Not really sure, I do the best I can…), seemed frustrated with the low turnout. There were fewer people there last night than were at the info session in May. I was surprised about that because this session was so clearly beneficial to local musicians in ways that are just not publicly available in most places in Detroit or anywhere else. I think Brian assumed that people in the area would jump at the chance to learn from Mike Huckaby or Brendan Gillen, two people who obviously know what they are doing with these programs and with music in general. Organizing and promoting events is tough work, and it seems extra tough in Detroit where there is so much local talent, and also a lot of self-directed pride. Yes, pride is good, but not when it keeps you from being open to learning and experiencing new things. It drives me crazy when I hear people say things like, ‘there’s no good music coming out lately’ or ‘I’m bored by most of what people are putting out lately.’ I’m not! Maybe you need to look somewhere else, or just open up your ears and head a bit more. Yeah, I love Detroit, I love living here, I love this whole experience. There’s lots of weird judgmental shit that goes on here, just like every where else. But there’s also lots of beauty and life. I hate it when an event promoter, whether an actual promoter, or a DJ promoting her/his own parties, apologizes or takes a low turnout personally. Yeah, I suppose a small crowd reflects badly on a promoter who is supposed to be responsible for the event. Like Brian feeling down about not enough of a crowd turning out for the sessions. I have even had Rick Wilhite apologize to me because one of his parties had a relatively low turnout. Really? Why apologize? I understand why you might feel that way, but did you know that you’re Rick Wilhite and I think what you do for Detroit is pretty awesome? And I know that everyone wants to be supported in their hometown, particularly if that hometown is Detroit. It seems like people here who are into techno and house music are so used to being here and being around all these artists who receive much attention and love globally that it’s just everyday for them in Detroit. You don’t have to go very far or pay a lot of money to see these DJs play, they’re right here. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t seem like a big deal for someone like Mike Huckaby or Brendan Gillen to talk at length for free about music production and performance. When I first met Pirahnahead last summer at the Belle Isle house music picnic, Kenny Dixon was walking past and he said something like ‘most people think KDJ is a god, but he’s really just a regular guy who lives down the street.’ That’s the general perspective whether you’re buddies with Moodymann, or worked with Mike Huckaby at Record Time, or Theo Parrish is your mentor, or you learned to DJ from Ken Collier. “Eh, it’s no big deal.” It is kind of a big deal, it’s at least important to educate yourself and pay attention to. Anyway Brian, it was totally worth it. Thanks to you and everyone else involved.
I’ll just start with what is fresh in my head: last night! I went to the Red Bull Music Academy Producer’s Session at River’s Edge, a grille downtown by the Detroit River. I am so glad I went, it was producer school with freaking Huck and BMG!! Mike Huckaby, producer, DJ, and music production software instructor, gave a demonstration of Native Instruments music production software Reaktor and Maschine hardware. It was interesting to watch him show the transition of a musical creation from a single tone/chord/beat into more complex phrases and layers using all kinds of sonic manipulations available in the software. He also talked a bit about creating your own instruments in Reaktor, which sounded pretty neato. Mike has been producing successfully for decades and is extremely important to Detroit electronic music because of this, but also because of his role as THE buyer for the main Record Time store in Detroit for a lot of years. Many younger DJs and producers in Detroit worked with him at Record Time and describe him as a mentor who educated them and influenced them in profound ways.
Here’s a nice bio from the Red Bull Music Academy site:
Mike Huckaby is a dance music purist extraordinaire. Being an integral part of the Detroit dance scene, he was the man behind the legendary Record Time store and as such gathered an encyclopedic knowledge of music. Mike is one of those rare guys who know all the roots and culture of electronic dance music, who see beyond the hype and divisions in the scene and know exactly what this music is. He is the kind of purist whose love for music has literally had him flown around the globe. Huckaby also produced for labels like Rick Wade's renowned Harmonie Park outfit, London's Cross Section or his own ventures Deep Transportation resp. Synth. Apart from his activities as a DJ and producer, he also works as a sound designer and a tutor for the software company Native Instruments, and Ableton teaching Reaktor and Live around the world, as well as for a special Detroit youth foundation project called "YouthVille". Tune in for a very special classics mix from his vaults in the Motor City...
In light of discussions and debates on musical production using computer software, I would like to make a few suggestions for advocates of this software. But first let me say that my mind is totally open to all the various ways to produce and perform electronic music. As long as I’m moved, I’m good. Now of course, vinyl and analog gear are extremely important to the production and circulation of electronic music. People who buy vinyl need to keep buying vinyl because it needs to remain viable. People who play only vinyl, keep playing that black gold, because you are few and far between, and you help “Keep Vinyl Alive!” I still want a shirt with that on it. Theo Parrish wore that on his shirt at the Roots of Techno conference that I organized in 2006. Okay, so here are my suggestions to computer production software advocates: please don’t repeatedly profess how EASY it is to use. That will just fuel the fire of the staunch vinyl advocates, encouraging them to proclaim even louder that easy does not mean better, and it certainly does not mean better music production. This fact is something that Mike did talk about. He acknowledged that computer software has made it easier for more people to produce music, but he also acknowledged that this often means that more people are going to be flooding our ears and pockets with more mediocre music. Keeping yourself viable and successful means that you must really learn whatever software or gear you are using so that you can really tap into your own creativity and produce important, meaningful music. A lot of talented musicians have told me that same thing here, whether they are talking about choosing a type of computer software, or about analog gear. It is important to acquire a limited number of musical production tools and really learn how to use them well.
Here, just watch this Ghostly video and listen to what Todd Osborn tells ya:
Oh yeah, and one other suggestion, make sure you have zero computer glitches when you are demonstrating or performing using a computer. I know, this is out of your hands for the most part. But still, just do that.
Brendan M. Gillen, BMG of Ectomorph and Interdimensional Transmissions, gave a demo of Abelton Live following Mike’s demo. And wow, he started off talking some trash that had WhoDat and me rolling on the floor. It was hilarious and I’m not sure whether the other folks there just didn’t know he was making jokes or they were just angry that he was being critical of music production software. And he uses Abelton to produce and perform, so it’s not like he got up there just to talk trash about it. He was making a point in a humorous way about how easy it is to make and perform music using computer software, but music that is not so great. This is the same issue that Mike Huckaby was talking about, they just explained their perspectives in totally different ways! So Brendan was up there talking about how he has seen DJs get up and use things like Serato as elementary school iPod DJing. My abilities to retell funny stories and maintain the humor in my retelling are second-rate, so just trust me when I say that it was pretty damn funny. Brian Gillespie, the primary organizer of these RBMA info sessions in Detroit, mentioned that the video of these sessions will be available online sometime soon. If it is publicly available, I’ll post it here and you can watch and laugh for yourself. And then you can go to producer school on your own time.
Brendan also pointed out that sometimes, all it takes is a DJ up there with a pretty lame beat pumping his fist to get the crowd going. He lauded DJs for getting caught up in staring at a screen all night… “It’s called checking email,” he said. He explained that it should be standard for there to be a small camera pointed at the DJs laptop, and even other equipment up there, capturing what the DJ is doing and projecting it up on a big screen so that the crowd can see what the DJ sees and does. One reason for this is so that DJs cannot just stand up there and pretend to be playing live, but in reality, just push play and then dance around. I’m not sure how common this is, but lots of people talk about this so it must happen sometimes. He also wants this to be standard practice so that people who enjoy watching a DJ perform, watching their hands move on the equipment can really understand what is going on during the performance. It doesn’t have to be such a secret or a mystery. I would love to see this happen sometime, because I really enjoy watching DJs perform, no matter what type of equipment or performance tools they are using. Not because I want to keep track of what music they are playing (I like to pay attention to the music too of course), but because it can be really interesting to study how they manipulate the equipment to produce the sounds you are hearing. Brendan explained that if you can’t see what software the DJ is using, then you can’t really understand how the sounds are being produced because you don’t know how the other equipment, like a mixer or drum machine are interfaced or programmed with the software. Brendan had an AKAI APC – it’s kind of like an MPC, but the APC is able to interface with Abelton Live software so that you can manipulate the musical samples that you have set up in Abelton on your computer using knobs and buttons instead of a mouse and keypad. Brendan explained that he likes it so that he can get away from keeping music so visually oriented. He wants to be able to interact with the crowd in a way that he feels he cannot using just a computer.
I really learned a lot last night and tried to write down as many notes as I could just so I could get a grasp of how Mike and Brendan talk and think about music production. There’s a pretty specific vocabulary and if your not actively doing it, like me, then you really have to be tuned in to words and phrases to understand what’s going on. There was one other presentation in the other room of the upstairs at River’s Edge, DJ 2ndNature gave a demo of Pro Tools and Final Cut Pro. It would have been interesting to stick around for it, but Mike and Brendan were both talking outside on the upstairs patio and it would have been a bit nutty for me to pass either one of them up.
Brian Gillespie, local producer and DJ, and RBMA representative for Detroit (official title? Not really sure, I do the best I can…), seemed frustrated with the low turnout. There were fewer people there last night than were at the info session in May. I was surprised about that because this session was so clearly beneficial to local musicians in ways that are just not publicly available in most places in Detroit or anywhere else. I think Brian assumed that people in the area would jump at the chance to learn from Mike Huckaby or Brendan Gillen, two people who obviously know what they are doing with these programs and with music in general. Organizing and promoting events is tough work, and it seems extra tough in Detroit where there is so much local talent, and also a lot of self-directed pride. Yes, pride is good, but not when it keeps you from being open to learning and experiencing new things. It drives me crazy when I hear people say things like, ‘there’s no good music coming out lately’ or ‘I’m bored by most of what people are putting out lately.’ I’m not! Maybe you need to look somewhere else, or just open up your ears and head a bit more. Yeah, I love Detroit, I love living here, I love this whole experience. There’s lots of weird judgmental shit that goes on here, just like every where else. But there’s also lots of beauty and life. I hate it when an event promoter, whether an actual promoter, or a DJ promoting her/his own parties, apologizes or takes a low turnout personally. Yeah, I suppose a small crowd reflects badly on a promoter who is supposed to be responsible for the event. Like Brian feeling down about not enough of a crowd turning out for the sessions. I have even had Rick Wilhite apologize to me because one of his parties had a relatively low turnout. Really? Why apologize? I understand why you might feel that way, but did you know that you’re Rick Wilhite and I think what you do for Detroit is pretty awesome? And I know that everyone wants to be supported in their hometown, particularly if that hometown is Detroit. It seems like people here who are into techno and house music are so used to being here and being around all these artists who receive much attention and love globally that it’s just everyday for them in Detroit. You don’t have to go very far or pay a lot of money to see these DJs play, they’re right here. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t seem like a big deal for someone like Mike Huckaby or Brendan Gillen to talk at length for free about music production and performance. When I first met Pirahnahead last summer at the Belle Isle house music picnic, Kenny Dixon was walking past and he said something like ‘most people think KDJ is a god, but he’s really just a regular guy who lives down the street.’ That’s the general perspective whether you’re buddies with Moodymann, or worked with Mike Huckaby at Record Time, or Theo Parrish is your mentor, or you learned to DJ from Ken Collier. “Eh, it’s no big deal.” It is kind of a big deal, it’s at least important to educate yourself and pay attention to. Anyway Brian, it was totally worth it. Thanks to you and everyone else involved.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Electivism, I mean Eclecticism
Alright, been listening to some radio again lately, been streaming/DLing some radio lately, that is. First off, Drew Pompa and Josh Dalberg have a new weekly radio show called Babes in Hi Def Wednesday nights on WDET. Here’s the link for their blog: Babes in Hi Def. Some enjoyable listening.
And what, did you say that show is on the same night as WhoDat’s Turning Point on Netmusique.com?? Mama’s gonna get me! Wait, no Mrs. McQueen, I only listen to Turning Point…I listen to it every day until the next week’s show. Oh yeah right, you can download WhoDat’s shows from her blog: Win WhoDat Blogs. Good listening all around – lot’s of deep house, old R&B, great 80’s music, some techno and electro thrown in for jollies, and just all around mixed up goodness.
I have finally started tuning in to Beats In Space, Tim Sweeny’s weekly radio show. His most recent show pairs a nice Maurice Fulton hour with an hour of Sweeny. I’m going to be spending some time there in the coming weeks.
Then we’ve got the RBMA radio, which really rounds out my work week as I slave away trying to ignore as much of the office “liveliness” as possible and nourish myself with good tunes. Always enjoy a good Morgan Geist mix, there’s plenty to choose from on the RBMA site. Listened to a good Benga & Skream show last week, and a couple of good Dam Funk features. And, right after returning from the IASPM-US conference a few weeks ago, I discovered a lovely chat with composer, Steve Reich. According to the RBMA blurb, he prefers to call himself a post-minimalist composer. Labels are so fabulous! Well, this is interesting to me because my fellow ethnomusicologist friends with whom I presented at the conference brought up his name and his music several times over the course of the weekend. All three of my friends are way more musically trained than me and much more knowledgeable about Western Classical/Art music than I. I’m just the chick who likes that rave techno shit…Anyweedle, one such mention of Steve Reich was prompted by my playing of Theo Parrish’s “Synthetic Flemm” in the hotel room we were all sharing the night before our panel. Their comments? Wow, it really develops slowly. It unfolds like a Steve Reich piece. It was so much fun sharing all our musical knowledge and learning from one another. This leads to one reason I chose to play this track. When I’m speaking to or with people who are not very familiar with any kind of electronic dance music like house or techno, I find that their sonic assumptions about the music are based on mainstream representations that they might hear in commercials, the radio, MTV, etc. And that’s cool, that’s what they know, they’re not fans of the music, they’re into other sounds, fine. But I think the Theo Parrish track has the potential to get beyond those boxed notions of what Detroit electronic music might possibly sound like. Additionally, it abandons genre boundaries so profoundly that drawing comparisons to other seemingly distinct forms of music is almost automatic. And this is Detroit all the way, crossing genre boundaries, getting beyond categories while simultaneously embracing classification as a necessary part of the culture.
And then, when I went to the RBMA radio site yesterday, I saw a new Preset show, #32, up by Todd Osborn. I had to listen right away, you see. Roxanne Shante A.N.D. Drexciya in the first 5 songs! And then the last hour of the show is all Chicano/Latino/Brazilian sounds, some bossa nova, even Tom Zé! And I’m not even going to pretend I know all the genre labels to describe these songs, because I don’t. I do however enjoy the Brazilian love songs because my knowledge of Brazilian music is one of the few good things that came out of my major college relationship with a Brazilian capoeirista (okay, no, that’s not all he was), that, the courage to make momentous life-changing decisions, and momentary almost fluency in Portuguese.
So then from #32, I navigated to #25 and just you wait and see what I come up with using that playlist as a springboard to my own life story…well maybe not life story, but I’ll draw some connections and you can just read along with my inane, I mean brilliant, musings. So the first song is a little hard to listen to at work because of the yelling. I get a little embarrassed in front of the old ladies and turn down the yelling to almost silent during that song. But they’re all very polite and just tell me that I listen to some very interesting music! Next is a great, funky, deep track by DMX KREW, also known as EMDX, Ed DMX, and Ed Upton, who is featured on Osborne “Our Definition of a Breakdown.” Then you get to hear Q-Tip’s sweet voice and then A Tribe Called Quest’s “What,” which always makes me smile and think of my husband…because he likes the song a lot. Next up is Arthur Russell “Make 1, 2” which is a beautiful song that was new to my little kitten ears. Love the melodic, rhythmic vocals and keys – has a syncopated feel, although any good ethnomusicologist would probably shame me for using the term syncopated and force me to replace it with polyrhythmic with the threat of having to transcribe a lengthy field recording of Temiar music from Maylasia. Geez, as though you don’t think my levels of self-absorption and reflexivity were enough to maim a small flock of seagulls, now I lapse into such extreme navel-gazing and solipsism with a transcription reference that potentially 8 readers might catch, if that. Because, as newbie ethnomusicology graduate students at Indiana University, we were all required to take a rigorous transcription & analysis course steeped in historically significant methods of analyzing music. One of the first listening assignments we were given was a field recording by anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Marina Roseman of Temiar music performance that she recorded while conducting research in the Malaysian rainforest. And, we were not told what the recording was, we just had to figure out what all the different sounds were and how they were produced. I actually do prefer the term polyrhythmic to syncopated, it addresses a broader, more nuanced understanding of rhythm that syncopation does not. Apparently I thought it would be fun to tell you a story about historically significant methods of music research.
So here’s a segment of the tracklisting for Preset #25:
Squarepusher - The Coathanger - Warp
Pink Floyd - Wot's Uh The Deal - Harvest
Gandalf The Grey - The Grey Wizard Am I - Gwm
Morgen - Of Dreams - Probe
Stevie Wonder - It Ain't No Use - Unreleased
Frente - Bizarre Love Triangle - Mammoth
Arto Mwambe - Btwo - Brontosaurus
A-Ha - Take On Me (Instr.) - Unreleased
The KLF - Dream Time In Lake Jackson - Wax Trax
Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs - Nothing
Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love - Polydor
And it sounds even better than it looks, so go listen. And not only that, but it’s freaking hysterical to hear all that classic rock after Squarepusher and then Stevie Wonder, A-Ha instrumental, then Nine Inch Nails, which is the culmination of the good sounding, funny youthful reminiscing in the middle of a set that ends with Osborne and Starski & Clutch. And Frente, Frente?? Wow! I have that tape, by accident, but I have that tape, still. It’s tucked away in a Deee-Lite case for Dewdrops in the Garden. You know, “Applejuice Kissing,” “When You Told Me You Loved Me,” etc, from 1994.
And who has, or had, that Deee-Lite tape that I would still listen to today if I had it? My good friend K-Rock totally stole it from me and forced me to spend my adult years with Frente peaking out at me from that cassette case that I refuse to get rid of. And no, her real name is not K-Rock, but we had a very healthy obsession with the Beastie Boys in the mid-90s in high school. Michael Diamond was my boyfriend, of course. Denise Dalphond converts easily to Denny D, you see. My friend K preferred Ad Rock, thus K-Rock. She was also quite a Rock Star. And our third friend, LN, accepted MCA, but I don’t think she was too enthusiastic about it. We were way cooler in real life than it seems on this screen.
After the Bee Gees, you get to listen to the Lyman Woodard Organization play “Belle Isle Daze.” Lyman Woodard, who recently passed in February, was a local jazz musician. Here’s an article about him from the Detroit Free Press. I love that George Benson sounding funky jazz with extensive use of the organ. And then some nice old and newer hip hop, again reminded of my husband by that Method Man track; and finishing with Osborne, R. Kelley (sounded great by the way), and Starski & Clutch.
So yeah, Detroit still has good radio, it’s just way more globally available and not really on the airwaves…
And don’t forget about Crush Collision on WCBN in Ann Arbor, Carlos Souffront’s weekly show. I’ve tried listening live several times to his show on Thursday nights, but the streaming doesn’t really work. It’s frustrating. And then CJAM in Windsor, Mike Huckaby has a weekly show and Adam Francesconi does as well. Mike Huckaby’s show is on Monday nights and Adam’s show is called The Rhythm Gallery on Wednesday nights. Jerry the Cat and Minx started the show years ago and now Adam Francesconi and Tom Desmond host it.
And now for my final story of the day prompted by current happenings in Detroit. Terry Mullan is playing a party this Friday at The Works with DJ Dara and DJ Bone. Now DJ Bone, I like as an adult. But as a newly turned 18 year old living in NYC and college freshman at NYU, a mix I had by Terry Mullan was my favorite tape ever. And I think I drove my two roommates a bit nutty listening to it so much. I was handed a flyer for the party a few weeks ago at the Red Bull Music Academy info session that I went to shortly before the festival. “Terry Mullan!?” Unfortunately, I think I’m going to stay home…for a while. After the festival and then San Diego, I really need to be at home with my family. I mean come on, they need me to carry the heavy star wars ship and continually put the light sabers and little guns back in Darth Vader’s, or Anakin’s, or the clone trooper’s hands! They need me to find all the tiny, very specific lego pieces in the construction of whatever is being built. And I need to shove my nose into their necks every so often and get a good whiff of their childhood loveliness. And I need to do all the daily wonderful things that a wife gets to do! But I’ll reserve the specifics for James…
This post exemplifies the eclecticism of Detroit that I love. And I know I keep writing about Detroit’s vibrant eclectic diverse culture, but it’s really true and it’s really happening here. People are creating and embracing new and different things here all the time and that’s one of the things that is keeping Detroit’s musical life thriving.
So Todd, and doubters that Todd actually reads this, but Todd, Christopher Cross in the next Preset, K!?
And what, did you say that show is on the same night as WhoDat’s Turning Point on Netmusique.com?? Mama’s gonna get me! Wait, no Mrs. McQueen, I only listen to Turning Point…I listen to it every day until the next week’s show. Oh yeah right, you can download WhoDat’s shows from her blog: Win WhoDat Blogs. Good listening all around – lot’s of deep house, old R&B, great 80’s music, some techno and electro thrown in for jollies, and just all around mixed up goodness.
I have finally started tuning in to Beats In Space, Tim Sweeny’s weekly radio show. His most recent show pairs a nice Maurice Fulton hour with an hour of Sweeny. I’m going to be spending some time there in the coming weeks.
Then we’ve got the RBMA radio, which really rounds out my work week as I slave away trying to ignore as much of the office “liveliness” as possible and nourish myself with good tunes. Always enjoy a good Morgan Geist mix, there’s plenty to choose from on the RBMA site. Listened to a good Benga & Skream show last week, and a couple of good Dam Funk features. And, right after returning from the IASPM-US conference a few weeks ago, I discovered a lovely chat with composer, Steve Reich. According to the RBMA blurb, he prefers to call himself a post-minimalist composer. Labels are so fabulous! Well, this is interesting to me because my fellow ethnomusicologist friends with whom I presented at the conference brought up his name and his music several times over the course of the weekend. All three of my friends are way more musically trained than me and much more knowledgeable about Western Classical/Art music than I. I’m just the chick who likes that rave techno shit…Anyweedle, one such mention of Steve Reich was prompted by my playing of Theo Parrish’s “Synthetic Flemm” in the hotel room we were all sharing the night before our panel. Their comments? Wow, it really develops slowly. It unfolds like a Steve Reich piece. It was so much fun sharing all our musical knowledge and learning from one another. This leads to one reason I chose to play this track. When I’m speaking to or with people who are not very familiar with any kind of electronic dance music like house or techno, I find that their sonic assumptions about the music are based on mainstream representations that they might hear in commercials, the radio, MTV, etc. And that’s cool, that’s what they know, they’re not fans of the music, they’re into other sounds, fine. But I think the Theo Parrish track has the potential to get beyond those boxed notions of what Detroit electronic music might possibly sound like. Additionally, it abandons genre boundaries so profoundly that drawing comparisons to other seemingly distinct forms of music is almost automatic. And this is Detroit all the way, crossing genre boundaries, getting beyond categories while simultaneously embracing classification as a necessary part of the culture.
And then, when I went to the RBMA radio site yesterday, I saw a new Preset show, #32, up by Todd Osborn. I had to listen right away, you see. Roxanne Shante A.N.D. Drexciya in the first 5 songs! And then the last hour of the show is all Chicano/Latino/Brazilian sounds, some bossa nova, even Tom Zé! And I’m not even going to pretend I know all the genre labels to describe these songs, because I don’t. I do however enjoy the Brazilian love songs because my knowledge of Brazilian music is one of the few good things that came out of my major college relationship with a Brazilian capoeirista (okay, no, that’s not all he was), that, the courage to make momentous life-changing decisions, and momentary almost fluency in Portuguese.
So then from #32, I navigated to #25 and just you wait and see what I come up with using that playlist as a springboard to my own life story…well maybe not life story, but I’ll draw some connections and you can just read along with my inane, I mean brilliant, musings. So the first song is a little hard to listen to at work because of the yelling. I get a little embarrassed in front of the old ladies and turn down the yelling to almost silent during that song. But they’re all very polite and just tell me that I listen to some very interesting music! Next is a great, funky, deep track by DMX KREW, also known as EMDX, Ed DMX, and Ed Upton, who is featured on Osborne “Our Definition of a Breakdown.” Then you get to hear Q-Tip’s sweet voice and then A Tribe Called Quest’s “What,” which always makes me smile and think of my husband…because he likes the song a lot. Next up is Arthur Russell “Make 1, 2” which is a beautiful song that was new to my little kitten ears. Love the melodic, rhythmic vocals and keys – has a syncopated feel, although any good ethnomusicologist would probably shame me for using the term syncopated and force me to replace it with polyrhythmic with the threat of having to transcribe a lengthy field recording of Temiar music from Maylasia. Geez, as though you don’t think my levels of self-absorption and reflexivity were enough to maim a small flock of seagulls, now I lapse into such extreme navel-gazing and solipsism with a transcription reference that potentially 8 readers might catch, if that. Because, as newbie ethnomusicology graduate students at Indiana University, we were all required to take a rigorous transcription & analysis course steeped in historically significant methods of analyzing music. One of the first listening assignments we were given was a field recording by anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Marina Roseman of Temiar music performance that she recorded while conducting research in the Malaysian rainforest. And, we were not told what the recording was, we just had to figure out what all the different sounds were and how they were produced. I actually do prefer the term polyrhythmic to syncopated, it addresses a broader, more nuanced understanding of rhythm that syncopation does not. Apparently I thought it would be fun to tell you a story about historically significant methods of music research.
So here’s a segment of the tracklisting for Preset #25:
Squarepusher - The Coathanger - Warp
Pink Floyd - Wot's Uh The Deal - Harvest
Gandalf The Grey - The Grey Wizard Am I - Gwm
Morgen - Of Dreams - Probe
Stevie Wonder - It Ain't No Use - Unreleased
Frente - Bizarre Love Triangle - Mammoth
Arto Mwambe - Btwo - Brontosaurus
A-Ha - Take On Me (Instr.) - Unreleased
The KLF - Dream Time In Lake Jackson - Wax Trax
Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs - Nothing
Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love - Polydor
And it sounds even better than it looks, so go listen. And not only that, but it’s freaking hysterical to hear all that classic rock after Squarepusher and then Stevie Wonder, A-Ha instrumental, then Nine Inch Nails, which is the culmination of the good sounding, funny youthful reminiscing in the middle of a set that ends with Osborne and Starski & Clutch. And Frente, Frente?? Wow! I have that tape, by accident, but I have that tape, still. It’s tucked away in a Deee-Lite case for Dewdrops in the Garden. You know, “Applejuice Kissing,” “When You Told Me You Loved Me,” etc, from 1994.
And who has, or had, that Deee-Lite tape that I would still listen to today if I had it? My good friend K-Rock totally stole it from me and forced me to spend my adult years with Frente peaking out at me from that cassette case that I refuse to get rid of. And no, her real name is not K-Rock, but we had a very healthy obsession with the Beastie Boys in the mid-90s in high school. Michael Diamond was my boyfriend, of course. Denise Dalphond converts easily to Denny D, you see. My friend K preferred Ad Rock, thus K-Rock. She was also quite a Rock Star. And our third friend, LN, accepted MCA, but I don’t think she was too enthusiastic about it. We were way cooler in real life than it seems on this screen.
After the Bee Gees, you get to listen to the Lyman Woodard Organization play “Belle Isle Daze.” Lyman Woodard, who recently passed in February, was a local jazz musician. Here’s an article about him from the Detroit Free Press. I love that George Benson sounding funky jazz with extensive use of the organ. And then some nice old and newer hip hop, again reminded of my husband by that Method Man track; and finishing with Osborne, R. Kelley (sounded great by the way), and Starski & Clutch.
So yeah, Detroit still has good radio, it’s just way more globally available and not really on the airwaves…
And don’t forget about Crush Collision on WCBN in Ann Arbor, Carlos Souffront’s weekly show. I’ve tried listening live several times to his show on Thursday nights, but the streaming doesn’t really work. It’s frustrating. And then CJAM in Windsor, Mike Huckaby has a weekly show and Adam Francesconi does as well. Mike Huckaby’s show is on Monday nights and Adam’s show is called The Rhythm Gallery on Wednesday nights. Jerry the Cat and Minx started the show years ago and now Adam Francesconi and Tom Desmond host it.
And now for my final story of the day prompted by current happenings in Detroit. Terry Mullan is playing a party this Friday at The Works with DJ Dara and DJ Bone. Now DJ Bone, I like as an adult. But as a newly turned 18 year old living in NYC and college freshman at NYU, a mix I had by Terry Mullan was my favorite tape ever. And I think I drove my two roommates a bit nutty listening to it so much. I was handed a flyer for the party a few weeks ago at the Red Bull Music Academy info session that I went to shortly before the festival. “Terry Mullan!?” Unfortunately, I think I’m going to stay home…for a while. After the festival and then San Diego, I really need to be at home with my family. I mean come on, they need me to carry the heavy star wars ship and continually put the light sabers and little guns back in Darth Vader’s, or Anakin’s, or the clone trooper’s hands! They need me to find all the tiny, very specific lego pieces in the construction of whatever is being built. And I need to shove my nose into their necks every so often and get a good whiff of their childhood loveliness. And I need to do all the daily wonderful things that a wife gets to do! But I’ll reserve the specifics for James…
This post exemplifies the eclecticism of Detroit that I love. And I know I keep writing about Detroit’s vibrant eclectic diverse culture, but it’s really true and it’s really happening here. People are creating and embracing new and different things here all the time and that’s one of the things that is keeping Detroit’s musical life thriving.
So Todd, and doubters that Todd actually reads this, but Todd, Christopher Cross in the next Preset, K!?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Schooled by Kyle Hall
So I wasn't sure if I would get this post up before the weekend or not. But I figured if I didn't do it now, I would get all bogged up in the festival notes and for my conference presentation in San Diego next weekend...on GENRE...that I would never get this up. I met Kyle Hall Wednesday night finally, and he is the shit. Let me tell you, he truly is. I met him at the Red Bull Music Academy info session event in the loft space above Niki’s Pizza restaurant in Greektown. While we were talking, my brain imploded with all the excitement and slipped out through my ears and then Kyle and my husband James helped me pick it all back up again. Where to begin...well, I tell ya, Kyle Hall, 17 year old, fabulous producer of electronic music in Detroit, approaches music, Detroit, people, with an open heart and head. One point he made strongly to me is that he really wants lesser known figures in Detroit techno and house music to be given their much due props; he is frustrated when interviews get published about him and the writer only mentions a handful of people, like Theo Parrish, Rick Wilhite, and Mike Huckaby, as influential to Kyle's musical and creative background. And don't get me wrong, I will write these three names over and over acknowledging their many significant contributions as producers and DJs, as well as many other major contributions to Detroit life. Theo Parrish Theo Parrish Theo Parrish - who is, by the way, one of the sources for some quotes on genre that I'm using in my roundtable discussion on genre in popular music at next weekend's International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference in San Diego. "I don't believe in genre" he says. Love it! Anyway, back on track. Kyle spoke to me about, and this wasn't a recorded interview or anything, he was just sharing some thoughts with me in a very exuberant way, but he spoke about people who have been influential to him as a young musician in Detroit with affection, but also frustration over the lack of recognition that some of these people get. Like Alvin Hill, a local multi-media composer and DJ that Kyle met and then begged to be a student in Alvin's electronic music class at Youthville Detroit. Youthville is a community center for young people in Detroit with all kinds of arts and recreation courses year round for very low membership fees. Kyle started taking classes there a few years ago, and now, at 17, will be teaching his own class this summer in DJing and production.
He knows where he comes from and honors his teachers with the utmost respect, while at the same time, preparing himself to make his own decisions and figure out which rules he will follow and which he will break. Kyle mentioned Terri McQueen, otherwise known as DJ WhoDat, with admiration, as a person who demonstrates pride and confidence in deciding her own musical path. And that's my impression of her as well, she maintains an open head and heart to her teachers, while at the same time choosing what and when to make her own way. And then she just says fuck it, and goes to Germany to play some records a few times and opens her own record store in Detroit which supports local and independent musicians. She doesn't get hung up on grudges or cynicism, which seem to plague Detroit musicians way too often. And hell, she has spent more time teaching me shit about Detroit than anyone I know. And I have excellent video of her making a thunderstorm track on her 303 using the presets. And now you can Laugh Out Loud.
Man, what else did we talk about, oh yeah, fractals, physics, quantum physics, and generally patterns in nature (fractals) that apply to human interaction in ways that inspire him to help other people excel in their creativity. James, who was totally exhausted and could barely hear anything we were saying perked up when he heard Kyle talking about physics and patterns. That's when I sat back and enjoyed the geniusness that I was witnessing in my husband and Kyle. It was a great time and I'm very excited to meet this energetic, creative, innovative young Black man who is not afraid or shy to be intelligent. So go get you some Wild Oats.
Alright now, so onto the rest of the event on Wednesday:
I was really excited about the RBMA event all day, all week! It was an information session for the Red Bull Music Academy, but it’s also a really nice event to meet people and form relationships, and also to get to hear from DJs and producers who are associated with the RBMA, or not, talk about Detroit, music, their backgrounds, history of electronic music in Detroit, and so on. The group of producers was nicely diverse: iMix (Chris French), DJ Dick of Electrobounce, Mike Huckaby, Claude Von Stroke, Brendan M. Gillen of Ectomorph, Mike Clark, Todd Osborn, Jeff Risk (last year’s Detroit musician who got accepted to go to RBMA in Barcelona), and Brian Gillespie, who is the Detroit representative for RBMA and organizes these events. There’s apparently going to be another RBMA session in July that will focus strictly on production…and I’ll be at that one too. I’m not going to these because I’m planning on applying to the academy. I don’t make music, I just talk and write about it. But I enjoy these events because I love getting the opportunity to hear electronic musicians talk, especially talk together, to each other, about Detroit and music. So anyway, James and I arrived at 8pm, we actually got a babysitter for the evening!! And of course, we were early. Even though I’ve been going to parties and enjoying electronic music since the mid 90s when I was in high school, I don’t think I’ll ever figure out what the proper time to arrive is. I’m almost always early, even when I think I’m late and missing something important. It’s just something I can’t figure out. Saw Bill Stacey (DJ Seoul) there, gave us a flyer to a party this weekend. Tons of people were there promoting their events this weekend. Saw Todd Osborn up on the semi-stage area talking with Jeff Risk (although I didn’t know who Jeff was at that point in the evening). Introduced James to Todd. A few people I spoke with at the event who know me and know what I'm doing somehow think that I’m just doing a paper for a class, not a dissertation – I don’t know why. Somehow I'm not describing what I'm here for properly! When I meet someone or introduce myself, I think I'm explaining what I’m doing properly, but some people for some reason just think it’s something small for a single class or something, just a semester long class project. And me being too shy/polite to say anything, I don’t correct these assumptions, and that's just totally stupid! Ran into Jit Wiggins (Todd Weston) who is interested in doing an interview - yes Todd, if you read this blog, an interview will be happening!! Terri handed out some of her brochures to her record store she is opening, gave me one. She is going to be opening up shop at the Russell Bazaar for the weekend, and still plans on finding a permanent space to rent in the Russell center, not the Bazaar, in the very near future. Here's the website for her store: Ya Digg Records. I got so many flyers last night, and I’m excited about that because so many flyers are now so widely available online on Facebook, Myspace, Detroitluv.com, and other websites, and people promote their events online so much, that I rarely find flyers any more, even at record stores. I imagine if I went to a record store or to Spectacles today, I would find lots of flyers for the weekend. But usually it’s pretty sparse. I’m happy to have so many physical flyers to add to my research documentation.
I finally introduced myself to Angie Schwendemann of Detroit Techno Militia. We have communicated via email for a while now, but haven’t ever met. She introduced me to Tom Linder and we talked a bit. And girlfriend reads my blog! Thank you!
After all the talking and Q&Aing, Todd Osborn was set to play, and I was ready. In my mind, it was my gearing up for pre-pre-weekend festivities, or, you know, it's own event, however you want to think about it. They even cleared a dance floor, and then I got really ready. Then, the place all but cleared out. And I thought, what, are you kidding me?! Todd is playing...you need to stay! And then, as though everyone knew my husband was dragging and they were telling me to just let him get out of there and into bed, the lights were flickering on and Todd began to slow his track down. Oh well, at least there will be multiple chances to see him and many other great musicians over the weekend all over Detroit.
Oh, and I got press passes for James and me for the festival this weekend!! I was pretty shocked that they actually granted me "media credentials." Maybe they thought a nerd with a lanyard would be cool...except they have patches this year instead of lanyards, so I'll be a nerd with a patch? That doesn't sound very cool. I'm super stoked though to be able to get some good video and photos!
I'll be seeing some of you this weekend!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Lotsa Detroit
Georgia Street Community Garden
Wonderful community garden in Detroit. Residents of the community have given new use to empty lots in the neighborhood. There are plans for a community orchard. This Saturday, May 16th, is a yard sale and bake sale to help fund the Building Project for the community center. And here's a nice post from the Sweet Juniper blog about the garden, and other great things about Detroit as well: http://www.sweet-juniper.com/
_________________________________________________
And now some Detroit electronic music greatness leading up to the festival:
Paxahau webcast with Buzz Goree tomorrow evening, Tuesday, May 12th from 7-9pm.
Paxahau webcast
Paxahau has actually been hosting a lot of Detroit artists on their weekly webcasts. And they are doing some interesting Q&A segments on artists who are performing at the festival in a few weeks, many of whom are Detroiters!!
http://www.paxahau.com/movement_blog/
_________________________________________________
Here's another upcoming event that I'm excited about, and is also being promoted by Paxahau:
And, very exciting, Ableton Live 8 Demonstration and Clinic w/ Mike Huckaby
Thursday, May 21st
Free, 4pm-7pm
And finally, this Friday, Carlos Souffront and Brendan Gillen are playing at the Bohemian National Home!! Hoorah!
Wonderful community garden in Detroit. Residents of the community have given new use to empty lots in the neighborhood. There are plans for a community orchard. This Saturday, May 16th, is a yard sale and bake sale to help fund the Building Project for the community center. And here's a nice post from the Sweet Juniper blog about the garden, and other great things about Detroit as well: http://www.sweet-juniper.com/
_________________________________________________
And now some Detroit electronic music greatness leading up to the festival:
Paxahau webcast with Buzz Goree tomorrow evening, Tuesday, May 12th from 7-9pm.
Paxahau webcast
Paxahau has actually been hosting a lot of Detroit artists on their weekly webcasts. And they are doing some interesting Q&A segments on artists who are performing at the festival in a few weeks, many of whom are Detroiters!!
http://www.paxahau.com/movement_blog/
_________________________________________________
Here's another upcoming event that I'm excited about, and is also being promoted by Paxahau:
Red Bull Music Academy - Information Session and Afterparty
Wednesday, May 20th
Detroit
Panel Speakers: Mike Huckaby, Todd Osborn, Dj Dick, DJ Doc, Mike Clark, Jeff Risk, BMG (Ectomorph/IT), Brian Gillespie
Afterparty: Todd osborn, Dj Psycho and DJ Doc
Above Niki's Pizza - 735 Beaubien St
Free , 8pm-2am
Part 1. Info session
Host: Brian Gillespie www.redbullmusicacademy.com
Brian's message: "I'm looking for vocalists, DJs, MCs, musicians, studio engineers, or producers of any genre - but above all, lovers of music. Also looking for heads that are immersed in the Detroit music scene, any style - House, Hip Hop, Funk, Techno, Indie or any other electronic related music."
"I'M CALLING OUT ANY DETROIT HOUSE PRODUCER OR TECHNO & HIP HOP PRODUCERS THAT'S BEEN PART OF THE DETROIT MUSIC SCENE OVER 10 YEARS OR LONGER TO BE A PART OF THIS EVENT."
RSVP Brian Gillespie: throw76@hotmail.com
The 2009 Red Bull CD Roms will be available shortly.
_________________________________________________
And, very exciting, Ableton Live 8 Demonstration and Clinic w/ Mike Huckaby
Thursday, May 21st
Free, 4pm-7pm
Youthville Detroit
7375 Woodward
Suite 2800
Detroit, MI 48202
Limited giveaways available courtesy of Ableton
_________________________________________________And finally, this Friday, Carlos Souffront and Brendan Gillen are playing at the Bohemian National Home!! Hoorah!
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