Oct06

D:FUSE’s travel tips for the road weary.

Sometimes travel can get a little lonely. Especially when traveling out of the country. International phone calling can be difficult and expensive. The fact that friends and loved ones aren’t an easy call away can leave you feeling a bit isolated. Especially in countries where English is a rarity and communication is tricky (with all these shows in South America I better learn some Spanish!). The other day when I was in Columbia it got me thinkin’ on what gets me through on these trips. Maybe this info can help you if you find yourself on the road a lot.

1) MUSIC SETS THE VIBE!
Pack a speaker personal speaker system and a good quantity of familiar music. I generally always bring my Powerbook G4 which has a pretty good speaker system build into it. Every now and then I’ll bring a small pair of speakers my good friend Scott Card got me (thanks Bro!) and wire them into my iPod (the best invention known to man!!!). Look for something that will fold up and be durable. Suitcases get thrown around like crazy and speakers are usually the first to break.
Personally, I only like the TV if I know exactly what I’m going to watch. I almost never turn it on when I’m in the room. Something about that big black box and vacuous show content that just zaps the positive energy right out of me and turns me into depressed zombie. A TV for background sound? Come on guys- that’s a crock of shit. It’s distracting and demotivating. (That’s just my opinion) The first thing I do when I check into the room is to pull out the tunes. My personal favorite is loungey, jazzy stuff. There’s an old Naked Music compilation that reminds me of home. I’ve heard it one hundred times but it instantly warms me up, so that’s the first thing I’ll throw in. I’ve got 10 or so hours of loungey stuff loaded in my iPod/iTunes, so I’ll put that in later. I’ll shift it up later to some house or progressive when I’m getting ready to head out for the show. Wanna know some good artists/comps you should check out for this vibe? Try this:
------D:Fuse- People 2 & 3 (Chilling Discs)-------
(Okay- so I’m blowing my own horn here. Hey- if I could really do that I’d never leave the house baby!!!!- drum roll and cymbal crash inserted here) Honestly- I’m very proud of these CDs. These comps still rank in my favorites of smooth and emotional chill stuff that still has enough energy to keep ya going. It took me a long time to compile the music- I think all of the artists featured really have something amazing to say musically. I’ve listened to each 100’s of times, literally, and I still love the music and the journey. The best place to pick these up are my website or Amazon as they are both hard to find in stores.
-------Tom Middleton “Cosmos”----------
If ya don’t believe me just ask DJ Rap about this one. She’s tough one to please when it comes to music, and she freaked over this comp. It’s a 3 CD set and all of the CDs are good, but the 3rd one is the chilled-out one and it’s FLAWLESS. Spacey, sexy, atmospheric, spiritual and funky. I’m not sure if you can still find this one, it’s a few years old, best bet is Amazon.
-------Ultra Chilled 4-----
I’m not positive but I believe “Ultra Chilled 4” is the one I flipped over. Really good stuff.
Chill Artists to Chcck Out on Itunes: D:Fuse “Begin” (some excellent chilled grooves on my artist album- there I go again!) David Basho (everything he has on iTunes is good) Chris Botti album “When I Fall in Love” (It’s a bit on the contemporary jazz side of things- but I still love it!) Sade (anything she’s ever done is amazing- every single album!) Sweetback –their artist album (Sweetback are Sade’s band and co-writers- these guys are so talented it’s scarey) Thievery Corporation (all of their original stuff is excellent- not so into their comps however)

A great loungey internet station if you have high speed---- www.smoothlounge.com
(I learn about a lot of artists through this station)
(Secret Agent on Soma FM is also excellent)

2) GET A GOOD STREET HOOKER
Okay- I’m just kidding here. Wanted to see if you were really paying attention. I’ve never been the hooker type- even at my bachelor party weekend in Vegas. But hey- if it’s yer thang I’m not judging….yeah baby!

3)EXERCISE!
After being on a plane all day I feel really zoned-out and depleted. So once I unpack and chill for a bit- I either strap on some running shoes or hit the gym. Even if it’s only for 15 minutes. It’s a great way to get the blood pumping and the positive energy back. Plus- running around a city is a great way to check out sites, architecture, people, chicks (yeah baby!) and get an overall vibe of the town. I can’t tell you how many amazing things I’ve discovered by just running around. There’s cool (or oddly interesting) stuff around just about every corner whether it’s historical landmarks, beautiful parks, sunsets, homeless people throwing up in their own shoe, or whatever. Then you can feel good about returning and chowing down on roomservice and downing that extra big 24 oz Sam Adam’s at the hotel bar. Now we’re talking!
*note- I would not suggest a jog in downtown Detroit. Especially when the sun goes down. That shit is downright scary and the streets are confusing- they aren’t on a grid. I got lost in those streets right as the sun went down and barely found my hotel. That was some frightening shit!!!!! One street is perfectly safe looking and the next is a war zone!

4) SET UP SOME ATMOSPHERE!
Bring a few things that are familiar to you. Bring a picture of a girlfriend or boyfriend. (or bring a picture of both you kinky thang…) Bring a picture of you and your friends laughing it up. Or if you’re like me- bring a picture of your bitch (my beagle Lucy is always on my laptop!
Tea lights rock! I always grab a few vanilla scented ones on every trip and light them in the room. In these days of vibeless (but energy efficient) halogen lighting- a few candles can really warm up a room. And when ya bring the ladies back- that and some Barry White can go a long way. (and some condoms and lube won't hurt, either....yeah baby!)

5) SCREW THE MINIBAR
Now- I don't literally mean SCREW the minibar. That could be painful. Listen—I’ll be the first to admit I’m not exactly what most would call a “high-roller”. To be honest, I’m more like a “medium” to “low-roller”. I like spending my $$$$$ where it make sense, and minibar pricing just doesn’t make sense! I call my method “D:Fuse ghetto styleeee” – and here is how it works.
Grab your favorite bev and throw it in a water bottle yo! Whiskey, vodka, gin, wine, (not beer) Travels very durably in your suitcase. I’ve personally never had one break. And let me tell ya, pouring a nice bottle of red at dinner time feels so nice when it didn’t cost $40. Plus that nice warm fuzzy feeling it gives ya going down should stave off those “missing home” pangs quite nicely.

Hope this info helps- see you guys at the next show!

T4L= Thanks for Listening

-D:FUSE

October 3 '06

BOGOTA DIARY PART 2- D:FUSE AND A BEYOTCH?

What an amazing time in Bogota!!!!

Hat's off to Andrew, Serg, & Christophe from Sweet Spot Productions. And an extra big thanks to Kiki, Geronimo, & Ingrid from Cha Cha. Three sold out shows in a row in Bogota says something about how good you guys are!

Day one:
Leaving L.A. Now this is THE most frustrating thing to deal with. Not the 2 _ hour international check-in. Not the long security line. It's the complete lack of an open bar at LAX! The flight leaves just after midnight on Wednesday, and you would think at least one bar would stay open until 11 or so, but no!!! It's all shut by 10pm!!! Now this used to not be a problem because daddy would “D:Fuse ghetto styleee” some wine in a cranberry just bottle (nice, huh?) But now that's not happening with the new security measures. When you've got a 10 hour flight journey ahead of you. All ya want is a soothing beverage to prepare you for the onslaught of yet another flight (the 3rd one this week). Okay- so no bar is open. Well, how about a concession stand to get a bottle of water or a snack? Nope. A vending machine? Strike that. God I hate terminal 6.
Arrival:
I arrive in Bogota to see Geronimo's smiling mug. He's one of the nicest club owners out there. I dig happy people, and he's always keepin' it positive. That might be the “cigarette” he usually smokes when we get in the car. Hmmmmm? Who knows….

I spend my days kickin' it on the high-speed wireless the hotel has in the lobby, catching up on loads of work I've fallen behind on with my hectice tour shedule. Nice!

Thursday: Club Cha Cha
They didn't promote the show with posters that they usually plaster the town with - they only did online promo- so Geronimo is a bit worried about the turnout. We arrive at 11pm to a pretty empty club, but by midnight the place is packed. I feel a bit shakey when I go on. Sometimes it's a little tricky to get the Cha Cha crowd warmed up. But I play some sexy, groovin' house and the place starts to move. I move between house, electro house, & progressive and the place is going crazy. People are getting straight up sauced! Just about everyone- guys and girls- are carrying around a small bottle of whiskey or rum and smoking cigarettes like they're tax deductable (among other things). The dancefloor is still packed when I stop the music at 4pm. God this city is fun.

Friday: Perra
Now this is a show to remember. My first official South American gay party baby! I'm pretty sure Perra means “bitch” in Spanish, so I'm ready for anything. Geronimo is very excited because he designed the posters but apparently they were too controversial to put up around town so they showered them all around the venue. Controversial?! “Didn't they put a picture of me on that poster?” I ask. “Oh yes” he says- you're gonna love it!” We arrive to the venue and my mouth just drops. Just check out the image…..

Yup, that's my head, superimposted on another body. And yes- I'm “giving it” to a dog. Worst of all…..the dog doesn't even look like he (or she- it's impossible to tell from this angle) is enjoying it. For a second I was a bit flustered and mad. But then - I looked again. You just don't fake that kind of graphic design lunacy. This thing is sooooo over the top it's art! I'm not kidding- I'm framing this and putting it in my living room. What a conversation piece!!!!!
The gig is amazing. Well over 1,000 people pack the venue, an old theater. The laser and light show is spot on, and the sound is hits you like a locomotive! I go on and do a three hour set and grab one of those small bottles of whiskey all to myself. Yeah baby! I stumble back into my room just before sunrise- yes -alone! (Daddy doesn't kick it with the mens)(imagine a strong lisp here).

Saturday- Club Cha Cha
We do lunch the next day- I know I've said this before- but Bogota is an great city with killer food. Traditional Columbian, French, Japanese, Italian, it's all amazing. I love this city! We arrive at the club at 11:30pm to find a dance floor already moving. The place gets packed by midnight and doesn't stop until I play the last record at 6am as the sun bathes the dance floor in morning light. Cha Cha has an amazing view- 40 stories above the city just on the edge of the hills. I end with Dark Suite “Dark Sweet Piano” (Wally Lopez mix)- what a timeless track!!!

Columbia I love you! See you in a couple of months….

T4L
-D:FUSE

Love Fest Sept 06 San Francisco

DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR AND SET YOUR CALENDER FOR NEXT YEAR'S LOVE FEST!!!! AMAZING!!!!!!

Sometimes the dance music scene can be a bit stressful. You hear about a club closing down or another label having trouble. You have a show or two that are a bit on the slow side. That is why a weekend like Love Fest can really be a shot in the arm. What an amazing weekend! What an amazing crowd! What an amazing city! The dance scene is alive and well and 65,000 in SF this last weekend will tell ya the same!!!!

Things started off Friday night for a Love Fest pre-party at Supperclub. Thank God for friends Scott Card and Hugo- my 3rd Handsonic crapped out again, so they diverted 2 hours out of their way to buy me another one. It was even Scott's bday. You guys come through every time and it means so much. Keppi & Kat opened up the night with some groovy house and soulful live vocals. Very well done. Sen-Sei and I took the decks after that to a full dancefloor and Steve Porter rounded out the night with some serious funk. A solid night of music. After that we hit the Mezzanine to see the all around nice guy Lee Burridge finish up his set. There were so many familiar faces in the crowd. Good to see all of my SF peeps!

After being a bit hung-over we made it out a bit late to Love Parade. My set started at 4pm and we made it just in time to work through the crowd to get to the Supperclub/Scion/Ingrooves stage. The stage was amazing! Two full-size beds on each end of the DJ booth and a beautiful plasma-carved metal sculpture as a background done by Keppi himself. The sound system was pumping as well. Only problem- the power generator had some sort of bad part and the sound kept cutting on and off. That didn't end when I got on. I turned the system even halfway down and it got even worse. In the first 30 minutes it must have shut off 6 times. What a complete bummer!!!! Couldn't even set up the drum as it was causing problems. Luckily things got a lot  better the last 30 minutes were power-shortage free. The vibe turned around and the crowd- well ya just gotta see the pics! Looking out onto a crowd that stretches as far as the eye can see can just about bring a tear to this ol' Texan's eyes. The best thing about Love Fest is that there is such an amazing variety of people all together. Gay, straight, black, white, yellow, green, purple- whatever you're into you're accepted and appreciated. That's what dance music is all about!

Sunday we make it out to the Flirty-Flirty/Spundae pool party at the Bambuddha lounge. It's located right at the Phoenix hotel pool. The place is full when we get there and gets really packed around fifteen minutes into my set. No technical problems here- the booth is set up great- half inside and half out. I'm playing the drum like crazy and powering down jager shots (thanks for those by the way- you know who you are!!!) People are dancing inside, outside, on chairs, on each other (sweet). Next up is Donald Glaude - I have plans to play the drums to his set for 10 minutes or so- but the vibe is going so damn well that I just keep playing. He's tricking the mixer - I'm hammering the drum- and we're both jumping up and down. Now the place is just about to have a coronary! It's going absolutely ballistic. What an amazing way to close the weekend!

Hat's off to Michael Anthony and Supperclub, Sasha & Flirty Flirty, and all the DJs and friends I had the pleasure to hang with. An extra big hat's off to the 65,000 people who showed up for the love of electronic music!!!! San Francisco is absolutely one of the best cities on the planet, and this weekend once again proved it!

T4L
-D:FUSE
www.djdfuse.com 

July 8, 2006

DEDICATION!!!!!!

Yo My Beat Freaks

Daddy had a rough one this weekend. Caught some kind of stomach-flu-food-poisoning-thang on Wednesday that dropped me flat on my back. And believe me- I almost NEVER (knock on wood here) get sick. I felt better Thursday so I took it easy & did some Bickram Yoga to flush out my system. All of a sudden Friday morning it was back just in time to get on a plane. So I’m on a plane, shivering with flu chills and focusing like crazy not to throw up. Anyone ever used one of those barf bags? That’s got to be embarrassing. I suffer through it & thankfully get to my destination of McAllen TX barf-free. Isn’t it just great when you don’t hurl!?) I sleep a couple of hours before I head to the gig. You can’t tell everyone that walks up wanting a picture with you that you’re sick as a dog. You just have to smile the best that you can and act like you’re having fun. It’s not easy when you feel like you’re just about to fall over, believe me. I hit the decks, still play the drum, & sweat like crazy. I want to play a solid set for the full house that came out. It’s a challenge, because upon the first moment I pump my fist a bit I have to stop and focus on not losing it right then and there all over the mixer. I get through it and am happy with the show, a very cool vibe- shouts out to the Rio Grande Valley, Salamandra Lounge, David & Distinguished Productions.

I bet your wondering, “Any other moments like this?” Glad you asked. On tour with Oakey in Detroit. We’d already completed about nine shows in about two weeks and I was a bit run down. As soon as we check into the hotel I got hit with the flu and was flat on my back for 3 hours. With chills, sweats, and a crazy fever, I stumbled into the sedan and made my way to the venue. Thank God for red bull and vodka. Sucking down a couple was just enough to get me through that 2 hour set. Right after I crawled back to my room, slept for 14 hours, and got back on the road with lethal doses of Dayquil/Nyquil for the next 2 days. Thank God for drugs.


Here's on that's a little unrelated but still a bit of going above and beyond- once again on tour with Oakey. On this particular day we were leaving Orlando and heading to Tampa. Paul and I had different flight times for some reason, and both our flights were cancelled due to severe thunderstorms. The storms were closing in and it was looking like all flights into Tampa would be cancelled for the night. It was looking like no chance on making the gig when a flight representative told me there was one more option. A pilot was going to brave the storm and fly through it- if anyone wanted to volunteer for that they could get on the plane. I took it. Crazy. Imagine being in a tiny puddle-jumper prop plane, with the flight attendant telling everyone to hold on and counting down the minutes that we would be flying into the storm and turbulence. “Okay everyone- 15 minutes-make sure you're seatbelts are secure!” “10 Minutes!” “Five minutes!” "Okay- HANG ON!!!" The plane shook and rocked like crazy. I swear it was even do hard left/right turns. It was exciting and scary- but I made the flight and did the gig for the good folks in Tampa (Oakey had to cancel on that one due to his later flight)

There was also a time that weather and mechanical delays caused me to reroute 3 different airlines and 3 cities to make it to Shadow Lounge in Miami. I took me over 15 hours to get from Austin, TX to Miami. Sure I was late- but made it there in enough time to play a solid hour.

Now- the granddaddy of them all. ----drum roll please----. A show at the former Avalon in Hollywood (formerly known at The Palace) I had a crazy case of food poisoning from eating a few hours before. I get in the DJ booth completely turning green and getting sicker by the moment, but the dance floor is packed and I’m not going to let these people down dammit!!! (Imagine a Charleton Heston-type movie character moment here). I turn to the lighting guy and ask for a trashcan- and fast! Luckily the DJ booth is a story above the crowd, because practically after each mix I’m turning around and puking my guts out in the trashcan. Nasty, huh? I make it through about an hour and 15 minutes before having to quit to the race to the hotel- where the puking….well, you get the picture.

What is the point I’m making here????? (I’m knocking on wood here) After 7 years of touring nationally/internationally- and I don’t know how many hundreds of shows I’ve done… do you know how many I’ve missed? Zero. Zilch. Nada. (well there was one show in LA at a museum where the promoter pushed my set back so far he knocked me from the lineup so that his idols Mars and Mystery could play longer –hot. But I was there. Not my decision) So- back to my original point. NO MISSED SHOWS. ZILCH. NONE.

So here’s the deal. How many shows did you pay good money for, hoping to see your favorite DJ- and then they no-show? How many times are you on the dancefloor waiting to see a DJ whom you’ve been into and supported only to hear that they “didn’t make their flight” or that they “are sick” and can’t come? I know for a fact that there will be a day that I will miss a show due to circumstances beyond my control. But that doesn’t change the fact that 95% of these DJs that miss gigs (especially the ones that have reputations for no-showing) simply don't care as much about you or the scene. They just don’t think your gig is that important. The fact is that they’re probably cracked out in their hotel room from 'avin it the night before, nursing a hangover.

So in closing I ask- who loves you baby?

D:FUSE LOVES YOU. That’s who. And I always will.

Thanks for all the support you’ve always given!!!!! It’s much appreciated.

T4L
D:Fuse

www.djdfuse.com

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Grillin' like a Villain, homies!!!

What's up my lil' rhythm junkies!? Daddy misses you!

Sorry to say that this shout out to you folks is gonna be a bit short. Gotta get in the studio to mix the next installment of The People's Mix (show #91). Don't forget to check out the show Saturdays 7-10pm & Tuesdays Midnight-3am Eastern. If you don't I will hunt you down like a like the swine you are!!!!!! Okay- sorry about that last comment. I'm a bit hung-over….Played the E3 Playstation party was last night and it was open bar. Apologies for pouring beer over the headz of Steph & Hiratzka. Sometimes you hurt the ones u luv the most……
On to what's been up with me. Been working like crazy all week in the studio with Mike Hiratzka working on a new album. So far it's a little grab bag of downtempo, progressive, and funk with a hint of house thrown in for good measure. Also had a chance to jump in the studio with both Hiratzka and DJ Rap for a little pop collab. Very cool to work with such talented people right in my backyard. Lovin' L.A! Now I also had nice little weekend off, and in celebration of that, decided to grill up sum dead cow and chicken (I ate the fish). A big thanks to my partner in crime Mira (I'll take off a week from your whiskey shot ban) for working so hard to make it happen, and to Rap, Mamma Elaine, Liam & Tina, Michael & Penny Drake, Amy, Stacey & Kevin for coming out and chowing down. Once again my Beagle Lucy didn't eat for two days after grabbing up all of the scraps you drunk fools dropped!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

D:FUSE unveils "The Bird" + The Skunk Busters

What's up my lil rhythm junkies?

D:Fuse here, reaching out to you after another fun filled weekend.

Thursday- 27April06 - A big thanks to Phaedra & Victor Dinaire for having me out to play at CBNC. Its a new Thursday night event which can be a little challenging. The crowd was on the thin side of things but the vibe was still solid. DJs Dan & HP played the night as well, and though their opening set was a little on the hard side, the closing set fit well and the track selection was really good. A big shout out to Kurt & Kate for having me over for some pre-show cocktails and Cousin Matty D and his new fiancé Courtney for hanging as well as everyone else I'm forgetting here!

Saturday- 29April06
Toddy B and the entire Barcelona threw another amazing show. Completely sold out vibe and the place was jumping and screaming like crazy. The shows are always good in Austin but haven't seen a vibe quite like that in a long while in the ATX! Toddy B got the vibe going well, the DRM followed the set and had some moments but overall played just a bit too much on the dark and hard side of things (much love bro- you redeemed yourself with your killer set at the afterparty!!!) MC Flint was once again on point! The after party was once again legendary with Amy and Laura hunting a varmit under the outdoor deck under their new guise The Skunk Busters. Rocky, Dr. Mike, and I came up with a new concept in which Ill be unveiling The Bird in locales all across the nation! Check out the profile pics!

Ready to relax a bit this weekend as I've got a break from the tour schedule for a week. Yes!

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Hanging at the flying saucer brew pub...

Friday April 21st UBU, Little Rock, AR
Hanging at the flying saucer brew pub. Sipping on a Pyramid Apricot recapping a great night. Here hangin' with DJs Dave McRoberts & Justin Sane. Nothing like cold beer and pub food to get your day started. A solid show all around. My boy Kid Icarus threw down an excellent set (hats off to one of the nice guys of Texas who's done so much for the scene and who has always supported my stuff). Also a solid D & B set from The Enemy from Evol intent. He had loads of funky, creative _ time breakdowns that kept the set interesting, plus not one gun shot! sample as far as I could tell- nice. Also a shout out to Dave McRoberts and Gruv-u. I only got to hear 15 minutes of the set but it sounded like you were keeping the place movin. A big thanks to Cybertribe- Bushy, Justin, & Excell for throwing the party and having me in.
Now for the best part. Got to visit the Clinton Presidential Library!!!! The CLINTON. PRESIDENTIAL. LIBRARY. (I'm just sayin') I've got a Clinton bobblehead, a shot glass, and t-shirt to prove it. It was a big moment for me. Now I don't want to get too political here. I'll just say this. In the opening ceremony of the library. Bono & The Edge from U2 performed. Now if members from perhaps the greatest rock band ever to exist perform at your opening, ya must have done something right. I mean- the most likely performer at George Bush's library opening will probably be Toby Kieth. And I think that really says it all.

Saturday April 22nd 06 Spundae at Circus
Well over 2,000 people turned up to the show. What a night! Mike Hiratzka threw down some seriously wicked guitar riffs and keyboard stabs and MC Flint keep the rhythmic poetry flowing. I still remember looking out on the dancefloor and seeing the place jumping like I haven't seen in a while. My hands are still bruised from banging the drums so hard! Hell yes! A big thanks to everyone who came to the show. We'll have some streaming video of the show up in a couple of weeks on www.djdfuse.com

Sunday April 23rd 06 Spundae Pool Party San Diego
So long story short- (if you read my last blog) -I won't be putting up Max Graham's jacket for sale on e-bay. I show up to the gig to see a pool party full of people getting their buzz on and grooving to the beats. All of a sudden I look in the VIP section behind the DJ booth and see Max standing on a chair yelling D:Fuse!!!! We finally got a chance to hang out and he didn't run away this time! I get on the decks only to have the sound shut down in a matter of seconds by noise complaints. We move the party into the lobby where the place is bumpin. Everyone moves in from the pool, the whiskey shots start flowing, and the entire lobby is packed with people dancing. MC Flint made the SD trek with me and as he's doing his thing I bump some funky electro and progressive house to a crowd of smiling faces and pumpin fists. Donald Glaude is moving on the floor with a couple of hotties and the ever so sexy Diamond is also in the crowd. Guiv, Peter, & AJ are also hanging out. It's a killer summertime vibe and I highly suggest anyone in the SD area to check this party out next month. The Lawnchair Generals threw down a solid set as well. A big shout out to Mira, Stacey, & Kevin for making the drive with me!

April 18, 2006

Finally a weekend off- And this week..a weekend ON!!!!!!!!!!

When its all about the rhythm, its all about YOU!!!!!! I hope everyone out there are having a kickin day. D:Fuse here, just droppin another line to say hello.

Now what's new with me. I had the extreme good fortune of a little break in my tour schedule last week and was able to kick back in my new resident city Los Angeles. I soaked up a little sun out at Runyon Canyon. My daughter Lucy got to soak up all the new smells a heavily traveled park has to offer. What an amazing day! Paradise found! Check out the pic on my profile! I also ventured out on the town to Spundae @ Circus to check out DJ Rap and Max Graham. Rap threw down a nice funky set to start things off. It was a good turnout and vibe and it was great to catch up with everyone. But Max still confuses me. The loudish Texan in me must get on his nerves a bit because every time I see him, I barely get a hello out before he's excusing himself to another locale. This time I wasn't going to let it happen, and when he tried to flee I grabbed on to his arm screaming Don't leave Max! Don't Go! I can make you like me -I swear I can change!!!!!!! The guy has some moves, because before I knew it, he pulled this turnaround-around-while-removing-his-jacket-twist-thing. All of a sudden he was at the bar chatting with a couple of dudes, and I'm left holding his jacket near the DJ booth. Ill be selling it on EBay next week if he doesn't get in contact with me. Be looking for it.

And now for the most important part A NEW WEEKEND OF TOUR DATES!!!!!!!
This ones a busy one folks..

21 Apr Little Rock, AR UBU - 824 Wizard

I've been getting loads of emails on this one. Its been a while since I've thrown some down in the L.R. Expect a killer turnout!!!! Plus my fellow Texan The Kid will be there. Bonus!

22 April Los Angeles, CA Spundae
- LIVE SHOW ft Mike Hiratzka & MC Flint - 6655 Santa Monica

Allllright kiddies, were pulling out the big guns on this one. We've got Hiratzka & MC Flint, some new tunes to spring on ya, and because I live in L.A. and don't have to worry about fitting the drums on a plane- EXPECT A DRUM SET BIG ENOUGH TO RATTLE THE GODS! MWA HA HA HA!!!!! Okay- maybe not that big.. but this show is gonna rock. Alert all your friends and get to this one early- Ill be hanging by the bar (behind the DJ booth) before the show if ya wanna say hello. Plus- Robbie Rivera- oh yes!!!

23 April San Diego, CA http://www.spundae.com/fls/sd.html  POOL PARTY!!!
There's a pool, there's a bar, there's a PARTY!!! I've gathered a sweet little collection of funky poolside house beats for this one & I'm ready to refresh that Miami tan!

Thurs - April 27 Phoenix, AZ CBNC 1420 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ

All you Phoenix/Scottsdale residents prepared for next week??!!?? Its been at least 2 years since I've performed in this area, so come show some love!

OTHER DATES ON THE SHORT LIST:
29 April Austin, TX Barcelona - 209 East 6th Street
13 May Portland, OR Pala - 105 NW 3rd Ave.

FOR THE FULL TOUR SCHEDULE, GO TO

www.djdfuse.com

as always, T4L= Thanks 4 Listening!
-D:FUSE

April 12, 2006

What's on the menu my beat infected kiddies?

Philosophy of the week:
"Sometimes even vegetarians gotta knaw on a chicken wing"
-d:fucious

I'm just gonna say it. Grillin!!!! On the outskirts of San Jose up in the hills where yesterday my good friends Deb & Hugo threw one hell of a bbq. I'm staring down a bowl of cold pasta salad while hungrily glancing over to the grill where Hugo "the mexican" Cazares is grilling like a true pro. I haven't really touched chicken, beef, or pork in over 3 years (well, there was that time in Jamaica when I was 10 Red Stripes deep). All I gotta say is. Chicken was everything I remember it being. Nothing like a group of people dancing around the turntables with beer in one hand and a "wing" in the other. Yesterday was great. Hat's off to DJ Scott Card for throwing some sick beats and letting my buzzed- ass take over for a bit. Big hugs to Shannon, Andrea, Raj, Shell, Michael & everyone else who made for such a great time.

TOUR STOP: SUPPER CLUB SAN FRANCISCO
Oh damn! I love it when a good gig comes together. If you haven't checked out this place yet, make it your next stop in club land!!!! Hats off to Michael Anthony and the entire Supper Club crew. What a show. DJ Kelli warmed up the room nicely. The vibe was great. Lots of smiling faces and ass-shakin. And ya know daddy likes to see those shakin asses!!! You gotta love a packed dancefloor for 20 minutes at the end of the night (with the house lights full-on). They finally made me stop the music at 3:30.
Next stop: Whisper for Vlad's bday. Snuck in the club with crew in hand and jumped on the decks until 5:30. Place was still packed and movin'. A big shout out to the DJs who let me throw some down. The rest of the night gets a bit hazy.... God I love SF

To everyone out there... Hope to see you out there on the road soon. Don't forget to come up and say hello.

T4L=Thanks4Listening
-D:FUSE

Wednesday, April 06, 2006
D:FUSE WMC 2006 TOUR DIARY

What's up my lil' friends! Droppin another diary yer way. I thought I should give you a little WMC '06 'memberin and a list of the new shows on the horizon. But before that my thought for the week:

Happy Hour is only happy if there are free nachos. -d:fuse

In all seriousness. Thanks to all the people who make the WMC '06 one of my favorite places in the world: Mason, Dutch, & Thump. Luis Baro, Andrew Phalan, DrM & Laura, Mira, Rap, Scumfrog, Skribble, Flirty Flirty, Groovefire, Danny, Derek Hana, World Party, Nick McGeachin, Asuman,Ultra, Spundae, Andrea, Julie, Paul, Starecase, Serg, Sullivan Room and all the peeps who came to the shows. Until next year! And with that in mind the D:FUSE WMC06 recap! Drum roll pleez

1)Top song of the WMC: D:Fuse & Hiratzka vs Heart Barracuda (I know it's my song but dammmmmit- It's just so dern good)

2)Top DJ performance: DJ Rap @ Mixology Nikki Beach (what can I say it was funky and she wore this cut lil' ball cap)

3)Top DJ performance even though I only saw 20 minutes: Darren Emerson @ Mixology Nikki Beach (it was just soooo dirty. I almost offered him a sponge bath but I thought he'd get the wrong idea perv)

4)Best Hair and Makeup: Second Sun (I mean- that singer really knows how to apply the mascara. I've gotta call him for tips.)

5)Best drink: $14 thimble of Mojito @ the Delano Hotel (it seriously must have been 6oz total WITH the ice. That Ian Schrager really knows how to make you feel sooooooooooooooo exclusive. My pinkie toe was so buzzed it almost went home with the waitress.)

21 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - DJs Are Alive LIVE SHOW @ The Mansion Kristine W once again shatters all wardrobe and make up records with a mind blowing- seven (count em) seven- Stylists spending over 3 hours getting her primped. Scumfrog and I sneak off for whiskey shots as sound check takes over 8 hours. Show goes off though, thanks for JCook, Stew, Derek Hana, Richard Branson, and all the other cohorts for making it out. Shouts out to Scummy, Skribble, & Static. Always a pleasure when u guys make it come together!

23 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - Wet Grooves @ Albion Hotel - LIVE SHOW ft Mike Hiratzka & MC Flint Pissing rain all day and the cops completely shut down the sound system. We literally have to play with only the DJ monitors. There's so much sound a librarian would even tell ya to turn it up. Me, Hiratzka, & Flint go on after Eddie Halliwell. Steve from Wet Grooves whispers don't be scared to me as I go on. Big mistake we absofuckinlutely tear the roof off the place. Well, if there was oneit was a pool party after all. It's sweaty, rainy, and dirty, and the crowd is going nutz. Steve's mouth is still agape. Scare that, bitch!!!!

23 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - Tantra - 1445 Pennsylvania Ave (set time 1-3am) If you look in the pics section you'll see us trying to answer the banana. That is the after-party after the show. Need we say more??? As always, the www.Groovefire.com crew always bring it. Amazing turnout. Great vibe. Phil rocked the decks, Hiratzka closed perfectly. And Daddy Dwell, ya know. (*whisper voice here* --I'm just gonna say I was pretty good). Big thanx to Tantra for having us every year. Unbelievable. And a shout to my favorite percussionist www.joakineskasan.com for rocking it!

25 Mar Spundae/Opel/Flirty Flirty Pool Party I get one hour of sleep after the trying to answer the banana after party. DRM has gotten no sleep but still makes it out with me. Thank God for Red Bull and Vodka. Luckily the bull keeps coming. The party has a great pool vibe and is packed. Loads of fun. Probably the one outdoor system I didn't see the cops shut down. Nice.

25 Mar Club Music Awards Okayfunctioning on very little sleep and way too much alcohol. Don my new vintage sheee-yot (and a hefty pair of shades) (I'm just soooooo L.A. now) and head out. Apparently I hold my own hosting the event with Scumfrog, Static Revenger, Kristine W and Skribble. Damn if I remember. All I know is DJ Rap is looking extremely hot and she's buying Patron shots. Okayit was me buying the Patron shots. No wonder I'm over my limit. (and I'm not just talking about the credit card) Luckily Skribbs & Scummy help me down the stairs.Thank God for Jerry's Deli. An order of fries later and I'm at the Crobar hangin' with Rap, Scummy, Skribbs, and The Prodigy. Darren Emerson is throwing down a solid set of funky acid techno. It's good to be the king. Now please let me pass out, minions!

25 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - Ultra Music Festival - LIVE SHOW ft Mike Hiratzka & MC Flint The Live stage was run way pro! Shouts out to the stage crew!!! Only problem is it's a least 2 minutes past noon and I'll don't have a beer in my hand. Ouch. Isn't this the Conference? We all go on stone sober at 1:30. As luck would have it we have a good crowd who's gotten there early to check us out. Shout's out to you guys who came out early to the live stage!!!! Hiratzka and Flint make me proud. The show goes off and we have a good time. Stephanie finally shows up with three piss-warm heiny's. I'll take what I can get at this point. Bring on the dancin' girls!!!

25 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - D:FUSE Sullivan Room Showcase @ Angel Ultra Lounge (set time 1-2am) The place is nice and full and the vibe is in full swing. I have a blast being able to relax and just lay down some tracks and percussion. The place goes nutz. Hiratzka and I just layed down a bootleg remix of Barracuda by Heart which sets the place off. The Scumfrog takes over and rocks it. Good times all around.

26 Mar Miami, FL WMC 2006 - Thump Radio Breakfast In Bed @ Bed As you can see, Rap decides to make it out to this one and abruptly crashes in a bed right when I go on. That's how I rock it yo!!!!! But honestly, the place is amazing. It's a sunrise thing and ya just gotta be there to understand it. I do a 3 hour set and move it into the spiritual zone as Sen-Sei and Mike Hiratzka lay down keyboards and guitar. This party absolutely recharges my batteries for the whole year. Can't wait till next year. Thanks for all of you who came out!!! Ya kicked it 'till 12:30pm. You make me so proud! (teary-eyed D:Fuse voice inserted here)

26 Mar International Dance Music Awards DJs Are Alive do the opening number of the show. It's an amazing and elaborate set up. Thousands of industry headz are in the audience. A beautiful poolside/beachside setting at night. Really loved performing at this one.

NYE 2005 Spundae@ Mezzanine
Alright, my biggest New Years resolution is to keep up with this diary. It's a bit of a pain in the ass but it helps me to make sense of these insanely fun nights I share with you people on the road. So I'm writing this a bit after the fact, but had probably one of the best NYE in a decade. New Years has always been a bit off for me. The shows have been okay but in the past they've been in cities where I don't know a lot of people. NYE should be with friends, so this year San Francisco was it! Peter and Guiv from Spundae brought me into Mezzanine for a show with Derrick Carter. Went into the studio and custom made this killer high-tech countdown kinda thing and of course played my remix of New Years Day. Played until 3am. Great crowd and energy. Everyone was moving. Then went to a small, vibey, family sort of show at Ponzu. Shouts out to Sen-Sei, Josh, Scott Card, Raj, Kramer, and all the others I'm forgetting to name for a fun little after hours set 40 minutes or so. Kicked it well into the sunrise hours and did it all again the next day. So much fun we should all be arrested. Handcuffs can be fun anyway. Big shouts out to the SF crew, Andrea for getting my stuff together at the Mezzanine show. Raj and Scott Card for taking care of the merchandising and poster hanging. Deb, Hugo, Shannon, Katherine, Camilla, Tim, Sandra, and all the usual suspects along the way. Can't wait for the next one.

22Jan05 Sky Austin
Had a Saturday night free so took full advantage of it in my hometown of Austin to throw down a little old school-meets-new-school kind of night. Lots of funky house and breaks classics mixed in with some new funk. Great crowd turned up and turned on. Laura, Dr Mike, Christine on the dance floor all night. Alma and John aren't bringing their A-game, and retire seconds after I start. The new Killer's "Somebody Told Me" (Mylo Remix) takes the house down as well as Miss Kitten's "Requiem for a Hit". Can you say lots o' jager and a late night? I kneeeew ya could.

24Feb05 Sullivan Room, NYC

Groovnauts and (my personal favorite) Groovefire are promoting and DJing this night. Even Andreamico's gotten on board and sent out a lil' email blast early on. Apparently EVERYONE's coming! We arrive to the venue to a solid crowd, and within an hour the place is filled to capacity. Todd and Phil from Groovefire throw down a solid set, venturing further into Progressive than I've seen in a while. A Groovenaut resident then takes the decks, his set is funky enough, but it's just a bit too much of the brash throwback 80's thing for me. The Sullivan room is a small basement club that holds about 300 people, so I start and keep the night housey and funky until the end when I have to throw in some trancey favs. I even throw in the classic "Is Anybody Out there" (easily 10 years old) to find Andreamico squealing with such delight that she’s just about to shatter glass. End up going to Erik's house for some late night debauchery with the Groovefire lushes in tow. Liquor!? I hardly know her! I make it just after sun up, and as I’m nursing a bit of the flu (taking lethal doses of Dayquil) I bow out and crash. I have the rest of the weekend off and have an amazing time in the big apple.

03 February Los Angeles, CA

It's a bit of a last minute booking for the LA Weekly newspaper at the hotel Figuereo in LA. A sort of theme party titled "Sex and Hedonism" or something like that, so I'm thinking this is going to be some kind of crazy LA show with lots of live sex acts and free spankings or something like that. What it turns out to be is just a dressed up trade show, quite tame, with lots of vendor booths giving out information on clothing stores, tanning salons, breast augmentation, whatever. But all in all, it's a really nice set up, lots of bars set up serving good drinks, a good buffet, all by the poolside. The hotel is quite unusual. The lobby and pool at the Figuereo are amazing, like walking into some interior Mexico mansion. Lots of heavy oak furniture and candles. The walls have beautiful hand paintings and mozaics all over them. The hotel amenities, however, are the shabbiest I've ever seen. Dingy rooms, no room service, no coffee maker, no iron, no alarm clock for christ's sake! The only restaurant in the hotel serves- get this- only Hamburger, Sirloin Steak, or Fried Chicken. That it!!! In the middle of LA?! Helloooooo? Plus the owner was a complete asshole as well to top everything off, as we got into a shouting match when the promotion team was not permitted to put up posters (after the staff said it was okay). I recommend going to the hotel, checking out the lobby and pool, and walking straight back out. Okay. Enough of the rant. I go down to the ballroom to start my set, and realize the owner has not allowed LA Weekly to put in a sound system! There are two little monitors and a DJ set up, barely enough to power a living room, much less a ballroom. I graciously apologize and tell them no to spinning, and offer up my services putting in some previously recorded D:Fuse mixes which works out okay. Mirabella, Michael, Penny, Eve Falcon, and Jason from Deepsky all show up and we down some tequila shots and catch up. Nice. People are mostly mingling anyway. No dancers in the house. Marques Wyatt arrives and braves the little sound system and plays some excellent house to close the night and actually gets a some of the crowd to shake it. A big thanks to LA weekly for bringing me out and who were understanding in why I didn't play. I know the sound wasn't their fault!

05 February Reno, NV John Moon's Bday Event
Now I'm really looking forward to this show. I haven't seen my good friends Scott, Shannon, Deb, & Hugo from SF since NYE and I'm going through withdraws. We meet up in Reno on Friday and I don't have a show until Saturday. Sweet! A night off in a gambling city! This is my first time in Reno and I really like it. Kind of the Las Vegas vibe but not so huge and pretentious. A bit on the white trash side of things. Lots of cheap buffets and cheap drinks. I walk by a bar on the way to meet everybody and have to stop in. A band is playing Styx "Blue Collar Man". Now, if that isn't an example of the white trash thing, I just don't know what is. We hear about a new underground club that's open and some local house guys are spinning, so we decide to try it out. We get to the club and begin to party. We sipping drinks and looking around. Quite an interesting vibe, the entire place looks like it was just converted from a clothing store minutes ago, complete with white walls with the rack slots still in place. But the music is groovy enough so we're having fun. Only thing is, after an hour or so we realize the DJ is stuck in that vibe like.... "I only play house. That's it. Straight up house. Only the pure house stuff, and deep. See, I'm a house purist, so if it even thinks about going anywhere, and I mean anywhere, outside the boundaries of pure house. I ain't gonna play it. And I'll probably make fun of other DJs that do. Deep. House. Yeah duuuuuuude." Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but after two hours (and moving into the peak hours of the night) the music hadn't changed an iota so we had to get out. We spend the rest of the night checking out Scott Card's sweet set up of tunes on his laptop system, and gambling in the casino. Had a blast! Now on to the next night. I've met John Moon before at Burning Man and he asked me to come play his party. Nice guy, but I'll be honest, the flyer looked extremely ravey-gravy, complete with an all-ages-allowed policy. I'm thinking it's gonna be one of those gigs that ya just have to grin, bear it, and do your best. So when we get to the venue at 10:30pm I'm pleasantly surprised and equally impressed to find that the place is sold out. The venue has a cozy barn kind of feel and the crowd is quality. Like one of those old-old school raves where people from all walks of life are there and the median age is 25. No candy wrappers here, there are some youngun's but everyone dressed individually, not in the "I'm expressing my individuality by dressing exactly like everyone else" vibe. There's lots of people swillin' drinks and smiling. They've even got a killer artist area back stage complete with a deluxe buffet and kegs o' beer. Me and the crew mingle and check out the different DJs, it seems everyone is on tonight, I truly enjoy the sets in the two rooms. I'm chilling out waiting for Micro to go on because I'm playing right after him, but it seems he's taken the long way to get here, detoured through a casino and got stuck. I take the decks early and proceed to TEAR TH' FREAKIN' ROOF OFF THE PLACE. Okay, I'm tootin' my own horn here, but hey sometimes that horn needs to be tooted, so I'm doin' it. I feel good, jump around like a madman, bang the drum, and just feel the positive energy coming off the crowd and do my best to give it right back to them. Old school memories of the old rave days!!!! They have returned tonight and I have an amazing time. Hats off to John Moon and all who made the party happen! Can't wait to get back to Reno for another one!

24Feb05 St Cloud, MN. Red Carpet
The first time I visited the Red Carpet was with Richard “Humpty” Vission. The night was packed with lots of drunk college chicks and I’m the kind of guy that appreciates that kind of thing. Scott got me waaaaaay too wasted feeding me Rumplemintz and Goldshlager at the end of the night. But hey, these things happen. Had an amazing time so I’m looking forward to being back. This is Minnesota, it’s covered with snow and cold as hell, but I swear everyone’s like, “wow, it’s great having this heatwave come through in winter” and wearing t-shirts. Crazy yanks. DJ Tink and friends set up the night nice and housey, and always deftly tease the crowd on the floor. Nothing like playing a town where the opening DJs don’t bang the hell out of it to an empty floor; but play down and groovey to pull people on it. Much appreciated and enjoyed. Now generally we don’t sell a lot of merchandise at shows, maybe 4 or 5 CDs. But lately we’ve been doing double that and tonight is no exception. Shannon works the shot bar peddling my Begin CD and Vinyl while Tink is on the mic announcing the CDs for sale. Before 11pm we’ve sold out of all of the merchandise I brought for the entire weekend. Amazing. The place is packed and though it’s a bit of a guy-heavy log jam tonight, the place is still moving pretty well. I work up a pretty good sweat, the Killers remix once again steals the night, and retire at the end of the night going to a few after parties. I take it easy on the shots tonight and thankful the next day. Hell, I even get up early and get a few minutes on the stair master. I then completely undo this by downing a black bean burger, two orders of fries, and 2 large Sam Adams at the airport Chili’s.

11 February Austin, TX FUSE:D @ Sky
Now, this night has become legendary. Lots of good friends, familiars faces, and people throwing it down. Tonight, something's a miss. Someone told all the ladies to stay home and informed all the guys that the theme tonight was "swordfest". Loads of dudes. Buckets of 'em. A venerable log jam in the making. It does get adequately busy later on however and we have a pretty good time. Dr. Mike has his hands full cock blocking the guys from Laura and Christine. He's doing a pretty good job but eventually has to retreat with the ladies to a table near the booth at the end of the night. I get a little persnickety with a girl who comes up at the end of the night complementing my set, saying that she's a HUGE DnB fan and still liked the set. I tell her very cool and that I'm really info LTJ Bukem. She goes, "who is that?" WHAT! I'll just leave it at that. I'm taking March off from this event. Let's hope that gets Austin hungry for more when I return in April.

25Feb05 San Diego, CA Montage.

Mirabella joins me in sunny, beautiful, San Diego. Now generally San Diego is a bit of a cheesey meat market scene, with most people more concerned about how good they look rather than the music. But tonight was completely different. Brad has brought in a Avalon sound system and it is COMPLETELY dialed in. Crystal clear sound that hits you in the chest, yet you can still have a conversation on the dance floor. We get to the club early and have amazing sushi in the rooftop deck overlooking the skyline and proceed ta git ta drankin'. Opening sets by Brad and residents are funky and perfect for the vibe. The dancefloor is filling nicely. They've moved the DJ booth from the skybox to the raised seating area, which is the perfect vantage point. The set up is solid as well, great monitors, CD players and mixer. I feel comfortable and proceed to play with much abandon. Gloriously bathing in the sound of precariously pumpin music awash in liquid thunder sound. Alllllllright. Enough with the poetry. I do play a pretty impressive set and have the time of my life. Unlike other nights in SD, people here tonight are here for the music, all smiling, mingling, dancing, and generally partying their little toned asses off. I close my set at around 4am and head to a little swaree at a place simply known as "Nathalie's castle" with Mira, Carol, Mike, and a host of other new friends. Nathalie is originally from Brazil, so she's no stranger to taking things to the next level. She proceeds to pull a gallon jug of Jack Daniels out of the freezer and pour shots. The night gets hazy from there. I'm pretty sure I had the time of my life, however, and met some amazing new people. Can't wait to get back! Dirty!

04March05 San Antonio Club Ibiza.
Okay, so I've officially turned into some sort of West Coast girly man wuss hippie type. I've decided to do this clense where for 10 days you eat nothing and all you can drink is a concoction made with water, fresh squeezed lemons, cayenne pepper, molasses, and maple syrup. No alcohol either!!! I'm dying of hunger as I arrive in SA, only being on the diet 2 1/2 days. I'm dreaming of flour tortillas and enchiladas while sipping a margarita on the river walk. Oh the humanity! Anyway, back to the show. After two solid shows playing in SA with Oakey, it's good to be back as the headliner. This was my first time at Club Ibiza so I didn't know what to expect. C.I. is a small club, about 300 capacity which makes it the perfect size. Winston and crew took really good care of me. The venue is the perfect size, just about 300 capacity with a smokin' sound system. The DJ booth ranks up there as one of the most difficult booths to function in- everthing in the wrong place and incredibly cramped, plus it's way up in the sky so the crowd interaction thing is at a minimum. Dr Mike, Laura, Terra, Jaquilin, arrive and are escorted to a vip table right near the dancefloor where all the latin hotties in VIP are shooting them dirty looks as their boyfriends gawk. Lets face it, the girls are lookin' maybe a bit too hot tonight. The thing is, the Latin chickas are good lookin' girls so why they gotta front? I begin my set to a bit of an off vibe. The resident DJ is playing a solid opening set and I'm digging it. The dance floor is thin and people are acting skittish to dance. It's probably because my stomach is growling so bad it's drowning out the music. But I bob my head, put a smile on my face and crank the tunes. The vibe finally turns around and I have a good time and the floor fills. Club Ibiza wins the award for the most f__ked up people I've seen in a while, and that's no small order. Of course, it could be my state of soberness. Probably so. All in all a great night.



05 March Indianapolis, IN Club Fusion - 603 E. Market St.

DJ Geoff Gulley makes the trek from Cincinatti. Of course I'm still on my clense so I'm absolutely salivating watching Geoff polish off ice-cold Samuel Adams in the hotel bar while we catch up. We turn up at the venue which is a cool space. Kind of a warehouse feel while still being nice and vibey. The place is only about half full and the music in the main room is -how can I say this- jump up party ass irritable to the umpteenth degree? Yeah, that's it. It would be understandable of the crowd were dancing and into it, but EVERYONE except 2 or 3 people are just standing around while this 140 bpm not-quite-fast-enough-to-be happy-hardcore-but-still-sounds-the same music is blasting. I've never had so many people in my life come up and beg me to come on early. Two girlfriends walk up asking me the same question, and when they find out I'm recently divorced begin hinting (in not very hinting terms) that they love three-somes with each other. Sorry ladies, I'm on the clense, not really feeling it tonight -the hunger at a high pitched scream in my stomach now- I could just see it, two chicks going at it and I have to excuse myself to make yet another lemon drink and sip on some herbal tea to quell the pains. I'm such a pussy. Plus- the chicks are cute enough but are lookin' a bit sweaty and not in a good way. I start my set to big cheers, cool. The only problem is that half the floor are chicks dancing and the other half are a bunch of guys who are standing there in place cheering. Odd. The guys are enthusiastic enough, cheering at anything I'm doing. But they're just STANDING there, screaming, not dancing. Like some kind of metal show or something. Like I said, odd. Combine this with the fact that the 3-some duo have now made their way to the front of the stage and to really emphasize their point, have begun macking out- rather sweatily mind you- with each other. This continues the rest of the set with this look they keep giving me like- see? We told you! We really like three-somes!!! See! We'll do it again! Did you see that!? And how about this?! Once more??? All in all I have a good time though. I finish my set and head back to the hotel to be hungry. A special thanks to the three-some duo for giving it the ol' college try. And to the cutie in the front row with the long black curly hair (named Jenni? Dammit!) oh, how I wish for a swift return to Indi in a not hungry mode!

11March05 Rise, Boston Boston

Oh another night in Boston baby! Rise is a small club, holds maybe 300 and is a members-only after hours joint. Plus I'm playing with the Groovefire crew who always play great sets and show me a great time. We're maybe planning to check out Avalon where Dave Ralph (booking rep for Boston Avalon) is most certainly laying down a good set, but then I remember his comment to my agent, "Oh, we might book D:Fuse some time, like, if we open the side room or something. But he's just not big enough to play in the main room." What?! Hello!?! Last time I played Avalon 2 years ago as the headliner it was a sellout. Am I missing something here?! Hey Dave, why don't you look at your ranking as compared to mine on the BPM top 100 and we'll do lunch. Besides, rise is at capacity tonight, and from what I hear, that's considerably more than you bring in Boston. Bitch! Okay, I'm being mean. I luv ya Dave. Just venting a little. Back to the story- We do some drinks beforehand then get to the club. Groovefire plays an excellent set, I take the decks, throw it into high gear and have a blast. Rise has one of the best sound systems and lighting people in the nation. The crowd always comes out for the music, and tonight is no different. I shut the place down with an encore at 6:30am, go out for drinks afterward with Phil, Todd, Carla and crew, and later paint captain morgan's moustaches with a magic marker on Phil and Todd's faces before I make a hasty exit to my hotel. That'll teach ya to pass out! The D:Fuse was here bitches!!! He came to Boston ta do two things, to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and he's fresh outa gum!!! I'm out.

12March05, Spundae@Circus, LA

Alllllllright. My favorite SF friends Scott, Deb, and Hugo are flying in for this one. Add in the fact that Mike Hiratzka, Mirabella, Jeffrey Dean, Christina,Eve, and Jason from Deepsky and, Stacy are coming. Plus Bern, Natalie, and Michael from San Diego are coming out and you've got the recipe for a night just waiting to explode like an M-80 on the fourth. We do some pre drinking and get to the club. DJ Vibe is slated for the 11-2am slot, and though he's playing some workable tribal prog, after 3 hours of the same the dance floor looks like they just might not hang in there. No offense, I know the headz are digging Vibe, but this is LA and these people like it varied with a bit of energy thrown in there. I take the decks and launch into some progressve funk with touch of techno and trance, and though admittedly, I don't bring the crowd back around 100%, I do my damnedest and have a good time. I do an encore at 4am and then it's off to the races. First stop is Mirabella's room at the Hollywood Orchid Suites. The Orchid is a small little hotel right at Hollywood and Highland. It's truly old school, some of my fuzziest memories are at the Orchid, so when someone tells ya the after party is there, ya know it's gettin' dirty. Mira's brought loads of beer and a jambox, and we all love her for that. After a few hours we venture to my hotel, the Wyndom West Hollywood, where Spundae has splurged on a nice big suite complete with balcony. Just as I know it, Hugo being the Mexican he is, steals my watch. Natalie once again has brought a bottle of Jack Daniels, and even though I have a stash of it on my own, we clean out all the whiskey in the place and move on to the mini bar. Never a good thing. 2 pairs of sunglasses get hurled over the balcony. Mike Hiratka's in rare for tonight, the lil' half breed. In a sunrise stupor we convice the ladies of SD Nat and Bern to skip going back and we convince Scott Card to call in sick the next day. Checkout is not pretty at the hotel as there is a wedding reception going on in the hotel. Champagne anyone? "Oh yes- friends of the bride of course. But all she wanted was sex from me so I had to break it " We proceed to go to Barny's Beanery, a staple LA pub food joint and proceed to scarf down wheelbarrow portions of pizza burgers, cheesesticks and cheesefries while swilling beer. Somehow it's now nighttime on Sunday and Jeffrey picks our stumbling asses up for a loft party at his place where a teetering Hiratzka plays some of his newest gems. Excellent. Scott Card and I proceed to get into a high-stakes wrestling match in the middle of the living room.
Hiratzka and Ibegin a remix project the next day, thank God he's the bigger man and took control of the studio session while I lay licking my wounds on the couch. Big shouts out to the Ladies of SD Nat and Bern, ya bring it positive and your endurance is staggering. To Scott Card- next time your mine on the wrestling mat. And to Hiratzka- nice work on the remix, bitch! (We completed a new remix of "Music is About You" that you guys are gonna freak over!)

18March05 El Paso, Speaking Rock

A big hats off to Jose and the Glow dreams crew for bringing me in. They took good care of me, had a good venue with a good sound system and DJ set up. But just cuz ya build it doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna come, and tonight was no exception. A venue that could easily hold 2,000 had about 100 people in attendance. It turns out just across the border in party town Juarez, Junkie XL, Infusion, and Jimmy Van M. Were playing. Ain't no way yer gonna go head to head with that kind of fire power and come out alive. Hell, if I could have figured out a way to clone myself I would have been at that show myself. Ouch. DJs Vampyro from El Paso and Gabriel from Los Angeles were good to meet as well.

19March05 Kabal, Kansas City
Now, ya know everytime I pull into the ol' KC shits gonna get broke, and tonight was no exception. Kabal has officially become one of my absolute favorite places to play. Any of you out there who want to catch a flight to a night to remember, I suggest coming here. Siamack, Bill, and Oliver will certainly show you a good time. The restaurant at Kabal is excellent, the sound is solid, the decor top notch. The place only holds about 350 people which makes it the perfect size, and KC is full of just plain ol' good people. A full crowd turned up and brought their dancing shoes. Resident Paul De Matteo played a funky set that warmed the room up nicely. (Paul let me in on a little secret, he's in the process of developing a turntable with a "whammy" bar attached, but don't tell anyone I told ya) My spunky party partner in crime Lisa is in Philly tonight and I'm feeling like something is missing, but I still have a great time. Siamack sells 20 CDs and some vinyl behind the bar. Quite impressive. End up hitting up a great after hours party. Upon sun up I venture back to my hotel (had a smokin' room at the Westin with a killer view) and get some sleep. Can't wait to get backWMC
Nikki Beach Club
This show was added just a bit last minute at the WMC, but Nikki Beach is always a good time so I was looking forward to the show. We arrive on our flight a little after 9pm so there's very little time to get our stuff settled in before embarking to the gig. When we arrive it seems a little dead. The have hip hop downstairs so they've moved the house DJs to the upstairs restaurant bar. The place is really nice. Good sound system, all-white decor tables and beds. The only problem is that the place is a bit dead. I have a few drinks and take to the decks. The DJ booth is set up on a stage behind the bar which makes the interaction with the DJ distant. The place fills up a little bit but it's not a dancing vibe. Most people are industry types just mingling on the first night of the arrival. All in all an easy show though for the first night.

22 March WMC Wilderness Research @ Harrisons 411 Washington Ave.
I was a little worried about this one. The Wilderness Research Crew are good guys but new to the Conference. Add in the fact that the lineup is looking thin. There are some good DJs including Dennis Zelakowski www.digitalgoodtime.com and on the the bill, but the only international type is yours truly. I've warned Dennis that this could make for a tough turnout but he seems to be confident. Before the show we head to an impromptu show at a place called Automatic Slim's to see Danny Howells and Lee Burridge do a special 80s set. The place is packed. It's a small divey place and everybody's mingling. I've got to be honest. I was expecting some underground, obscure type 80s stuff but what's being played is more of the obvious "tainted love" stuff. Oh well, it's still fun and I get to catch up with Danny and Lee for a while. We head out for my gig and show up at the room with a solid crew of 20. If you add in all of the people who are there in the club that would take the total count to around 40 people. Not good. Todd and Phil from Groovefire get on the phone and within 30 minutes 80 more people show up. It's a small place so that makes it just enough for a good vibe. I get on for my set and soon the place is hopping. People are on chairs, tables, ordering lots of drinks and having a great time. Toddy B, Steve Porter and Eli Wilkie stay on the dance floor all night. After my set DJ Kares www.digitalgoodtime.com takes the decks and plays the sickest breaks set I've heard in a long time. Funky, slick, with just a touch of trance thrown in. I join the floor and dance the rest of the night. Despite the attendance, Dennis and the Wilderness crew saw a good party. Afterwards Dr. Mike, Laura, Christine and I venture to the beach to watch the sunrise, complete with my record crate and battery operated turntable. Nice.

23 March Club Awards, Big Shot Party
The ladies are looking hot, and I mean HOT tonight as we venture to the Delano hotel to catch the Ice party bus to the awards show downtown at a club called Pure. I'm feeling quite dapper myself, as Christine and I did a little shopping jaunt on Washington Ave the day before. It was probably the best shopping experience I've ever had. If your in South Beach Miami ya gotta go to South Beach Couture. They were friendly, down-t-earth, and I didn't pay an arm and a leg. Plus -check this out- they've got a full bar and couches in the back!!!!! Woooooo Hooooooo! Something about trying on clothes while sipping a Pinot Grigio just feels right. Anyway, back to the night. We all venture into the Ice Party Bus and are joined by Christopher Lawrence and Sarah who bring in a some vodka and proceed to pour shots. DJ Irene joins us and proceeds to give me one hell of a buckin' bronco ride. The girl's crazy, crazy I say! Jason from Deepsky and Eve Falcon are with us as well, so it's great catching up with everyone on the way. We get to the awards show which is set up nicely, Sandra Collins and I present the best sound system award, I catch up with some peeps backstage, then it's back to the hotel to get ready for the show.
Now, the Big Shot party was a total flop last year and I've been promised this year is going to be different. Unfortunately things aren't good as the venue it was supposed to be in decided to go all hip hop (like so many venues this year at the last minute) so they move the party to the pool hall next door. The sound system and DJ booth are good, and about 40 or so good friends show up. It's like a solid house party, except at a pool hall. Believe it or not it's fun. But for Big Shot, not a strong showing again this year. We later head for sunrise at the Marlin hotel, they've got DJs playing all night and day in the lobby. Unfortunately this day the music is terrible. Deep, boring, evil, satan prog is playing and depressing everyone. No-one is dancing, but fortunately a good crowd is mingling and chilling on the outdoor deck. We chill out with some drinks then head over to a cafe down the street where the music is perfect. Eli Wilkie is on the decks and throwing down some serious analogue funky house. Everyone is smiling and dancing. I decide to by a round of shots for Steve Porter, Chris Fortier, Barrett, and crew. The jagers are laid out and the bartender tells me they don't take credit cards. Can you say embarrassed? I'm tapped outa cash! Luckily Barrett from DC throws down some green and saves the day. Many thanks! Kevin from Infusion is there and I decide to do the ol' 20 bucks routine. I've never met him in my life, but I walk up to him and ask, "Hey, you got my 20 bucks?" he looks at me with that "deer in the headlights" look. I continue, "Kevin, right? Yeah, I hope you brought the 20 bucks you owe me, it's been long enough." I can't hold out any longer and introduce myself. Luckily he's a nice guy and played along with it. The rest of the WMC we traded off who owed who what twenty. Okay, I'll admit it, it looks like a lame joke when you're reading it here. But trust me, when you're drunk and on very few hours of sleep it's a crack up. Trust me. Christine and I stumble back to the hotel to make it to bed by 11am. Oh South Beach I luv ya!

25 March WMC Tsunami Benefit @ Macarenas, InGrooves/Playboy @ Mynt Lounge

 I’m feeling pretty pimp today because jewelry designer and producer Alex Vasquez has finally sent me one of his custom dog tags. I just received it at the hotel so I’m feeling aAfter some much needed rest I head over to Mynt Lounge to do a sound check. I’m really excited about this show. I’ve heard Mynt is a really nice club, plus I’m doing a live show in the basement with Jes, Sen-Sei, and percussionist Drumfire, and Michael Anthony (who together form “Late Night Sneaky”). Things are a bit disappointing upon arrival. The basement is really small, so small in fact that I have no idea where Jes is going to sing, and setting up both drums and keyboards is impossible. The talk around the place is that tonight is going to be sold out, and that the guys at the door can be really tough. I recheck my guestlist, and begin calling everyone to show up early. I race to the hotel to grab the crew and get back up there, all the way my cell phone is blowing up with people talking about a mob scene outside and no-one getting in. When I arrive at 10:45pm I see why. Everyone is crowded around the velvet ropes blagging like hell to get in, there must be 300 people fighting for space. I’m finally able to grab everyone I know waiting outside and usher them in. The only problem is that from the time it’s taken to get from the ropes to the front door (a space of 8 feet) the owner has taken the guest list (half checked in) and thrown it out. The guy at the door tells me that I can go in, but my crew (all of them!) have to pay the $40 cover. Period. I’m furious, I’ve never in my life heard of anything like this. They end up holding all of us at the door like a bunch of cattle while I try to talk to people in charge to work something out. No luck. I’m just about to simply walk out of the place and forfeit playing when everyone walks in. Did they get in free? No. Dr. Mike has paid everyone’s cover. (Nice guy, but come on! Give these arrogant freaks your hard earned cash!? Not sure about that.) We decide to make the best of it, procure a few drink tix & gather round the bar. Steve Porter is playing an inspired and well placed set of smooth yet funky house. The big supriser is Bad Boy Bill who goes on and doesn’t bang it out but carries on Steve’s vibe with just a bit more energy. Excellent. I say my goodbyes and make my way out of the club to jet over to the Tsunami Benefit to throw down my 1am-2am set. I don’t dare take anyone with me for fear of them not getting back in. I arrive at the Tsunami event to a pretty full house, Second Sun is on doing a live PA and are rocking it. Their music is a bit on the commercial dance side of things, but the guys are bobbing their heads and putting on a hell of a show. Very impressive and the crowd is going crazy. For a finale they bring the singer Tiffany (yes- the “I Think We’re Alone Now” Tiffany) and her and the lead singer sing this dancey duet thing. Yes- a bit cheesey but they’ve got loads of energy, they sound great together and they totally pull it off. The place goes mad. Now how am I gonna follow that up? The booth is tucked at the corner of the stage- you can barely see it- and some dude just spinning some records (I left my drum at Mynt) doesn’t seem to take it to the next level. But, I play my funkiest tracks and do my best. The DC crew Bo, Spushor, Robin, John, and Barbara are there stirring it up. The floor gets going pretty good and I duck out as a hip hop act takes the stage next. What I didn’t know was that I would be getting my cardio in on the way back to Mynt. In a hurry to get over there, I tell my good SF friends Deb and Hugo to take my records and hail a cab. What Hugo must have heard was “Take my records to the club for me” cuz when I get outside they are nowhere to be found, no cab waiting for me anywhere. With only 15 minutes until I’m due to play at Mynt, there’s no time to get a taxi, it’s 2:15am in South Beach anyway, the chances of getting a cab are slim. Luckily I’m a bit of a runner, because I huff it 15 blocks to make it to Mynt just as Deb and Hugo arrive in the cab. A bit sweaty and out of breath but ready to play, I head in. Security is much nicer this time and usher us through the basement straight into the downstairs room I’m scheduled to play in. The door guy swings open the door and the scene before us is completely unexpected. A packed basement of sweaty model-and-bottle service types are going crazy….to what you ask? ACDC’s “Highway to Hell”. I’m looking over at the DJ booth and it’s definitely not Michael Anthony as displayed by the DJ’s dexterous mix straight into Snoop Doggy Dog. Something’s just a bit amiss in the house room tonight! I finally track one of the promoters down and he tells me the lowdown. Apparently the basement manager decided he wasn’t in the mood for house and pulled the lineup from the basement and put in the resident hip hop guy. Not only that -P-Diddy, the king of “how-much-money-ya-got” clubbing decided to  walk in with Felix the Housecat (who was originally going to play Mynt on this night but flat-out turned it down to play new club Nocturnal –only Nockturnal didn’t open in time for the WMC). Anyway- P-Diddy announces that he wants Felix to play and boots Chris Fortier and the rest of the lineup off the decks. Proper clubbing? Maybe if ya just don’t understand what the f*ck clubbing is supposed to be about. Mynt? Yeah, right.

25 March Miami FL WMC Breakfast N Bed @ Bed (7am-2pm)

Okay, all in all a really good show. Had a great time and the vibe was really good. But I need to talk some poop here because it just wasn’t quite the same this year. And I’ll tell ya why. The DJ that opened for me vibe-shredded the event. Now, I’m not going to mention his name, and to his credit, he’s never played or been to the event before, so maybe he didn’t have his homework prepared. And maybe Mason should have fine-tuned the lineup to bring back past DJs we’ve had on it.  Who knows? I saw the unnamed DJ the night before and tried to explain and forewarn him that it Breakfast in Bed has become a spiritual institution. Not some after-after hours I’m-too-cracked-out-to-go-to-sleep meth-a-thon but a positive, vibrant, amazing club event that loads of people actually get up for and start their day at. “Play as deep and spiritual as you want to,” I said. “It’s a total sunrise thing.” I’m scheduled to play the final set of the event at 12-2pm (BnB starts at 8am). As I walk in at 10:30am I’m knocked in the face by dirty, hard, sterile, progressive, with a vocal yelling “DANGER! DANGER!”. My mouth drops. I do a scan of the room. The vibe is just as you’d expect it. No-one dancing, everyone on beds wanting to leave but don’t know exactly where they’d go. Bad. And I mean BAD. The club- which was full just an hour ago, has been cleared out by this DJ. An event that has become a spiritual staple of the WMC has been reduced to after-hour nothingness. I look at my watch and check to see how much longer this torture will continue. If you don’t know how to match the music with the vibe then you should f*cking quit. Period. Luckily, in the last 15 minutes of the set he plays a couple of tracks with a bit of soul, not enough to redeem the vibe but at least enough for the crowd to know he has a heart beat.  At a few minutes before set time keyboardist Sen-Sei and I rally up before we hit the booth. We’ve got to turn it out! To reset the vibe I start cold with the album version of “Everything With You”, Sen-Sei adds a beautiful pad and gives the crowd a big smile. And- bam! The vibe turns around. The dancefloor fills and we’re off to the races. I keep it housey and melodic. I play some new tracks by South American artist Con Costa given to me by Nick McGeachin which work perfectly. Overall the event recovers nicely though the numbers are a bit thin overall, but whachagonnado. I still had fun. Next year we’re gonna work the lineup and make it the best BnB ever. EVER!!!

26 March Miami FL WMC TKK Remixed/Red Ant @ Empire 8th&Washington(early set)

We show up early to an absolute empty house. The opening DJ is playing some classics by Orbital and the like so I forfeit playing just to have a few drinks and soak up the vibe.  Hiratzka and I were gonna do a tag team set and with him not being there it’s just not as exciting for me. But we have a good time chilling on the couch and talking to Ebon about Sheep on Drugs. Ebon are the only people I’ve ever heard mention this group! Sheep on Drugs are old school early 90’s techno with an arrogant attitude and ya just gotta hear ‘em to understand what I’m saying. As I’m leaving the club the door girl (who I didn’t know was the owner) starts telling me I’ve got a lot of nerve to leave the club without playing. (Believe me, I never stand up a gig but when I say no-one was there I mean NO ONE was there!)  I tell her I’ve got another gig at Tantra in a few minutes which incites her even more. ‘’You’re in breach of contract! You ripped the promoter off, you need to pay him back!” I casually mention that he’s a friend of mine and it would be a bit difficult to refund it since I did the show for free. This sends her even further into anger, and we begin a spirited yelling match as I walk down the street. You meet some miserable people. But this chick just might have taken the cake.

 26 March Miami FL WMC Begin at the End @ Tantra 1445 Pennsylvania Ave.

Now, finally, the perfect WMC show. Groovefire always do a great job promoting this party. Tantra has the feel of a house party. Very small and cozy. The place is packed and going crazy as the Groovefire boys are funking it up on the decks. Jes arrives and after a few minutes panicking on where we will find her a mic to sing on (a big thanks to Marteen for bringing one last minute). We start our live PA. It takes us a bit to warm up on “Everything With You” but as we move into “Living the Dream” I fall into a groove on the drum and Jes is wailing sweetly. After the PA I keep it really housey funky and a live percussionist who is a resident of Tantra joins me. The guy is good! We trade off drum licks the rest of the night while people are dancing on chairs and tables. Old friend Andreamico hogs the podium all night and Dr. Mike, Christine, and Laura all commandeer chairs next to it. Nothing but smiling (if not a little f’cked up) faces and everyone is shaking it like mad. Kim, Roxanne, and Vicki are on a ledge dancing with and humping an inflatable sheep literally ALL NIGHT - I’m talking like 4 hours here. After my set Kai from NYC takes the decks (1/2 of the Chris & Kai duo) and absolutely rocks it. Funky and slick. One of my favorite sets of the WMC.  Once again, Groovefire put together a party like no-one can. My hats off to them!

 08 April Austin TX WMC Fused @ Sky

I’ve been excited about this one for a while. Jes is flying in for her first time in Austin. I pick her up, show her about the town for a bit. Austin rocks, I’ve got to show her the sites! We start out with a last lunch at Iguana grill overlooking miles of beautiful lake Travis. Killer Tex Mex! We later hit Sarah's Dry Creek Saloon, a rickety dive situated in the middle of million-dollar mansions in the Northwest Hills. The weather is perfect this time of year and Sarah's is packed. We later head to the club and do a 2 hour sound check to get everything perfect. I’ve brought the handsonic as well as a live kit and the set is sounding good! We get done just in time to check out Dr. Mike’s Bday shindig at The Yellow Rose. Now what’s a visit to Texas if ya don’t show someone one of those famous Texas Strip Joints?- and the Rose is one of the best. We get there just in time to see Dr. Mike getting spanked in the cage. Graphic. Laura has gone all out for the Bday and we close things down at the Rose and head to the club in a Hummer Limo. Fancy! We arrive at Sky to a full club- not packed, but full, and Jes and I start the live show. We open up with “Into Me” which we are performing for the first time tonight. We then go into “Everything With You” and “Living the Dream”- which definitely sets the place in motion. Jes is on point and her voice is cutting through the music perfectly. Next, MC Flint joins me onstage for a new track we’ve done together. It’s a remake of the track I wrote with Scanners called “Music is About You”. The track has a ½ time breakdown featuring MC Flint doing his thing. This is one of the first times I’ve played it and the first time we’ve performed it live- it goes over well and Flint is on it tonight as well. I then take the decks and throw down some funk. The crowd is a little guy heavy tonight, but the vibe works out pretty well. The sound system is crackin’ and Justin’ is really good on the lights. I have just enough time after the show to go home and pack, head to Dr. Mike & Laura’s for a lil’ late night shenanigans before I leave for my plane bright and early at 6am for San Francisco.

09 April San Francisco, CA Gingerbread House

Andrew takes good care of us on this show and hires a limo at my disposal for 24 hours. Me, Deb, Hugo, Scott, Katherine, and Andrea tool around the city in style checking out sites, sipping champagne. Very nice. I’m a little worried about this show. The show was originally scheduled to be held at the Zebra lounge but had to move it with less than a week to go. Andrew and The Deep House Project work hard to get the word out but don’t quite pull it out. A decent crowd shows up but could use easily 100 more. The DHP DJ Carlos Gibbs starts out and does a solid job opening up the room. Bali opens the slot before me and keeps a consistent flow but plays a bit too dark for me. I take the decks and do my best, but it’s just a little thin. But, the sound and stage set-up is good and there are moments of SF glory that creep in now and then from the floor. We later head to Bali’s place for an after party. Now I’ve heard amazing things about Bali’s place, namely his basement, which I heard is swanky to say the least. There’s something about the bay area and party rooms. The best I’ve ever seen are there. There is something to be said of someone that loves the music so much that they spend their hard earned money and time to design a space just to have people over to absorb music and be comfortable doing it. Anyone can set some decks up on a living room on a card table and do the after party thing. Someone that builds a room specially made for this is taking it to the next level. Hugo and Deb Cezares’s room is amazing. Big deco chairs and great fabrics and killer sound, and the thing could hold easily 100 people. Scott Card’s is much smaller, if you fit 10 in there the place is sold out, but his custom designed DJ booth, amp rack, lighting, and sound are enough to bring a tear to your eye, in fact the reason it only holds 10 people is because there is so much freakin’ sound. Now, I have to say, Bali holds the award for the nicest party room I’ve ever seen. Hell, the place is nicer than most clubs in Miami. Great sound, lots of lounging space, a beautiful bathroom. I’m talking full-on sick. Hugo decided to take the decks while Scott Card combed through Bali’s record collection and fed him tracks. I gotta say this, Bali’s got some really good records. Andrea King was the savior of the party bringing in mixers and ice when it was desperately needed. A vodka cranberry just ain’t the same when its piss warm and Deb makes it strong enough to ignite with a lighter. The ice did the trick. Had a great time catching up with Andrew and his girl and everyone else. God I love San Francisco. The only thing I will say is that it’s a real bummer that someone stole tonight. A high-end digital camera and a laptop where taken easily worth $6,500. Who ever did this should be ashamed. How sad are you?! Anyone who might know details about this should contact Bali. What’s right is right. Hats off to Bali for having us over to his place, I know the cleanup could not have been pretty

15 April Cleveland, OH Cloud 9

So I’m just going to say it. I’ve played Cleveland almost 10 times. And yes, there have been some good moments but a lot of times it’s just a bit on the off side (aside from my show there with Oakenfold a year or so ago) Detroit’s own Kenneth Thomas and Cleveland’s Michael Mellon book me to play a new venue called Cloud 9. Now, I haven’t heard anything about this venue so I have no idea what to expect. All I know walking to it I’m taken aback with memories. It sits right next to the adult video store where John Mazziotti, Alma, Jenni, and Me went after the showNYE 2003 early one morning looking for pie topping. I get a bit misty. Anyway, we walk in to do sound check and I’m floored. This place is absolutely perfect. Owner Joy walks up to greet us and all I can think is that a lot of club owners could get tips from this guy. Not only is he nice and into the music but his club has been designed perfectly. It only holds about 250 people. The sound system is crisp and thick. There’s lots of place to dance and lounge, the crowd flow is good, and the DJ booth is right in the middle of the action, not a story above the crowd. I know this night is going to be good. Kenneth takes me to a killer dinner at Sushi Rock, then we head back to the club. We get in and Saturday resident Anthony Atalla plays the perfect- and I mean perfect – set of funky housey tunes to start the night and gets the crowd going in the process. Friday resident Dan’s bday is tonight and he’s brought his own crew 30 people strong. I take the decks to a bit of an off vibe at first (not unlike other Cleveland nights) and settle in to play. Only something happens, slowly but surely, the crowd really starts to move. Ladies take the podiums to work it, the drinks are flowing, and the energy gets just plain rowdy. I play until they turn on the lights and still people refuse to leave, yelling and screaming for one more. I play at least 3 more tracks like this with the place having it. I get a bit rebellious and refuse to stop, it’s only until Joy turns off the amps that I surrender. We later go across the street to Dan’s loft to kick it ‘till dawn. This is the first time to really get to know some Clevelanders and I have a great time. A couple of young ladies talk about doing a 3-some, and I don’t mean golf. Now, that doesn’t mean I necessarily did the 3-some, or did I? I’ve seriously underestimated Cleveland, and can’t wait to get back. Hats off to Michael Mellon and Kenneth Thomas for bringing me out.

16 April 05 Detroit, MI Bleu

This one is another promoted event on the Michael Mellon and Kenneth Thomas www.djkennethomas.com tour. Man, every time I play Detroit I’m taken aback with the downtown. I don’t want to knock it, it’s certainly got character. Character in that it’s not unlike a war zone. I’ve never seen so many vacant, boarded up and deserted buildings in my life. Detroit used to be one of the most affluent cities in America. You wanna see the biggest example of what happens when jobs get shipped wholesale overseas? Go to Detroit and you will be amazed. For a little background on this, go rent “Roger and Me” by Michael Moore. Easily one of the best documentaries made, whether you’re conservative, liberal, or otherwise. Now I will say this, they’ve got the Superbowl this year, and they’re working on big public works projects downtown. When trying to get a bit to eat downtown we went to three beautiful restaurants and couldn’t even get a table because they were so busy, so things are improving. And club Bleu is really nice, a full renovation of an old theater. Great sound and Kenneth has done a good job of repositioning the booth. Not quite enough I will say, because it’s still a story and a half above the floor. The club draws on average 350 people a night, yet it has a capacity of almost 800. So why doesn’t the club close down some of the sections to make it more vibey and smaller? If they moved the booth downstairs and closed off most of the 2nd floor they’d have the perfect size of club, hopefully they’ll look into this. I don’t care how nice of a club you’ve got. If it’s half full, the only thing people are going to walk away talking about is how slow it is and that ain’t good. Kenneth Thomas takes the decks and plays an excellent opening set, the place gets about ½ full and the dancefloor fills up a bit. I later get on and have a pretty good time playing tonight. Though the turnout is a little thin the vibe is pretty good. Club dancer Christine is whipping up a frenzy on the dance podium. Her energy is infectious and keeps me going all night. I even squeeze an encore in. I later blow any progress I’ve made in staying fit by gorging myself on fish, chips, and rootbeer. I’m gonna have to put in some extra miles this week…

22 April 05 Tampa, FL Floyd's Hard Rock Casino (TKK Remix Party)

Pete Bones worked on putting this show together which I thought was going to be a show with TKK but as it turns out isn’t. That’s quite okay because the place is NICE. It’s basically a Hard Rock hotel and casino just like in Vegas, only it’s on an Indian reservation. Yeah right. Indian reservation my ass. Now looking besides the point this hotel/casino is really nice, this whole “Indian reservation” thing is the biggest crock of sh*t I’ve ever seen. Basically they’ll take any exit ramp off a busy freeway these days, lobby the government with loads of cash, declare it an Indian reservation, and build a big casino. Here’s what’s such a joke, the investors are mainly from China or somewhere else besides the U.S. so who is this really benefiting? What we did to the Native Americans is wrong but is this really a solution? As far as I know most “casino” ventures don’t actually yield the people from the reservation any real money. There’s gotta be a better way!!! I will tell ya this, what is actually making this reservation money is their cigarette racket. They have this little drive-in store on the casino property that my window had a view of, and I’m telling ya, this place was lined with cars all day. I’m talking no less than 20 cars at any given time were lined up to buy smokes at this place! It’s outlawed in clubs and restaurants everywhere, but I’m tellin’ ya. Good old fashioned cigarette smoking is alive and well in Tampa! Anyway- back to the story. I check in, have a nice workout, get some tasty room service, I even sit back on the balcony and listen to some good blues-jazz piping up from the swimming pool house band- very nice.  I venture down to the club. It’s basically the casino’s main restaurant- very big, high ceilings, beautiful. The sound is good, the lighting top notch as well. I get a few drinks and check out Pete Bones’ set which is pumping and funky, The turnout isn’t like gangbusters tonight but it’s good and the dancefloor begins to fill.  I take the decks and do my thing to a pretty good time. Everyone is super nice, this event is really well run, and I hope to get back soon. I’ve said it before, Florida is just a weird state. Period. So it’s good to see something good happening in it.

23 April 05 Toronto, ONTARIO Republik Nightclub 261 Richmond St.

Now if ya don’t know already, Toronto is simply one of the best cities in this entire planet, so I’m always looking forward to a return. But I swear to God, lately, every time I play my flight is delayed and I barely have time to get to the show once I land. Well, tonight is no damn different, my flight gets delayed 2 hours in Chicago and I’ve got just enough time to change into some fresh skivvies (at the hotel