It's a celebration of the 45 format this Friday in Brooklyn with Boom Service buyer and DJ / musical curator BLT, who ever so graciously invited me to play records along side him on the decks all night. Dont miss it, the selections are coming from left field to right and everywhere in between...
So much gratitude for Fatik and the Musicland family. Make sure you check them
out.The sound system is beautiful, the crowd is beautiful, the whole atmosphere
is really special. We listened to music together all night on that wooden floor
as the sun rose early the next day. Special shout outs to all of the friends and
family that came out to support this wonderul evening. It was cathartic and
meant everything because of you. *red light photos by Chairman Mao **early
morning rainbow photo and artwork by Maggie
Secret Rendezvous favored DJ Etienne Trinidad is playing tonight in Bamberg. Catch him IN THE MODERN ROOM playing the modern joints with a bit of an edge, legendary Toulouse $oul Club style.
It's been 7 years since the last post. What has awaken this slumber? Particularly a return to a long dead blog format? Well it's a combination of things really. Mainly the deactivation of my last social media account, and getting back to reality. I've been back to a more balanced lifestyle which has given me time to refocus and actually think more clearly again without the constant distractions of social media. I've been spending time reading and exercising, seeing friends in person again after the slowdown of this pandemic, and making much more frequent visits to our wonderul local NYC record stores rather than staring at screens all day. Social media has mastered the illusion of friendship and more frighteningly the illusion of reality. Maintaining a friendship is a lot more work than clicking "like". This is the grand illusion of social media. Many people aren't actually being social anymore, or even remember how to act socially in the absence of a cellphone. I began to remember that DJ'ing was my social media long before social media existed. When you log off and return to reality you see much more clearly and start thinking with a much more balanced cadence. All of this rebalancing of my time and the natural tempo of my own thoughts organically returning brought on the feeling to eventually write again. I just wrote a quick little something for our friends over at Love Injection magazine that will come out next month. I also wrote a story anonymously for another zine by a wondeful author and friend of this blog. The spark is there. The heart never left. The focus is back.
After a 3 year pandemic hiatus I even DJ'd a couple of secretly unnanounced gigs thanks to the eloquent Louise Chen which involved an unforgettable night playing back to back at Public Record's new upstairs room, as well as Louise inviting me to her radio show special "Listening To Music with Friends" with us playing alongside Chairman Mao and Joseph Patel. The 4 of us played lots of good music to keep your heads bopping and your wantslist growing, all in honor of Hua Hsu's zine and concept of the same name.
It is no doubt that this scene has grown since the birth of this blog, and grown exponentially during its slumber. With this growth the community has seen the simultaneous growth of a boutique industry, one dedicated to keeping the cash flowing through large corporate style events and festivals, as well as a boutique reissue record industry. This isn't bad or good, it just is. We know the cash isn't enough to buy a new home for most people, but when there is cash involved anywhere, one must be diligent and keep a close eye on who they are dealing with, who one supports, who one collaborates with, who one is willing to be friendly with. The combination of money, status and hunger for recognition will always invite the attention of opportunists. These types act strangley. You can spot the behaviour a mile away. The shortcuts to the front of the pack is too alluring for some.
Others may be passionate, but may lack the understanding. Maybe they dont know who or what should be celebrated. They may not have educated themselves to the roots of this music, the communities that gave us this music and these nightlife traditions, and the obstacles they faced and strived to rise above social injustices to create their own customs and identities. This isnt just about music, its about culture. It's about the history of the struggle for many that came before us, and continue to push forward today. It's about two worlds, the world many of you live in, and the world many others continue to exist in.
It's nice to see so many new people interested in this music, and it's great to give the new blood a shot. However you need to know where you came from before you can figure out where you are headed. You also need to know the difference between real experience and someone who just came up with some quick ebay/discogs knowledge and threw around a few big bucks masking their way through this thing we love as "experts". When ownership of a rare record equates to some sort of status, then people have lost the plot. Understanding how to present the music is always the priority. I have met and known many DJs that can spin magic on these turntables, infinitely more talented than the type of DJs that rely solely on dangling social media statistics in front of ignorant promoters and club owners. There are also the types that buzz around discogs and facebook forums and systematically bite track IDs from the latest mixes of any of the real DJs on this scene. Some turn around and then use the track ID to find and resell records at an inflated price just because a respected DJ on the scene played it. It's cool to be inspired and it's cool to discover and learn about the music as that is the pure joy of this. But if you are only taking from the pot and using it to your advantage without adding something back into the pot, then that is where the problem lies. It's everyone's duty to add back to this scene, and not just take from it or just live off of it financially. Respect the real DJs, and don't just take from them. A friend recently spoke on this trend and said, "They want Darryn Jones music, but they don't want to book Darryn Jones." Don't be a parasite. Do the right thing, book the right people, support the right promoters, the right labels, and always remember you are ultimately a guest in this house. Take off your shoes and show up with a present. Be the type of guest everyone wants to invite back to their home. After all, this is all just one big house party isn't it?
Shout outs to all the originals, and those that are part of the new lineage. Thank you to all the friends and acquaintances that keep the fire burning. Thank you for everything you continue to build, for everything you put on the line to host events, build record stores, release music and mixes and host radio shows. Thank you to anyone that has reached out to me, and told me the effect this blog has had on them personally and on this scene. You know who you are. Thank you to the friends that encourage me, that reminded me they still have faith in what I do. I am still here. I never went anywhere. Love On the Run is here. Secret Rendezvous is still here, and the parties will return 100% Sucka Free.
Now get out of the house, and make some magic with some friends. There is more than one way to do it. This was just one of the ways we did it recently below. Enjoy!
*Photo of Hua Hsu unknowingly becoming a visual reference for my "take from the pot, add to the pot" analogy
I'm dusting off some oldies for tonight, playing alongside the homey Jaques Renault! Expect the usual twisted bag of soul, disco, afro-caribbean discotecka, even bringing out some deeper shades of House, from the soulful to the outer zones...
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