i keep making new blogs

I seem to have blog-making disease.

Here's a new blog I started that has mixes, flyers...I intended it to be a place I can talk about whatever I want to, but quickly became a place where I post flyers, mixes, and links.

Anyway, sheck it out... http://mochilab.blogspot.com/

the one-guest-a-month thing

In the past, Deep See had lots of guests. Sometimes as many as one each week like when we were at Idlewild, the hey-day of our party in its "industry" incarnation when lots of label reps, DJs, and producers would hang out at our party. That was a different time in the industry too: before 9/11, before digital downloading had ascended to a point of status quo, when New York was still a little bit more like it had been, and tribal factions of artistic types banded together (where as now you could say commercial interests predominate).

Anyway, then we had lots of guests. Weekly. As time moved on and as EMan and I kept honing in on our own respective styles and sounds, we started booking fewer and fewer guests. Until finally, where we stand now, we have decided to book only one guest per month, and we are interested in bringing guests that people might not get a chance to see in such an intimate space. Basically, it's a treat to anyone paying enough attention to know you could catch Dennis Ferrer or DJ Pierre in an intimate room like Sapphire, where the vibes are swamp thick when the party gets cookin'.

In December 2005, we had Dennis Ferrer (Sfere Recordings). He played his entire set off a laptop using a program called Virtual DJ. I was impressed, and could hear (because I've heard Dennis many times over the last 5 years) how much the constant touring he's been doing recently has upped his game in the DJ department. This is the kind of experience we're looking to bring to our party.

In October, we had DJ Pierre, one of the original acid kings of Chicago. It's almost amazing that not so many people know his name or his legacy when he was such an integral part of the early Chicago house scene, but I'm sure that will change as he makes a play for a new visibility with some of his new tracks. His "Paris Collection" single is a sexy, breathy monster for anyone who's heard it. We had a chance to have Pierre come through to play our sweet little room before he heads off to the Crobars of the world. This is the kind of thing we're going for at Deep See these days.

If you have any suggestions, by all means, email us. Or if you have anything to say, by all means email us. We always love to hear from you.

xo info@deepseenyc.com

tech-YES!

We've thrown aside the pretty and the cute, the love bells and harmonic chords, the "raise your hands praise the Sanctuary my love is for real can you feel it" veneer of house music lately. Not to say those things don't have their place. They do. Some beautiful deep/soulful house sounds just right some Wednesdays at Cielo for the Roots party, or maybe at Marques Wyatt's long-running L.A. party Deep. It's just been a dog's age since we dropped anything like this at Deep See, at least, in prime time.

This past week I opened up. My first track was "I Found Love" by Blaze. Sometimes you can't start banging at 11pm; people just aren't ready for it. Here's where the deep and the soulful and all that vocal stuff you think of when you think New York, Masters at Work, Ricanstruction etc. works for US. I emphasize "us" because I'm not making any claims as to the quality or validity of these producers/labels/sounds. This is about where Deep See is at at this point in time.

So things started out with "I Found Love" which for me, carries a lot of memories, but that's another story. From there, I went to Osunlade, some early 2000s stuff that was on the "Tokyo Calling" compilation that Wave put out, and I gradually over the next 60 minutes built up to the techier, edgier, jackier sounds we've been banging at the party as of late.

The point is, though, that here, early, these sounds warmed up the crowd just right. Then as the evening progresses, EMan and I will have different sounds. EMan tends to go more broken beat, funk-based, sometimes straight up tech and weird, Detroit, and some house and occasional jazz. I'll go towards techno, tech-house, tribal, Detroit beatdown sounds, and just wicked bangers of any style. So long as E and I are both playing on our A games, the night is going to be insane. Sometimes one of us is hotter than the other, but usually it works out.

Our dancers are the backbone of the night. Hideki, Shuho, Tone, Byron, Linda, Dan, Jesus, Concep, whoever's in the house on any given night, without our dancers we wouldn't have been able to build the sound we have. They push us; we push them. It's the most beautiful symbiotic relationship that is creatively growthful for both. We are thanksful to them for they've helped make Deep See what it is today.

Some of the labels and artists we're feeling right now: Poker Flat, Trentemoller, Ovum, David Duriez, Steve Bug, Abe Duque, Ibadan, Carl Craig, Planet E, John Tejada, Coco Machete, to name a few.

For more information, check our website deepseenyc.com or see us on Mypsace at our page there.

it's been a long time...

Follow procedures, the crowd couldn't wait to see this
Nobody been this long awaited since Jesus
Who wouldn't believe this - I heard the word on the street is
I'm still one of the deepest on the mic since Adidas
They said I changed the times from the rhymes that I thought of
So I made some more to put the New World in Order
with Mathematics, put your status above the average
And help you rappers, make paragraphs with graphics
Cause new days is dawnin, new ways of peformin
Brainstormin, I write and watch the night turn to mornin
On and on and, I got the whole world respondin
Rock, I keep it hot and blow the spot without warnin
The Emperor, well known for, inventin a sentence
full of adventure, turnin up the temperature
Rush with adrenaline, how long has it been again
to be in the state of mind that Rakim is in?

Yah well...it has been a long time. Go to deepsee's home at myspace. There's some new photos there and a few other things. Will write more here...eventually.

deepseenyc @ myspace

Boob jobs, waxed pecs, and oh yah...the Winter Music Conference

First things first: the cult of the Body reigns supreme in South Beach. After nine days of prime SoBe people watching, I return to New York City feeling like a very normal human being. How many tens of thousands of dollars are walking around buried deep in the subcutaneous tissue of scores of Miami beach babes and stud muffins? Enough to pay down the debt of a small country, I'm sure, but now that that's out of the way, you were asking how things went at WMC 2005?

Well, at least I thought I heard you asking. In a word, good. It wasn't a hectic, business-all-day kind of vibe. If anything, it was too easy slipping into the Miami mindstream, walking around in a heat-induced (and other things-induced) haze, rolling from hotel lobby to poolside to club, throwing down drinks and trying to keep enough presence of mind to concentrate on music.

Here's my rundown, in no particular order, just what my Miami-addled brain can produce at the moment:

THE DELANO:
Ok, I guess this one is first because I was so damn impressed by this place. Talk about surreal. You walk in through a breath-taking lobby with larger-than-life columns lining both sides. In between the columns lie miniature environments: a fur-draped chaise lounge; a fortune teller's table with purple velvet, candelabras, and chairs backed with the face of a black man in a red robe looking like a cross between Alladin and Yul Brenner. A staff member dressed in white opens the door to the outdoor dining patio. Walk through the diners, for whom the constant stream of people serves as exquisite entertainment, down a flight of red stairs interspersed with grass. Here's where the fun begins.

More miniature environments lay scattered about a lawn: a giant chess set; an off-kilter dining table with a lonely candlestick; a ladder leaning up against a tree going...nowhere; a single round table with one chair, perhaps for stimulating monologues? Then comes a disappearing-edge pool, bathed in light for an eye-poppingly gorgeous night-time effect; private cabanas, white and tent-like line the pool. Each has a flat screen TV monitor. I wanted to jump in one and pull the door curtains closed. Another spindly table, green and gnarled metal, sat in the shallow end of the pool. Two chairs and a candleabra made it irresistible and I was happy to see a couple sitting there over drinks on another night we returned. More beds, flat, white, and cottony, lined the opposite edge of the pool. Each was far away enough from the next to give a sense of intimacy in public space, and I envied the couples laying on them bathed in the blue glow of the pool.

The bar was woefully understaffed. Behind the bar was a wooden dancefloor under the stars, with more beds, chaises, lounges, and random chairs strewn about behind it, with torches, candles, and other sources of light bathing the entire scene in a warmth and sensuality that made the whole place, to me, irresistible.

Three visits, and each one I enjoyed as much as the previous. Jerome Syndenham the first night; The Five Beats with Mr. V, Alix Alvarez, Spinna, Franck Roger, and DJ Deep the second; a closing party the last.

NIKKI BEACH:
The MAW party here was very nice. Mr. V, Alix Alverez and Franck Roger all played very nice sets. Although the afternoon gathering got doused in the Conference's only major rain storm, after the skies cleared, things picked right back up. A return to Nikki Beach for a BBC Radio party proved nearly impossible: as soon as we turned the corner to the dancefloor, the heat and humidity levels shot up a thousand-fold, and we ran smack into a churning mass of naked, sweaty bodies packed onto the dancefloor. Even the outdoors, usually large enough to contain any floor overflow, looked like a small city, with groups standing near tents, more beds (the bed theme is big in Miami), and across the sandy lot. The whole spectacle looked totally tribal, with groups wondering and coming into contact with others, where individual interaction merged into group dynamics, and we all became part of a momentary tribe.

THE RALEIGH:
Another beautiful hotel, very well done. Another edgeless pool, this one with a more organic, flowy shape, and a lower-depth ring bordering the pool where partiers occasionally took off their shoes for a calf-deep romp. More beds, more chaises, more horizontal reclining surfaces upon which to drink, smoke, talk, and more if you were lucky.

THE SHELBORNE BEACH RESORT:
Home base. Camp. La casa. The spot. Muh crib for nine days. This one I'm going to leave somewhat blank to preserve the memories, but here, in list form, is an outline: Grooverider, Fabio, LTJ Bukem, Jonathan Peters for nine hours after he played 12 hours the night before, Donald Glaude, boob jobs EVERYWHERE, waxed pecs, devil ducks, a balcony, college basketball, beach access, red beanbag chairs, tribal tattoos, cowboy hats, Coronas, the kitchen fan, reading and re-reading the MasterList, the Mezzanine.

JAZID:
Ok, this is where we did New York Detroit and in the interest of keeping things civil between me and the venue, let's just chalk another one up for experience points. Thanks to Rick Wilhite, Keith Worthy, Malik Alston, Sean Holland, and EMan for putting it down and doing their best with a system that we worked with, despite its deficiencies.

LINCOLN ROAD:
It's really nice. Keep walking down, it gets better. Great shops, good food, outdoor life Miami-style, but taken down a few notches. Civilized.

THE MOJITO:
How many of these can you drink in nine days? A lot.

THE WEATHER:
Oh. My. God. Perfect. With the exception of a little rain one day, it couldn't have been better.

THE CARS:
Bentleys, Rolls, extended Hummers everywhere, plus a fair amount of Lambourghinis (the orange Countach I can't forget), Ferraris, and a lot more eye candy to keep your neck turning.

FINAL ANALYSIS:
Anyone in Miami looking to hire a smart, organized writer/editor/researcher/DJ/event coordinator/Jill of all trades with the option to jet back and forth from Brooklyn to South Beach? Yes? I thought so!

we'll be in Miami for WMC

It's March, so that means...WMC. Winter Music Conference. Every year it seems people get so worked up about this, thinking: will I go or won't I go? What will I do? What will I wear? How much will it cost? Will I hook up? Should I diet? JetBlue or American, Ft. Lauderdale or MIA, Crobar or Nikki Beach?

My agenda is much simpler: I want to have a good time, enjoy the company I'm with, swim, sit in the sun, relax, love, and basically make it through those ten days with no problems and lots of good vibes. I know Keith has a lot of parties he wants to attend. I'm with it, but since I'm still recouperating from my knee, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to take, but I'll make the best effort.

Me & EMan will be playing at an event I'm organizing: "New York Detroit" on Thursday March 24 at Jazid. Last year I put together a lil sumthin sumthin at Jazid too: "House United" which was regional underground parties that helped support a scene in a city. We had Julius from Three Degrees, Chicago; jojoflores from Therapy, Montreal; me & EMan from NYC; Justin from Kemeticjust and the MJQ parties in Atlanta. It was a nice turnout. This year we're focusing on the sounds coming out of NYC and Detroit. From NYC we've got me & E representing Deep See and Sean Holland from the Cocomachete label. From Detroit we've got Rick Wilhite, he of Three Chairs (the label he runs with Theo Parrish and Kenny Dixon Jr.), Keith Worthy, and vocalists Billy Love and Malik Alston.

Francois K crosspost: "The neoconservatives of house music, pt. 2"

A big thank you to Francois K who allowed me to re-post something that was originally posted at the Deep House Page message board. The post was inspired by a recent visit Francois had to D.C. in support of his most recent CD, Deep Space NYC V. 1 (Wave Music).

I asked Francois is it was ok to re-post this writing here in the deepseeblog because what he wrote sums up eloquently many of the ideas I feel most aligned with and his experience of finding his sound is one I feel Deep See goes through on a weekly basis. I hope all who come to Deep See appreciate the "laboratory" aspect of the night: Deep See really is about experiementation and growth, a place where all creative (DJs, dancers, etc.) can come to be inspired, share ideas, or just vibe out. So without further ado, here's Francois' great piece of writing.

=

The Neo-Conservatives Of House Music (part 2)


"House". (whatever that may be to each of us, if you remember the "Beat The Damn Box" thread, I am not too good with definitions!) Anyway, I am trying to remember the last time I played in that way on my own. Was it at the Shelter's 12th Anniversary party, when I started with my dub of Three Generations Walking, went into "Boneman Connection" and then Lauren Hill's "Everything Is Everything" after all the other DJ's had been killing it for 12 hours straight, total mayhem, (figured that I'd let people catch a little breath before the next peak) and I got all these funny stares and cleared half the floor? Nope, I don't think so. Actually, I am not sure I do remember when that last time was, and although I am confident that I can pull a very respectable MAW/Blaze/GU/Joey Negro/Osunlade/Kenny Bobien/Kerri C. peaktime continuous House set (complete with obscure classic re-edits and exclusive unreleased mixes) for however many hours if I was really forced to, it does not appear in the cards for me to do so anymore when playing solo.

Let's face it. At 51, I am (at best) supposed to be an irrelevant dinosaur who gets polite applause playing yesteryear's Golden Hits™ I was known for, an anachronism in a business where the average DJ's lifespan is 5 years, and I am being indulgent in saying 5 years. Most of my contemporaries have either gotten a real job, retired, died or plain dropped out of sight. You never can hide from yourself for too long, and although [late] it took a half a century,[/late] (like it or not) what you saw the other day in DC is the person I just realized I was all along, for better or for worse.

So I figure that the best shot I have is at being sincere, and playing the joints that I think are really, really dope at least part of the time I get asked to DJ, but certainly always when I am doing "Deep Space" Dub events as I was the other day. They include those diverse styles you've mentioned in your post, and also screwing and messing with the sound in whatever way I feel, rather than respectfully letting the record play as it might have meant to be years ago for an audience that -for the most part- doesn't exist anymore; in a sense, merging the recordings, the mixing at the console and traditional DJ'ing. Oh, how times have changed (for some of us)!

I prefer to think that there are some people out there who would rather hear a great cross-section of what they trust me to select for them as memorable music, instead of an endless exercise in aerobic sameness and a fairly predictable flow, which I can guarantee to you machines and software will be doing in less than 10 years. (Prototypes already exist, this is another thread) Granted, and as I am reminded time and time again, it doesn't always make certain hard-core dancers happy, but I also think that it is important to inspire people in doing things against their little comfort zone, to challenge them to creatively think for themselves in all kinds of manners, "outside the box", not the least being conscious of the quasi-tribal socio-economico-ethno-identification they make with a certain type of dance music, which defines who they hang out with, what they are perceived to be socially, etc.... ("Break Down The Walls")

While it is not part of this conversation, I also get hired almost every weekend to play completely different styles (mostly overseas) of pumping, tough House bordering on Progressive and Tribal for parties that can be as large as 5,000 people or more. I also play full-on Electronic and Techno sets, both DJ'ing and live on stage, for example being booked with Derrick May, Ben Sims, Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier, at places like Berlin's Tresor Club, Lost in the UK, or in front of a sea of people at Sonar in South America. When some of those who saw me there come to NYC and visit Deep Space, they are obviously in for a little bit of a shock, as this world today is very much one where we are all encouraged to be one-trick ponies that can neatly be summarized in 15-seconds soundbytes, and the confusion does sometimes show on their face...In the same fashion, maybe a lot of you equated what I do with a certain sound associated with Body&SOUL, which is only logical as I have had the honor and privilege of being part of this very special event for over 8 years.

What can I say? I love it all. I absolutely crave for the deep, lyrical soulfulness of Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind & Fire's influences into what Blaze does today, as much as I deliriously enjoy the metallic relentless pounding that Surgeon is famous for, the explicit sexual groove oozing from a Beenie Man record as well as the utter abstract spaciness of Matthew Jonson and Jeff Mills, the orgy of rhythms and melodic incantations that go to my head on some of Joaquin's records, equally at home with Dr Dre's nasty minimal beats and production or Hendrix's intergalactic guitar solos and cosmic poetry, yet finding nothing wrong with Chus&Ceballos' latest Tribal track, or a beautiful LTJ Bukem workout, could not bear to live without the constant reminder that Dub is one of the purest forms of aural satisfaction as invented by natural mystic geniuses like King Tubby and Lee Perry, yet cannot hold back the tears when Jocelyn Brown's shamanic voice takes me to a more spiritual plane. Finding my strenght in the sound from UR's prophetic electronic mutated disco strings, and just as well bathing in the luxuriant happiness of Louie Vega's Afro-Cuban masterpieces (Quimbobo, etc..). Note to Fela and Rhythm & Sound: I did NOT forget you either, always in my heart of hearts!

Hopefully, and I do my best to keep in mind the tenets and expectations from the very audience that DJ's are supposed to serve, (being nothing more than an instrument to that audience's desires) yet I find time and time again that the envelope is not usually pushed for very long by those who stay in that comfort zone. I think that for many of us, there are certainly very specific constraints we have to respect if we want to keep getting gigs, and certainly there is another part to what I do which is quite respectful of that. (see above)

But when it comes down to it, I really think that there are many, many outrageously talented DJ's and producers out there that could play rings and weave magic around some old hack like myself when it comes to setting the dance floor on fire with the type of strict Soulful House or Deep House set or Classics as I hear it played these days. Please allow me to call it conservative. It hurts, but I would think that the very least we could do is acknowledge that the newer generation perceives it as their dad's music, with all the baggage it implies. And for one reason or another, call it my private demon if you may, I come from a time where we did not have such a strict conservative interpretation of dance music, and given the choice, would probably rather want to become a plumber or any other respectable trade than keep doing something that is (whether any of us like it or not) becoming less and less creative in the greater picture of human culture and endeavors.

Just as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and all of the other towering geniuses of Big Band had to bow out when Chuck Berry and The Beatles swept the world by storm, it is time to either evolve and adapt as Miles Davis did, or slowly sink into middle age jealousy, and then old age bitterness. I thoroughly enjoy playing for a crowd of thousands of screaming, enthusiastic 22 year-olds out of their heads on whatever, testosterone as well as other things, as much as playing more sophisticated and deeper sounds for a smaller-sized mature, knowledgeable and appreciative audience.

Obviously, most of us here are very sincere and passionate about Dance Music, and I respect all of the different ways we express those vital emotions, from the way Tenyu wants to live in a world of sweet analog sounds and tube amplifiers from the mid-1970's, to many who see the Garage or Music Box as something that was an ideal moment in time, never to be equaled by anything newer, or even people like Donger who got banned challenging what he perceived as archaic and bigoted views, or Shalewa who seems to long for a more communal celebratory time sharing the dance floor in raptured bliss without having to look over her shoulder, not to mention the gentle and visionary insights that David M. so generously still shares with us. (Where would we truly, truly be without you and all of your inspiration and dedication to sound?..) We might not agree with them, but all are passionate and full of appreciation for what they see as Dance Music.

Yet, it is within each and everyone of us to find these new exciting VITAL developments in what the next generation will find for themselves as life-changing dance music. Far from saying that I have recently accomplished anything of that stature, I am however conscious that I cannot remain idle in such a personal quest for NEW MUSICAL VISTAS until my bones stop moving and my hearing fails me. But I would hope that when this does inevitably happen, some people will remember what I was rooting for, which is to find within ourselves the strength to evolve, and learn to appreciate what newer generations can create, inevitably better than what we did, (but also distancing themselves from from what their elders did in order to ascertain their own identity), as well as maintaining a vital link to a living celebration of some of our past musical masters and influences.

I constantly remember that for all those who idolize Larry Levan as the ultimate DJ that ever was, and who to this day keep playing a "Frozen In Time" glory days rehash of classic mid-80's Ten City, Frankie Knuckles, Liz Torres, Inner Life, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan and company; he was at the time of his untimely death in 1992 quite obsessed with Hip-Hop and R&B, (Arrested Development, De La Soul, Shabba Ranks, Kris Kross,etc..) and if he were to be alive today, much more likely to be working with Outkast and Destiny's Child than trying to keep clinging to an increasingly fossilized musical vocabulary that had its day almost a generation ago. I imagine that there will always be a market for it, just as the Chi-Lites and the Trammps can keep getting corporate gigs today, it pays the bills just fine.

But at some point in what you do, there has to be a defining moment, where you put your cards on the table and stand for what you believe in.

So rather than keep delving on all of this, I would like to conclude in saying that (in my own eyes) luckily, this defining moment arrived personally when I started "Deep Space" about two years ago, and although I am sure that my attempts are never going to be all that incredible when measured to what some of the New Jacks are going to bring us, or never to equal what some of the Grand Maestros of House™ are doing right now, at least I am certain that they are a sincere expression of my love for all Dance Music, past, present and future.

I am convinced that however imperfectly I try to articulate these germs of ideas, and stumble along the way, or mess up mixes, or don't quite get that perfect record flow going, I however will still be trying, aiming, reaching, struggling for what my heart and my soul is telling me is a unified, integrated, compelling vision of music bringing all of us together regarding of where we came from, yearning for these sublime moments of greatness we can share together when those seemingly disparate elements collide, those that bring goose bumps to more than just your body, as I felt it might have happened when playing at Yellow last year, and went into a 10-minute long haunting classical Stravinsky piece at the peak of the night, and switched (yet again) into Derrick May's mesmerizing intro to his timeless "Strings Of Life", I think we all lost it for good at that moment, it was just so very grand, majestic, yet another affirmation that in the end we all share the same sounds and energy, and which would certainly not have been possible if I didn't try to think a bit "outside the box" instead of just beating it. Sometimes, I do feel we need to create much contrast and dramatic moments between things in order to properly feel the depth of field they bring us to, and again, recent happenings in "House" have really kind of felt like they were going the other way for me, all smooth and uniform, 'landscaped' for lack of a better word, maybe "utilitarian"...? Even if only in a small part I succeeded in making this germ of an idea grow into other young minds, that the future of music belongs to ALL OF US, rather than mirroring yet another segregated mental ghetto, (us -vs- them) then it will be more than enough satisfaction and contentment.

Hope I didn't bore you too much, apologies for those who didn't quite get what they expected out of this DC gig, but all the same thank you for helping me articulate in a public forum what I have been feeling for a very long time, and that in the same fashion, I at least provoked you to think and reconsider the established order of things in favor of the new, the unpredictable, the foreign and not-quite-cozy that yet will one day become part of your own life without you even noticing it.

If it helped enrich it, even because you hated it, then that was still a significant step in defining who you are and what you stand for.

Peace and Music, always.

FK

[ February 14, 2005, 07:48 AM: Message edited by: FK ]