Hey DJ, Spin that Wheel!
Wednesday September 29, 2010 Filed in: Mr. Big
I’ve been DJing publicly a few times now. Before that, I did a couple of parties and previous to that, I spent about 3 or 4 years, just playing for myself in the bedroom, or rather, the office. My DJ equipment is in the office, so if you really want to split hairs about it, I guess you would call me an “Office DJ” as opposed to a “Bedroom DJ”. Though “bedroom” sounds sexier than “office”, unless you have a thing for Grand and Toy, and really, who can resist a shiny sturdy stapler?
Although, I must admit, it’s odd opening the night, especially when I start DJing at 10pm and people don’t start arriving till about 10:30pm. But people aren’t actually allowed up on the 3rd floor where I’m DJing till 11pm, so it’s about an hour of me, just DJing away on the 3rd floor for an hour, while everyone else is on the 2nd floor. Very much like playing for myself, alone in my office, late at night.
With Dwayne’s industry knowledge, he suggested that I needed to start building my audience. A quick and surefire way to do this, he says, is to DJ shirtless.
So, I’ve put together a good ol’ fashioned podcast!
DJ MIKE B’s Podcast
My first download, comes straight from STRAIGHT on Church Street. It’s a vocal house inspired set recorded live in the club via the iPad this past September at MR. BIG.
Here are quick and easy instructions on how to get this podcast onto your iDevice.
#1: Open iTunes
#2: Click on ADVANCED in the menu
#3: Click SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST in the menu
#4: Copy/ Paste the link below into the box that just popped up
http://itsmikeyboy.com/djmikeb/files/itshouse.xml
You can also listen by clicking the links below in your web browser.
Download Now!
(Right Click/ Save As to download)
That’s it! Hope you enjoy!
Comments
Too Old for Pride
Who knew updating a blog nobody reads would be so much work?!
Well, another Toronto Pride has come and gone and what a Pride it was. I had a GOWNTOWN, a HOMO NIGHT and a WIENER - oh my!
GOWNTOWN was a great success. It was billed as THE BEST OF GOWNTOWN and it truly was. We had most of the 1st place winners return to the stage to compete in one big blowout talent-fest. By the time it was time to vote, it was literally impossible to distinguish the winner from the loser, with everyone clapping and screaming for their favourite.
But ANN did it again, and won GOWNTOWN’s first ever “Best Of” with her rendition of a “Bad Romance”, complete with an accompanying video and her classic stained panties. Ann is a real class act all the way!
HOMO NIGHT IN CANADA’s 10th Anniversary Benefit was another great success and it was a blast having Elvira Kurt back again. What I loved about her and her set was the fact that she could be both political (lots of jabs at the G20) and really funny without being crude. She had a message laced in with jokes and you could really see why she is Canada’s foremost female comedienne.
Lea Delaria dropped in at the end of the first act and did some stand up which was loud, crude and totally jarring. Super hilarious and total American. A contrast to Elvira which was great to see and experience.
The entire cast at HOMO NIGHT were spot on and I think a good time was had by all.
We also managed to raise about $5000 for Buddies in Bad Times and The Temba Fund, assisting sick and abandoned children in South Africa. So, it was a nice way to end our tenure with Buddies and HOMO NIGHT.
WIENER. What can I say? It was a great... learning experience. What did I learn you might ask?
Well, I guess the main things are:
What started out as a fun idea around drinks in a bar, turned into a really fun idea... that few people saw.
My personal favourite part of the night (after getting in the wiener costume) was Barbie-Q’s last minute line change in the Gwen Stephanie track “Wind It Up”.
Original Lyric: “This is the place that makes us wind up... when the beat comes on the boys all line up”
Changed Lyric: “This is the place where no-one showed up... when the beat comes on the boys don’t show up”
Too bad nobody was there to hear the hilarity of the line change and thank God I can laugh about it!
After all, cry and you cry alone, laugh, and you merely cry alone later.
Well, another Toronto Pride has come and gone and what a Pride it was. I had a GOWNTOWN, a HOMO NIGHT and a WIENER - oh my!
But ANN did it again, and won GOWNTOWN’s first ever “Best Of” with her rendition of a “Bad Romance”, complete with an accompanying video and her classic stained panties. Ann is a real class act all the way!
HOMO NIGHT IN CANADA’s 10th Anniversary Benefit was another great success and it was a blast having Elvira Kurt back again. What I loved about her and her set was the fact that she could be both political (lots of jabs at the G20) and really funny without being crude. She had a message laced in with jokes and you could really see why she is Canada’s foremost female comedienne.
The entire cast at HOMO NIGHT were spot on and I think a good time was had by all.
We also managed to raise about $5000 for Buddies in Bad Times and The Temba Fund, assisting sick and abandoned children in South Africa. So, it was a nice way to end our tenure with Buddies and HOMO NIGHT.
Well, I guess the main things are:
- Never throw a party on the closing Sunday of Pride. Everyone our age works the next day.
- It’s really difficult to compete with parties that have budgets of 100 thousand dollars and your’s has none. Especially when
Prism, they merciless cover over your street postering with theirs.
- Even though it’s a beautiful space, maybe the Courthouse is just a little too far from the ghetto.
- Dressing up in a wiener costume and dancing on a stage was really just a self-fulfilling prophecy from the get-go.
- The spelling of “wiener” is “ie” not “ei”.
What started out as a fun idea around drinks in a bar, turned into a really fun idea... that few people saw.
My personal favourite part of the night (after getting in the wiener costume) was Barbie-Q’s last minute line change in the Gwen Stephanie track “Wind It Up”.
Original Lyric: “This is the place that makes us wind up... when the beat comes on the boys all line up”
Changed Lyric: “This is the place where no-one showed up... when the beat comes on the boys don’t show up”
Too bad nobody was there to hear the hilarity of the line change and thank God I can laugh about it!
After all, cry and you cry alone, laugh, and you merely cry alone later.
"Big 5" House Tracks for May
Wednesday May 26, 2010 Filed in: Mr. Big
Topping the list is a great old-skool sounding house track “Forever This” by Fries and Bridges (Phil Weeks & Hector Moralez) on Factory/ Minority Music.
A lot of my taste in music comes from my misspent youth, listening and dancing to DJ’s of the ilk of Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak. That influential Chicago sound plays very much into “Forever This”.
A filtered bassline, broken sounding string stabs and a vocal that sounds as if it’s been ripped off a low-fi record that was discovered in a bargain basement.
A haunting gem of a track, sure to become a classic.
A lot of my taste in music comes from my misspent youth, listening and dancing to DJ’s of the ilk of Derrick Carter and DJ Sneak. That influential Chicago sound plays very much into “Forever This”.
A filtered bassline, broken sounding string stabs and a vocal that sounds as if it’s been ripped off a low-fi record that was discovered in a bargain basement.
A haunting gem of a track, sure to become a classic.
Gowntown: 7th Contest Ball
Wednesday May 12, 2010 Filed in: Gowntown
I can’t believe we’re already at the 7th GOWNTOWN!
GOWNTOWN Facebook Invite!
After touring The B-Girlz across Canada, “pinky” and I decided that we needed to take a year off. We needed to figure out if we wanted to continue living this glamorous life, and most importantly, if we did continue... would we kill another blue B-Girl in the process? Or worse, each other! (with painful words).
Read More...
GOWNTOWN Facebook Invite!After touring The B-Girlz across Canada, “pinky” and I decided that we needed to take a year off. We needed to figure out if we wanted to continue living this glamorous life, and most importantly, if we did continue... would we kill another blue B-Girl in the process? Or worse, each other! (with painful words).
Read More...
The Return of Mr. Big
Saturday May 01, 2010 Filed in: Mr. Big
MR. BIG Facebook Invite!MR. BIG returns! We had such a great turnout and such a good night of house music, our little experiment get another go on Sat May 29 @ Straight (553 Church).
Read More...