We’ve got a tip from DJ Ming that his new remixes of Lady Gaga’s Telephone track were posted to Soundcloud. Check them out, right here on Netmix! You’ll find extended, dub and radio mixes from Ming and an extended and instrumental mix collaboration with Chad North.
I received an email reminder today about this video from Brooklyn indie-rock artist, Ariel Aparicio; it’s a cover of the Psychedlic Furs punk classic Pretty In Pink. The original rock number featured on his latest album, All These Brillian Things, is a beautiful ode to a friend stricken with cancer. Pocketknife turned that sweet, melodic version into a synthetic house number with a noticeably darker, tougher, yet resonant flavor. Ariel’s guitarist from his back up band provided a few licks over Pocketknife’s sublime, moody electronic instrumentation.
Funny, I was thinking, Ariel, hmmmm? Do I know this guy? I dug a little deeper and found out that yes, I do know Ariel! He and his partner co-own two of the hottest Thai restaurants in Brooklyn, JOYA and SONG.
When I lived around the corner from the JOYA in Carrol Gardens, I was a regular. The food…fantastic! The atmosphere is modern and industrial with exposed brick that is softened with local artwork and floral arrangements. Both restaurants feature DJs on the weekends. In fact, I loved the place so much, I even had my wedding reception there. The marriage didn’t last, but the memories of all my great friends from Brooklyn and others who came in from around the country to celebrate, as well as the inspirational sounds of DJ Ray Velasquez, will live with me forever.
That being said, Ariel is one of the sweetest, most genuine human beings I’ve ever hard the pleasure to meet. Although his first album didn’t catch my fancy so many years ago, it’s great to see that he’s kept at it and is hitting his stride. Like that spicy thai cooking emanating from the kitchens at JOYA and SONG, this one is just is as spicy.
The video is currently being spun on MTV’s LOGO channel. It held the number one spot on the channel’s The Click List program, and has since been nominated to The Click List Top 10 of 2009.
Download the House Mix of Pretty In Pink from 
After a long break, I’m back with a new 180-minute Netmix Global House Sessions Podcast. Has it been a year already? I guess so. Life kind of got in the way. I’m brushing off the laptop cobwebs and putting together a hot mix for the holidays.
There are 29 tracks in this mix, which is approximately 3 hours and 8 minutes. I inadvertently used Lukas Greenberg’s “A New System” twice. I don’t know what I was thinking, but enjoy it two times around, because it is a slammin track!
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Looking for something to do on Thanksgiving Eve next week? The Bowery, Pacha NYC and Terminal 5 have teamed up to bring you and evening of hyped beats and funky sounds from everyone’s musical maestro of the moment, Deadmau5. Alongside will be U.K. funkmaster, BURNS, who’s Parisian-style funk melded with UK disco-filtered house is rocking dance floors around the world.
BURNS has been busy remixing the sounds of Ladyhawke, Jack Spalsh feat. Missy Elliot, Passion Pit, The Gossip, Kasabian, White Lies, FrankMusic, and Calvin Harris.
Take a listen to BURNS Pre Party Jamz set recently featured on NickyDigital.com.
NickyDigital_Pre_Pre_Party_Jamz_ BURNS
Now for something we didn’t know…Birmingham U.K. producer/dj, Kim Fai! He’s listed on the bill along with Sleepy & Boo. This cat is sick! We just checked out his tracks on his MySpace. What! Yo…crazy! His remix of the balearic classics Inner City Good Life and the Paul Thomas & Myke Smith remake of Atlantic Ocean Waterfall are incredible. He’s got a bunch of tracks out, including Drug Music 2009 with Mark Knight from Toolroom Knights on the vocal. We hadn’t heard his remix of Funkagenda’s “What the F*@&k.” We found the YouTube track and it’s served up in this post. Very deep, dark and certainly underground.
In this viral video, Europe’s top House music DJ, David Guetta discusses his involvement with Activision’s DJ Hero franchise. Get DJ Hero for Christmas for your aspiring DJ. Choose from the product links below. DJ Hero Renegade editions for Playstation and XBox 360 were not available for online purchase at the time of this posting.
DJ HERO Renegade Edition – Nintendo Wii – $199
DJ Hero Bundle – Xbox 360 – $119
If you don’t know Dubspot, the music production and DJ school has quickly entrenched itself as the defacto spot to learn the tools, tips and techniques for the DJ trade. Whether it’s making music with Ableton Live, scratch classes using Serato, or DJing with the Pioneer DVJ mixing console using DVD’s, the school has a class for you.
Dubspot’s 2009 Summer registration is under way and you’ll need to jump on it quick, because I hear that classes are filling up. According to a recent NYTimes article about DJing in the dowturn, Dubspot enrollment has doubled to 300 since last year. Since the economy took a turn for the worse, it’s always good to use the time to pick up a new skill. While some are transitioning to nursing and health care or other sectors, you might be thinking about leaving the corporate carer behind to do something infinitely more creative than crunching spreadsheets and building Power Point presentations.
Recently, Dubspot celebrated its two-year anniversary with a weekend long event from June 25th to the 28th. I wasn’t able to attend, but the folks at Dubspot and Plexi PR were able to provide this wrap up:
DubSpot, New York City’s home for dynamic electronic music production and DJ education, celebrated its 2 Year anniversary with a long weekend June 25th-28th. In addition to hosting three individual birthday parties, DubSpot also brought its Live 8 U.S. S
essions Tour in for its home stop, with Ableton Live 8 production and performance workshops. An abundance of high profile artists were involved throughout the events, and the weekend has received enthusiastic praise from all participants not only for its ingenuity, but also its originality and high standard of quality. Full workshop videos with techno auteurs Richie Hawtin & Ambivalent, Dub pioneer Scientist, Peter Kirn of CreateDigitalMusic.com and much more to be made available online soon. Check out the DubSpot blog here for updates.
The first of DubSpot’s 2 Year Anniversary parties was the Funk Aid for Africa NYC release party. The album, and the fundraising effort in general, had been riding high already from a 4 star review from Time Out New York, and DJ sets from OBaH, Reborn and Ticklah carried the party late into the night. The second of DubSpot’s 2 Year Anniversary Parties was held at Love, and saw Minus’ Richie Hawtin take to the decks for a special 4-hour set. Hawtin set the place ablaze in an all too rare club appearance in New York. Working with our partner, NYC techno promoters Blk|Market Membership, DubSpot packed the house with instructors, students and friends, and danced until dawn to the banging beats of world-class techno. Sunday night’s Hi-Fidelity DubSpot Sessions kept the momentum going late, as Scientist mixed Dub Is A Weapon live, plus sets from Badawi, DJ Kiva, Matt Shadetek, and DJ Rupture. The show was widely enjoyed and appreciated as a world-class night of music and community.
Below are a list of classes and dates. I’ve included the recent July dates just in case there’s an opportunity to join in late, since they only started a week ago. Click the links for more information.
DubSpot Upcoming Class Start Dates : Summer 2009
Registration is open for DubSpot’s summer sessions. Get started on bringing your musical ambitions to life.
July 21: DJ Beginner & Extensive packages Tuesdays will begin with DJ OBaH at 7:15pm.
July 21: Turntablism classes meeting on Tuesday will begin with 2007 DMC World Supremacy champ DJ Shiftee at 5:15pm.
July 23 Music Production package B: encompassing Reason Ableton & Logic Thurs 6:15 taught by Chris Petti of the Reason Users group.
August 2nd Ableton Live with Jon Margulies: Sundays at 4:00pm Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 7th Ableton Live with Jon Margulies: Class will meet Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:15pm. Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 14th Logic Intensive with Matt Shadetek of Dutty Artz – Mondays Wednesdays Fridays 10:15am
August 18th Ableton Live: Class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:15pm. Can be taken separately or as part of our year long Ableton certificate program
August 18th DJing with Video class with Lars of DVJ Vision begins Tuesdays at 5:15pm.
In just two short years, DubSpot has fully emerged as a force in the electronic music world. The Live 8 U.S. Sessions Tour will continue this Fall in Los Angeles in October, then move on to 5 other cities including Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin and Washington D.C. And that’s just this first round. The tour will continue to grow, and continue to be the ambassador of DubSpot’s devotion to excellence in electronic music. By providing unique opportunities for established and aspiring artists alike to develop their knowledge, careers, and production and performance abilities,DubSpot will secure and advance its position on the cutting edge of electronic music education! – Quote courtesy, Plexi PR
DubSpot 348 West 14th Street New York, NY 10014
212.242.2100 // info@dubSpot.com
www.dubspot.com
- by Tony Z.
Last Wednesday night, despite the lingering rain that has been pestering New Yorkers for the last month or so, I decided to venture out to the newly revamped Mansion, which is now known as M2 UltraLounge–the stealthy moniker that is cover for what’s supposed to be Ministry of Sound’s new NYC effort. If Pacha can bring the funk to New York, then Ministry of Sound sure can too, even if it it takes over a space that has seen it’s better days. I wasn’t much of a fan of Crobar, the club’s original incarnation. But, I must say the venue’s design team have given a touch of class to a huge room that was sorely lacking sophistication.
Showing up to Bacardi’s B-Live was, for me, an off, then on again affair. It was 11 pm and I’d just arrived to my friend’s house across the Hudson in Guttenberg, NJ, where I’m staying for the month to be closer to the city. I knew I had to get up for work early, because I commute about 1.5 hours each way to the office in Long Island. As I sat down to check my Facebook messages, I saw a friend sent me an earlier note asking if I was going to go. If so, she was wondering if I was going to take some shots that she could use for a publication she writes for. Despite my better judgement, I knew she needed my help. I got my butt up off the couch, jumped in the car and shot into the city to see what I could come up with. After all, she’s a great gal and I don’t mind doing a favor for a friend.
Remember, I’m supposed to get up at 6:30 AM to make my way to Long Island for my day job. Staying out late on a Wednesday night is not something I’m accustomed to, but it was for a good cause. Plus, I got some great video and ran into some friends, including Armand Van Helden and my man Ricky and his production partner, Ray, who are working on some tracks as Housing Project (MySpace). More on new music from that crew another time, for sure.
The night was definitely jackin. I go there just in time for the last 1/2 hour of Jazzy Jeff’s set. Every element of every track dropped in that 30 minutes was a bomb that warmed up the crowd for A-Trak, who broke out a big beat infused set of electronic, rock and urban rhythms that kept the crowd jumping until around 3 am. Then, it was DJ AM’s turn to take the wheels. After a few intro tracks, he dropped Notorious B.I.G. and the late night revelers kicked into gear once again.
For Bacardi, this certainly was a highly successful branding experiment. To pack an NYC venue on a Wednesday night until the wee hours of the morning says something about the talent and the offering. Bacardi staffers were everywhere throughout the venue, directing punters to get the pics taken in the Bacardi photo booth, have a custom T-Shirt printed on-the-spot, or grab a rock inspired poster. Throughout the venue, Bacardi imagery was in full effect. Of course, the sure winner was the HUGE, fully lit boom-box, which backed the DJs on the stage. I saw some walking around with messenger bags with a boom box pic printed on the flap. For a commercial effort, they got it right. People dug it and it wasn’t too obtrusive. Even the tour bus out front was hot, which photos of the DJs plasted on the sides.
All in, it was a pretty exciting night for Bacardi and NYC. Definitely a hot event. If B-Live is coming to a city near you, I wouldn’t miss it.
Check out the videos and photos below of Bacardi’s B-Live stop in NYC.
Flickr Video Flickr Video Flickr Video
This is a hot new tune from AVH, which scored a number one on the British charts. Check it.
– From Press Release
Kevin Saunderson History Elevate
To celebrate his mammoth 20 years worth musical genius, KMS & Fabric Recordings join forces and unleash a retrospective of Kevin’s work with a brand new compilation ‘History Elevate’ featuring a heavyweight selection of KS classics.
This hefty package includes remixes from the maestro with tracks from Cerrone, Pet Shop Boys and Octave One and his first ever remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ (1988), among many other jewels. This journey through Kevin’s incredible musical history also features some of his own penned hits, including some Inner City gems, all remixed by top producers including Luciano, Carl Craig, Simian Mobile Disco, Claude VonStroke and many more.. ‘History Elevate’ is a must have retrospective collection for any proclaimed Kevin Saunderson and dance music fan alike!
My first remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ was the first remix of its kind anywhere. At that time, I was like Just do it! So I listened to the original track, I really wasn’t feeling it, but I did like some of the vocals, but thought that it wasn’t going to work doing a traditional edit/remix. It wouldn’t fit in with what I was doing production wise, so I thought why don’t I make a new track and make the vocals work on top of what I’m doing. I sampled some of the vocals, re-triggered them and laid them out into my format, this was radical in 1988! Consequently I went on to produce many more, some of my favorites are featured on CD1 of this album. The remix is still such an important part of our music and it’s been fascinating to work with the great producers featured on CD2 who have remixed some of my classic material in their own unique styles. We believe this project ties the past to the future, creating a launch pad for
techno to spread our message far beyond … into deep space. – Kevin Saunderson
Kevin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1964, but moved at the age of nine to the place known as the ‘Motor City’, Detroit. At school he befriended two other like-minded students (Juan Atkins and Derrick May). After a 2 year affair with playing football, Kevin quit in order to focus on music, so he reunited with his high school pals, which unknown at the time would be the move that would help Kevin’s career escalate.
Starting out as a DJ, Kevin soon developed new skills that led him into producing records, which he released on his own label, KMS Records. The demand for Kevin as a Producer and DJ was overwhelming overseas, as well as in the States. He introduced acts like ‘Kreem’, ‘Reese’, ‘Inter-City’ (later to become Inner City) and ‘Reese & Santonio’. Kevin has had many other aliases too, such as; ‘Tronik House’, ‘The Reese Project’, ‘EssRay’, ‘Kaos’ and more recently, ‘E-Dancer’, which he uses to show his versatility at being able to create different facets of Dance music.
Kevin’s biggest achievement and his most commercially recognized project has been INNER CITY with Paris Grey, who have come full circle after13 years, as one of the World’s most influential Dance acts and prime time movers in the house and techno revolution of 1988. The duo have proven they are one of dance music’s great survivors with a new dazzling renaissance and they’re justifiably proud of a healthy career spanning early pioneering hits like “Big Fun” and “Good Life”, “Ain’t Nobody Better”, through to “Hallelujah”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “Till We Meet Again”, “Do Ya”, “Your Love” (to name but a few) and more recently the 1999 Spanish re-recording of “Good Life (Buena Vida)”, which soon became a Number One Club hit in Europe and entered the TOP TEN on the UK Pop Charts, and “Good Love” which was also an instant smash.
Their career has been nothing short of remarkable, not only for their numerous critical and commercial achievements, but also for their longevity. It was in 1987 Kevin and Paris met by introduction from Chicago house producer, Terry “Housemaster” Baldwin. Paris flew into Detroit, came up with lyrics and “Big Fun” was born. Incredibly the tape was then filed away and almost forgotten until UK dance aficionado, Neil Rushton, visited the Motor City to compile the album, Techno – The New Dance Sound Of Detroit for Virgin. He freaked when hearing the song and made sure “Big Fun” was on the LP. Soon afterwards, it was released as a single and went on to become a World wide smash. But despite it’s instant success, the follow up, “Good Life” outsold “Big Fun”. The third single “Ain’t Nobody Better” retained Kevin’s techno-logic microchip feel, topped by Paris’s soulful voice. Their debut album, “Paradise” cemented this prosperity and highlighted the Detroit techno blueprint.
In 1993, Inner City parted company with their label, Virgin Records. The label released the Testament 93 remix album to celebrate their time together. Also in that year a “homecoming” deal with their manager Neil Rushton’s SIX6 label was finalized. Another UK Tour followed in August ‘93, including a headlining appearance on the Reading Festival’s dance stage and the top slot at the European Dance Weekender in Paris the following month. It was also at this time that Kevin’s work with his other group The Reese Project was greeted with equal glee by journalists and clubbers alike.
To date, Inner City have had 12 Top 40 hits in the UK, as well as having had two Top 20 albums, with combined sales of more than 6 million. Inner City have also received 4 Gold singles, 1 Gold Album and 1 Platinum Album.
Meanwhile, Kevin’s alter ego E-Dancer produces Techno Music, pure and simple. Created for a savvy audience by an original master. E-Dancer’s first full length LP entitled simply Heavenly, has hooked audiences and critics alike. Following on with his new Inner City release ‘Say Something’ it reaffirmed Kevin’s standing as one of the ‘INNOVATORS’, and a leader in the industry.
One of the most exciting movements for Kevin in 2005, was his new title which has also given him one of the biggest challenges of his career, the Producer of Fuse-In, the newest reincarnation of Detroit’s 6th electronic festival at Hart Plaza, with an outstanding line up which included Mos Def, Ken Ishii, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Green Velvet, Ritchie Hawtin, Underground Resistance, Alexander Robotnick and many more..
As Kevin states “What we’ve done in our history in Detroit with techno is a result of a love for all kinds of music, I don’t want this just to be a techno event, I want techno to be the foundation and for people to realize how powerful Detroit has been and still is, I want to put on a good show with good artists so people can be inspired by the music.”
Springboarding to present day, Kevin continues to tour the world and has been busy remixing many a dancefloor hit over the past 2 years penning reworks including: Simian Mobile Disco ‘Hustler’, Claude Vonstroke ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’, Hercules And Love Affair ‘You Belong’ and The Presets ‘This Boy’s In Love’ among others. This is Kevin Saunderson, this is inspiration for all music lovers alike and there is so much more to come…
Kevin Saunderson
History Elevate Tracklisting
CD1: Remixed by Kevin Saunderson
01 The Christians – The Bottle – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
02 Wee Papa Girl Rappers – Heat It Up – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Sony
03 Ann Consuelo – Do It For Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Kevin Saunderson
04 Cerrone – Supernature – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Malligator/TLP
05 Pet Shop Boys – Go West – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
06 Lighthouse Family – High – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
07 Hercules And Love Affair – You Belong – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
08 The Presets – This Boy’s In Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Modular
09 Octave One – Blackwater Ft Ann Saunderson – Kevin Saunderson Remix – 430 West
10 Simian Mobile Disco – Hustler – Kevin Saunderson Remix- Wichita
11 Cameo – Money – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Warners
CD2: Kevin Saunderson Remixed
01 Intro
02 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Luciano’s Good Love Remix – KMS
03 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bounce Your Body To The Box’ Mike Shannon’s Flashback Mix – KMS
04 Kevin Saunderson ‘Just Want Another Chance’ John Tejada Remix – KMS
05 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Big Fun’ Simian Mobile Disco Remix – KMS
06 Kevin Saunderson ‘Till We Meet Again’ Carl Craig Remix – KMS
07 Kevin Saunderson ‘The Human Bond’ Claude Vonstroke Rave Recognize Rave Mix – KMS
08 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Ben Sims Remix – KMS
09 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Christian Smith & John Selway Remix – KMS
10 Kevin Saunderson ‘Pump The Move’ Samuel L Session Remix – KMS
11 Kevin Saunderson ‘World Of Deep’ – Jesse’s Respect To Detroit Mix – KMS
12 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Joris Voorn 07 Remix – KMS
13 End Peace
Mini mash bonus mix:
Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Loco Dice Remix
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Jay Haze edit – KMS
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Life’ Mathew Jonson’s Acid Mix – KMS
‘History Elevate’ will be released on June 9, 2009 on KMS Records & Fabric Recordings
Kevin Saunderson will play Detroit’s Movement Festival, which takes place May 23, 24 and 25. More info on XLR8R.com.
While we were out and about covering WMC from the Netmix perspect, About.com’s Dance/Electronic Music channel DJ Dewight Barkley was equally as busy traversing the many parties and happenings at this years event. Check out the post-WMC wrap-up by DJ Dewight Barkley on About.com Dance/Electronic pages.
There’s nothing like being friends with the DJ, lol. I shot this video from the booth at Aero (off 23rd and Collins) on Saturday night, March 28, sometime around 3 AM. The club was jumping as AVH kicked his classic hits, including My, My, My, Witch Doktor, Full Moon and more. The crowd was having such a good time, this dude started throwing money around…literally! He threw a stack of dollar bills up in the air. Too bad it wasn’t C-notes. I guess it’s the economy and he must have been holding back.
Seeing Armand giving the punters what they came for, over twenty two years since we’d first met in Boston in the late 80’s, got me reminiscing. I remember when we used to drive home from the East Boston studio of Mega-Mixx, the remix service we worked for back then. While Armand was remixing tracks til the wee hours of the morning−like Shawn Christopher’s Another Sleepless Night−for the long defunct service, I was in the back room calling mom and pop vinyl shops in Japan, Australia and Germany to sell them the latest issues.
We’ve both come a long way and have enjoyed success doing what we love to do. My career took me toward the Internet, while Armand pursued making great house music (and we can’t forget about hip-hop with Sampleslaya).
Shout outs to Ricky, who’s in one of the photos below. Ricky is a long time friend of Armand and he’s such a stellar guy. He told me he was making tracks now, so look out for Ricky’s studio sessions, soon to hit an MP3 player near you.
Also in the booth, Dan Ross from X-Mix, Mark Farina (jumped on the decks after Armand), Atrak, Kimyon, Ricky and Australia’s Ashley Grey from Xelon Entertainment.
We love the folks over at MixMatchMusic.com, one of the cooler music services navigating the digital landscape. The company provides online software to mix and distribute music in a viral fashion, with built-in ways to generate and share revenue between producer/remixers and musicians collaborating in the software online. It’s a unique service, one in which you can tell a lot of love has gone into.
The company just release a remix widget, which is another unique asset to any online marketing plan. We heard they also have plans for an iPhone application, coming soon.
The company’s PR rep, Lisa Greenfield, made an appearance on today’s panel. In this video, she explains what MixMatchMusic.com is and how you can use it to generate interest to action on your music through the services online tool sets.
djtonyz’s QuickCapture Video – March 23, 2009, 04:50 PM
I’m headed down to Miami for the 2009 Winter Music Conference. I’m going to try and do as much blogging and podcasting as I can, but it’s going to be tough. So many places to go, so many things to see. Stay tuned!
The Colored President by Phetus
Just before the November 4th election of former Illinois Senator, Barack Obama, as the nation’s first African American president, the media were reporting on the controversial claim of copyright infringement brought by the Associated Press against contemporary urban artist, Shepard Fairey.
The AP claims Fairey’s portrait of Obama directly infringes on the AP’s original photograph of the future President. The longest running news organization in the United States claims they weren’t asked permission to use the photo for painting, nor were they approached to license the photo for merchandise that incorporated the image.
The original photograph was taken by former AP photographer, Mannie Garcia, during an event at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Fairey claims “fair use,” because he did not financially benefit for his work, even though the image he created was used applied to signed posters and other memorabilia the committee to elect Obama sold to raise money for the campaign.
Obama Photo (Courtesy Associated Press), Shepard Fairey poster "Hope"
While the media focused on the unfolding story of Fairey vs. the Associated Press, which resulted in a recent lawsuit by Fairey against the AP after negotiations broke down, the contemporary urban artist, Phetus, a Long Island native, was developing his own representation of Barack Obama’s message. In the back room of a one story, non-descript office space off Rt. 100 in Farmingdale, NY, the artist’s portrait (shown above) consisting of multi-colored dabs of paint on 72 x 48 inch canvas began to take shape. The Colored President would soon be hanging on a wall in the back hallway of the building’s front office alongside 25 or so other paintings all shapes and sizes by the artist. I thought to myself, “will anyone ever see this?”
In the past, many of Phetus’s works were commissioned by a client and friend of the company, on whose wall The Colored President was hung. About a month and a half before the election, the client commissioned a web site, ArtWeCan.com (a URL I’d thought up), with intent of possibly promoting the painting and accompanying illustrations by Rolo—a friend and colleague of Phetus—with the goal of donating all proceeds to the Obama campaign. Maybe Phetus and Rolo would get some publicity for their effort, which would lead to other opportunities.
As the election drew near, we launched ArtWeCan.com, but failed to get the word out with less than two weeks left in the campaign. Without any promotion or marketing, there were no bids on signed prints of the painting, the painting itself or Rolo’s incredible political caricatures.
The election came and went. The painting was still on the wall.
It was a cold Saturday night in December. I could have stayed home that night, but I wanted to make the effort to celebrate my former colleague from my last job, Trisha O’Neil’s birthday. I drove into the Theater District of Manhattan—about an hour drive from my place in Westchester—and parked on 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.
I arrived a bit late and stayed for about an hour and half. After saying my goodbyes, I bundled up and headed back out into the cold winter air. It was around 11:30 pm and I was getting hungry, so I looked around to see what my options were for a fast bite. The corner pizza shop on the east side of 8th Avenue looked good, so I quckly crossed the street and ducked in to order a slice and Diet Coke. I took a table by the front door and noticed two smartly dressed young women sitting across from me. From their outfits, I thought they might be heading out to a club.
After the ArtWeCan project had concluded, I’d begun work on the information architecture for a redesign of the Web site of an urban record label, F Records. We were also in the process of shooting a music video for the label’s first artist, Draft. Always the networker and excited about the work we’d just done with the video, I approached the two to tell them about Draft. Given my history in the music biz, it’s pretty much second nature to promote whatever your working on. With music, it’s always word of mouth that starts the buzz.
I approached them and and mentioned working with with F Records and Draft. One of the women asked me, “what do you know about hip-hop?” I replied that I’d been a DJ for many years and that I’d been a fan of hip hop since the early 80’s. She proceeded to tell me that she worked for HSAN, which is the acronym for Russel Simmons non-profit organization, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The group works to confront issues facing the urban community. They have organized a number of televised workshops to seek ways to reduce violence and promote positivity in hip-hop.
In the early 90s, I’d come to New York from Boston to attend the New Music Seminar, one of my first professional music conferences. As a DJ, of course I’d known all along about Russel Simmons record label, Def Jam Recordings. I’d even saved up enough money to visit the label and purchase a Def Jam varsity jacket–a prized possession for any DJ cutting their teeth in the music industry. Almost 20-years later, I was networking in a pizza shop on 8th Avenue with one of Russel’s employees.
It was getting late and I needed to head home. I took the young lady’s card and promised to follow up with her to see how we could work together on the Draft project. We caught up a week later by phone. She mentioned HSAN was hosting an auction during their Inaugural Ball, which was to take place the night before Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States in Washington DC.
“An auction?” I thought, maybe there was an opportunity for us to partner with HSAN to auction The Colored President during the Inaugural Ball? After checking with the client and artist, we agreed to donate the painting to HSAN. There was no point in leaving such an amazing painting on a wall few people would ever see. If it was sold during the ball, someone would walk away with a piece of American history with the proceeds going to a worthy charitable cause. It was a win-win for everyone—or so I thought.
Two weeks before HSAN’s Inaugural Ball, I tried to contact my young lady friend at HSAN to discuss the specifics surrounding the donation. We wanted to make sure that we would get photos and video from the event, so that we could publicize the donation and the artist’s role in the painting. Days went by with no word from my new friend at HSAN to discuss how they were going to receive the painting. At 72 x 48 inches, its size alone prevents it from being easily transported.
I finally reached her the two weeks before the event by email and she promised to get back to me. I waited, then waited some more. On Thursday before the event, I was very concerned that what we’d agreed to was not going to happen. A friend of mine is an aquaintance of the woman. I called her, frantic, tring to figure out how to get in touch with HSAN, who don’t even have a phone number listed on their web site. I tried her one last time late Thursday night on her mobile phone and was surprised that she answered. We discussed the painting and she was supposed to call me the next morning. By 12 noon, I hadn’t heard anything and was starting to worry. It was now Friday and I wasn’t sure how we were going to get the painting to HSAN. I also began to wonder how they were going to get the painting to the event location in Washington D.C.
Around 1 pm, we finally spoke and she confirmed their desire to get the painting. When I asked her if they were going to pick it up or if we could drop it off, her reply was, “well, can you send it there?” Here we are, donating a 72 x 48 inch painting of Barck Obama that could potentially raise thousands of dollars for the organization, and they are asking us to send it to DC at the last minute! Keep in mind, Monday was Martin Luther King Day. Who could we get to deliver it on a national holiday?
We had the our office manager contact United Parcel Service (UPS to you and me) about shipping. They told us as long as it was a total of 11o inches, they would take the painting at their Farmingdale location, which was only two-blocks from our office. I was relieved, but that relief was short-lived.
Phetus helped me wrap up the painting, then he drove it over to the UPS facility, two-blocks away. They took one look at it and told him they wouldn’t take it. He called me at 5:30 PM with the news. We had to find another way to get it there. We discussed internally and thought, short of driving it there, it would be impossible to deliver the painting by Monday to Washington. The office manager called UPS and they told her that we could bring it to their freight facility at JFK Airport, where they accept oversize items.
Phetus had driven the painting to the UPS facility near the office, balancing it on the roof of his car. It was too big for anyone’s vehicle, and it was also Friday night. No one seemed interested enough to get it there. We started to think it was a lost opportunity. But, I had another idea.
I generally head into Manhattan from Long Island after work on Fridays. Disappointed that the painting was not going to get to the event, I resigned myself to driving into the city with the knowledge that weeks worth of set up fell apart in an instant. Poor planning? Miscommunication? Too big of an idea? Maybe none, or maybe all of the above. Disappointed, I climbed into the drivers seat. My colleague, Melanie was along for the ride, since she needed a ride into the city, as well.
As we were driving, I remembered Marissa said UPS told her if we got the painting to them by 11 pm it would go on the truck and make it to DC for Monday delivery. I’m the kind of guy who hates to fail and this was no exception. I needed to find a way to make it out to JFK by 11 pm, with the knowledge that I had an 8 PM appointment on 12th Street and 6th Avenue? Clearly, most people refrain from that type of travel in and out of the city. I guess I’m not one of them.
I figured if I rented a cargo van from the U-Haul facility on W. 23rd St between 9th and 10th, I could cut my meeting short, then drive back out to Long Island to get the painting by 10 PM. JFK is about 25 minutes from the office. I’d have about 30 minutes to find the location of the UPS shipping facility. Could I make it? If the stars aligned correct, yes, I could.
While I drove, Melanie called U-Haul to reserve a cargo van. We arrived in Manhattan at about 7 PM. I dropped her off and made my way over to 11th Street and 6th Avenue, where I found a spot for my car. I figured it would be hard to find a legal space near the U-Haul facility, so I decided to drop the car on 11th and take a cab over to the West Side to get the cargo van. After signing the paperwork, I drove the van to my meeting and got another legal space. What luck!
I cut the meeting short, apologizing to my friend and telling him what I was about to attempt. I said something to the effect that people have done crazier things, then set out to see if I could accomplish the mision at hand. By 9:15 PM, I was travelling through the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Things were looking good. I’d make it to Farmingdale by 10 PM and have the painting to JFK by 11 PM. Sure enough, my plan was working out as intended…or, so I thought.
At about 10:15 PM, I was driving West on the Southern State Parkway, about 15 minutes from my destination. Traffic was moving smoothly with no reason to worry that I wouldn’t make it in time. All of a sudden, about 3 cars in front of me, I saw a puff of smoke and the headlights of a car spinning around, facing the wrong direction. A woman in a two-door coupe had smacked the highway divider and bounced into the travel lane. The same lane as me! I thought to myself, “oh, no..what now?”
As I approached the accident scene, an unmarked police cruiser that had been in front of me for most of the drive, pulled up to the woman’s vehicle. Relieved that someone would be albe to help her, I scooted around the accident and continued on my way to JFK. Coincidentally, about an hour later, Phetus would get stuck in the same traffic caused by the accident I’d just seen.
As I made my way to 149th Avenue in Queens, I figured I had plenty of time. It was now about 10:40 PM. “20 minutes to spare!” Not bad. I was happy with that, but like usual, I shouldn’t have spoken too soon. I got to 149th Avenue, but couldn’t find the facility. I drove in circles for 10 minutes trying to figure out where the drop-off point was. At that point, I began to curse and fret that I wouldn’t find it.
Marissa had given me the 1-800 phone number for UPS customer service and the name of the person to look for at the UPS facility. With about 10 minutes to spare, I pulled over to call. The customer service representative on the other end transferred me to a woman in the building I’d been looking for. She proceeded to talk me throught the directions. Given her instrcutions, I was directly in front of the building, but there was no UPS sign anywhere! At least one that I could see.
With 7 minutes to go, I discovered a security booth at the gate of a large building. I jumped out and asked him if this was UPS. “Yes, it sure is” he said. What a relief! I asked him, “where is the sign?” He pointed to a dark corner of the building, where I saw the unlit UPS sign high above. Of course I couldn’t find the place! Who could see a sign at 11 o’clock at night on a building that was blocks from the nearest main thoroughfare?
The guard asked me who I was there to see. I quickly told him that I was looking for a guy named, Joe Vitale. He pointed to a car parked against the fence and said, “That’s Joe, right there.” Great! Joe’s about to leave. I ran over to the car and told Joe who I was and what I was there for. The time was 5 minutes of 11. Joe told me that it was too late. He said, “the truck closed it’s doors.” I told him that he told Marissa as long as I was here before 11, which I was, he’d get the painting on the truck.
Fortunately, I’d made the picture the screen saver on my iPhone. I whipped out the phone, showed him the picture and told him, “this painting has to make Russel Simmons event on Monday in Washington DC.” He thought it about it for a second and asked, “Russel Simmons?” I said, “yes, Russel Simmons.” Joe replied, “okay, let me call the truck and see if I can get him to pull around..we’ll throw the painting in the back.” And it happened just like that. The truck pulled around, we opened the doors and slid the painting in. Minutes later, it was on its way to Washington DC to be auctioned off at HSAN’s Inaugural Ball. At least that’s what I thought would happen.
The following Monday, I learned that the painting arrived and was displayed on stage during the Inaugural Ball. Anyone who saw it thought it was pretty amazing. I would hear from someone who was there, that the painting “totally made the party.” He said there really was no other Obama memorabilia there and that the painting sort of cemented the reason everyone was their in the first place. It helped to focus the event and its purpose. That was great to hear.
I was relieved. The painting arrived and they were able to display it. The party was over and everyone was celebrating Obama’s historial moment. My concern turned from getting the painting there to what happened to it, and if we were going to get some mileage out of it for Phetus, who is so deserving for agreeing to donate it in the first place.
To make a long story short, the next few days went by with no feedback from HSAN. Zero. Nothing. Nada. I called my contact, sent emails and even tried to get friends to call. No response. After all we’d done to get the painting there, my contact at HSAN didn’t even have the courtesy to let us know what happened to the painting and if we would get pictures or footage from the event, which is really all we asked for. Truth be told, to this day, March 3, 2008, they have yet to provide anything tangible. That being said, we’ve asked for the painting to be returned, because we found out that it never did get auctioned. The moment has been lost. Even if they did sell it now, it’s too late.
Trying to get a painting back from an organization with poor communication in the first place is difficult, but it was becoming near impossible, until things would come full circle only days later.
Three weeks ago, I had two doctor appointments in Manhattan. Between appointments, I figured I’d kil some time checking my emails on the free wireless at Cosi, a sandwich and salad shop on 13th and Broadway. Just like in that pizza shop a few months earlier, I overheard a couple of guys across from me talking about the music business and how networking is a very important tool in building your business. Taking that as a cue, I introduced myself to them and learned that one of them was an attorney working with the organizers of the National Hip Hop Museum. I thought to myself, “wow, a national hip-hiop museum!” Given my early love of hip-hop and DJ culture roots, of course, I wanted to hear more.
After they finished their meeting, my new friend and I chatted about the museum, the music business and the Internet. He mentioned they needed someone to come on board and help with Internet related affairs for the organization. Seeing a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor of something really special, we agreed to meet the next night. The location–the offices of HSAN! That’s right, the same place where my contact wouldn’t answer my calls, I was now being invited to in a roundabout way! How crazy is that?
The next night, I met with Craig Wilson, President of the museum and John Ambrose, the attorney I’d met on Monday at Cosi. By that Friday, I became the new Director of Interactive to the National Hip-Hop Museum. The position is an advisory role and I’m helping the facilitate their interactive initiatives. That’s a story for another post.
On that Friday, I returned to the offices of HSAN and was introduced to Dr. Ben Chivas, the organizations Chairman and President. He had no idea that it was I who had facilitated the donation of the painting to his organization. How could he know? I wasn’t on his radar because my contact never told him who had donated the painting in the first place.
We ended up discussing the painting and what were the next steps. I’ll end the story here, as the painting seems to making its way back to our offices. Stay tuned for the next installment of The Colored President. It’s sure to be a good one.
– by Tony Zeoli
Ultra Music Festival 2008
The Ultra Music Festival (UMF) — the world’s leading two-day electronic and alternative music experience set for Friday March 27 and Saturday March 28, 2009 during the Winter Music Conference in Miami–has announced more exciting additions to its lineup. Promoters for the festival have revealed that The Prodigy (who will release their new album Invaders Must Die on March 2) and Pendulum, two of the most anticipated live acts for 2009, have been confirmed along with DJ titans Paul Van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren. Moby has also tapped UMF for his exclusive Winter Music Conference appearance.
Ultra Music Festival at night
Other acts that are newly confirmed for UMF include: David Guetta, Above and Beyond, Erick Morillo, Booka Shade, the Swedish House Mafia featuring (Steve Angello, Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso), Benny Benassi, Rabbit In The Moon, Infected Mushroom, Fedde Le Grand, Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Tiga, Perry Farrell, ATB, M.A.N.D.Y. v. Tiefschwarz, Kraak & Smaak, Dirty South, Pete Tong, Loco Dice, Steve Lawler, Boys Noize, Markus Schulz, Kaskade, Late of the Pier, Planet of the Drums, Andy C + MC GQ and The Whip.
The complete listing of participating artists to date is:
FRIDAY, MARCH 27
Main Stage:
Tiësto, Bloc Party, David Guetta, The Ting Tings, Deadmau5, Santogold, Steve Lawler, Perry Farrell, Late of the Pier. Bayfront Stage: Pendulum Live, Roni Size Reprazent, Rabbit In The Moon, Craze & Klever, Kevens. Carl Cox & Friends Stage: Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Loco Dice. Mid Park Stage: Swedish House Mafia, Benny Benassi, Tiga, Dirty South, Busy P, Chris Lake.
SATURDAY, MARCH 28
Main Stage:
The Prodigy, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Eric Prydz, Above and Beyond, Fedde Le Grand, Infected Mushroom, ATB, Kaskade, Markus Schulz. Bayfront Stage: Deadmau5, Bookashade, Cut Copy, Simian Moblie Disco, Crystal Castles, M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Tiefschwartz, Boys Noize, Hercules and Love Affair, The Presets, Kraak & Smaak, The Whip. Carl Cox & Friends Stage: Carl Cox, Moby, Erick Morillo, Pete Tong, Elio Riso. The Mid-Park Stage: Roni Size DJ Set, Planet of the Drums (featuring AK1200, Dara, Diesel Boy, J. Messinian), Goldie, Andy C and MC GQ, Hybrid DJ Set, Ed Rush and Optical, Bassbin Twins, Soul of Man, DJ Icey, Evol Intent Live, Chase and Status, Drumattic Twins, Baby Anne.
The Ultra Music Festival is South Florida’s favorite music festival, internationally renowned for its memorable live performances and DJ sets from the world’s top electronic and alternative rock artists. It will take place during the 24th annual Winter Music Conference on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28 at the beautiful waterfront location of Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami (the same grounds it has occupied since 2006). Tickets are currently available via www.ultramusicfestival.com for $129.95 and then $149.95 as the event approaches. Two-day VIP passes are available for $350.00.
Access the UMF online at these sites:
Tony Zeoli is an innovative digital media product development executive who has been at the forefront of the convergence of music and technology since he founded Netmix.com in 1995.
He has guided music, video and web application product development and strategy for a wide range of companies including Cablevision, the Associated Press, Entertainment Media Works and is currently Vice President of Product Development, IA and UxD at Zaah Technologies. He also advises the organizers of the National Museum of Hip Hop and Hall of Fame on interactive strategy
With a celebrated DJ career spanning 25-years, today, music fans from around the world enjoy his DJ mixes through Netmix podcasts.
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