Monday, June 14, 2010

Weekend of 6.13.10 (Part 2 of 2)

Friday night was epic... great to have a night off, Saturday was back to work. Had 2 parties, my Real estate office's summer party a our manager's office, and a regular Night at Gin & Tonic In Glover Park. two parties in a day can be exhausting... especially after Friday night. Timing is tough to account for as a mobile DJ, Breaking up and setting down can take longer than people think. for example, at this summer party, it started raining, so i had to break down my outdoor set up and take everything inside, someone at the party was like... how long does that take you to break down and set up? 10-15 min? no...its not that simple, and it takes at a minimum around 20-30 min, not including sound checking and making sure the levels are good... But I'm a bit of a sound snob...Its got to sound clear round and level, even highs and lows, nothing worse than flat or dull sounding music...especially from a Dj....
The demographic at this party was primarily Caucasian ages 35-60, and I have worked an office party before, with this same group, so I did not have to really prepare for this party, because i knew what to expect. There is a safe and predictable box of music you can stay with in for this middle aged-mature Demographic that will always work. Classics, Motown, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Some 70's Funk, intermixing a few of today's top 40's... Black eyed peas, Jay-Z empire state of mind, etc. All in all a very easy party to work because people did not drink that much, and i had to keep the music at a lower volume level, so it was more background music than "life of the party" dance music. so that was the Summer party...
Summer party finished at 8 and i went down to Gin & Tonic for my regular Saturday night shift there. This is one of the places i have residency, I normally get 2-3 Saturday nights per month there and Its a good fit. My best description for Gin and tonic or G&T as it is affectionately called sometimes is a s$%tface-brofest. It just is. But that's ok because the energy can be really great in there most of the time. at G&T i play top 40, Classic rock, lil motown, little mainstream house and dance, and all your standard bro-bar songs, Journey, the outfield, Bon Jovi, I always try to throw in a couple newer rap songs that some would consider too "hard" for a spot like that... but Gin and tonic surprises me every time with the rap songs that people request. On this night, I had a couple requests for Steady mobbin, & women lie men lie. Which are Rap songs by artists that have been top 40(weezy in both) in the past few months... just not as popular and recognizable/danceable. But i played em and on that night, both worked well. go figure. it was a standard G&T evening, got busy around 1130 and stayed about 75% full until 145-150. By the end of the night, many drunk compliments were pouring in. Good energy tho.. I cannot complain. BEACH HOUSE MUSIC

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Weekend of 6.13.10 (1 of 2)

Friday 6/11
so my last post was on my way out to the Sculpture gardens ... and that was awesome...Wow. amazing music, great vibe, beautiful weather, and $17.50 pitchers of sangria. I will def be there next week, and get there early. I arrived around 630pm and that was late, there was absolutely no where to sit, I had to squat in front of some people sitting along the edge of the fountain and enjoy my sangria until it was not awkward anymore. There's just something about the feel of live music, the energy, its just great. this was a 5 piece band, I was not sitting close to them, but their sound was amplified so the whole garden area could hear... it was the perfect compliment, great background music for people further away and just the right volume for folks dancing right near them. Great afternoon.
Click The pic for more info on jazz at the sculpture garden. →

After leaving the Sculpture Garden, I went down to U street to check out Bohemian Caverns on the corner of 11th and u. Unfortunately I did not go down for the music, I went on the recommendation of a friend that Bohemian Caverns had great grits... what can i say i had a craving for some grits... and they came thru, they were awesome. I really need to go back there another time and check out a performance in the basement "The Cavern" part. snapped that pic on the way out... if youve never been the walls are built to look like the inside of a cave... and its a very intimate space, similar in feel to blues alley, there was a band playing live jazz, very good sound system. Here's more info on Bohemian Caverns. The night ended at tombs with my man Reggie djaying celebrating a friend's final night working at tombs waiting tables. It was just like old times. walk down memory lane, that's the great thing about tombs, you know what your gonna get every time you go back, Crowd wise, music wise and energy wise. I think you had to have worked there to have the same perspective i have on the tombs, and it is def. and acquired taste, but its a place i feel like I can always go back to and have a great time. Especially if Big Reg is in charge of the music, I would not be a DJ if it were not for reggie, so he gets the ultimate shout out, thanks and respect for being awesome! here's a pic of the classic, everyone get in a circle-and sing along for the final song of the night, sign of the conclusion of a great Tombs night.




That's all for this one. that was a full Friday night... Ive got some great stories to tell from Saturday, I worked an office summer party and @ Gin & Tonic later in the evening.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Last night and tomorrow

First legit blog post... momentous.

lets give everyone a little more background on me, I don't normally do the week-night-go-out thing... i just don't... I don't function well with little sleep, But Ive been in a good mood and really wanted to support my friends band, so i made the sacrifice. I had a late appointment with a real estate Client then went down to Chi-Cha Lounge before heading to Velvet lounge to watch my friend Kiran's band City Folk perform. I really love U street, The diversity of places you can visit in just a few blocks, its sick. I love Chicha especially (because i DJ there and the staff is just awesome) and something about velvet did have a kinda cool grimey feel to it. I like to go places where i don't have to worry about clanking my glass on a table and everyone looking at me like i offended them, , and places where i can get a can of beer. Velvet fit all of those descriptions & the DJ at velvet was working hard, it was not busy, but he was using scratch live and time code vinyl, actually spinning and beat matching... no scratching but clean and simple transitions. I liked it. his selection of eclectic Hip hop was also enjoyable, the beats were danceable but i did not recognize the lyrics as anything poppy or commercial, the music really fit the spot, underground. real chill. City folk are a group of Gtown Undergrads and they r funky. I cant tell you exactly what the genre is, but what was special about last night was the an extra drummer has been added so the couple songs i heard had a deeper rhythm to follow. either way the youngins got energy and individuality, I like it. Will def go back on another night to give more in depth review.


My stop at ChiCha was supposed to be for a just a sec on the way down to velvet... But that place is so awesome that its impossible to stay for just a second. The vibe is just awesome, There is really a feel that is unique and very cool. The pace is never hectic, people come in, and talk and have some hooka, some funky little plantain chips and keep it moving. Girls may occasionally get up and do the "freakum dress shimmy" around their couches and hooka tables, but that's about it... esp on Thursdays... The main room was only about 80 % full when i Left around 1115 & my homie DJ BILLY QUEST and TSUNAMI NIGHTLIFE were spinning that great House/electro/downtempo/lounge music, setting the perfect mood... When you Dj its all about the energy... u cant be pumping out that heat... hard hitting super loud music when people are just chillin and vice versa... when people are drinkin and ready to dance and have a good time you cant put them to bed with music that is too chill. Good DJ's know how to read the crowd and play whats right... That's where real talent comes in... In know WHEN to play WHAT...I pride myself on being able to do so, and my man billy did a great job of that last night. I love chicha and should be back in there djaying on 6/18/10, i will confirm that later .



so this post was all over the place But its just the beginning, i know my grammar sucks, but whatever, i was a studio art major in college and i sell real estate and DJ now...the blogging thing is new to me. Enjoy comment and share

BEACH. HOUSE. MUSIC.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

content coming!

Content is coming. Im gonna be updating the page a little bit every day with my new business card design, some new templates and all my old playlists. Thank you for checking out my blog and come back soon for more info.

with all kinds of bass filled funky love,

DJ Beach