06/08/2024
The Launch of Underground Mondays last night was fantastic, big thanks to Sabine, Mike, and the team Civic Underground.
We're going for a hospo / industry vibe and we hit that nail on the head. We're just going to get bigger and better now.
The crowd was perfect, they were all there for a good time, no di*****ds or pretentious people to be seen, and a real positive vibe in the air.
It was great to perform on such a well put together soundsystem, we had the decks down on the dancefloor and having the subs right behind felt soooo good.
Though I must say with the ever so slight delay to the subs behind, I found it much easier to mix in the monitors, ditching the headphones completely for some mixes in the second half of the night.
Slamming tracks together and then riding the pitch faders is certainly a much riskier way to mix, but that rawness aligns really well with why people were there. Industry crews looking to cut loose. I saw Derrick May doing this with techno at 212 in broadway years ago (maybe 2012?) and Derrick Carter at Space NYD with house, around that same time, I always wanted to try this technique but never really felt like the audience was right, until last night.
I can't get over how well suited the system is to bass house, even threw in a bit of electro inspired stuff in (while i'm on electro, there's a phenomenal electro set from Etienne De Crecy under the Mir Station at Cité de l'Espace for Cercle, 2018, that is a must listen for all dance music lovers), we managed to squeeze one Ken Ishii track in from the Yakitori soundtrack. (a true master at work and a must listen), and even got as far down the rabbit hole to pull out The Advent & Industrialyzer at one point.
Someone asked for 90's so I threw a fat bassline and a house rhythm behind chaka khans aint nobody sped up like no tomorrow. I gotta say rekordbox stems aren't nearly as refined as Serato's but it did the job with a little massaging of the eq's to get it sounding right.
A special mention to Mike who provided some tips on working with the adaptive compression used on the system, so we could get the most out out of the room.
All in all, a stunning success and the first of many Mondays to come.
See you Monday.
