Month: April 2018

The fine folks at Thirst Boston know how throw a damn good party. The cocktail festival, which takes place over the last weekend in April, celebrates all things stirred, shaken, and blended. The day is all about education: there are dozens of seminars centered on various cocktail trends. Year’s ago I attended a seminar on the relationship between music and the history of the cocktail taught by the legend Brother Cleve. I took way more notes there than most of my senior year of college combined. I hope to make it out to a couple of classes this weekend.

I’m beyond excited to be DJing the official closing party, the Blender Bender, for the third straight year. This is a double bonus for me. Not only do I get to see a ton of awesome bartenders (including a lot of old friends) get down with some friendly competition, I also get to spin pretty much whatever I want at one of Boston’s best clubs, Whisky Saigon. I’m like a kid in a candy shop when I get to work a sound system like this. I love how you can not only hear, but feel even the slightest adjustments in EQ.

Each year the Thirst crew concocts a fun theme for the night. This year it’s Welcome to the Blenderdome, which is all about Mad Max. I have my Tina Turner prepped and ready. Costumes are encouraged. It WILL get weird.

On the bar side of things, twelve teams of three bartenders compete to make the best blended drink. The audience votes for the winner. Tickets $65 and include samples of competition drinks and snacks. Beer will be available for purchase and proceeds will be donated to charity. Click here for more info.

THE THIRST BOSTON BLENDER BENDER – Sunday, April 29 – 8 PM to 11 PM – Whisky Saigon (Boston, MA)

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally put out a new mix. This one came to me on a quiet Sunday afternoon while I was nursing a nasty hangover (rum drinks at 4 AM will do that to you every time). Inspiration can come out of the most unlikely places.

Despite the hangover, I was still riding high from a slammed Fresh Produce at Good Life the night before, and my Friday was just as wild too. After doing a surprisingly rowdy all-’90s party in the early evening at NBPT Brewing Co, I rushed back to Somerville to join my homie DJ ABD. He was holding down my Friday residency at Foundry on Elm. I ended up playing a lot of soulful indie disco/house records that I rarely get a chance to play out on the weekends. That was an unexpected bonus.

DJing can be a solitary experience at times, so when I get a weekend to spin with other DJs, especially heavy-hitters like DJ ABD, Braun Dapper, and DJ ESQ, it’s always enlightening. Seeing how one of your respected peers react in different situations can be just as valuable as hours spent practicing cuts. It motivated me to work a little harder on Sunday.

So rather than putting my feet up and watching golf, I set up my turntables and hit record. I didn’t have much of a plan, just a general idea that I’d play what I was feeling at the moment. I wanted to incorporate fresh remixes of classic tracks. Also, my brain was still keen on ’90s cuts, so a handful of those made it into the mix. You can stream the full set below via Mixcloud. I’ve also included the full track list below! Props to Direct Music Service for consistently having some of the most useful edits/re-drums.

“Somebody That I Used To Know” (Donk Short Trap Remix) – Gotye                                               

“No Rain” (VM re-drum)] – Blind Melon                                        

“You Don’t Know How It Feels” (Drew Pierce Edit) – Tom Petty                                

“Hey Jude” (Scott Melker RMX) – The Beatles                                        

“Have Some Love” – Childish Gambino                                

“Can you get to that” – Funkadelic                                  

“Take Your Mama” – Scissor Sisters                        

“Mr. Brightside” (Two Friends Remix) – The Killers                                    

“Ride” – Twenty One Pilots                        

“Human” (Kue Remix) –  Rag’n’Bone Man                 

“The Chain” (DJ Apt One Edit) –  Fleetwood Mac          

“Don’t Speak” –  No Doubt                           

“Say It Ain’t So” – Weezer                                        

“It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” – Lenny Kravitz                             

“Footsteps In the Dark, Pts. 1 & 2” – The Isley Brothers                             

“Them Changes” – Thundercat                                                                  

“Where Is My Mind” (Bassnectar Dubstep Remix) – Pixies                                     

“Good Life”  (Reed Streets Remix) – Kanye West ft. T-Pain                    

“Sexy Wonderwall” (Victor Menegaux Mashup) – Oasis vs Ray J                             

“Royals” – Lorde                                      

“Passin by Me” (Jazzy Jeff Remix) – Pharcyde                                      

“Return Of The Mack” (Doc Adam Blend) – Mark Morrison & J Dilla                        

“Cruisin” (Mr Collipark RMX) – Smokey Robinson                                

“Fame” (LNTG Hypnotizin’ Funk Mix) – David Bowie                               

“Whole Lotta Love” [Benny C Edit] – Led Zeppelin                                   

“Back In Black” –  AC/DC                           

“Oh My God” (Excel Sample Edit) – A Tribe Called Quest vs. Kool & The Gang        

“Regulate The President” – Flipout & Nick Bike                                

“Freedom 90” (The Reflex Edit) – George Michael   

 

More good stuff is coming to the DJ booth at Brass Union in April! I always love the diversity between the vintage all-vinyl nights and the open-format party jam nights. I’ll get my shot this month on Saturday the 28th. As always there’s never a cover. Check it out!