watching the wheels

Large Professor @ Root Down NYC 03:21:05

2011-09-30T15:40:00.009-04:00

LARGE PRO is one of the most solid and sincere people i've ever met. he really knocks me out. i'm lucky to have met him and be able to call him a friend. this night at the root down nyc was a celebration of life. you can read more about my connection with the root down here. there's a lot of DUSK in this snippet because i miss him so much.

http://induskwetrust.com/

i believe this is the only night i ever even brought my camera to table 50 and had too much of a complex to even shoot. that's nelson george on the lens and me on the imovie.

i remember asking Large Pro about the flyer, what he wanted on it and he said bohannon stop & go:

i also remember he laced me with some vinyl that night - including this killer:

FAB 5 FREDDY 04:17:05

2011-09-21T22:32:00.008-04:00

FAB 5 FREDDY was one of the first people I met when I moved to NYC but you can read more about that over at TONE's Format Mag column. this interview from that beautiful Sunday, April 17th in 2005 is imprinted on my mind/heart and i'm glad this excerpt is finally out and up. FFF!!!

we do love you madly

NELSON GEORGE 11:27:04

2011-08-07T20:39:00.005-04:00

photo: NELSON GEORGE and MILES DAVIS.
Saturday, November 27th, 2004...the first time i interviewed nelson for this i didn't record the sound (by mistake). nelson was gracious enough to grant me a second interview and whilst the energy in the second take was not as boombastic as the first interview the message remained the same. ASS POWER! Since the recording of this I've read Greil Marcus' MYSTERY TRAIN and not only is it a great piece on music, it's an amazing work on america. as always, thank you NDG.
NN

KOOL DJ RED ALERT 01:20:05

2011-07-17T18:08:00.006-04:00

i think the first time i saw kool dj red alert in the flesh was at APT when he was negroclash's guest. prince language used to call me the unofficial negroclash mc but that night, i think it was a winter night...i was in awe of what i experienced, red alert played for six hours or so with one hand and two turntables. i believe all vinyl, this was pre-serato and holy moly.

another night, months later, also at apt, red was back...this time i mustered up the courage to introduce myself and see how he was doing. i asked about how he would describe djing...he said it was like painting and went on to talk about the canvas and colors. it was a great moment, sitting there...i think he was eating chicken wings.

when i started working at table 50 we got to have red play twice - both nights memorable, once with monk one and emskee - once with the root down...

somehow i had a chance to interview him and its imprint stays strong on me...i love listening to people's stories and here are some red shared with me thursday, january 20th, 2005.

after seeing beats, rhymes and life: the travels of a tribe called quest i was reminded of all these moments i've had, all the time i spent runnin through the trenches. part of me died with hip hop, if hip hop is alive i don't recognize it, and there are parts of me i can't recognize anymore either.

reminds me of movie night with jem cohen when ian mackaye talked about how punk has no meaning anymore - and i thought the same for hip hop....but the truth remains that it did keep my heart beating for just long enough...

q-tip the abstract 10:08:04

2010-11-01T18:52:00.004-04:00

It was Friday, October 8th, 2004 at The Sound Library NYC. Special thanks to Duke Ellington, Kamaal Fareed & Jared Boxx.

BOB POWER 07:15:05

2010-10-03T17:20:00.008-04:00

bob power: on music

bob power: lessons

"my name is bob power and i help people make records."

it was the afternoon of friday, july 15th, 2005 when i got the call: permission granted to interview BOB POWER. unfathomably kind...

stetsasonic: on fire ©1987

a tribe called quest: the low end theory ©1991

spitkicker 07:07:2000

2010-08-22T15:00:00.008-04:00

It was Friday, July 7th, 2000 and I was deep into my hi8 guerrilla tactics, showing up at venues, not knowing anyone and trying to film? I think I wanted to capture every hip-hop act I loved on my lil hi8 and give it to the artist. At this time, venues were starting to get strict on the no filming policy and the Celebrity Theater was no exception so I decided I would make a little present for De La Soul, Common, Hi-Tek & Kweli, Biz Markie and Pharoahe Monch I started asking all the folks going in what they would say to them if they had a chance to meet the artists? Only one answer out of 500 stuck with me. Thankfully, I did meet Earl and Earl had a lot to say about America, Music, Parenting and Marriage. My adventures watching the wheels included meeting a lot of people behind the scenes that remain in my memory more than the wheels sometimes. The show was great, and Common would go on to do the same routine for ten years. Mos Def did not appear despite rumors to the contrary and I was really impressed by the large gaggle of white 15 year old girls who knew every De La song.

command records

2010-03-27T11:06:00.002-04:00

quadraphonic

who knew my gramps was a little bit of a record collector? i didn't. when he saw the turntable set up in my lab his eyes lit up. he asked me if i had heard his command records yet, he told me how they used to be used to sell stereo systems back in the day. that hearing a command record being played on a system in a store is what prompted him to buy his own system and stay up all night listening to albums. it took him a while to get his hands on some command records but he got a few (see above). listening to these with him this week was pretty amazing, the arrangements!! wow. his eyes welled up when he told me about hearing walter huston's version of september song. pretty amazing to see a tough talking marine get so into this and share it. music baby. music.

roy ayers . ppp . 07:21:2005

2010-03-13T22:59:00.008-05:00

a good combination, ppp & roy ayers in bed-stuy, brooklyn on july 21st, 2005. it was a hot day. i cried and laughed a lot and shook my camera all over the place too geeked out to do a good job, but nonetheless on a wetwindywinterspringahead night this warms me up a bit and helps me look forward to sunshine. everybody loves the sunshine.

*1 hr.

modest mouse 06:06:2000

2010-02-03T23:42:00.010-05:00

*arizona b-roll, soundcheck 3rd planet, performance truckers atlas

*performance other peoples lives and styrofoam boots/it's all nice on ice

modest mouse qualifies for watching the wheels because it was the same night and place as z-trip's funky cornbread with tricky t & tige. regenerationtv had it up on their site in it's entirety for awhile and even though the sound is pretty challenging it works for me.

Their name is derived from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story "The Mark on the Wall" which reads, "I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises." *from wiki

*4 hour tapes into 2 clips.

dj radar: live looping 05:24:2000

2010-02-03T22:01:00.010-05:00

this could more aptly be called "glued to the wheel". i remember getting a call that said something like be at metropolis in 30 minutes. bring your camera. i did. radar is like a scientist to me. i knew him as an astrophysicist student or something at asu before i knew he was a dj. he, frankie and i would meet at the safeway parking lot and skate, skate, skate then watch kung-fu movies like "crippled masters".

one day he showed me his laboratory and started scratching on the turntables. i remember it scaring me a bit. he asked me if i wanted to try. i said no thanks. i guess that's what it means to be awed.

radar's done a lot to establish the turntable as instrument with his live looping, scratch notation, turntable for concerto, etc.

on tuesday, december 4th, 2008 i played records at broke ass stuart's book party and saw kelli rudick perform and she did some amazing live looping that made me cry it was so incredible for me to see a woman do it. and so, so well, with a multitude of instruments.

Blood of Abraham, Blackalicious & Del The Funky Homosapien 05:17:2000

2010-02-02T19:12:00.014-05:00

here is five hours of footage condensed to eight minutes and twenty seconds. request: a del & madlib musical collaboration and dance-off. i didn't do too much watching the wheels this night with blood of abraham, blackalicious and del performing but obviously there would be no show without the DJs of the evening: tricky t, dj rick, chief xcel & jesse.

i remember being really impressed with blood of abraham's eyedollartree both the album & the film.

bonus: i scored a brent rollins designed nia poster which i managed to hold onto for a few years.

ps - i really like soundchecks.

DJ Z-Trip presents Funky Cornbread 04:11:2000

2009-12-08T18:48:00.003-05:00

The Top Turntablists in The World / Spin Magazine / April 1999

2009-12-07T21:09:00.004-05:00

*note: responses and typos.

Mixmaster Mike / Rahzel / Z-Trip & Radar 04:05:2000

2009-12-07T19:40:00.022-05:00

*The flyer says T3 performing on the patio?? This was the first show I got in trouble for filming. The beginning of the end. It was Mixmaster Mike's birthday and Rahzel sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

*Mixmaster Mike, DJ JS-1, Z-Trip & Radar play together. Rahzel on the mic.

*Rahzel from The Roots performing an all ages show in Tempe, Arizona. Some Boyz II Men & Art of Noise.

*Rahzel from The Roots performing an all ages show in Tempe, Arizona. Some IronMan & 39th Chamber.

Radar Records 03:27:2000

2009-12-07T18:04:00.006-05:00

Not sure what I did here but I like it and it was fun. I really like to look at recording equipment as you can tell from this clip. This was from a recording session with DJ RADAR on March 27th, 2000 in Arizona. The sounds are me messing around with the track they were recording. I felt inspired to mess around and/or "chop" the audio recorded onto my Digital Hi8 camera that evening because I just watched Dublab's SECONDHAND SURESHOTS. Secondhand Sureshots is a "documentary experiment in sound recycling. It features four amazing, LA-based beat makers: Daedelus, J-Rocc, Nobody and Ras G in a secert mission to create new musical magic from the dusty remains of thrift store vinyl." While I CAN recommend Secondhand Sureshots, I don't think I can recommend my own handiwork.

I Hate Records

2009-11-24T14:35:00.027-05:00

*One of my favorite activities, listening to records.

*Meet Bob and learn a little about Rolling Stone, Picture Disks and Picture Shapes.

*Dante & Lucas snipet.

*An informative and entertaining visit with Derek. Japanese Rumba Ai Ai Ai & more dance hits.

*Bonus, the record my friend, Derek, mentions "Nicole" by Point Blank can be heard here.

"I hate records" is what I had written on this tape from March 12, 2000 "Chicagoland", Illinois. I picked up the flyer at the show then but they are still going strong: http://chicagorecordcollectors.com/.

Frank Gonzales @ Wicka Wicka Wednesday

2009-11-24T13:43:00.004-05:00

song of the day: dust in the wind by kansas

2009-11-23T20:57:00.003-05:00

just for pun. this was what was going on behind the wheels. punny.

02:20:00 - Future Primitive @ The Fillmore, San Francisco

2009-11-22T00:29:00.005-05:00

Here's the cover I made for the VHS I dubbed of this event. I have five hours of footage narrowed down here to 5 YouTube clips. After Brainfreeze this got me even more open to being on the road and exposed to new styles and sounds. The production value of these shows was impressive too. I was pretty hyped to be at The Fillmore West with all the history there... This evening would serve to be a prelude to Thudrumble for me.

BOMBSHELTER DJ's GREEN ROOM WRAP-UP

2009-11-21T20:55:00.004-05:00

I have four one-hour tapes that I condensed into four minutes here, mostly because the other three hours and fifty-six minutes is me doing the same things over and over or trying to interview people which is too painful for me to listen to or watch. So here we have a few brief moments featuring the faces of the Bombshelter DJ's Wednesday nights at the Green Room.

01:18:00: Brainfreeze / Los Angeles, CA

2009-11-17T21:55:00.004-05:00

So I kept going with my camera to The Green Room on Wednesday nights for the Bombshelter DJs, until Z-Trip said, "If you want to see a real show, come to this" and he gave me a flyer to "Brainfreeze" with DJ SHADOW & CUT CHEMIST. I wanted to go to a "real show" and at the time I was interning at the Arizona Film Commission and someone there even knew someone at the El Rey where Brainfreeze was held. I ended up flying into Burbank, took a cab and walked around by myself, went to Fat Beats and a couple other places and got to the venue early. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know who was who, so I just pressed record as the night unfolded it was without a doubt a "real show". I felt so strongly about it I even wrote a letter to URB, which they published. You can see lots of fancy things on the DVD: Freeze. I'd like to say that at least 75% of the footage on the DVD is mine but I could be wrong. Here I will post little moments I like. Particularly Dante Carfagna's DJ style. NuMark's use of 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover still kills me. The brains behind Brainfreeze were way ahead of the internet curve, I think they did this as a live webcast and in 2000 I believe that was pretty rare. This night was a big turning point for me, I met so many people all at once who would go on to influence and inspire me. This was the night I became aware of DJ Dusk and from then on all my future trips to LA were scheduled around music, either The Root Down, Soundlessons or when I went back to transfer my footage for RegenerationTV I made sure to do that the night of the Dilated Peoples album release party that Talib Kweli opened for them. I also met Zach de la Rocha that day while taking a burrito/horchata break.

*note: as you can see i'm just posting raw footage, rare & raw. any effects aside from the occassion dissolve were all done in camera. back when i shot this stuff i used to edit by hooking up two VCRs, a CD player and a TV together; i got pretty creative, i'd make custom vhs covers and everything. now i'm going through 100+ hours of footage though so i'm just on the archive tip this round.

"30-minute re-edit" / MAGIC MAN

2009-11-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

"This was our first 45 that did anything, it's called 'Magic Man'" - Ann Wilson (Heart)

I didn't know that as I was driving along the New England country road at dusk this song came on the radio and these breakdowns kept killing me, it was like I'd never heard this song before. So I decided to play a new game called "30-minute re-edit" and put one of my favorite sequences as the intro, my second favorite one is at about 5:19 and my third is around 1:30, I couldn't move those around too much though because not only am I inept at re-editing I really don't care to improve my skills unless some Magic Man shows me how. Thanks.

MAGIC MAN (NELCH RE-EDIT) - HEART

and here's an original, live version on youtube:

09.16.99: Green Room

2009-11-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

Not much to see here folks so I made stills out of the footage and put part of a remix Z-Trip was working on for Del.

09.08.99: BOMBSHELTER DJs w/ The Hammertoes

2009-11-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

On November 15, 1968 Russell Tyrone Jones aka ODB was born. Since today is November 15th I started with a compilation of b-boy moments from my first night recording - September 8th, 1999, it includes ODB throughout. Watching this makes me think that the Bombshelter DJ's Wednesday nights at The Green Room in Tempe, Arizona were workshops of some kind for DJ's, musicians, b-boys and a place for other artists to network. I'm also amazed at how freely people danced then. Maybe they still dance like that, I wouldn't know, I don't get out very much anymore. I just sit here archiving, which for me is partying like it's 1999. The night would begin with b-boys, then the Bombshelter DJ's (DJs Z-Trip, Radar & Emile) might do some routines, this night local band, THE HAMMERTOES, joined them.

09.10.99: DJ RADAR & MR PUMA (FHS)

2009-11-14T16:08:00.004-05:00

Radar does some live looping here which was a big deal then. 10 years later I still like to listen/watch it. This is the beginning of me archiving/uploading my Digital Hi8 collection. The sound is not great on MR PUMA's "Upwardly Hostile" track but I still like to listen/watch that too. You might be able to find the album here? If you like it that's nice and if you dislike it that's good too. Thanks.

http://djradar.com/

http://www.myspace.com/mrpumamc