Welcome to my corner of the digital universe...
I will spare you the “he knew as a child he was destined to make people dance” b.s. - you won’t find that here. This is just a story of a guy whose friend gave him a dance music CD, started going to raves, bought some turntables and some records, played some shows, then ended up playing along side some of the world's biggest DJs.
1997 was my introduction to underground dance music. I moved to Nashville in 1990, did some internships at a recording studio and a record company, got into doing graphic design and IT support, played bass in several bands; I even managed a CD store for a couple of years. Unbeknownst to me there was this huge underground scene in Nashville that drew people from Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, etc. Even if I had known about, I would not have thought anything of it since I didn’t listen to electronic music at the time.
Through playing volleyball I met a lot of new people, several who became good friends. One of those friends - Greg Turnbow - gave me a BT "ESCM" CD and said he thought I might like it. That was my gateway CD into the world of trance, house, progressive, etc. I spent the next couple of years buying as much music as I could of assorted styles and going to lots of shows in Nashville and Atlanta. Then in 1999 I bought some Technics 1200 turntables from another good friend - Greg Flatt - thinking it might be cool to spin some records for my friends back at the house after the shows.
But as things go, the more I played records the more I liked it, and the more I liked it the more I played and found I was actually pretty good at it. There is nothing more satisfying than playing music you like and making people dance. A couple of the promoters in town started letting me play the opening slots at local shows to get my skills up and things just went from there. I did my first few gigs under the name “DJ Axon" but Greg Turnbow convinced me to use my real name, making the case that most of the DJs I listened to use their real name - John Digweed, Dave Seaman, Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren, etc.
Never did I imagine that I would end up playing in clubs like Crobar and Space in Miami, eleven50 in Atlanta, Mythos in Charlotte, Pacha in Ibiza as well as every club that would tolerate dance music in Nashville in the early 2000's. Nor did I dream I'd eventually open for the likes of Kazell, Dirty Vegas, Paul Oakenfold, Sandra Collins, Jimmy Van M, Boy George, Nigel Richards, Richard 'Humpty' Vission, Dave Ralph, Dieselboy, Steve Smooth, Bad Boy Bill, Sean Cusick, John 'Quivver' Graham, Scott Henry, Charles Feelgood, and DJ Tiesto (just to name a few...).
And on that note, let’s get back to the program… (Trancesetters ‘Roaches’)
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In The Beginning - May 2001
GU19 John Digweed Los Angeles came out in February 2001, and I must have listened to it for about 3 straight months; it was a heavy influence on this mix. I had some money saved up so I went all out, working with a pressing house to do 1,000 CDs, shrink-wrapped with full-color artwork designed by my good friend Brian Paris. I think I sold enough to recoup about half my money and ended up giving most away, which is really the point - to get music into the hands of people who will appreciate it. I took 250 copies with me to Ibiza in 2002 and gave it to many of the shops in the old city and San Antonio - everywhere you go in Ibiza you can hear dance music coming from the shops up and down the streets. It was pretty cool to walk past some of those shops a few days later and hear several of them playing my CD.
Libra pres. Taylor - Calling Your Name (Solarstone Chillout Mix)
Aurora - Ordinary World (Tarantella & Redanka White Island Remix)
Fused - Spaced
Jimmy Van M - Sanctuary
Quivver - One Last Time (Lee Coombs Remix)
Reflektive - Echoes
Satoshi Tomiie - Love In Traffic (Dark Path Remix)
Trancesetters - Roaches (Spacefrog & Timelord’s Termination Remix)
Cass - Genesis
Human Movement - Love Has Come Again (Brothers In Rhythm Remix)
Mixer Magazine Promo Mix - June 2002
This mix won me a trip to Ibzia in August 2002 to open for Paul Oakenfold at the legendary club Pacha. The whole experience was a bit of a blur. In March or April of that year, Mixer announced the contest - submit a 30-minute mix and the winner would open for Paul in Ibiza. The deadline was sometime in June, and I remember putting it off thinking “oh, I’ll never win." But at the last minute, with the prodding of some friends and roommates, I ended up recording it two nights before it was due. I remember recording it a bunch of times, listening to each and finding something I didn’t like, recording it again, listening, recording... After about 6 times I decided if it wasn’t right by now, it never would be. The next morning, I had to ship it FedEx overnight so it would arrive on time. A couple of weeks later I got the call and less than 3 weeks after that, I was on a plane to Ibiza.
Orion - See Me Here (Skope’s Vocal Remix)
David Forbes - Questions [Must Be Asked] (Mike Monday Remix)
Science Dept feat. Erie - Breathe
DJ Rasoul - Oh Baby (Chus & Ceballos Remix)
H-Two feat. Leah - Burnin’ Fire (Hydrogen Rockers Remix)
Listen - October 2003
If I had to pick a favorite mix, Listen would be it. This was recorded at a time when I was growing tremendously as a DJ. I played in Ibiza the year before, was playing shows with people like Kazell, Jimmy Van M, Oakenfold (again, in Nashville), Sean Cusick, Scott Henry, Richard “Humpty” Vission, Sandra Collins, and starting to play in other cities like Charlotte with Dave Ralph. My sound was changing a bit, getting darker, a bit more aggressive. Although my favorite, it was a tough mix to pull together. I had the first 6 tracks and the last. Working back from there I found the the last 5 but could not find anything to get me from 6 to 8; that magic track number 7 was eluding me. (7 is the number of perfection so I’m sure there is some meaning in that.) Then one day while thumbing through the records at Tower, I ran across a record by Mint Royale. I had never heard of them, but the name caught my attention, so I bought it. As luck would have it, “I Don’t Know” was exactly the track I needed to pull the two halves of this mix together - the perfect track. And not surprisingly, more people have commented on this track than any other on this mix. I also got a couple gigs in Miami because of this mix but more on that later.
Peace Division - Wherever The Drums Take Me (A Cappella)
Kev Wright - Closer (Saeed & Palash Remix)
Ilay & Beat C - High (Chab Remix)
Dippy Site - Panorama Astratto (M.A.S. Gattaca Dub Remix)
Trisco - Ultra
Bent - Stay The Same (Planet Funk Acid Remix)
Mint Royale - I Don't Know (An-2 Airflow Remix)
Dave Gahan - Dirty Sticky Floors (Silencer Remix)
Cosmos - Take Me With You (punksmusic.com Remix)
Quivver - Daylight
Casa Flava - De Moma De (Paris & Sharp Remix)
Peace Division - I've Seen You Do It
Nelsen:Tyler - July 2004
My good friend and fellow Nashville DJ Sunny Tyler and I recorded this mix in July 2004. It was the first of several I recorded that year. Having just been laid off from Billboard Magazine and given a fairly good severance package, I decided to take a couple of months off and travel, play music, stay up late and sleep until noon (or later). Between the two of us, Sunny and I cover a wide range of house/progressive/tech-house/trance. This was the first of many times we played together over the years and sharing the stage with him has always been an amazing experience. He is truly one of the best DJs I know.
(unknown)
Dousk - Mute
Descent - Electric Storm
Mike Hiratzka & Justin Scott Dixon - Two Worlds (Descent Remix)
Pole Folder feat. Sandra Ferretti - Protected (M.A.S. Collective Black Curtain Dub)
Matthew Dekay & Akatishia - Time To Think (Forward Remix)
James Talk - Eggs Are Cute (Dave Robertson Deep Mix)
Echomen - Radar (Mooncat Sonar Dub)
James Brennan - American Driver (Mazi’s Audio Soul Revamp)
The Other Side
2004 was my busiest year as a DJ. Having been laid off in early June with a nice severance package, I jumped in the car and drove to Miami to see my friend Mike "Stump" Coleman and check out the scene. Sunny and I went to the Winter Music Conference in 2003 and I was anxious to get back and even started considering if a move to Miami might be possible. While I was visiting, I heard about a DJ competition for the opportunity to play at Crobar and Space - but the deadline was only 3 days away when I found out. I didn't have the ability to record a new mix so even though "Listen" was 9 months old, it was my best mix thus far, so I submitted that. A week later I got the call that I was one of 9 selected to play at Crobar with the top three from that going to Space. So only 3 weeks after my first trip to Miami I was headed back but wanted to hand out a new mix. I spent a couple days picking out songs but was having a tough time deciding which remixes to play - each side the record had a great remix (or original) and I just couldn't decide until it hit me: do a CD with tracks from one side of the record, then do another CD with tracks from "the other side".
I ended up being one of the top 3 DJs for the first round and a month after my second trip to Miami, I was back on the road to Miami to play at the world-famous Space - what an experience!
The Other Side - Part 1
Steve Porter - Vodka Cranberries (Fretwell Mix)
Quivver - Space Manoeuveres Part 3 (Breaks Mix)
Tyke - Kaysera (Stroud Broken Dub)
Akatishia vs. Matthew Dekay - Time To Think (Rewind Mix)
Van Bellen & Greed - City Lights (Greed Reedit)
The Greek feat. Stephanie Vezina - Alive (G. Pal Strings of Life Mix)
Holmes Ives pres. Sophie Moleta - Eluard (Mercurio Mix)
Jase From Outer Space - Do What You Want (Infusion Mix)
The Other Side - Part 2
Steve Porter - Vodka Cranberries (Original Mix)
Quivver - Space Manoeuveres Part 3 (Original Mix)
Tyke - Kaysera (Stroud Dub)
Akatishia vs. Matthew Dekay - Time To Think (Forward Mix)
Van Bellen & Greed - City Lights (Original Mix)
The Greek feat. Stephanie Vezina - Alive (G. Pal Funky Dub)
Holmes Ives pres. Sophie Moleta - Eluard (Mercurio Dub)
Jase From Outer Space - Do What You Want (Jacob Todd Exposure Mix)
The Lost Mix - September 2004
I may have been one of the first people in the world to play “I’ll Kill You” at a show and almost assuredly the first person to put it on a mix CD. Terry Grant, a fellow Nashville DJ/Producer, gave me the track a couple of weeks before it was set to be released on Bedrock Records. I was opening for Tiesto in September 2004 and wanted to hand out a new mix. Since it was set to be released in early October, Terry gave me the approval to put it on the mix. Unfortunately, the release ended up getting pushed back so he asked me not to hand out any more CDs until the actual release date (which turned out to be June 2005). In early spring 2005, the hard drive on which I had this mix stored failed and I lost the mix (hence the name) and just kind of forgot about it. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that somebody asked me about this mix and the only way I could get it back was to try to track down anybody I had given a CD to at the Tiesto show. It took a while, but I finally found somebody who was able to rip a copy of my own mix for me. (Lesson learned on backing up my data…)
Terry Grant - I’ll Kill You
Paris & Sharp - Eterna
Satoshi Tomiie Pres. Ice - Scandal In New York
Soultan & Tone Depths - Broken (G. Pal Safe Haven Remix)
G. Pal - Ophra
Andrew Absolut - Digital Suspence
Sultan & The Greek - Wadi (Vocal Remix)
Dousk - Mute
Kazell & Mike Hiratka - In Your Eyes (Monkz Remix)
Deepsky - Talk Like A Stranger (Skylark Remix)
Don’t Worry, I Was Born This Way - December 2004
This mix is a great representation of my 2004. It was a crazy year - got laid off, took 3 trips to Miami (two of those times playing in world-famous clubs), recorded 5 mixes, played countless gigs in Nashville, opened for Tiesto (arguably the biggest show to-date to ever hit Nashville), took a road trip to help a friend move to SF, spent way too many nights staying up until the sunrise. I wanted this mix to capture all the emotions of that year - it’s aggressive, it’s pretty, it’s funky, it’s non-stop beats from start to finish - it’s my idea of what a peak time set should be at the best party you’ve ever been to. I think captured that with this mix
Satoshi Tomiie pres. Ice - Scandal in New York (original scandal edit)
Da Freeks - Control
Vinny Troia - Emergency (Gene CarbonellRemix)
Steve Lawler - Out At Night
Peter Bailey - Electrified (Peter's Big Room Mix)
Armand Pena - Watching Me
Shiloh - I Really Want U (Andre Absolut Remix)
Soultan & Tone Depth feat. Stephanie Vezina - Broken (G.Pal Safe Haven Mix)
Quivver - These Are The Days
Eric Prydz/Steve Angello - Woz Not Woz (Dub Mix)
Summer Heat - July 2005
All I can remember about the summer of 2005 is that it was hot. And while I played twice in Miami the year prior and opened for Tiesto in October 2004, I would say 2005 was my biggest year because I got to open for Kazell, in Atlanta at eleven50. Then, in August I was invited back to open for Paul Harris of Dirty Vegas (also at eleven50). eleven50 was the premier club in the southeast, rivalling any venue in Miami. Between 2000 and 2005 I had been to many shows there - John Digweed (multiple times), Dave Seaman, Josh Wink, Parks and Wilson, Sasha, and more. (BTW, those last two were on the same weekend, Sasha on a Friday, P&W on Saturday.) Kazell is one of my favorite DJs so getting asked to open for him - at one of the most amazing clubs in the country - was definitely one of the highlights of my career.
This mix is a continuation of the big wall of sound on ‘Born This Way' - hot tracks for a hot summer.
Special thanks to Spun Counter Guy (Tim Buchanan) for turning me onto the opening track by his friend Owen Vallis and for Owen letting me use it to open this mix.
Owen Vallis - Shifted
Blue Haze - Into Nothing (Vocal Mix)
Perry O’Neil - Myst
Peter McCowan - Lonesome Horizon
David Guetta - The World Is Mine (Deep Dish Mix)
Blue Derby - Silver Trumpet
Coburn - We Interrupt This Program (Interrupted Vocal Mix)
Hatiras - Shady Love
Way Out West - Don’t Forget Me (Clifton High Mix)
Sucker DJs - Banrock (Paul Rogers Mix)
Quivver - Spittin’ Funk
7 - June 2007
While Listen is probably my favorite mix, this was my most perfect mix to date (hence the title 7 - my 7th full CD-length mix, 7 is the number of perfection, and it was recorded in 2007). Having embraced CDJs a couple of years earlier, this was my first mix on Traktor. Being able to endlessly loop the beginning or end of a track, Traktor finally let me do what I want to with a mix. As DJs, we are just playing other people's tracks - but those 2-3 minutes of mixing and blending two songs together is where a DJ's artistry shines. Looping allows you to extend how long you are mixing the two tracks, really blurring the lines between them. Combined with key shift/lock capabilities, you can mix two tracks that would never have been possible on vinyl.
Kazell & Habersham - One Thing
Organic Function - Cmetec (Francis Blaid Remix)
Fergie - Glamorous (Tony Arzadon Remix)
Lustral - Many Years From Now (D-Nox & Beckers Remix)
Organic Function - Cmetec (Simuck Remix)
Sultan & Ned Shepard - Together We Rise
Chris Nemmo & Andree Eska - Affectation (Dousk Dub)
Jay Lumen - In The Shadow
Dianne Wesley - I Can't Wait (Danny Tsetto's Dub)
Harry Lemon - Tiga
Perry O'Neil - Wave Force
FM - August 2008
FM (frequency modulation) - the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the frequency of the wave.
Many people have speculated what the title of this mix means so I will put it to rest once and for all: Fuck Minimal.
In 2008 it seemed like every Nashville DJ was playing minimal. I have a better appreciation for it now, but never played it and didn't really enjoy listening to it. I even got asked to play a monthly minimal night but the hosts said I would have to play a minimal set so I politely declined. I know DJs who play in a lot of markets have to cater to the crowd in that particular city but I wasn't known in Nashville for playing minimal and frankly didn't feel like I would do justice with a set of music I didn't normally play or even listen to. This mix is a representation of my sound at the time. It's a big, agressive, in-your-face wall of sound. This is the opposite of minimal - this is MAXIMAL!
Chris Reece - Hallow (Hallow Fame Dub)
Pryda - F12
Vinnie Troia/Shawn Mitiska - House Revisited
Lance Jordan - Lookout (Lance Jordan Jump Up Remix)
Mind X - Sensation Seekers (Martin Roth NuStyle Remix)
Morgan Page - The Longest Road (Lost Horse Remix)
Sydney Blu - Give It Up For Me
Space Manoeuvres - Octobot (Toby Emerson Coghagen Remix)
Flux Capacitor - Delorean (Bart Van Wissen Remix)
EDX - Premiumline
Ido Ophir/Miki Litvak - Shnorkel (Dousk Remix)
Taboo - 2012
This was a bit of a different mix for me (at least the first half), but it was the easiest mix I’ve ever put together. It had been four years since I put out a mix and I wanted to do something a little different than my last mixes. I came across the first track, a new mix of a classic club song from 1998, and knew it had to be the opening track of the mix. After a couple of hours of listening and buying new music, it all came together. It wasn’t until after I sent the mix to a couple friends that they pointed out the lyrical content in the first 5 tracks, hence the title of the mix “Taboo”. Listen closely and I think you will get it.
(In between this mix and my previous one, FM, my CD duplicator/printer broke after about 25,000 CDs. Handing out CDs was on the way out, so I didn’t have much incentive to do any cool artwork to print on the CD, hence the generic picture for this and following mixes.)
Mousse T. - Horny (Radio Slave and Thomas Gandy Just 17 Mix)
H.o.s.h. - Hidden Pleasure feat. Malonda
Panasonica - Your Slave
Superlounge - The Whisperer feat. Jonny Cruz
Larse - So Long
Electrobois & Liluca - Depends on You feat. Interplay
The Soul Elephant - Feel U Move
Anton Sever - Appeasement (Incognet PG Mix)
Spiritchaser - These Tears (Instrumental Club Mix)
Atlantis Ocean - Fuji
Tritonal - Broken Down (Boyan & Boyer Mix)
Nashville Underground Guest Mix - 2015
Fellow Nashville DJ Robert Mullins - aka Ashley Power/Rob Mull - hosted a weekly electronic radio show and asked me to put together a guest mix. What came out was the deepest mix I have ever recorded.
Matteo Monero - Nothing by Chance (CJ Art Ambient Remix)
Kerb Staler - Four Fingers (Thugfucker's Lio's Wide Shut Rework)
Sunshine Jones - The Sun
Oliver Berger - Casa Bulga
Davi - The Gates of Babylon
Davi - Eclipse
Pan-Pot & Vincenzo - Fiction Inc.
Lane 8 feat. Patrick Baker - The One (Matt Lange Remix)
16-bit Lolitas - Non-verbal Language (Kevin Toro Remix)
Tube & Berger feat. Juliet Sikora - Come On Now (Set it off)
Midnight Rendezvous - 2016
We’ll give this one an alternative title - The Last Mix (little inside joke there).
I got a lot of great feedback from the Nashville Underground guest mix that I wanted to do another mix, just as deep as that one. While listening to music I found the track that I wanted everything to center around - Nat Monday “Waiting” (Robert Hardy Unofficial Remix). The original was featured on Peter Rauhofer’s Essential Mix from 2001 and is one of my favorite tracks of all time. Robert gave it an amazing treatment and a new life. It ended up the penultimate track with everything building up to that.
If this ends up being the last official mix I record, it is a great representation of my brief career as a DJ.
Moshic feat. Joe Elbaz - Feed My Soul
Quivver - Wait For You (D-Nox & Beckers Remix)
Robert R. Hardy - Deytar (Dmitry Molosh Remix)
Synesthesia - DP6
Escenda - Out Of Moves (Kastis Torrau Remix)
Kays & Diana Miro - Kite [Reach the Sun] (Forerunners Remix)
Quivver - Everything Remains the Same
Portamentum - Human Progress (Federico Monaschesi Remix)
Nat Monday - Waiting (Robert R. Hardy Unofficial Rework)
Soundprank - The Time Machine