It's Time to Groove

Welcome back, everyone. As October comes to a close I have a rather large and exciting announcement.

We're headed back to the internet radio airwaves!

That's right people, we're coming back with a whole new style and at a whole new level. The best and sexiest tracks from the worlds of Classic and Current Hip Hop, Electronica, and whatever else you can groove too.

Introducing Groove AZ Radio.

We Launch November 1st... and Thursday, November 2nd, a special live show to start things off.

We'll see you there.

It's good to be back,
J*

The Concert

I'm sharing this with you all because for once I want to document where I want to be 10 years from now... enjoy.

We've all had dreams. We all have goals and places we want to go and do and see. Its because of this that we are driven to wake up every day.

When you were in high school, your guidance counselor may have come into your class and made you take a survey. We all know this survey... it's the exam we all take so that they may find out a good place for us to go. The big question?

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

The answer is normally canned, because as a society we all have somewhere around the same answer.

"Happy and Successful."

Well, yes, that...

But what's the real answer?

I see myself in lights. On signs. On bumper stickers. In 10 years I see myself in a supermarket and some random person comes up to me and says "hey aren't you that guy...."

Yeah, I'm that guy.

I've had a recurring dream, at nights... a daydream, too. It's the dream that drives me to continue to do this. I've had this dream before I even thought about becoming a DJ. Before I even thought that DJing was a place for me. My dream has always been there, now it just has depth.

It starts of simple... an in-person view of me driving through the streets of a city, in nothing fancy... just me, bopping to the beat of some tunes and watching the world pass by. But this day, this day is different than others. For this day, is the day of my concert.

There's been many others like it - but only mine would be... mine. If you know anything about me, everything I do is over the top.

I'm on my way to my apartment, to get ready - it's still morning. I clean up and I get dressed. Now a different, much nicer car comes to pick me up and take me to the venue.

When I arrive there - the crowd is already there, because my concert isn't just about me and what I play - no - my concert is more like a festival of music. It's everything I like, from Jazz to Trance, slowly progressing throughout the night. It would start with some local piano players in duets or a small jazz group. Something easy and light - something to enjoy as you begin to eat and drink and socialize. When it gets darker - ambient at sunset. St. Germain or something from Ibiza. It's sexy, it's potential energy ready to burst.

Then the DJs come out. The lights are on, but not all of them - the big show is saved for me.

The crowd is 100,000 people strong.

Then deep house, pumping up the crowd with some big names of that era, in a booth that sits lower than the actual stage or maybe off to either side.

The music however, never stops.

There's no set changes, no waiting - each group smashes right into the next. Each act is ready to start right after the last one finishes. Because I feel, people are there to enjoy music, not standing.

The DJs mix into each other - on DJ booths all over the property... because I always feel people shouldn't have to stare at the same backdrop all night.

When the crowd is good and prepped - it's time for my entrance.

When I start playing at my concert, I would take it slow - but my entrance would be spectacular. I wouldn't just walk in and start DJing - no - I couldn't go into my first concert like that. I would have been playing in clubs and venues for years by that point. This time it would be me... my entire world opened up to me. I would have to make a proper entrance.

The dream has changed a couple times. Sometimes I've entered from the top of the stage, being lowered down... sometimes I've just appeared, with lasers and flames and flashing lights everywhere... but none of them stuck until recently...

I decided that my entrance would be best of both worlds, I'm humble so just walking in would be how I like to roll, but this time - this time it would be to the lasers and flames and lights... to a massive DJ booth in front of me... then there'd be silence. Nothing, the crowd, the music, the lights... everything silent.

It would start with some ambiance - something for people to look at on the massive screens... a video - some piano, some slow beats. It would be recognizable. A song that everyone would say "ooohhh I love this one!"

It would be one of my many songs.

Then I would pick up the pace... driving the mix faster and harder as the night progresses. My act couldn't be just me, though. No, my act is different. My act has other artists included... singers would sing some of my songs live, some familiar sax or strings players from earlier would play leads to my songs live. There'd be dancers, drummers, other DJs would come and battle with me. There'd be acrobatics, there'd be stunts, there'd be magic.

I wouldn't stay in the same spot. I would start a track at one booth and run to another to mix something else in, then run to a third booth and mix something else in.

I'd have a camera on my main booth, from the top down, so everyone could see the eight turntables working at once as I built a song from scratch using custom vinyls. I would create a song with turntables as if they were an instrument themselves, my hands effortlessly working each record and pitch adjust as if they were part of my body.

Then it'd be music. Lights, color, and music. The mix heading to new heights as the entire crowd all bounces to one beat. The entire arena is lit like a dancefloor, because I feel that even though we wouldn't be in a club, it should feel that way. As the finale draws near, an enormous "J" in lights shines behind me, glimmering different designs getting brighter at the biggest change-overs. Flashing strobes as the mix goes forward another level.

I would want people to leave awe-struck, the only expression showing is that of sheer excitement, sheer joy. Behind the J in lights a curtain would open revealing a full orchestra... the next step. The orchestra would play along with my beats for 3 or 4 songs, behind them a scrim showing ambient video and digital images.

Then, on the finale, the peak track... the big finish. The scrim rises to reveal a full chorus behind the orchestra, and the three elements come together to create an awesome sound. The choir hits a high note as bright lights flash all over - all white. It is so bright you can't even see me anymore. The beat returns, and the track drives to the ending, powerful and pulsating. The crowd can't help but go crazy as they dance with their hands in the air. Then I put my hands in the air - as the final sequence rumbles... it is now nothing but strobes... the orchestra holding one note, the choir belting one last note as well... my beat is churning out to a close.... then a boom... a bang of fire and light, into complete darkness, all that is left is the "J," and me with a single spotlight with nothing but pure appreciation.

Then it is over. The show is over and I have done it. I have made it.

This is where I will begin. My life will begin at this point. Everything that happened before was just the lead in to this moment, where I am standing in front of a crowd of thousands, with the J behind me.

Where am I gonna be in 10 years? I'll be at the top, thank you.

Vibrations

Have you ever just... felt them?

Sometimes, it's not about the music. It's not about the melodies or harmonies, no... it's far more deep than that. It is something you may not notice at first. You listen, your ears hear what sound is made - but music - music is more than just listening. Music is all the senses. All 5 of your senses can explode from the music that is pumping through your ears.

Of course there's the sound. The sound is what is important. The sound makes us remember. It makes us sing along. It makes us dance. It makes us happy. That's just one sense, though. Just your ears benefit from the sound.

But what about your eyes? Your eyes can see the music. You see the people dancing around you... your lover... your friends. You can see the people moving to the beat. They are your family now. They are the people you have entrusted with your feelings for the night. This is why you see the music. You see me... up there behind the decks, my head in my headphones... one ear exposed so I can hear it all. I can hear you screaming my name. I can see you smiling at me. They effect my senses, too.

You can smell the music around you. A smoked filled room... the second hand smoke fills your nostrils as you dance, as you watch... as you hear it. You can smell the sweat, pouring from your lovers chest, off the forehead... You smell your lovers perfume, its sweet scent makes you tingle as you dance... dancing to the music I play for you. I can smell the vinyl. I can smell the needles burning and the speakers heating up. I can smell.... the dust singeing off the lights... I can see the lights flashing in my face as you can. The smell is something we look for. It is because of the music that we now smell so well. We may not identify it... we just know it is there. The music is there...

You can even taste it. As you draw closer to your lover, to your friends... you may share a kiss. The sweet nectar that is her lips you can taste. Her tongue... tastes of the cigarettes she smokes... of the gum she chews, and of the vodka she drinks. You can taste the air. You can taste the skin. The air is fresh but growing stale from the sweat. Evaporating into the air you taste it. You can smell it... as I can too. I taste my fingers, as I lick them before placing them on the next record. The record that holds my music. I can taste the vinyl from the last record on my fingers. I can taste my own sweat... sweat that has dripped on to the platter. I can taste the crowd. Each kiss I taste myself. I know I can taste them because I have created them. The music has created them. Without this music there would just be talking. Just talking and nothing gets done. No one gets down. No one sweats. No one's shirt is damp from the sweat. Without the music no one is just quiet, just listening to the music as they sweat and look at each other with daring eyes.

Beyond all this...

You can feel it. Oh yes... your senses are not complete without the ability to feel. The touch begins with the nerve endings in your fingers and they crawl up your spine. The nerve endings on your skin tingle as each beat pulsates more than the last. The vibration - chills you... while warming your internal temperature making you sweat. Even if you were deaf and blind you would know music is near... you feel it. You can feel every frequency I pour out to you. You can feel every wave of sound pounding on your ear drums that I play for you. The music is nothing without the ability to feel. Without that feeling you would only hear it. You wouldn't taste it and you would not smell it. You would not see it. It is the feeling that completes the circle. It is the feeling that rumbles through your body that gets you up off the stool. That turns you around to look at me, to look at the full dance floor in front of me, noticing for the first time that people have already discovered what you have just discovered. The music is alive within you. You feel as the drugs begin to take control over pieces of you. The alcohol and nicotine and caffeine... drugs that are almost given away... you let them take over. They push you so gently to the floor, yet almost like instinct you rush to the floor because of the music. The music that I play for you.

I feel it too. I can feel the bass from the sub woofers nearby. I can feel the trebles rocking my feet like a million ticklers all clamoring and fighting their way to my spine. I can feel the music, the vocals wailing over the speakers as they bounce. They bounce ever so slightly that you may not see them from your angle... but they shake. They bounce. They rattle. I can feel them, but you only feel their effects. They speak to you, they make you smile. From my vinyl that I touch to your ears... you can feel it.

Have you ever just... felt them?

Stopped for a second and stood with your eyes closed. Your ears closed... palms down and open allowing for every nerve in your body to be shaken by them. It is the music.

It is the music.

Bedtime Story

When I put on my headphones, the world around me disappears...

It starts with a touch of the first... getting to know her. I want to feel her beat rumbling through my spine. I know her so well already, every groove, every change, every beat. I know just when to bring in the next, the very exact moment because I've studied them so well. I've studied them all...

I listen to the second, its beat much like the first. The keys are in sync and together they are a rhythmic dream, ready to explode inside your ears and drive you to new heights.

So I cue it in, listening to the two of them together, over and over again... knowing that what you will hear is only the finished product... the climax... the ecstasy that is this next mix...

Over and over I hear the two together, like making love they go together so well. I know the second one two, like the back of my hand - I know how it builds, I know how it peaks... I know how easily she'll go in the mix. These two tracks were born to be together, without even knowing it. They were born on different parts of the earth, but now... now it is because of me they come together as one. I am the matchmaker. I am the cupid of music.

Then, when ready I start the track, slowly at first, I ease it in with a slip cue. My hands manhandle the record with authority, knowing that's the only way to get it right. But when I let it go, I make small moves, gently touching the record or working the pitch to get it locked just right. I keep track, headphones get pulled off... my eyes now focusing on both records, the crowd, the lights. I lunge forward... and the mix begins on cue.

I increase the volume, the bass low right now on track two because I don't want to put too much into it too fast. I let them ride out for 32, 64, 96... The second track coming to life as the other one comes to a close.

The crowd knows it. They know that these tracks go. They know how the second one already sounds. Some of them know the words. And as their hands go in the air so do mine, reaching the final pivot point when I switch the bass lines. A brief break... nothing but treble, then... the second. On beat, the second track pumps in full swing. Almost like an orgasm over... and over... and over again each beat stays locked in place. The bass from the new track rumbles the speakers and I dip track one. A bead of sweat drips from my forehead... I pull down track one, almost like the volume slider weighs a thousand pounds I pull slowly, adjusting the trebles and mids.

Another quick break... its time to finish... the bass come back and the new song is in, alone... the first track is gone.

And I start all over again.

Inconsideration

Today, I will not be talking about DJ stuff. I will not be talking about music. I won't be talking about my girl problems or my money problems... I will not be talking about J*Phoenix at all today. I'm leaving me out of this one.

The reason being, there's something else I need to talk about. I need to rant.

It's funny, because a little over a year ago, I talked about a subject like the one on tap for today in two posts: This one and this one. I talked about it because one of my close friends brought a problem to me with a male, and I wanted to voice my opinion on it. I suggest you read those first before this one. Because now here we are again, a new friend who is likewise very close to me, has a new problem with a new male and now I must voice my opinion again.

Allow me to make a disclaimer: I am not saying I am perfect. I am not saying I am all-knowing. I certainly also am not saying that I have not done wrong doings to women in my prior history. All I will be ranting about is this crappy situation a male has been creating for my close friend, and how I feel about it.

[/End Disclaimer]

It's a crying shame. It's always one guy, ain't it? Every girl has one. Some have two or three or ten... but there's ALWAYS one.

And like I've said in those other posts, it's the one stupid asshole that fucks it up for all of us nice guys out there.

I think its time for a little lesson in consideration for others. This can be generalized too - it's not just for ex girlfriends or current girlfriends or just friends, or complete strangers... no, being considerate should be reserved for everyone that interacts with anyone else on this earth. Let's define it, first:

con‧sid‧er‧ate [kuhn-sid-er-it] –adjective
1. showing kindly awareness or regard for another's feelings, circumstances, etc.: a very considerate critic. (citation)

Now THERE's a friggin' concept! What ever happened to a little of that?

That is all important, but the reason I'm talking about all of this is because of a friend of mine that has been hurt, several times, by a very INconsiderate male. Perhaps inconsiderate is not the only issues, perhaps he's immature, unexperienced, untrained... maybe its that he was crazy in love with this girl and there was a bad break up but whatever it was - his actions are completely unacceptable.

Let me make a statement: There is NEVER a reason to verbally attack someone over and over and over again, for your personal gain. It does not matter how much hate you have, how much bad blood between two people, there is no reason, ever... EVER to barade someone with such hurtful words that makes the person feel less of themself.

So I am a little pissed off.

What is wrong with these guys? Who the fuck do they think they are? What makes them think they can say such hurtful things to a women?

I've been set off once or twice, in my anger saying things I would later regret, or just feel bad for being so harsh... we've all done it. But to make a point to try and make someone feel like shit on a daily basis is grounds for an ass whooping. This time we're not talking about cheating or screwing up, this is someone purposely making remarks that he knows will have an effect on the girl.

It's not her fault... well... it's her fault if she lets him get to her - but no one likes to be badgered like that. Perhaps things can be solved with a restraining order - to get the point across - but that could just tie up some more issues.

What gives any man the right to make a girl feel like shit? Revenge? That's bullshit. If its revenge you want, then find it on your own accord and keep it to yourself. There's no room on this Earth for hurtful comments, barages of nasty emails and text messages, and saying things you know can hurt her.

There's not much to this message. I shouldn't have to go on all day about this. But this is just another example of how one guy can fuck it all up for the rest of us. Gentlemen: We're working on a reputation here... we have to stick together on this one! We have to start treating women better or they are gonna hate us all forever and then what would we do huh?

Here's a quick lesson: If she's your ex, leave her alone. End of story. You can try again, or go for the friends thing, but if it doesn't work out - let go. Don't hate her, don't sit there and play with her emotions and fuck with her head. Don't send stupid emails or texts or leave voicemails that are hurtful - this is the basics people!

I shouldn't even have to talk about this at all. But I guess some people just don't get it.

Guys: Stop it. Stop being so damn STUPID - stop being the asshole and stop treating women like shit. You have no idea how good you could have it if you just played it nice for once! I can't stand hearing these stories any more cause it makes me hate even myself for being apart of the male sex.

Girls: Don't let guys stupidity get you down. The thing you have to remember is that not all guys are like this. There are some out there that really do just want to please the women, and work together with them. There are men out there that know that once it's over, it's over, and they know how to move on and be considerate of the other person's feelings. But the ones that don't know, the men that don't want to... they can go to hell.

That's all. To the one that this is about... hang in there. Don't give up because of this jerk off wants to TRY to make your life miserable. As I said before - to him being one person that hates you, there's 100 people that love you, so don't let him get to you.

Let's start having some consideration for our women, gentlemen.

Have a day.


citation "considerate." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1). Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. 02 Oct. 2006. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/considerate