I took this photo at fellow DJ and blogger Keith P's birthday party maybe a year ago (the theme was "Death in June," so I was going for that half-dead look). I DJ'd the event, and it was my last time to man the decks, so to speak. Yes, I used to be a DJ. Since then, my beloved Macbook died from consumption (a.k.a. rusted hard-drive) and I turned my creative energies elsewhere, forgoing my illustrious career as DJ once and for all. If any of you ever saw me in action, you would know that while, musically, my taste level is unsurpassed, my performance abilities depended wholly on the amount of liquor/and/or substances I had flowing through my bloodstream. I guess I never really wanted to take the whole thing too seriously, since a serious DJ is usually a bore and no fun to hang out with.
Well, it's safe to say that my career in playing music for drunk hipsters never negatively impacted my social life; I've met many real DJ's that I actually have a ton of respect for (Felix da Housecat, Larry Tee, the Misshapes, Metro Area) as well as played alongside a very diverse and talented group of musicians (AIDS Wolf, Faux Fox, Glass Candy, Farah) and truly amazing local DJ's. But in the end, I decided that I couldn't handle the performance anxiety that comes with the job, and in hindsight I always enjoyed the recording process more than the live experience anyway. Which brings me to the impetus behind this post: I was browsing my external hard-drive and I came across a load of mixes I recorded under the guise of Pretty Vacant (yes, that was my nom de guerre) and they're actually pretty good! I thought I'd share one of them here:
DL: PRETTY VACANT - The Gem Equation Mini-mix (Zshare)
1. Late of the Pier - Bathroom Gurgle (? Remix)
2. Yelle - A Cause Des Garçons (TEPR Remix)
3. Miss Kittin & the Hacker - Midlife Crisis
4. Glass Candy - I Always Say Yes (Baron von Luxxury Remix Pt. 1)
5. Water Lilly - Shake a Leg (Jokers of the Scene Remix)
6. Larry Tee - I Love You (? Remix)
7. Kylie Minogue - Boombox (? Remix)
8. Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Thin White Duke Remix)
