Warning: Another Sunday Weave
I've got a bunch of different shows coming up. One is a variety show. I also have a Sunday DJ set that's public for once, and gotta get ready for a big Buckdancer show a week and a half after that. So the fall is crazy.
I also have a private DJ gig that's a long one—four hours.
I've been shuffling around my DJ gear setup. I ended up with the SP-404MKII and the MixTour Pro with that little Teenage Engineering two-channel mixer, which is brilliant for effects and overall feel.
I've really gone modular here, with each piece only doing one thing. It's got kind of the junk-shop thing going on, which is my very most favorite.
I think a long time ago, when I had a heart-to-heart with some of my friends, we were all coming up with, hey, what do you really want to do? And I was saying, I don't like polished. I like kind of the junk-shop aesthetic in music. Still very true.
I think that's where a lot of the sampling appeals to me. SP-404, the MPC Live mk I, all that's kind of—there's better stuff out there, but the sounds and the ease of use and the overall feel of all these things really go into me ending up where I end up musically, and it can't be discounted.
For instance, this week I was thinking about getting rid of my two MPCs and going for a new one, but would the overall feel and sound be the same? I'm not sure. So these things are working. I'm not gonna mess with them.
I did order off of Reverb—there was a really good price on a full-size DJ platter, all MIDI. I'll plug that into the system and see if that works, looking toward an eventual move to a more professional Pioneer system that may happen later rather than sooner, as none of the gigs I have are asking for a more professional-looking and feeling system. (junk shop aesthetic no work-y at certain corporate events etc.)
In bass world, I'm digging deep into some of the Buckdancer material, really trying to get—I haven't been lazy with it, but I can go deeper with the time I have, and that's what I'm doing. Really trying to specifically learn tracks, take what I need to, and then put that into my own style.
And then walk back from that a little bit and figure out, okay, well, if I'm gonna have my own style, then I need to be able to define that too.
So, just some self-accountability measures.
And, you know, abandoning the solo show for now. I've got stuff that's working, so I'm concentrating on that. And the stuff that is not working, or I can't get other people interested in, I am not doing.
And this is all with the new songwriting session, eight to ten weeks, starting next Wednesday. So a lot to do.
I did get some rest this week, and I'm also prepared.
A Sunday glimpse into the life of a high-functioning amateur musician.