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“DJs – THEN & NOW”, Week 8: MARK FARINA!!!

What’s up, people! Yes, it’s time once again for “DJs – Then & Now”, and this time around it’s our pleasure to acknowledge another old-school house master who definitely has made his mark on the electronic music world. In fact, it’s pretty to hard to find many American DJs who’ve made such an impression that fans marked their calendars after his performances so that they could look back and smile on a night that rocked their world. Yes, it’s the one and only MARK FARINA!!

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Wow, eighteen years and a beard are sure ways to mark a change, aren’t they? One thing that hasn’t changed–the amazing house beats that Mark has blessed the rave scene with for the past two decades! This man is definitely worth checking out, as you’ll see in this clip from one of his performances at Sound in Hollywood!

So what excuse do you now have for missing this guy’s show? Answer: NONE! And furthermore, the EDM generation definitely could use a good lesson about quality house music from time to time, so it’s fantastic that people like Mark have been providing that music all these years. So the next time Mark comes to your town, do yourself a favor…don’t miss him!!

DJs -THEN & NOW, Week 7: RICHIE HAWTIN!

Whoo-whee! A big apology to  everyone for last week’s lack of a “DJs: Then & Now” segment…we were quite honestly all wrapped up in the social media launch of our newest book project THE RAVER STORIES PROJECT. This is 5150’s next major book project, and so understandably some other things had to take a temporary back seat. But guess what–WE’RE BACK! And this time we’ve got someone really special for you on today’s Throwback Thursday! It’s the techno master himself, RICHIE HAWTIN!

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That 1999 shot of Richie was taken at the world-famous Viper Room on the Sunset Strip, when the great old club Atmosphere was in there. This was at the height of his Plastikman era. The one on the right is Richie not quite showing off his PLAYdifferently mixer at Sound in Hollywood. As you can see, putting the razor away can make a world of difference.

Richie appears a couple of times in the pages of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM, by the way…just thought we’d point that out…

And while we’ve got you here, we really do want to draw your attention to THE RAVER STORIES PROJECT. It’s going to be a fantastic collection of amazing raving nights, as written by the people who experienced them…the ravers themselves! In other words, this is going to be the first book about ravers, by ravers. If you haven’t noticed on social media already, we’ve just put out a Call For Submissions in the rave community, and the initial response has been nothing short of fantastic. Dozens of electronic music fans have already inquired about how to contribute their favorite rave memories to the project, and once our official press release goes out soon, we expect to see a lot more.

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We have a saying here at 5150: “Every raver has a story”, and this is the foundation of THE RAVER STORIES PROJECT, because it’s true! Every raver really does have a story, whether it’s about their first rave, or when they saw their favorite DJ spin, or when they found their significant raving other, or when Daft Punk conquered Coachella. It’s the amazing experiences that people go through that drives the rave scene in the first place, and we want to spotlight this long-neglected aspect of our wonderful community.

So yes, we really want to read what you have to say. Go to www.raverstoriesproject.com for full details!

And SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!!

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“DJs – THEN & NOW”, Week 6: DJ COLETTE!

AWRIGHT! It’s Week Six of “DJs – THEN & NOW”, and that means a lot of miles on the time machine’s odometer! Well, you know what we say? Screw it – bump that baby up past 88 MPH and bring out the next DJ! And we’ve got a great one for you this week–all the way from Chicago, IL, it’s the best singing DJ in the land! Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the one and only DJ COLETTE!!

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Can you believe that this babe hasn’t had any work done?? Colette truly is the epitome of aging gracefully! Of course, it’s a bit easier when you’re living life young, like in this video from one of Colette’s favorite old haunts, the much-missed King King on Hollywood Boulevard. Listen to her voice, she’s fantastic!

As you might expect, Colette appears in the pages of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM! Shouldn’t you order a copy for yourself today??

And BTW, stay tuned for a BIG announcement coming soon about out next book project!!

DJs – THEN & NOW, Week 5: FRANKIE BONES!!!

Wow, is Week 5 upon us already?? Well, let’s get down to it, then! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to godfather of American rave, and the creator of PLUR and STORM…the one and only FRANKIE BONES!!!

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Keep rockin’ it, Frankie! We owe you a huge debt for making this whole scene we love possible. For those of you who haven’t seen this man spin, correct that mistake immediately!

Mister Bones naturally appears in the pages of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM…several times, in fact! Go to the Order section and get a copy for yourself today!

DJs – THEN & NOW, Week 4: MOBY!!!

What’s up, folks???

 

Yes, it’s Thursday, and you know what that means! It’s time once again to take advantage of Throwback Thursday with another edition of “DJs – THEN & NOW”! And do we have an industry veteran for you today! Not only is this man an internationally celebrated dance music pioneer,  well-known vegan and restaurateur, but he’s also the author of a number of books, including his autobiography Porcelain. And if just half of what he writes about in the book are true (particularly the chemically-inspired parts), it’s something of a wonder that he’s made it to “THEN & NOW”, and not become a casualty along the way–unable to make it past “THEN”. Fortunately he’s very much in the here and NOW…the man who told the world to press “Play”! Yes, it’s MOBY!!!

Moby FINAL JPG(left: “Groove TV” taping in L.A., 1999. Right: book signing in West Hollywood, 2015)

Well, this man certainly does know how to age into his role of music intelligentsia, doesn’t he? Coming soon to an NPR station near you…no doubt Jason Bentley will open!

Moby appears in the pages of “DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM“, by the way. You can order it right here on this web site. We certainly hope that you do.

 

Coming next week: IT’S A MYSTERY! STAY TUNED!!!

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DJs – THEN & NOW, Week 3: DJ RAP!!!

Oh, yes folks…it’s that time of the week once again! You already know what this is, we shouldn’t have to tell you…but screw it, we’re going to say what it is anyway! (Actually, we’re probably contractually obligated to do that) So strap yourselves in, as we now prepare to warp the Rave Time Machine back to the last millennium, to drop in on a little club in Santa Monica, California. Why are we going here, you ask? Because, oh ye of little faith, this is where we’re going to experience some of the most ferocious drum ‘n bass on the planet, courtesy of the one and only DJ RAP!!!

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(and now we’re coming back to today, whoooooooooooooooaaaahhhh!) (*INSERT SCI-FI SOUND FX HERE*)

WOW! The years have definitely been good to Ms. Charissa Saverio! We dropped in on her just about a month ago–see the video below–and it’s safe to say that she sounds and looks as hot now as she did back in the day! What a treat to have such an amazing talent as part of this community for all these years, especially knowing that she’s now passing down that talent and skills to an entire new generation of spinners. The people who dismiss the rave scene and DJs in particular as unimportant and untalented have obviously never met this great woman! Keep up the great work, Charissa…you rock!!

 

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A stunning letter from a customer

I won’t kid you, there are times when it’s tough being a book publisher and seller. I don’t mean to make this sound like “woe is me”–I did get into this quite voluntarily, after all–but there are more than a few aspects to this line of work that can sometimes become genuinely frustrating. This is why I get such a sense of relief and satisfaction when I receive letters from the readers (and, dare I say, fans?) of “DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM“. It reminds me about one of the reasons why I wrote the book in the first place–to reach out to the people in this wonderful rave community that we share.

Most of the time, the messages I receive are short, little positive notes about the pictures, which I truly appreciate. However, I recently received word from a customer who took this thing a step further with one of the most heartfelt and genuine letters I’ve received in a long time, which I’d like to share with you here.

The correspondence was from Kristen Brown, the author of the e-book “What Didn’t Kill Me“, and who has graciously allowed me to reprint her words and name here. Kristen has a boyfriend (whose name I have changed to David to respect his privacy) who is presently in a rehab/treatment program, and who needs all the support he can get. David is a part of the electronic music community, and his enforced isolation from it has apparently been very hard on him. To help lift David’s spirits, Kristen just recently bought him a copy of “DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM“, which is on its way to him at this moment.

The following correspondence from Kristen is an amalgamation of different parts of a conversation with me that took place over the course of a few emails. None of the words have been changed, but I have rearranged some of them for the sake of clarity of reading here.

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“The circumstances under which I purchased this book for my boyfriend, David, are intense at the least. Things are one breath above rock bottom for David right now, so it’s only up from here. He is not expecting this book, so it will be a huge, well-received surprise. In the privation of his current situation, his love of music as a former DJ, and his interest in this book, I can assure you, David will enjoy this book more than you can imagine. I’m sending him this book as a vibrant rainbow in the middle of his gloomy thunderstorm. He will probably cry when he receives it. I’m dead serious.

I know for a fact, DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM will absolutely be a tremendous comfort to David right now, which is why I ordered it for him. I have limited access to him, which I have been using to play all the EDM in as many sub-genres as I can, including my personal fav…vomitstep, via phone and video chat in 10-25 minute increments three times a day. The music brings him to tears, that’s why I know this book will really reach his heart right now. Addiction takes everything without apology, and in his current restrictive environment, all I can give back to him for now is the music. I’m sure you know what that can mean to someone who loves music the way we do.

Thank you for your prompt response to my purchase, current updates on the status of my order, and your personal touch in the tenor of your emails. Next time I need to order a book on Amazon, I will search by seller, because you have just made a friend for life with me.”

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Wow. Kristen, you are to be congratulated, because you’re succeeding in making two people very happy and grateful with this purchase. I don’t mind saying that these are the things that keep people like myself going. To know that someone thinks highly enough of my book that they would use it as a tool to give comfort and solace to someone in need–that’s the sort of thing that puts a great big lump in my throat. I mean, every author dreams of getting fan letters, but when someone in the community takes it a step further like this…that’s a powerful feeling.

Thank you Kristen, for making all of us here at 5150 Publishing feel that much prouder about what we’re doing, and more certain about our motivations behind our work. It’s hard work, but responses like yours make it all worthwhile. And David, we all hope that you find the strength and the wherewithal to get out of the dark place you’re in right now. You have fans here in L.A. and we’re all pulling for you. Don’t give up, because you can do this. The scene believes in you…never forget that.

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“DJs – Then & Now”, Week 2: DIPLO!

 

Hey folks! Yes, it’s time once again for “DJs – Then & Now”, that feature where we go back in time to see just what your favorite spinners looked like in the early days of their careers, and how they’ve stood the test of time since then! And have we got a treat for you today! It’s the man who can’t stop setting up new groups for your entertainment–can you say JACK U? Can you say MAJOR LAZER? That’s right, this week it’s the one and only DIPLO!!!

 

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Hmmm…maybe it is true that aging is particularly kind to males! After nine years of producing, performing and touring the world several times over (check the dates), and only a little crow’s feet shows up, that ain’t half bad! Do you think that’s all in the DNA, or has Diplo found a particularly effective moisturizer instead?

Stay tuned for Week 3 of “DJs – Then & Now”…same time, same web site!

Posts from Michael: John “00” Fleming and the catching of powerful moments

Hello everyone,

I hope that all of you are having a good day today. I want to share something with you folks that on the surface might not seem to have much to do with DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM, as it’s an event that happened just eight days ago–not an incident from the 90s glory days as chronicled in the book. However, I think you might change your mind about that after you read about what happened at Avalon Hollywood last Saturday night, September 3rd. It was going to be an old-school trance fest, as the headliners were the double billing of Christopher Lawrence and John “00” Fleming. There are few trance artists in the world that have longer pedigrees than these two, and having known both of them for a long time now (nearly twenty years in Christopher’s case), I’ve seen them do some amazing things with audiences. If you’re into trance, a night with these guys will not disappoint…and this was certainly the case at Avalon this night. Trading off on the decks on a constant basis, they brought the energy level in the room to a spectacular height.

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However, something else was going on that neither Christopher nor I was aware of…something particularly intense and powerful that was going to transform this ordinary night out into something bigger. Much bigger. I’ll let Christopher tell the story at this point–this is from his Instagram post about that night.

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“I can’t begin to explain what a privilege it is to have John “00” Fleming [as my] best friend and DJ partner. I have never met someone with as much integrity behind the decks and in everyday life. On the night of our set at Avalon Hollywood last weekend, John received the news that his mother had passed just before we left for the show. He never mentioned this to me even as we drove to the show and did our prep and sound check. True to his professional nature and dedication to his audience, he kept silent knowing that I would worry about him if I knew and that it might effect our eight hour open to close show. How he found the strength to do this I will never know.

At Avalon that night he played the most powerful set I’ve ever heard from him. We have played many sets together but this one stood out from the others. There was a particularly intense part when John had been playing pounding techno and the crowd was loving it. I went up to him to tell him how much I was digging it when he suddenly made the dance floor erupt with an incredible emotional melody.

It was only the next day when John told me of his mother’s passing that he said the powerful techno set followed by the euphoric release was when he had been thinking of his mother. It made that intense part of his set all the more special and explained the raw emotional roller coaster his sets had been throughout the night.

John’s mother was always extremely proud of him with good reason and I know she was looking down on him that night. I felt very honored to have shared the stage with him.

It was important for me to let you know what an incredible person John is. So perhaps show him a little more love as he sets out on a three day tour of back to back open-to-close sets in Australia.”

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This is my photograph of the moment that Christopher was talking about. When I look at it today, it almost gives me shivers, it’s such an epic and transformative moment…and I happened to catch it and immortalize it. I won’t say it was completely by accident–I was there doing my job professionally, as I always strive to do–but as Christopher said, John was the only one in that room who truly knew what was going on. I didn’t know. Christopher didn’t know. Nobody on that stage knew. So for me as a photographer, to know that I serendipitously caught the instant where John is just about transcending into some higher plane, and knowing (now) the circumstances behind it…well, these are the moments that keep photographers going. This is what we live for–knowing that we got it.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video that I shot that also captures the atmosphere pretty well. Sorry about the noisy quality.

On another, more sobering note, I wish to express my condolences to John Fleming. I know this can’t be an easy time for him, in spite of the big outpouring of fan emotions thanks to Christopher’s post. And as usual for him, he’s going straight ahead into more work, even during this trying time. I hope that he continues to get support from the public in the future, because of course you can’t really just cope with something like this.

Anyway, as I said at the beginning of this piece, I believe this has a lot to do with DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM, because just as back in the day, electronic music has the ability to take a moment and transform it, to shape it into something bigger, something more sublime…and dare I say, universal. This is something that has not changed over the decades, from the classic rave days to today’s EDM world. Thus, the spirit of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM is very much alive on today’s dance floors, in spite of the fact that the audience has inevitably changed over the years. That Avalon crowd wasn’t made up of old, grizzled rave veterans like myself. It was a largely twenty-something audience that was going for Christopher Lawrence’s and John Fleming’s trance just as passionately as their old fans back in the 90s and 00s. It’s heartening to see that spirit has been passed intact from one generation to the next. It’s why, even in the light of the numerous incidents that have been plaguing festivals as of late, that I still have faith in the future of electronic music. This thing is now too big to simply go away–it has woven itself into the fabric of American pop culture so deeply that it will never be completely removed.

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NEW weekly photo feature: “DJs – THEN & NOW”, Week 1: CARL COX!

What’s up, folks! Guess what—today is your lucky day! No, seriously, it really is your lucky day! Why is that, you might ask—good question! It’s because today is the day that we’re debuting a new regular feature here on the DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM blog, which we think is gonna be a lot of fun, called “DJs: THEN & NOW”!

It’s actually very simple: electronic music has been around for over three decades now, and many of the artists in this genre have been around for almost that long as well! And let’s face it, people can sometimes change a LOT over the course of a decade or two! Luckily, DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM author Michael Tullberg’s enormous photographic archives contain thousands of both vintage and current pictures of some of dance music’s biggest legends. So, now you get to see for yourself whether or not time–or perhaps a good plastic surgeon–has been kind to your old favorites!

(OK, we admit it, this isn’t exactly our invention—in fact, we’ve stolen this bit from all those other celebrity web sites you’ve recently been on. Well, are you guys aware that there are no truly original ideas left? That everything is a derivative of something else? Anyone? Bueller?)

Just to be clear, we are not looking to embarrass or single out any artist for particular attention.  Remember that this is all being done in the name of science, in the drastically under-reported field of ripening disc jockeys. We are proud and honored to play our small role in this most important of research fields, and plan to have a paper on the subject published soon in Scientific American (no, not really). So if you’re gonna comment, please refrain from ridicule, and show a little PLUR for the artist.

This is gonna be a weekly thing, so be sure to mark your calendars with regular reminders to pay this site a visit! And let’s kick off things with the original raving force of nature—the inventor of the three-turntable setup, Ibiza’s main source of income for the last fifteen years, the original Number One DJ in the World—CARL COX!!

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Wow…sixteen years and barely so much as a wrinkle! Even his glasses are in exactly the same position! What’s your secret, Carl???

Of course, Carl also appears in the pages of DANCEFLOOR THUNDERSTORM, which you can order on this very web site–and we hope that you do!

Until next time, then…when we’ll have a brand new DJ for you! Share this as much as you like in the meantime!

 

The 5150 Crew

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