RR

Reprise

July 17, 2008
Life in plastic, it’s fantastic

Walking to the Muni last night before the party, I tried to reconcile the evening’s plans with a nagging sense of post-30 bedroom DJs suffering from Peter Pan syndrome. Was I judging them or myself?

12 years ago a friend offered me a DJ gig at his bar in the lower east side. With no turntables of my own, it was trial by fire—I ended up learning how to spin right there. Practice before the bar opened, play my Sunday set, then spend the meager proceeds around the corner at the record store on more vinyl for next week. Every mistake, trainwreck and serendipitous mix was there for anyone who was listening.

Last night I relived some of that—learning on the fly how to DJ with Ableton Live in a very public way. Simultaneously frightening and thrilling, my train of thought was something like this: “Look, jump, if I fall I fall.”

In the end it worked out. There were no major screwups—that anyone noticed—and my friends came out to dance. <3 to everyone for their support yesterday!