Some of your early remixes and bootlegs really helped get your name out there, especially with other DJs. What do you think your biggest boot was and what inspired you to put it together?

Tony Arzadon: This is a funny story. Back in 2008, I did a bootleg of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” back when she wasn’t on the radio map. I only played it during my DJ sets and shared it with a few friends, but somehow it surfaced on the net and landed in the hands of BPM Radio on XM Satellite. One year later, A&R reps from Interscope picked it up and made it official!

DJ culture these days has been heavily defined by party DJing that goes hard right out of the box, as opposed to the slow-burning sets that typified the mid-’90s house and progressive scene. You throw down a mix of both. How do you stay true to that long-form style and still appease those crowds that are so used to hands-in-the-air atmosphere right from the needle drop?

Tony Arzadon: It depends on what environment I’m in. I know right away how the night will be once I set foot in the room. In today’s music, the shelf-life for any song is a lot shorter than it used to be because of quick and easy access online. So now with DJing, the crowd’s attention span is a lot shorter. During my sets, I play a variety of special edits and acapellas of certain songs, and I incorporate a lot of loops and crazy build-ups to kick the crowd’s adrenaline in and out. I control the music and the crowd at the same time.

So what’s up next for you?

Tony Arzadon: I finished up one vocal track called “Moments” that features a girl that lives out here named Nikki Kay. She had gone through a horrible break-up and wrote this song, and I connected with her and gave her this melodic track that I’d put together a few months back. That’s gonna be due out on Juicy Music in February.

TONY ARZADON’S FIELD GUIDE TO CHICAGO

Portillo’s
“If you’re in Chicago, you’ve gotta have a Chicago-style hotdog, and they pretty much put everything on there—jalapenos, onions, pickles, the whole nine. Their Italian beef sandwich is one of the big sandwiches you can eat in Chicago. They’re like the size of my forearm.”

Giordano’s
“Everyone loves deep dish pizza in this town, with the heavy toppings. The best place for me is Giordano’s. I’ve loved their cheese and spinach deep dish pizza since my early childhood. Very cheesy!”

The Beer Bistro & Third Rain Tavern
“I live in West Loop, which is known for having the best sports bars and food. Plus the United Center is down the street, home of the Chicago Bulls and the Blackhawks. These two spots serve the best food and always have daily specials.”

Gramaphone Records
“A lot of them have closed, but this one’s been around for years on Clark Street in downtown Chicago. I used to shop there way back when I started DJing in the early ’90s. You’ll find all those great deep house records in there; that really soulful house. A lot of the house DJs I know still go find their records there.”

SpyBar & The Mid
“If you want to hear electronic music in Chicago, both of these clubs book all the famous acts on a weekly basis. They keep the scene alive.”

OLD SCHOOL CHICAGO: AN ESSENTIAL HOUSE MUSIC PLAYLIST
1. Farley Jackmaster Funk feat. Darryl Pandy – “Love Can’t Turn Around” [LISTEN]
2. Steve “Silk” Hurley – “Jack Your Body” [LISTEN]
3. Julian Jumpin’ Perez feat. Kool Rock Steady – “Ain’t We Funky Now” [LISTEN]
4. Kool Rock Steady – “You Ain’t Nobody” [LISTEN]
5. Frankie Knuckles – “Your Love” [LISTEN]
6. Bad Boy Bill – Bangin’ The Box [LISTEN]

If you’re looking for a few of Tony’s tracks to play out, Beatport is the way to go, with over 100 tracks available for purchase. He’s also got each of his “Boom Box” podcasts available for free on iTunes. And if you’re looking to sample some of his latest fare—including a teaser of the forthcoming “Moments” (featuring Nikki Kay)—you need to hit up his Soundcloud.

Words by Rich Thomas (@TheLandfill).

The inaugural Red Bull Fuel + Fury took place in Jackson, WY in 2003, but this year marks the first time ever for any extreme freestyle snowmobiling to touch grounds in the heart of Chicago.

“I am so pumped that Red Bull Fuel + Fury is back,” said seven-time Winter X Games medalist Levi LaVallee who will serve as the event host. “The event has helped elevate the sport of snowmobile freestyle to where it is today.”

A one-of-a-kind track will launch the competitors onto a course featuring three steel ramps. Between flips, grabs and big-air tricks, the unrelenting series of kickers will send riders airborne against the silhouette of the historic stadium and Chicago skyline, each ferociously vying to rev his way to victory.

WHO: -Host: Snowmobiler Levi LaVallee, seven-time Winter X Games medalist
-A judge panel of five industry heavyweights

-Eight top snowmobilers from around the globe including: Winter X Games gold medalists Daniel Bodin, Heath Frisby, Justin Hoyer (2004 Red Bull Fuel + Fury winner), as well as all-stars Cory Davis, Jimmy Fejas and Jeff Mullen.

WHERE: Outside of Wrigley Field in the Clark Street lot between Addison and Waveland

WHEN: Saturday, November 5, 2011 // Gates: 5 PM // Competition: 6 PM

ADMISSION: Tickets are FREE but are REQUIRED for entry. Tickets will be available online free-of-charge at www.redbullusa.com/fuelandfury

Tell us about the new album.

Sean: The new album came out September 20th in The States to unanimous critical acclaim.

Alec: And we’ve been living the high life ever since.

Sean: The new album took about a year to record. We recorded it with John Congleton, the producer, and it has lots of songs on it that are great.

How is it different than your past material?

Sean: I think it’s a little different based on the time that we took and the care that we took to record it. The first album was sort of done in a bunch of different sessions and pieced together over the course of the year. The second one was done while we were coming off the road in sort of six week spurts and this one was more deliberate. We worked on it straight through and then just got into the studio and banged it out.

What’s your favorite festival that you guys have played recently?

Alec: End of The Road in Dorset, England. It’s sort of a small boutiquey festival. The vibe of it is very mom and pop. Some of the other festivals can be very “get incredibly trashed and then pass out.”

Sean: It’s maybe a more mature festival.

What’s the most immature festival that you’ve played?

Alec: I can think it but I can’t say it.

Sean: We went back to our college and played.

 What college was that?

Sean: Connecticut College.

What’s the most trouble you guys have ever gotten yourself into on the road?

Alec: I always think of that one incident and I can’t say it. There is an infamous happening that we really can’t discuss but it happened in Chicago. It was pre videophone. Thankfully.

So it was in Chicago. Police were involved…

Sean: No police were involved. They should have been.

What is the most obscure thing you’ve written a song about?

Alec: For Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or just in general?

In general…

Alec: I’ve written some children’s songs which are pretty bizarre…a song about a bear and a dog who lived underwater and something about them venturing to the surface and encountering fairies and witches and that sort of thing. I would have to dig into the back catalog but I think I’ve written something stranger. I wrote one that was supposed to be catered to same sex couples. That was also a children’s song.

Sean: Really?

What are you planning to do with these children’s songs?

Alec: Just throw them in the vault. I’ve written a lot of songs that I’m probably not going to do anything with.

You should write a children’s series.

Alec: That was initially the idea but it was a passing one.

What is your favorite track off your latest album, “Hysterical?”

Sean: Mine is “Maniac.”

Alec: I’d say “Misspent Youth” maybe or “In a Motel” or “The Witness’ Dull Surprise.” One of those three.

Out of all the bands you’ve toured with. Who has been your favorite?

Sean: I really like Architecture in Helsinki.

Alec: Dr. Dog. They are a great Philadelphia band. Who else have we toured with? Cold War Kids were really fun. Elvis [Perkins] was great. We generally try to be sure who we’re getting.

What’s your song writing process like? I know you said on this album you went into the studio and cranked it out. Do you write on the road ever?

Alec: A lot of the time I don’t really write acoustic songs per say. When I’m at home, I try to cobble things together and if I start out with an idea on an acoustic guitar, it seems to disappear pretty quickly unless I start to add other elements, which I can’t really do on the road.

What about lyrics? Are you ever out and get songs in your head and have to jot things down?

Alec: Sometimes. But I don’t get entire songs. Just little tidbits.

How has the band changed since the early days?

Sean: I think we’ve collectively gained like 30 to 40 pounds. There’s a lot of wrinkles on our faces and it’s ugly.

Alec: But it’s so ugly that people might think it’s beautiful.

Sean: Right. In a disgusting way.

What were you doing before you joined the band? Did you have any interesting day jobs?

Sean: I was a paralegal. That’s not very interesting.

Big career jump though. Do you miss the paralegal days?

Sean: I was looking to get back into it actually [Laughs].

Alec: I was renovating a house. That was at times interesting. It was hard work.

Are there any bands that you are going to try to see at Culture Collide that you’ve been looking forward to seeing?

Sean: CSS, definitely! I just saw them on the list over there. The Yellow Dogs. I wouldn’t have known that band name anywhere except that they’ve covered our songs before because I’ve seen them on You Tube.

Do they do them justice?

Sean: I think so. Yeah.

Alec: That sounds like a very lonely discovery.

Sean: 3:30 in the morning just Googling myself.

Do you Google yourself a lot?

Sean: Yes.

Is it scary some of the things that you find?

Sean: Yes. It’s compulsive. It needs to stop.

Have you guys ever found a really weird rumor about the band that wasn’t true online?

Sean: I think mostly for me, I think I’m the only one in the band that does this, but the comments in the blog section are sometimes just like the lowest level of Hell.

Do you make fake accounts and counter their comments?

Sean: That would be the next step.

But you cut yourself off before it gets to that point?

Sean: Yes.

What’s the most obscure photo shoot you’ve been talked into doing?

Sean: There seems to be a lot of jumping. A lot of people wanted us to jump.

Alec: That idiot with balloons!

Sean: He wanted us to jump.

Alec: It was not a good moment. I think on the road we were just tired and didn’t want to be jerked around by some idiot. And that’s where the police come in…

Was that in Chicago?

Sean: No that was in Sweden or Norway.

Alec: People have a certain misconception based on a band’s name about how somebody is.

What is the misconception towards you guys? That you are really peppy?

Sean: Some of us are peppier than others. Let’s put it that way.

Do they make you clap and do stupid stuff?

Alec: Yeah!

Sean: Actually in London recently, this photographer brought in some climbing chalk and had us clap and the chalk exploded, which was kind of cool. I actually use it now to play drums. I use chalk because of that photo shoot experience.

Alec: What a very interesting story.

Sean: That and other things will be on my Podcast.

Words by Nicole Pajer (@NicolePajer). Photos by Catie Laffoon (@CatieLaffoon).

The first band we see is one of ChinaShop’s most revered live acts, Fitz & The Tantrums. “This is our first Lollapalooza,” shouts sultry female singer, Noelle Scaggs. “And we’re on the main stage!” The crowd cheers. “It’s because of your support that we are here.”

And, boy-oh-boy, did the Los Angeles band “own” that main stage with all its heart. The hour-long set became one of the most powerful performances of the day next to headliner Eminem who ended day two rapping on the same planks.

The head bobbing pace of songs, delivery of love-torn lyrics belted out by swanky Fitz and his lusty leading lady are more likely to be heard in a jazz club than on a festival stage. Yet with Fitz & The Tantrums it all made energetic sense as the band playfully included the audience throughout their set. With no guitars in the band, multi-instrumentalist James King is its backbone on flute and saxophone. Think swinging couples dressed to kill and old soul sounds from Motown.

The band ripped through songs from their career-defining EP, Songs For a Breakup, Vol. 1 (including “Breaking the Chains of Love,” “MoneyGrabber,” “Don’t Got to Work it Out”). They also sang the featured track from the film, Friends With Benefits, “L.O.V.,” and a signature cover of The Raconteurs, “Steady as She Goes.”

Fitz & The Tantrums defined each song and moment with verve.

Up next was Vice Records artist and Mark Ronson produced, Black Lips, playing all the way on the other side of the grounds (it can take up to 20 minutes to walk). This raucous Atlanta outfit gets “Avid Fans Unite” festival award. They were truly punk rock in a loose delivery, badass attitude, disjointed set with long pauses and the breaking open of a guitar in the last minutes of the show. Imagine a male band version of Amy Winehouse (rest in peace).

Looking not unlike Peter Doherty (Libertines/Baby Shambles), lead singer-guitarist Cole Alexander, stage-dived then jumped back into the crowd and gave a hug or high-five to every person in the front row. Then he bolted back onstage to take a pirate’s bow to the crowd as they left. Now that’s a happy ending.

For a true Brit blast from the past, Big Audio Dynamite, delivered a solid set in the early evening on one of the main stages. Former Sex Pistols lead, Mick Jones, never changes except to look a few years older. Their set was strong yet laidback as they played their hits and then some.

Festival founder, Perry Farrell and his wife, Etty, went up against Chris Cox on a deck competition in the dance tent to deliver a performance loved by all. PerryEtty vs. Chris Cox featured the luminary DJ/producer/remixer trading off with PerryEtty. Marked by hard driving house beats, Perry’s signature voice and Etty’s dance moves and creative fashion sense, the performance had the audience going mad the entire time.

Another buzzy Los Angeles band from Silver Lake, Local Natives, delivered a pleasingly mellow set on the Sony Stage. It mirrored their hypnotic (self-funded) debut album, Gorilla Manor, as they played to the biggest audience ever in the band’s short career. The hauntingly airy hit song, “Wide Eyes,” possesses a wash of harmonies and dreamy melody that sticks in your head.

The last two acts of the night were Pretty Lights and Eminem on at the same time. It was a tough choice between an up and coming club superstar vs. an existing rap legend like Eminem. We decided to start with a newcomer… However, college dropout Derek Smith’s set was so mesmerizing, hard driving and more beautiful than words can convey (plus he had almost as many people cheering him on and spilling out of the tent as Skrillex did the previous day), that the choice was made to see the set through. Trusted sources informed us Eminem was brilliant as well.

Stay tuned for Day 3…

Words by Kim Taylor. Photos by Graham John Bell.

Feel the love of this shiny, happy festival.

Walking over the 11th Street Bridge towards Grant Park, the immaculate city center grounds of Lollapalooza, a pulse emerges in the hot, moist air. Chicago’s grand architectural beauties loom all around with the anticipation and calm that something significant is about to happen.

Day one on the site of the 2011 music festival begins with a carton of water and breeze in the shaded Red Bull VIP Lounge. The dance sounds of Narcisse waft through the pregnant air from Perry Farrell’s welcoming dance tent nearby. The Brooklyn dance duo won their place at the festival in the Red Bull Lollapalooza Remix competition, kicking off the three-day event on Friday, August 4.

Narcisse uses bold bass lines perfectly tempered around a mash-up of recognizable songs from Radiohead to The Isley Brothers to craft their smooth club sound. Later, Perry’s stage will be home to Italy’s The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 – definitely a new force to be reckoned with in the scene – stalwart Skrillex (second only to the superstardom of his label head Deadmau5) and always dependable Afrojack.

Thousands of festival goers will spill out of the tent up a full city block – proving that next year, massive dance acts might be better suited on the main stage based on popularity alone.

As the grassy festival grounds fill up and puffy clouds float overhead, The Vaccines take to one of two opposing main stages. Like many a music movement, the Americans introduce it, and the Brits make it better (ah, rock ‘n’ roll… dance music). In the instance of this rock-solid foursome, a rock-a-billy guitar twang (a la Social Distortion) is a secret weapon wrapped around a maudlin sound (think The Smiths).

Gut-wrenching lyrics of love and loss are threaded through stoic expressions. All of the band’s emotion emits through brilliant instrumentation and hooky songs throughout an engaging set. It ends too soon with the catchy hit single, “If You Wanna…” leaving the crowd definitely wanting more.

New Zealand’s The Naked and Famous attracted the first sea of people in the middle of the day on the smaller Sony stage. The band displayed a perfect balance of male and female synergy in a pensive, sultry indie sound. As gracious (and maybe a little shy) female lead singer, Alisa Xayalith, charmed the audience and ended the set with the dreamy hit song, “Punching in a Dream,” as an elated crowd clapped along.

Foster The People were hot, and not in a young Hollywood kind of way. The band seemed a little beaten down by the drenching humidity as they sported long-sleeved shirts and delivered an almost mellow set of their youthful, upbeat, geek love sounds and jerky movements. A surprise cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” emerged before the summer 2011 anthem, “Pumped Up Kids.” Outside of Coldplay, Muse and Skrillex, they certainly attracted the biggest audience, especially apparent when they sang, “Helana Beat,” as fans sang, danced, clapped (yup) and whistled along.

Up next, The Kills kicked off their set blazing from the first note on one of the main stages. Alison Mosshart (also of The Dead Weather fame with Jack White) and Jamie Hince (Mr. Kate Moss) prove to be truly artistically connected in a dark signature pop sound. As former lovers, the duo’s connection is still felt in their performance – almost like a modern art version of Carter and Cash.

Across the grounds on the other main stage features yet another British act. Ladies and gentlemen, White Lies! Nice looking, clean cut pretty boys with a Baritone lead singer serve up gorgeous harmonies washed in melancholy.

Using elegant showmanship and concise instrumentation they are pure perfection. When lead singer, Harry McVeigh, coolly yet passionately croons “Let’s go home together,” anything seems possible. (Note to self: put White Lies in Pandora). More clapping along as the bands sing…

Hands down, there was no more deafening sound than the cheers for Skrillex as he mainlined his sick, bombastic beatz perfectly exemplified in the massive hit, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites.” In between bold instrumental mash-ups, the playful performer chatted with a fanatical audience who roared at his every playful move.

He shouted “Good people, good times. F*** it up!” and “I love you, too!” as the Chicago cops lined up on the side of the stage in case the massive crowd went bad. But they were never going to with all the admiration emitting both ways in the dance tent. As an artist, Skrillex alongside Deadmau5, define their generation’s frenetic sound, emotions and motives. Simply seminal.

Unfortunately at a festival this big and magnificent, you’re going to miss some super good acts and talent. Sure, you want to be four places at once… not possible. Sadly, on day one it was Afrojack, Crystal Castles, Smith Westerns, Two Door Cinema Club, Wye Oak and Bright Eyes who were missed (however, there are some pictures).

At 8pm the most popular text flying around the festival grounds, for those who still had cell phone service, was “Muse or Coldplay?” as both massive British bands were set to play on opposing main stages at the same time. Easy choice: Muse. And, holy sh** did they ever deliver! A mind-blowing light show ensued as fireworks were seen in the distance.

The riotous metal influenced rock trio delivered hit after massive hit from “Uprising” to “Starlight” to an intensely engaged audience. Lead singer, Matt Bellamy, showed no signs of not getting any sleep as a new daddy. Soon-to-be Mr. Kate Hudson clearly and intently delivered every lyric. “They will not force us. They will not degrade us. We will be victorious.” And Muse certainly saw victory as a worthy headliner. Take that, Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow!

Tune in tomorrow for Day 2. This story brought to you courtesy of iPhone 4.

Words by Kim Taylor. Photos by Graham John Bell.

[nggallery id = 949]

NAME: Ornery Little Darlings
LOCATION: Chicago, Illinois
RECORD LABEL: Unsigned

In addition to having one of the coolest Mad Lib Monday photos, Ornery Little Darlings was the band that gifted us not one but two sweet posters for our ChinaShop office walls. They’re currently  working on their first full-length album, appropriately titled Get After It, but have a free EP call OOh La La! you can snag from their Bandcamp site here. As you’ll see from the video for “Run From The Gun,” Emmi, Jason and Paul are a nice little splash o’ hot sauce. This is what we like our music to sound and feel like: energetic, fresh, colorful and sexy. A “slender, hot pink cheetah” if you will. (Read the Mad Lib, you’ll understand.)

Words by Rich Thomas. Photo by Dustin Downing.

]]> http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/07/mad-lib-monday-ornery-little-darlings/feed/ 0 http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/05/behind-the-curtain-the-chicago-street-art-show/ http://www.chinashopmag.com/2011/05/behind-the-curtain-the-chicago-street-art-show/#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 16:42:07 +0000 Max Herman http://chinashop.designenginela.com/?p=58679 Continue reading →]]> When it comes to street art, graffiti, or any artwork that winds up in public, there’s a certain process involved that can be as interesting as the final piece itself. With The Chicago Street Art Show, the work of Chicago-based artists like Don’t Fret, Chris Silva, Goons, and Mental 312 is hardly framed in a neat display; this show held at the Chicago Urban Art Society exists freely on and off the walls of the gallery, allowing people to really see the work and layers involved in contemporary street art. Personally getting to witness the final day of setup for this show illustrated how much life these pieces take on—especially when multiple artists bring their individual visions together.

Even as the distinctions between street art and graffiti remain debatable, it’s safe to say that just about every participant in this show has put in work on the outside world—under viaducts, on light signal boxes, on industrial doors, etc. But one participant, Mental 312, is notably breaking down barriers between graff and street art in practice. Using a roller and a single color of bucket paint, he creates gigantic, maze-like pieces of lines, which sometimes don’t even spell anything out in particular. Mental says the motive behind these pieces originally was to cover all of the unsightly brown buff paint plaguing Chicago walls.

Even with Mental’s newer, roller pieces being such a large step away from his older traditional graffiti fill-ins and tags, he still doesn’t necessarily consider himself a street artist. “As a graffiti artist, I look at street art as something new. Street art is just a new version of graffiti—a new generation.”

Being in his first gallery, it was intriguing to see how Mental’s left field piece fit into the puzzle that is the collaborative wall at the Chicago Street Art Show. With large sheets of mounted plywood as the backdrop, Mental took a roller and green paint to the surface and created the foundation of the piece with his freestyle linear work. Eventually, one of the shows’ curators, Joseph Depre, and others began wheatpasting various posters and prints by street artists Viking, Goons, Cro, Brooks Golden, Solve (R.I.P), and many others onto the same wall.

Subsequently Mental was not too happy about how much of his original piece was covered. Given that this wall and show features such a large cross section of artists bringing street side-style work into a gallery, it’s only natural that some tension would arise. Each artist has their own technique; their own vision; their own purpose. What was cool is that by the end of the day that I was there, the main collaborative wall completely came together. Eventually more artists helped to arrange the work, including Brooks Golden, Cro, and Mental—the latter who picked a roller back up and recreated some of his lines over parts of the wheatpastes. When the setup came to close, it looked like a real wall—a relatively proportioned representation of Chicago street art.

Joseph Depre, whose work is also featured in the show, says that, “The important part of the gallery is to find the balance [between artists’ work]. When they’re all put together, it’ll say a lot.”

Walking around the gallery, though, it’s not just the main collaborative wall that represents a balance. Take the two “You Are Beautiful” collaborative pieces, which are comprised of individual letters from different artists that come together to spell “You Are Beautiful.” The letters are made up of graffiti pieces, cartoonish characters and sometimes both. Considering the amount of participants in this piece and divergence of techniques, it’s possibly the most varied piece of the show.

Another highlight is the street sculpture that sits right in the middle of the gallery called (T)HUG LIFE(?). Created by longtime Chicago artists Chris Silva, Thor, Brooks Golden, Nick Adam and others, this gigantic installation is made up entirely of found objects like doors, windows, and even a model house, which are mostly collaged together and painted on with various oddball characters. It looks like a mini city in itself. One side even features a red light district with a nude female standing behind shutters as a pervy man looks on. It’s a bizarre collective piece that tells stories at every angle.

Silva, one of Chicago’s pioneering street artists and longtime graffiti writer says that in such a large-scale collaboration, “You work with similar sensibilities and have an understanding of the visual language.” He adds that, “This is a project of peers. We’re all holding ourselves to a pretty high standard.”

The aforementioned piece, (T)HUG LIFE(?), is one in particular that will continue to be worked on even after the shows’ opening. Like when these pieces are actually on the street, they evolve—artists add elements and sometimes strangers tear a part of the poster off or tag over it or just place a similarly styled work next to it. Street art is not static and those who made The Chicago Street Art Show happen, whether Chris Silva or Mental are arguably well aware of this evolution.

The Chicago Street Art Show runs through June 4th at the Chicago Urban Art Society, 2229 S. Halsted in Chicago.

http://chicagourbanartsociety.tumblr.com/

Words by Max Herman

Related Post:

Lowbrow or “Hi-Graff”?

All Hands On Decks: The Skateboard Art of Haroshi

The History of Graffiti and Street Art Exhibition at MOCA

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Sure just about everyone with a laptop and a playlist wants to be a DJ nowadays, but a true selector is often judged only by how well they can connect with a crowd. Red Bull Thre3Style, a new, countrywide competition series, is weeding out the wannabes and finding the top crowd-moving DJs in each city. The format features eight competitors who are given fifteen minutes to garner a response using music from at least three genres. On the Chicago leg of the Red Bull Thre3style tour held at The Mid, the competition largely took the challenge seriously and pushed themselves to dig deep in their Serato playlists to come up with party-worthy sets.

If judging by the crowed response alone, Zebo seemed to incite the most cheers with his genre-weaving set featuring Rusko, the Isley Brother’s “Shout,” and a closing snippet of Crucial Conflict’s sole hit, “Hay.” Lighting a disc on fire while Jimi Hendrix’s “Light My Fire” played didn’t hurt his response either. While not quite as visually jubilant, the Ghetto Division’s Charlie Glitch also got a great response while mixing house, juke, and other Chicago dance staples. In the end, though, battle-tested turntablist Big Once proved to be the best at pleasing the people according to judges Craze (also the headlining performer), Catchdubs, and Chuck Flask, who had the final say (Zebo came in third and DJ Trentino in second).

Big Once said it himself in his video introduction that he was the only competitor with DJ battle experience and it showed. Using vocal snippets, the Red Bull Thre3Style winner called out each of his competitors by name in true battle fashion in between playing hip-hop and dance tracks. Of course the participants weren’t asked to address their fellow DJs, but that battle edge obviously set Big Once apart. Ending his set by firing an air horn off was a nice finishing touch for this tried-and-true turntablist who will compete in the Red Bull Thre3style National Finals to be held November in Vegas with a chance to move onto the International Finals in Vancouver.

Words and photos by Max Herman

Personally having been hooked on The Beatnuts sound since ‘93-94, it baffles me that it took 17 years for me to see them live. I remember in high school seeing a flyer for a show that they were going to be a part of (also featuring personal ‘90s favorites Common, Organized Konfusion, and Artifacts). I was salty about being too young to go then, but upon getting word that they were coming to Chicago’s Double Door this month, it became a must-see set.

Not surprisingly the show produced a packed crowd and after local acts Scheme, Astonish, Que Billah, and Mass Hysteria properly warmed up the night, JuJu and Psycho Les stepped up with DJ Bassi Maestro for an hour-plus of intoxicated, classic hip-hop. Sure, there were moments later on when the Beatnuts just let their signature beats ride and weren’t exactly performing yet the collective nostalgia going down was entertaining in itself. Well into the one a.m. hour, JuJu laughed at the idea of drinking water and was seen holding a bottle of Jameson and Bud Light in one hand and the other was holding the hand of a tight jean-wearing female fan he was dancing with. As thugged-out as this duo comes off on certain songs like “Reign of The Tec,” it doesn’t mean that these guys don’t know how to have a good time.

A lot of hip-hop acts talk about creating a party, but I’ve seen very few that can actually make that happen like The Beatnuts did here. It didn’t take much effort to get hands up or females on stage. And that doesn’t mean the ruggedness of songs like “Do You Believe” or “Find That” wore off at all during this show (two great renditions of the night). When they warn, “If you owe me money, better find that shit…” while performing the latter track, you can see that JuJu and Les are no studio thugs. Finally seeing The Beatnuts reminded me of when rap wasn’t quite so manufactured and safe. And seeing that they aren’t quitting anytime soon, it’ll be interesting to see how their street level party rap holds up as hip-hop continually moves towards new trends.

Words and photos by Max Herman

She’s known for rocking her signature pink and black locks and bringing her rock meets electro vibe to the DJ booth. Her career keeps expanding and she isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. ChinaShop was able to nail down this electronic superstar for a quick Q & A and a photo shoot that may or may not have resulted in her falling into a swimming pool fully clothed in designer threads.

Being a DJ, running a record label, writing for top publications, which one is your favorite hat to wear?
That’s so hard to answer. I love all of them for separate reasons! DJing brings me joy because I’m sharing what I love with the audience, because I get to travel, because I get to meet new people and have friends around the world. The record label, though on a brief hiatus at the moment, is a way to share music that I believe in with the world. Writing, especially interviews, I find so much fun just because I like picking people’s brains. I love getting those small tidbits of information that share the artist’s personality with the reader instead of just talking shop.

You’re often referred to as ‘the hardest working female in the industry.’ What’s your secret to success?
No secret – I just work really hard. This is what I do for a living. It’s what I work on during the day and at night. I remember when I first started touring in high school/college, people asked me the same question. Back then, it was making literally hundreds of demo CDs and physically mailing them everywhere from Mexico to Hong Kong just to get a few bites. Now it’s a little more complicated — managing my social networks, producing, putting out mixes, maintaining my blog, etc…but the same concept. What I get out of my career is a reflection of what I put into it.

What do you consider to be your greatest professional accomplishment so far?
There are a couple of milestones I’m proud of – playing Lollapalooza twice, launching the record label, my first big single “Poppin’ Bottles” and speaking at Macworld for a panel on women in technology.

Tell me about your style. Do you have certain things you always wear when you perform?
Not necessarily certain things, but I do gravitate towards a certain style. I noticed the other week my closet is pretty much all black, purple, magenta, grey and army green. I love leggings, lots of hardware (zippers, rivets, pyramid studs, etc.), jewelry with symbols like bullets, snakes, antlers and handcuffs, leather and big, high heels.

You just had a pretty eventful trip to the West Coast. DJing at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Vegas…how was that?
It was amazing – I was playing in one lounge while Holy Ghost! was in the other for the week. The hotel is breathtaking, the Chandelier lounge where I played is visually stunning, and I really got to exercise my music chops and go in slightly different directions than I normally would. I can’t wait to go back in March!

And you recently spoke at MacWorld. How was that experience?
Whew that was a crazy day. It was during the week I was in Vegas, so I had played until 3 in the morning, then had to take a plane to San Francisco the next day, was ushered to the convention center where I spoke, and then was taken back to the airport to fly back to Vegas and work! The panel at Macworld was on women in technology and I had the opportunity to share the stage with some women I really respect, including Cali Lewis of GeekBeat.tv and news anchor Natalie Morris. I heard whispers that we might do it again next year with a longer time for the panel!

Has being trapped in the cold Chicago weather this winter sparked your creativity at all?
I wish I could say yes but truth be told I feel more creative when I’m somewhere bright and warm!

What was the most bizarre gig you ever DJ’d?
I had to play a show for Zac Posen once. I arrived at the event and found out that they didn’t really have anything for me to wear (which is unusual – normally when I play for a brand or designer they provide clothing) so I wound up having to wear a Zac Posen dress that belonged to someone running the event. To add to the weirdness, they couldn’t find any shoes for me so I was under strict instruction to be barefoot and was told to not leave the DJ booth for the entire event. Then, before the show, Zac came over with his iPod and told me to just plug it in and let it play from a pre-programmed list. I stood there the whole time, not DJing, with no shoes in a borrowed dress. What?

I heard that your ChinaShop photo shoot included an unplanned fully clothed dip in the pool. Wanna explain that one in your own words?
Ha! We were shooting in the alley behind the ChinaShop office, just walking around looking for interesting locations and props. The photographer spotted a private pool in an apartment complex across the street so we ran over and saw there were inflatable rafts stashed to the side. Immediately he wanted me to get on one and float around on it, but I was worried that water would start running into the thing once I put all my weight on it. I still decided to run with it – after all, the worst that could happen would be that I got wet and if we got a good picture then bonus. Lo and behold, as soon as I sat on the damn thing water rushed in and within a matter of seconds my whole backside was chlorinated. I got a good laugh out of it.

Did you at least get some fun pictures and a good story out of it?
No pics unfortunately since the whole thing happened so fast, but definitely some chuckles. It was amusing when we came back to meet the ChinaShop staff and my friends and had to explain why, in the five minutes I was gone, I got soaked.

I read on your Facebook that you have a few residencies booked right now. Where/when are those?
Yes I have one residency that begins on 2/10! It’s my only residency in Chicago – I’m very very particular about making sure something like that fits what I’m about. It’s at Crescendo and I play two Thursdays a month. I’ve played for Crescendo several times in the past and have a great rapport with the staff and love that they give me the trust and freedom to play exactly what I want. They really support their DJs and rally around them.

Who would you most love to share the stage with?
So many people! L.A. Riots, Vandalism, Green Velvet, Geht’s Noch, Swedish House Mafia, Crookers, the list goes on and on. I mean, I geek out on music 24/7 so there’s a ton of people I’d love to play alongside. I’ve also been fortunate enough to already play with people who I love and respect like Hot Pink Delorean, Tittsworth, JFK from MSTRKRFT, Wolfgang Gartner, Kaskade and others.

Your job requires you to maintain some late hours and often go on little sleep. What keeps you running? Adrenaline? Excessive caffeine? Love of the trade?
All of the above?? Actually, I do keep late hours, but try to get enough sleep as much as possible. I’m awful when I don’t get enough sleep – I can’t function. Staying up late is easy though, especially once I set foot into a venue. I can be exhausted, but as soon as I get to a gig the adrenaline spikes and I can be up all night. I do have to give some credit to Red Bull though… everyone who follows me on Facebook or Twitter knows I’m a little obsessed with Sugar Free Red Bull. Yeah, I have an official fridge in my office stocked at all times.

How was your experience at Porn & Chicken?
Let’s put it this way – Porn & Chicken (Mondays at Evil Olive in Chicago) is a shit show. — plain and simple. It’s one of the craziest, most debauchery-ridden nights going on right now, and it’s a blast. It’s one of my favorite nights to play because there’s such a sense of freedom there. You can pretty much do whatever you want and the response will be, “oh whatever, it’s Porn & Chicken”.

Words by Nicole Pajer. Photos by Dustin Downing.