Month: February 2022

In any reporter’s career, there’s always that one interview we know we will always compare all the rest to. The one that went just right. The perfect environment, the perfect conversation, the perfect topics. Even though I am still early in my interviewing career, I know deep down, no matter who I speak to moving forward, they will always come second to the night I interviewed DJ Badcat, a DJ I had known of for a while, but had not actually met until I showed up at her front door one winter evening in Santa Fe with nothing but questions and time.

We had talked online for a while and I had been a fan of her radio show for what felt like years, and yet, as is the normal thing these days, we never had a chance to meet and speak in person. Which is a huge part of why I was so amazed and grateful that she allowed me a chance to enter her world. Rave culture is one that supports and believes in those individuals that belong to it, and that is part of why my need to interview came to be.

All these stories, and amazing journeys we have all had, and yet, unless we try and remember them for each other they run the risk of disappearing. Well, I have no interest of letting that happen. Which is why I am writing about DJ Badcat.

I arrived at the House with the Blue Door with an open mind, and from the minute I walked in we began to talk nonstop, clicking immediately. First, as is always my custom, we started with her record collection. A record collection will always be a strong place to connect with others because every collection is unique, and ever record seems to represent a different part of who that person is.

The collection is your identity and with each one a different story is told. Badcat had one of the most unique collections I’ve seen mainly because, like me, she collects the records as much for herself, as ever for anyone she’s going to play them for.

There’s this grand misunderstanding that DJs are the only one’s who study and love music, and yet the first point she made that stood out was the fact that she hasn’t always been a DJ, but she’s always loved the music. She’s as much a traveler of the world as anybody I’ve met, and not every story revolves around music. Life is a constantly changing story, and I sat in amazement for what ended up being hours as she unfolded hers.

She served six years with the Army National Guard, spent five years as a volunteer fire fighter in Pittsburgh and has known more cities than most people will ever dream to see. Her time in Florida being the moment she fully realized her love for playing house music, which eventually helped her find her way to Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is where I first heard her play.

I identified with this immensely since I’ve found that in many ways our people are nomads by nature. We seem to have one home and yet no home all at once, and I felt that with Badcat. Everywhere she’s gone she’s made it her home and yet she knows she is able to carry that with her, which is something you can feel strongly when she DJ’s.

Much like a record collection a DJ’s choice of songs during a mix is a representation of where they’ve been and with Badcat you can sense that every time. When I hear her play a song, I want to ask her where she found this, and what it meant to her? How did you choose to play this one? And why now? So many words are produced when I hear her DJ, and I feel that is something that should be noticed. Badcat uses her art to inspire others, and I know this because I’ve spent many nights sitting at home listening to her radio show and making art of my own.

Don’t think for a minute, though, that her skills only exist on the radio. She can rock the dancefloor as good as any DJ in this state, and her respect for the craft is felt in what she always describes herself as, ‘A Vibe Engineer.’

It started with the Charcuterie, and then the different types of wine, and then the amazing art she had hanging everywhere, even one beautiful one I loved most, which I’d later find out was painted by her own mother. Then came the music.

Have no doubt when I say this, I’ve met a lot of people who love House Music, and yet very few who have as sophisticated a palet as Badcat. She doesn’t just know house music, she seems to sense it, like, well, sort of like a cat. There’s a natural intuition to setting the mood and, again, it comes back to her own phrase. Vibe Engineer.

She explained the concept of a DJ not just playing music that they like on a really loud Soundsystem, but rather setting a mood and a feeling in a way that could be seen and felt, on top of being heard. We feasted on some of the most unique food I’ve ever tasted as she explained this concept more and more.

DJ’s, at times are mad scientists by nature, creating experiments and explosions with every new attempt, and she showed me that again that night.

We ended the night by listening to her radio show from her kitchen, as she had to leave early in order to play across the airwaves with her Legion of Boom show on KSFR in Santa Fe.

It was a bizarre feeling to have, knowing that the very person speaking to me over the radio waves was the very same person sitting across the table from me just an hour before, telling me how she went from a bedroom DJ, to where she is now. A leader in House Music here in New Mexico.

But the radio isn’t the only place you can find her, as there is nothing compared to hearing her play that house music in person, as she will do tonight at Meow Wolf with Paul Oakenfold and The Rev. Three Legendary DJs in one night is something I just can’t recommend enough. And from there it just keeps going, just like with everything. The beat goes on, the vibe carries on, the culture continues to grow.

I will forever be grateful to Badcat for that night at the House with the Blue door, and it will be very hard for others to top such a moment for us to have together. It was music, it was laughter, it was the sharing of stories, it was delicious food, it was good drinks, and most of all, it was a moment worth remembering. So please, show your love and support for a one-of-a-kind DJ, and a true and tested Vibe Engineer. Jennifer Highfield Castro AKA DJ BADCAT. See you on the dancefloor.

It’s a strange thing, this life. We find it one night in the darkest and even most dangerous of places, and just like that, it’s who we are. It’s who we will always be. That’s the first thought I had as I sat in the passenger seat of our SUV as my wife and partner drove me to conduct the first interview I’d ever give to a DJ in my life.

Well, maybe not the first. Since my wife is a DJ and by that point, I had interviewed her a million times, she was technically the first, but those were different. It was always just her and I. Her believing in me enough to take me seriously, and me trying to be the person she always saw in me.

One day somebody will find those tapes of her and I talking, and I cherish them, but I also know deep down they were always meant as a lead up to the one we were going to do now. The one that helped me realize how much of a culture we have truly become. I didn’t snap about that, though, until I finally interviewed The Rev.

Timm Reynolds, or as we call him, ‘The Rev’ is a House Music Legend in New Mexico, and he’s been an active and positive contribution to it for such a stretch that he’s just as relevant now as when I first met him over twenty years ago.

Things were different then. I was a teenage loner looking for a place to fit in, and he was one of the most loved DJ’s in the state. Well, not much has changed. I’m still a loner and he’s still loved. Which Is why it was so monumental for me that he was the first DJ to agree to let me interview him. I assumed it would just be my friends, and maybe one day a DJ I respected, but with The Rev it’s something different. For many Raver’s around here he influenced our taste in House Music as much as any DJ I can think of.

He played every weekend for us, and during the week we’d find him at The Loft sharing the tracks he’d play. Or maybe he was helping promote the next gathering, doing the voice of the info line, and sometimes even selling tickets. He’s a part of this scene and this culture because he contributes and that is a huge part of why I decided to start interviewing local DJ’s. In all my travels, all the places I’ve been, I still always came back to New Mexico, and the people, and the sound you can only find here.

Who else is going to speak better of this place than us? Who will love it more? Or fight for it more? Or start over with it again? New Mexico is strong because it knows who it is, and that’s something that stood out about the Rev when we finally started talking on the record that Sunday afternoon.

He started by telling me about his background and how he first grew interested in Dj’ing by following his older brothers. One time he was just the younger brother wanting to be cool, wanting to be accepted. I suppose we all start with that no matter where we come from. He then told me about his discovering electronic Music in Austin, Tx as a teenager. Wandering into clubs during a time where industrial and punk were all over the place. House music would come to him in time, but like with the rest of us, he was connected to the culture before he was connected to the music.

Although, you just cant deny, most times they are always the same thing, and house music is perhaps the clearest example of that.
From there he found his way to New Mexico and made his way through the warehouses and desert raves that filled our youth. It’s so amazing to look back at that time and to see it for the thriving amazing culture it already was. I used to compare it to being allowed into a magical realm, and now all these years later I see that we don’t have to hide anymore. We can dance and discuss these things in the light of day, and we are allowed to remember them. The Rev is a connection to that moment and still he helps us grow.

What I discovered that Sunday afternoon, though, just as I notice now, is that this isn’t some victory lap for the Rev. He’s not slowing down and he’s expanding in a way he never did before. With over 20+ different releases of his own being a DJ isn’t enough anymore. He wants to create and produce and continue to contribute, just like how he taught the rest of us. House music is a place of growth and expansion surrounded by those who feel the same and the Rev is leading the way for New Mexico on where we want to go next. Not just with the tracks he picks but also with the tracks he makes.

From that first interview we have spent a lot of time talking and discussing not just the history of House music both in New Mexico and beyond, but also these moments that we only thought we were the ones who remembered. Whether it’s discussing his sunrise set at Junebug, or the Record shop he used to run in the South Valley, or even that time at Towers where we went just cause they said it was his birthday, and it ended with the Police everywhere and us wondering who had the guts to shoot up the Rev’s birthday party? All these moments we’ve shared, these memories we have, all come back when hearing them from the voice of a DJ who not only helped make the soundtrack, but also helped us find the way.

Now, as the summer of 22’ is quickly approaching, the Rev, like the New Mexico house music scene is going to be bouncing like it’s 99’ again, and we are happy and grateful to be there still. Such a wild trip it’s really been. From my first rave in a Santa Fe warehouse listening to Dnb, to sitting there with the DJ while he shared his story with me, I know without thinking twice, we still have more to go. I know there will be more to say, but for now, please listen to the Rev’s latest mix, a powerful reminder that House music will never stop, and it will always be true. If you’d like to see him this weekend, he is playing the sold-out Paul Oakenfold @ Meow Wolf show in Santa Fe on Friday, and with the Adobe Disco crew in Albuquerque on Saturday. And from there he just keeps going, just like the beat. Just like us. Just like House music.

When the first interview that day was finally over, and the air grew colder and more demanding with the sunset, I sat back in that same SUV, hours after we arrived, and I turned to my wife. ‘I think I want to do this for the rest of my life,’ I told her. And just like that, I realized the path I was meant to lead, even if it was barely at the beginning.

The Rev gave me that by believing in me and sharing his words with me, and I have heard similar stories from other DJ’s all around New Mexico. He is the one they look to as the standard, and the one who accepts them. And he does, and with that acceptance they grow, and they help build something that started when most of us were children and are now full-grown adults. The Rev isn’t just a DJ or an artist, he’s a pillar of the New Mexico Rave community, and just like when I was a teenager, I know I can count on him to show me the way.

Bump this mix, buy his tracks, go dance to his music in person, and show your appreciation for those that not only did it first, but also the ones still going strong. House music, the Rev, and New Mexico will always be connected, and with these words it is my hope that they will never fade. See you on the dancefloor.

Disco is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days, and yet it’s one of those things where once you hear it you know exactly what it is. And I’m not talking about the 70’s Bee Gee’s disco, although, I like that too. I’m talking about the disco that has evolved, the disco that has matured, the disco that is intelligent and educated. That’s the first thing that struck my mind when I first spent time with the Albuquerque Dj crew known as Adobe Disco.

Here are four completely unique and different people, who have all been educated and raised on this music in their own way, and yet somehow, they have found each other at this moment and at this time. And how? Through the music, of course.

What started as a spontaneous merging of sounds one night has now, four years later, become a unique and inviting experience every single time it happens. The idea is simple. A safe, fun, inclusive and welcoming environment for people from any walk of life who wish to lose themselves to the sounds of disco and house. No matter where they play their idea is the same. The vibe attracts the tribe, and with this tribe you can feel the love even before you see them. The music speaks for itself.

First, there is Dave 12, a local legend to anybody aware of House Music in New Mexico. I met him as a teenager hanging around The Loft Record store, where he worked for years. I can still remember the days when I’d go in and listen for what felt like hours, and Dave would stand there and let me find my way. Never any pressure to follow one sound or idea, the Loft gave our culture a place to find ourselves and grow into what it is now.

I still miss that place every day, and yet seeing Dave 12 spin records again, just like he’s done for so long, reminds me that this connection is still alive, but it’s also up to us to cherish and help it grow. His sound today is just as good, though, if not better, because now I can hear the experience in what he plays. Still playing vinyl, still staying true to a culture he helped build here in New Mexico.

Next is LNSC ROB. Rob is not just a DJ who’s sound I love but he’s also the one who welcomed me into the Adobe Disco environment and showed me what they were all about. Originally from El Paso, another place very close to my heart, I was immediately moved by his passion and commitment to not just this sound, but also to doing it right. Rob believes this music can save and even cleanse us and I feel the same.

If you are not moved by this music, why are you here? And if you’re not working to be a positive part of it, again, why are you here? New Mexico is in the middle of an identity shift, and I believe LNSC ROB, and Adobe Disco are a part of sending that in the right direction. I look forward to seeing where Rob, Adobe Disco, and another project he’s already working on, Cenit, are going next. And I know when he plays disco, he knows what he’s talking about. And not just by learning it but by living it as well.

HALOE 5K and I hit it off immediately, and I see so much of that revolves around us both being students of music. We talked about both seeing the Wu Tang Clan at separate times in different cities, and yet the magic was still the same. He told me about seeing Frankie Knuckles at the Paramount in Santa Fe to only about 50 people, and I told him how I hung that flyer on my wall for years because I was so upset that I was too young to go. One of those ones I never made it to, and yet I was happy to speak to someone who was there. Someone to share the story with me.

He gave me that. And then he played, and again what I like about all four of these DJ’s is that they play intelligent disco. They know what they’re playing, and they believe in it. It’s not a competition either, like sometimes you’ll see with groups of DJ’s. They want each other to do well, and to play their sound and that is what HALOE 5K is doing. He’s playing his sound in his city with his people. The music is the gift and the knowledge he shares is a bonus.

BOOGALOO B and I didn’t talk much and yet, I see so clearly, we didn’t have to. He is a DJ, and as a DJ his job is to speak to me through the music and he did that. In our current culture there has been so much pressure on the DJ to do everything that we forget their one and only goal is to play the music they love for people out there on the dancefloor. With his music he said more to me than most people say with a thousand words and that is something that I feel compelled to share.

With Adobe Disco the music comes first, and the progression of everybody’s sound is the goal. BOOGALOO B Is confident and aware of what he’s playing, and you can see that expand when playing with these other three. They each know what they like and the same time, they push each other more. I look forward to seeing BOOGALOO B play out amongst the people, so they can see what I see, a true and real commitment to this sound. The sound we love. Disco.

With all that said, hearing a crew play records together in a private and small environment is nothing compared to hearing them out in public creating their own vibe with friends, family, and strangers alike. That’s what’s happening this weekend at Still Sprits. Adobe Disco will take over from 9pm-2am and they will play whatever comes out, and that is something you just have to hear and feel for yourselves.

What’s better is this time they have welcomed House Legend Reverend Mitton along for the ride, and when you combine the sounds of these five it’s a night that isn’t just celebrating where New Mexico is but also where it’s going. I know I will spend more time with Adobe Disco, and I know I will write more about them down the line, but for now, and for this weekend, all I can say, is go early, stay late, and support the culture.

They are asking for donations of $5 to support the Adobe Disco vibe, and all they ask is for you to come in peace and to come with a positive vibe and ready to dance. Disco will always have my heart and with Adobe Disco I have found others who feel the same. This music has saved our lives and now it’s time to celebrate and support that. Feb 26th, Adobe Disco is having a show. Meet me there. Let’s help build something real, and safe, and lets do it together. Thank you to the guys at Adobe Disco for showing me their style, and sharing their time, and their music, and most of all their words. Disco has grown up, and so have we. See you on the dancefloor?

Anybody who knows me knows that I don’t like genre’s. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hate them because I understand why they are necessary at times, and yet if given the option I always like to stay away from them. At the least I like to have the state of mind ‘All Genre’s welcome’. And it’s not even that I want to hear Happy Hardcore, or Trap, or even Melodic fuckin Techno every day, it’s just I still feel the need to include all of it, since having all of it is what makes us Ravers. Ravers are versatile.

But still, even with saying all that, I know deep down my favorite genre will always be Progressive Trance. I discovered it as a teenager, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Not many people really talk about Progressive Trance and yet every time I bring it up to people I meet, they always know exactly what it is, and they always immediately admit their affection as well.

What’s so strange to say about Progressive Trance is it’s perhaps the one genre that gets mistaken for other genres the most, and yet you know it when you hear it, without even thinking twice. In fact, it’s so blended into other genre’s that what’s happened is that many people believe the genre itself has disappeared compared to when I was a young raver in the early 2000’s. Back when it was big. Back when Progressive Trance ruled the world.

In the early 2000’s it can be argued that progressive trance was the hip genre. I guess you could say it’s a lot like how Techno is viewed now. I remember liking it as I matured and hearing the difference in the sound of the DJ’s I loved so much, who all seemed to be playing that same sound at the time. It was the dominant genre back then, and I don’t think that has changed, it’s just it evolved. Progressive Trance is still very cool. And sexy too. I’ve always thought it was very sexy; whatever that means.

Many of my favorite dj’s like Sasha, John Digweed, Deep Dish, and even Nick Warren were playing Progressive Trance. It was the dominant sound I started hearing when going out to the desert gatherings in the summer and the warehouse ones in the fall. And no DJ was better at it, at least to me, than Christopher Lawrence, a Dj I still love to this day. He has the enthusiasm, and the knowledge, and the ability to present Progressive Trance in the timeless way we all see it.

Now, this piece isn’t about any of these Dj’s but I hope if you read this you will look them up as well, because they are the reason I love Progressive Trance, and they are the reason I am now going to talk about Christoph. And the New Progressive Trance.

Right when I say that I want to be clear that there isn’t anything new about Christoph or the music he plays, and yet at the same time to many of us that is what he will always represent, and yet that is also why we celebrate him so much. He clearly represents a new evolution of the Progressive Trance sound, and yet he still encompasses that sophisticated, subtle, driving sound that the genre has also always had. He’s helping it change while still staying true to that original concept. And now he is bringing that to New Mexico.

On February 19th, 2022, Christoph is playing at the Electric Playhouse in Albuquerque, NM. For any fan of Trance, Progressive, or anything in between this is a night that can not be missed. Not only will you get a unique sound in an intimate environment, but you’ll get it surrounded by fellow music lovers who have followed this sound their entire lives.

For me it will be bittersweet since I have had many chances to see him, and yet every time it has gone wrong. For example, this last fall in Chicago he was scheduled to play Arc Music festival and yet had to cancel around a week before we actually got there. It’s frustrating yet understandable since sometimes these things are out of our control, and yet it was perhaps the fifth time I had a chance to see him, and I didn’t.

One time was at EDC, and we just didn’t make it inside in time. One time he was playing on a Friday in Denver, and we didn’t get there till Saturday to see Maceo Plex. One time In LA he opened for Eric Prydz at the Naud Warehouse, and we missed that as well. Just keep missing him, and just barely. Over and over with this last time being the biggest bummer that we even sat with a friend and talked about it after the festival was over.

“Prydz was great, but I wish Chrstoph was here.” She said.
“Same.” I said
I remember her telling us it was her first time seeing Prydz, and
“He was amazing, and that light show, and that Progressive Trance sound. I just love it.”
“Same.” I said.
“But I still like Chrstoph more.”
“Same.”

And it isn’t to say we didn’t like Prydz, because there’s no denying that he has championed the Progressive Trance sound as much as anybody ever, but it is also stating Chrstoph has something, and we see and hear that. He is a New Generation and still a part of what we’ve always loved about Progressive Trance.

We eventually settled on the agreement that Prydz is the best, but Christoph is exciting, and different, and yes his sound is even a little bit sexy. Trance will make you cry, and dance, and forget all the pain, so let it heal you, and let yourself become something new.

I also say all of this, because unfortunately, I will again, miss Chrstoph. Blocks from my house, with friends and foes alike in attendance we will simply stay home. But that’s us, that’s our journey, and we’ll just have to find him somewhere on the road later down the line.

But for New Mexico, for Progressive Trance, and for our Culture I couldn’t be more excited for this night. It’s a night that’s taken decades in the making. Please, go early, stay late, and enjoy every minute of this music we’ve cherished all our lives. This music that saved us. Close your eyes, enjoy the euphoria, and just let go.

See you on the dancefloor. Or not.

Link to Event Page