Month: June 2022

I’ve been a fan of Green Velvet since I was 16. Although, back then he was still known as Cajmere, and he’s from Chicago. I didn’t hear I’m live for the first time, though, until years later at the Santa Ana Star Casino here in New Mexico.

They had this nightclub in the back of it called the Stage, and although it’s not the place I imagined seeing such a legend for the first time, looking back, I don’t think it matters.

What I learned that night, and have been reminded many times since, is that the place or time or even crowd doesn’t even matter when it comes to some DJs. Some DJ’s just know how to bop. And this DJ is the best at that.

There are two images I remember so clearly from that night and I’ll try and explain them now. First, was the image of Green Velvet himself standing up at the decks right before his first track. His green Mohawk clear and bright, along with those futuristic glasses he always wears. He looked like a super hero up there. I’ll never forget that.

And then he dropped the beat and everything started vibrating. I mean everything. The floor, the walls, my drink, the inside of my brain. He absolutely hijacked our senses from the get go, and he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time. It was a fabulous display of sound and vibrations, and it’s still one of the best nights I’ve ever had on the dancefloor.

The second image I have of that night was when it was over and they kicked us freaks and weirdos out of the club, and into the casino. We were not yet ready to go, and yet I can’t imagine anybody had the power to even gamble. As I walked slowly out into the open game floor I found my fellow ravers lying out and against anything they could. I was not the only one who had been affected by this DJ.

It was similar to after a festival where everybody is so tired they can’t go home yet, and yet that’s usually after a full day of music, thousands of steps, and multiple sounds attacking multiple senses.

This was just one DJ. How could he overwhelm us so? How could he be so powerful, and so in control, so outrageously, that he literally left us sprawled out on the carpet after he was done. How? And who? With the answer to both being the same. That’s Green Velvet.

Green Velvet is the definition of legend. House music is like a tree. It started from one seed, and from there grew many many roots. All of those roots help makeup what our culture is now, and in that light, Green Velvet isn’t just part of the culture. He helped create it. He isn’t just a DJ. He is a teacher, and his lessons are with House Music. His classroom is the dancefloor.

The second time I saw Green Velvet was at EDC and it was for a night he was hosting at the neon garden that he called LA LA LAND. I can still remember the anticipation for that one.

“I’m going to La La Land. I’m going to La La Land.”

I felt like a child, and yet our friend, who had not seen him before, didn’t quite understand yet. She needed to hear and feel it for herself. Somethings you just can’t explain. So that night we welcomed her into the neon garden where Velvet played with The Black Madonna (now the Blessed Madonna) and Gorgon City.

I’m sure there were other DJ’s but that’s all I remember, because they played before Velvet, and once he went on it’s like everything else went blank.

It started the same, though. Dancing in the crowd. Lost in the garden. Surrounded by thousands of other house and techno lovers just enjoying the moment and the empty desert sky. I can even recall him walking up to the decks, with that same smile. This time I knew, though. This time I was ready.

Then I turned to our friend, and then to velvet. As if to say, get ready. And then he dropped the bass, and he smiled, and everything started vibrating again. Out there on that dancefloor, just like back home in New Mexico, once Velvet played, everything changed.

I’d say maybe three or four hours passed by before we even realized it after that, and yet the only thing I can remember pulling me out of it was the sunrise over the speedway as we tried to recover. Wasted from the lesson we were given that night. The way only this DJ could. And when they asked, who did that to us, we all said the same. It was Green Velvet.

Now, I could go on about other times I’ve seen that DJ, and how the experience is always the same. A lesson on house as well as one on what a real DJ is. Green Velvet is timeless, and yet every time I hear him I am reminded why we will always return to that experience. He is the standard. We simply have to find a way to meet it.

This weekend, July 2nd Green Velvet is coming to New Mexico again, and he’s playing at the historic El Rey theatre downtown. Playing alongside him are two excellent house DJ’s from New Mexico in a recent favorite of mine Varsity Acid, and a quality old school House Head in Swift Money.

These two DJ’s are a bridge in styles that represent the vastness of sounds here in our desert oasis. Varsity Acid is ever changing and reacting, and Swift Money is that quality B Boy Scratch House DJ we know and love. They represent what we are, and I’m happy they were the two picked to play alongside such a talent on such a night.

So please, go early stay late, and when that fuckin bass hits for the first time, and he smiles, and you realize how much has changed so completely, I want you to turn to the person next to you. Whether they are your friend or just some perfect stranger in the night. And I want you say out loud without out even thinking twice. This . . . is Green Velvet.

See you on the dancefloor.

On Sunday, May 15th, there was a full lunar eclipse, and because of that I decided to go into the desert with not one, but two House and Techno DJ’s from New Mexico, and our goal was simple: Techno under the moonlight. Always for the techno.

We were invited to attend something I feel we may never have the chance to experience again. And I’m not just saying that because it was right in the middle of the White Sands National Park, but also because it was Techno being played by one of the best DJ’s in the Southwest, Dustin Holtsberry, for a special set under the Blood Moon.

When the invitation was first sent to us, we had no expectations of going. I worked that day, gas was up near four dollars a gallon, and the drive was nearly four hours away. There were just so many reasons why we shouldn’t have gone. I was gonna say no.

But then I thought about it and I thought, this is my one opportunity at a moment like this, and If I miss it I may regret It, whereas calling into work and spending some extra cash is something I’ll never think twice about if it’s for the right reason, and this was great reason. And I’m not just talking about the eclipse either.

Anybody from the El Paso/Las Cruces area knows one thing about Dustin, the DJ. He’s got it. Whatever IT is, he has it, and you can hear that when he plays. For the blood moon he played close to four hours of hard, dark, and heavy techno, and yet the part about that stands out the most about it all was how easy he made it look. He plays techno like it’s his nature, which is something that can never be denied.

In years he is fairly young, and perhaps that is a good thing because he isn’t as jaded as many DJ’s at my age. He’s still aware of the sound he wants, while still bringing enthusiastic professionalism to his sets, which I feel is a sign of the next generation of Techno.

And that isn’t to say my generation isn’t serious about it, it’s just simply saying that in Dustin I see the future of techno, and after hearing him steal the show away from the blood moon while surrounded by white sands dunes for miles, I could see that the future is now.

We started the night at a favorite spot of mine, and it has nothing to do with techno, but rather with Chicken. Don’t ever forget to feed yourself before you go into the darkness. You have no idea what you’re gonna find there, and this night already had that magical feel since it was the eclipse.

I can still remember the image of that giant full moon traveling right alongside me on the lone empty highway between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, and as the eclipse slowly began, I could feel the music getting closer and closer.

That’s the secret about Techno, you know? Most people pay attention to the sound, but the reality of it is that you feel it far before you hear it. And the more time goes on, the further away you can feel it. It’s an energy very similar to the one felt from the eclipse, so having them as counters for this night would be an experience unlike anything before.

If you’ve never been to White Sands before the best way to describe the journey is that it’s a slow gradual change. You go from typical desert wildlife. Cactus here, Cactus there. Some birds. Bushes. Dirt. A lot of dirt. Hot as hell, but still very much alive.

But then as you get closer it slowly starts to grow still. Not as much wildlife, not as many bushes or cacti. It levels out, and you can feel the changes. Both unnatural and natural. White Sands itself is as much an example of that as anywhere in the world.

The sand dunes are natural, and have been there for longer than we know and yet the testing of the Atom Bomb during WWII, along with the missile range that still stands there, have changed the area beyond compare.

I wondered that the deeper into the dunes I got. Eventually the dirt turns to sand and the sand turns to white powder. The bushes are still there, but then, after you pay your fare, and are finally in, you go over one hill, and then it’s just white sands for miles and miles and miles. While that, and darkness.

As expected, the park was packed for the eclipse and since we found ourselves trying to find our DJ in the darkness, we reverted to our old raver skills and just followed the sound in the night. We did it all the time as teenage ravers in the deserts of New Mexico, and it worked most of the time. Most of the time.

Just go into the desert, and take your chances, follow the energy, and the vibe, and eventually the sound, and if you find it, you’ll know you were meant to find it, and if you don’t, well, that’s always gonna be one you never made it to. Happened to everybody back then.

And you couldn’t just call somebody who was there and ask for directions. Either you made it to the map point on time or run the risk of wandering the desert all night long.

Happened to me in the Santa Fe Mountains a couple of times, and I still can’t let that go. Especially the one with Donald Glaude. I think it was called the Prophecy. Yeah, I never made it to that one, and that was twenty years ago. Trust me. These things you remember, one way or the other.

The good news is we did, in fact, finally find the DJ, and yet don’t get it twisted, we had to really find them. Hidden behind a curved dune back at the end of the loop, it was an amazing sight to drive up to, and even more amazing once we finally walked up and found what we were looking for.

If it never goes away when you don’t find the party, it also always stays when you did. This was one of those moments. The image of walking up to Dustin playing that hard, real Techno hidden behind that spot, with the blood moon clearly above us, and people dancing all over, will stay with me for a long time, and I knew immediately that first moment right there was enough.

The music, the people I was there with, the people who invited us, the people I didn’t even know, and of course the DJ, we all had that moment together, and it’s one we will never get back, but then again, we don’t have to. Living it once was enough for it to last.

We danced and celebrated a new moon as we all responded to each sound, and rattle, and beat drop as if it were a natural reaction; because with techno it is. I suppose from there the shrooms we ate at the car finally kicked in, and we just spent the rest of the night wandering around those dunes, under the blood moon, to the sounds of techno. It was better than I expected, and yet exactly what I needed.

That area of this state, and the people I met from it, will always hold a special place in my heart not just because of the time I spent living there and going to school, but also because of how real the connection still remains. They believe in this music, and it’s not just something they do, it’s something they are. I can feel that when I hear them play, I can feel that when I talk to them, and I can even feel it just by being on the dancefloor next to them.

El Paso is an electronic music epicenter, and it shows that every single weekend with unique and real environments like the one I experienced at white sands. And now with Dustin they have a DJ that I feel is on the verge of something big, and my only hope is that he remains committed and true to this sound I can tell he knows so well.

The best DJ’s don’t say it or even write it, like me. They just go and do it and I feel moving forward you will see for yourselves what this DJ can do. Techno is not something you learn as much as it’s something you know, and Dustin knows Techno. Because of that I feel very confident with where he and other DJ’s will take it next.

What I also hope for is sometime in the future we will be able to experience a Paradigm night here in Albuquerque. I want nothing more than for my El Paso Techno Fam to finally and once and for all connect with the Albuquerque crowd. A connection that is already there, we just need to notice it already.

Paradigm is Dustin’s own creation and I feel we are at a point where we need to allow DJ’s to evolve into something more than just the set times they are allowed, and I feel what he is doing with these shows is a great example of that.

Next for Dustin is a very exciting show for everybody as he is playing at a world famous night club in Juarez, Mexico known simply as Hardpop. Dustin is playing an all night long b2b with another DJ who I have been a fan of ever since I heard he play at the Essential Mix at Exchange in Los Angeles. Lee K.

Lee K is another DJ who I know is both the right now and the future of where Techno is going. I have been blown away by her music at every stop, and I believe the two already played together for a CRSSD after party with another El Paso DJ we all know so well, the outstanding, Raul Facio.

The night is warming up to be a very epic experience as Dustin and Lee K are given all night long, so if you’re in the area, please go, and witness this for me. A turning point for us all and a moment I feel will show how good both DJ’s are right now.

In closing, what I’ll admit stood out to me most about this DJ and this night was something that you notice from the real DJ’s that you find yourself supporting more than others, and it has nothing to do with musical ability, although, again this guy has a whole lot of that.

What I liked is that after he was done playing, Dustin helped break down the setup and even thanked us all one by one for coming. I know this doesn’t seem as much to most, but to me it was such representation of both this DJ, and this corner of the world.

He played amazing, and I’m sure he was exhausted, and yet no ego, no focus on the next day. He was a part of it as we were a part of it, and it matters so much to us on the dancefloor knowing we have a DJ who feels that way too.

I wish to say thank you to Dustin for the great music and the great night, and also to Mark for the hospitality and the great conversation every single time we’re down there. The moments I share with this part of the world are moments I cherish and I don’t feel that has anything to do with a blood moon.

This started as a story about an eclipse, and instead it made me realize one thing. Eclipses come and go, more common than we realize. But being able to see a DJ on the verge of something big, that never happens, and yet it happened that weekend under the blood moon. We saw the future, and the future is Techno. Duh!

See you on the dancefloor.

The first time I heard Ana M play was in a warehouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I could tell immediately that this DJ had something different. She has a commitment to her sound, and an ability to change and adapt to the environment it’s being played in. Which is still exactly what I hear when I listen to her DJ now, but with a bit of evolution.

She has confidence, awareness and an understanding of what it takes to be a truly unique DJ. The road she has taken since that very first night I heard her play has changed her, but then again, so has mine. Isn’t that the point, though? Don’t we want to hear the changes? Isn’t that why we’re here?

Some things haven’t changed, though, which is why I’m happy to see that for the next month we will have two chances to not just hear Ana M the DJ, but to also experience the vibe created by her shows known as MIXXD.

What I always like about these shows is the fact that they’re created with the intent of blending not just sounds, but styles and perspectives. When you go to a MIXXD show you get variety in an environment that is more focused on the vibe than on anybody actually playing.

The first stop in the MIXXD X 2 month is this Sunday, June 26th at Insideout where she has gathered a lineup of six different DJ’s, all playing their own form of House and Techno, or somewhere in the middle.

Included are two of my favorites. Xkota, who continues to show her own ability to stand with the best techno DJ’s in the southwest, and also Varsity Acid, who always plays well, no matter where I see him or what sound he plays.

What I like about Varsity Acid is what I like about Ana M and her Mixxd shows. They can each play whatever whenever, and the environment allows for the adaption and evolution of their sound.

The last time I heard Varsity Acid play was alongside Christoph at Electric Playhouse, and I’ve been dying to tell him how much I enjoyed his sound that night, but then again, like I said, the next time I hear him it will be something different. I love that New Mexico will always be about that.

His sound was driving and powerful, and if I’m not mistaken he even found a way to mix in some Acid just before handing the reins over to the other DJ. I can even remember seeing him in the crowd and wanting to tell him I enjoyed it, but being too embarrassed. So now I’ll say it in print. Thanks for the good night. We needed it.

Rounding out that lineup are Ana M herself, of course, as well as Ruby Rhodd and Ulione, to complete an all local lineup on a Sunday night, which I hope will become a common occurrence, since so many people love hanging out in the cool desert air and listening to the music they love, with the people they love.

There’s no excuse not to go. Be there before 8pm and the price is only $5, get there after and still its only $10.

What I hope for this show is a return to the roots of the local connection to house music, and the reminder that no DJ is above the mix that is our culture. I’m excited for all the DJ’s involved, but most of all I’m excited for New Mexico, and the hope that this is only the beginning.

From there MIXXD has another show on July 10th, at Insideout again, and I’ll admit I’m very excited for this one. Coming to town is one of a kind Madam X, and the description of her fits very much in line with what I can tell Ana M is doing as well.

Madam X will play anywhere from Breaks, to House, to Techno, to anything experimental that she likes, and the eclectic DJ’s will always be my favorites. Often times DJ’s fall into the trap of playing what people expect of them and Madam X will never be one of those DJ’s.

She takes you on a journey and the possibility of seeing her in such an intimate environment as Insideout, where the stars are the ceiling, is one I hope every electronic music lover in New Mexico will at the very least consider.

The New Mexico electronic music scene is at a crossroads right now, and I feel Ana M sees that as much as anybody, which is why it’s so important that she’s bringing unique DJ’s to such settings, while still including the sounds of our local scene as well.

Included on the lineup are two DJ’s who play solid sounds of their own in Femme.Antics with Drum and Bass, and Wyatt Lawson with Dubstep. Both belonging to different genre’s, and yet at the same time, what difference does it really make? If you can play you can play, and these DJ’s can play.

Along with them are again, Ana M and another local favorite Conrisa, as well. Causing the overall amount of DJ’s playing on both nights to be an even ten, with nine of them being different locals who play different sounds, and yet believe in this scene as much as the next.

For this one the price before 8pm is $10, and after its $15, with both shows going from 6pm-12am. Both on Sundays, and I can’t say enough how excited I am to be having events all weekend long again. You can go out Friday, and even again Saturday, and still have Sunday to recover with good music. This is a great step for the music scene in our city.

So in closing, I’d like to tell Ana M how much I am enjoying her evolution through sound and I look forward to hearing where it goes from here. I feel this DJ may very well represent where New Mexico is going next, and if she blows up don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Included is a mix from Ana M Herself so you can hear for yourself, but again, don’t forget to go early and stay late. Plus, tickets only sold at the door. So you’re not getting in unless you get in. I love that.

Anyways, see you on the dancefloor, and all that jazz. It’ll be a real Mixx.

You see what I did there?

Life during the first decade of the 2000’s was very strange. It was post 9/11 and we were right in the middle of a war nobody wanted. Yet we were told by our leader, over and over again, that it was necessary for survival. Although, we still don’t believe him or his Texas accent, do we?

We were at the beginning of the Mass Shooting era, and unfortunately we’re still not out of it. In fact, it’s actually gotten so much worse that we hardly even acknowledge all of them anymore, and it’s heartbreaking to admit that. So much death, so much destruction, and still we must carry on. But it’s okay cause Britney Spears came out with a new song.

And don’t get me wrong, we loved Britney, and the Backstreet Boys, and all that other TRL stuff, it was fun, but we were at a point where we needed more. We needed a response to the pain and suffering happening all around us. We needed our Art to reflect our life. And that’s when Kanye West arrived.

These days you think of Kanye and you get the image of ‘Ye’, the guy who started his own religion while dealing with his own insanity. Married Kim, became a billionaire, moved to Wyoming. Lost himself to the power, and money, and attention, and greed. It’s a story we’ve heard a million times, and yet, even with saying that, I still can’t deny, I miss what he was. I suppose I always will.

The first time I heard Kanye West was on 106th and Park one day after I got home from the local community college that was still called TVI back then. MTV had stopped playing videos all together, and VH1 was for old people. The only place to hear good music on the television was on BET, and my wife’s brother had it bumping all day every day.

Hip hop was going through a weird phase. We had nothing really to hang on to, or to believe in. It had been a few years since DMX released his albums, and nearly a decade since Tupac died. Sure, we had Jay Z, but it just wasn’t the same. He was a business man. Still is. We needed somebody whose words would inspire us. I needed that. That’s when I heard Kanye’s first album, ‘The College Dropout’.

He was different from the jump. His sound, his look, his words. They were just saying something else. He was focused on other things than the culture that was in place at the time. He saw ahead of us. Into the future. Into what we’d become. Do you think he’d know what he’d become, though?

From that first track he just ran with it. An intellectual still aware of the streets, he managed to do something very hard to do. He combined the sounds, and the world loved him immediately.

It’s tough to know he has since tried to claim it was just for show, because it felt so real, so genuine. He was rapping from a place we all lived, and yet he used the words we never could. It was clear he wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. As his albums continued to evolve.

By his second album, ‘Late Registration’, he wasn’t just focused on his own journey, but rather the one we were all on. Suddenly, as if completely expected without preparation, he became our voice, and I feel he used that power properly, for a bit.

We loved him and what he said. We loved that he was from Chicago, and that you could hear that in his music. We loved that he was already struggling with demons he is still struggling with now. He wasn’t perfect but we didn’t need him to be. It made it more real that way.

His third album, ‘Graduation’, was a turning point, and you could hear it. The struggle he preached about as a backpack hip hop kid was now long gone, and so were his worries. Or so he thought.

But you could hear the hope on this one. The belief he had that somehow this would all work out. Both for him and for us all. I loved his optimism even in the face of adversity. He always seemed good at that. And then things changed for him.

This was the moment where Kanye began to learn the lesson all artists everywhere must face. The better your art gets, the more it takes from you. It just keeps taking and taking, and you don’t mind, because you love what’s coming out of it, but there’s also an understanding that one day the price is gonna be far greater than your ready to pay, and still, you will have no choice.

You can hear that in his fourth album ‘808’s and Heartbreaks’, where he’s starting to pay the price in a way he never imagined with the loss of his long time love, and then finally, the passing of his mother; the support and inspiration he always had in his corner. You could see the pain he was in and yet just like the rest of us, he tried to tough it out. Tried to channel it through his art.

Still creating too. Still trying to evolve. Trying to understand. Trying to be better. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is admit that you’re not okay. Kanye was not okay, and still we expected the hits. Still, he was meant to carry on.

Then came his fifth album, which may always be considered his final masterpiece, ‘My beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.’ This one he managed to combine it all. Style, sound, substance. He had reached the top of the mountain. Now there was nothing left to do but climb back down. Which is easier said than done. And that’s when we lost the old Kanye. Forever.

After that he still made good music, I won’t deny that. Even now he still has flashes of greatness, but let’s agree, it’s just not the same. I tried hanging on. Tried staying behind him. Supporting him and his vision, but I, like so many other people, got off the ride when he started to support political figures I hated. What’s worse is he seemed to be saying hurtful things on purpose, just to get attention. A clear sign of insanity, and a trait I myself struggle with daily.

But then came his divorce from Kim, and I’m not her biggest fan, but nothing justifies having to see him harass her the way he did when she decided to divorce him.

Watching him spiral without shame or sympathy for her, the mother of his children, reminded me again, of how much we had really lost him. And this isn’t meant to be about his relationships, or his behavior, or even his sanity, but it is frustrating to admit that I hear more about that stuff now than I do his music.

To add on to that, he’s not very good at music anymore either. Granted, I’ll never be able to make the music he makes, but I can hold him to that standard, and in that sense, he has not reached it in years. In fact, I don’t know if he ever will again, and perhaps, maybe that’s a good thing.

For all the good music he made in the past, it doesn’t justify the madness now. Although, in Kanye I see an ultimate truth about art and life that we can’t deny.

We lost Kanye to greed, like we lost Tupac to violence and DMX to drugs. The bigger each of them got, the less we recognized them, and the less we felt that connection. Granted with Tupac, he was murdered and had no say, and with DMX, even until his dying day, we still loved him. We still struggled with him. We still do now.

With Kanye it’s different. We can never go back. And neither can he. He has been taught the ultimate lesson that in return for the art he made there is a price to be paid, and it’s not always going to be in gold.

To make the music he made from 2004-2011 Kanye lost himself, and by doing so, we lost him as well. So now I see him, and I wish him the best. I hope he gets help. I hope he faces his demons, and I hope he leaves Kim alone. She deserves it. But even if he releases something good, and true, and real again, I will still always be that guy who often says, Man, I miss the old Kanye.

Don’t you?

And,

Do you think he does too?

It’s a strange thing saying there’s Techno in New Mexico coming up, but that isn’t to say that we don’t love it here. It’s just simply that it comes and goes.

There have been some great techno DJ’s to come through this city. Juan Atkins, Joey Beltram, Frankie Bones, Richie Hawtin, Sian. All talented and unique in their own way. All belting out their own style and sound of techno that has taken them and so many other DJ’s all around the world.

New Mexico loves techno. But with that said, we just don’t get it very often, and the techno heads know that. Which is why most are committed to traveling around the world to get the best forms of it, and I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with that.

That is the true nature of techno. If house music is your home, techno is what you find once you leave it. It encourages you to go out there and find it. Whether it be in some dark warehouse, or at some festival, or even here in your own city.

Every step you take with techno takes you to the darkest corners of this planet and back again. Back here, where you want to hear it the most. At home, which is why I’m very happy to know that Techno is coming to New Mexico Again.

On June Saturday, June 18th at Insideout, Octopus Records’ own Juheun is coming to town and with him he is bringing a quality and proper form of Techno that, to me, represents the next step for the sound and culture.

As I sit here listening to him now I am reminded that Techno has many different forms and styles. Juheun chooses a style that still has the driving and high tempo energy of Techno, but also has the second layer of progressive moodiness. It’s Techno with emotion and I can feel it from the first beat drop.

To the generation that Juheun belongs to it’s a chance to use Techno to tell you a story while still getting you to the end of the night with unrelenting energy and power. I wouldn’t call this Industrial, and yet I can tell he formed this sound by hearing where techno is and wanting to move it forward into the future. A more modern sound for a crowd that has seen the places that techno will take you.

I have seen Juheun once in my life, and yet I’ll admit to you, I don’t really remember it. And that isn’t to say that he wasn’t amazing, it’s just simply that it was in Detroit, for Movement Music Festival, and there’s this thing that happens when you get off the plane.

You hear the music from somewhere and you just catch the rhythm and the beat, and you just keep moving and shaking, and from there it just starts. Everywhere you go you’re dancing to that hypnotic beat that the City seems to make naturally without even trying.

Then you go to the festival, and an after party, then back to the festival, and then another after party, and so on and so on, and before you know it, you’re back at the airport, getting back on the plane. Still Moving.

I saw Juheun at my first after party my first year of movement as part of the Octopus showcase at Club Bleu where he played alongside somebody I heard is also coming to New Mexico soon, a personal favorite of mine, Carlo Lio.

It was an amazing night where we danced nonstop even though we were beyond exhausted, we ran around looking for a spot to sit in one of the many secret rooms they had there, and just enjoyed the moment. The moment made better by the music of Juheun. He is one small connection to Detroit for me, and now he is coming to share that energy with the people here. Helping them feel what Techno is trying to tell us.

Along with him this time Juheun brings fellow Arizona Techno DJ Mullen to help keep the tempo going, and along with them one of the best Techno DJ’s in New Mexico XKOTA will be starting the night off bringing the style and power on the decks only she has.

Aside from the DJ’s playing this show represents a positive step for the New Mexico Electronic Music Scene. Mr. Afterhours Presents is right in the middle of a very impressive run as a promoter, bringing talents this city has never had the chance to see. Tara Brooks, Gene Ferris, Second City, and as previously mentioned, my guy Carlo Lio have all been brought here due to the efforts of Ata Bahadir, and he should be given love for that.

I look forward to seeing who he brings next, and also where this next show helps our techno scene go from here. I know Ata has been to the Techno Mecca known as Detroit, and I know he understands where it comes from and where it hopes to go. I am excited to know this is the beginning of something that may become more consistent and correct. This city deserves it.

We love techno and we are very knowledgeable about it as well. Showcasing a night with a next generation talent like Juheun is making the statement that this city is ready to have a steady flow of techno coming to our town, and we don’t need to be obsessed with the headliners playing the massive festivals every weekend.

If the techno heads want to go see them we’ll go see them, and yet still, we will always be grateful to come home and listen to real talent like Juheun, underneath the beautiful New Mexico stars surrounded by friends who are now our Techno family.

So please, go early, stay late, support the culture. A culture made stronger by shows like this.

Also wear black, but remember, you don’t have to. And maybe next time can we get Drumcell? Maybe?

See you on the Techno dancefloor.

Event page for A Techno Affair

Last night should have been a dream come true for me, and on paper it was. I’ve spent most of my life on paper and looking at it from a distance it should have been a representation of how far I’ve come both as a raver, but also as a writer. DJ Colette was playing at Meow Wolf, and I had a date with the raver girl who introduced me to her music.

To top that off two New Mexico House Music Legends were playing right before her in a b2b that I know wouldn’t just help get the night started, but it would also serve as a true representation of the sound this state makes so well. Along with that another great DJ named Girl Wunder played experimental glitch sounds in the second room, representing a new style and sound for the state moving forward. It was already promising to be a special night with great talent in a great venue.

What’s better is that for the first time ever I was going to a show where all four of the dj’s previously mentioned are dj’s that I have written about on my blog Ourdancefloor.net in this last year. Two years ago I left the highest paying job of my life to fully commit to my writing and whatever came with it. From there I published books, started this website and began to interview DJ’s. It’s been a wonderful ride, so far.

But with that there’s been struggle too. All of this happened both during the pandemic and into the aftermath of it. The struggles we’ve faced in the last two years have been unlike any faced in the history of the world, and still we don’t know where that will end. The best example of the toll this has taken will always be in my partnership with my wife, and where we are now.

We met just three months short of 22 years ago, no less than two miles away from where I am writing these words now. It was the night of a rave and we had all agreed to meet at my father’s house to shoot pool and pregame. Yes, my father had a pool table in the living room. It was awesome and we had a lot of good times there. I also got into a lot of trouble too.

She walked in the door that night, we locked eyes, met, and the rest is history. Twenty two years of a crazy, wild, amazing ride that I never had the time to stop and notice while it was happening. As John Lennon says, ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’ And I couldn’t say it better myself.
What a ride.

We saw the world together. We faced the madness together. So many good moments. So many good memories. So many things they told me that I’d never have, and still I have it. These are things that can never be taken away, and yet still I know, they change. Everything changes. And so did we.

We lost it somewhere along the way. We let it go. We failed. And it wasn’t over anything major. We never fought about money, we’ve always been loyal, and we are each other’s best friends. But still, even with saying that, you’re not gonna stop things from changing. And when it happens there’s no going back. That’s where we are now, and we know that. Especially after last night.

It didn’t start like that, though. It started as a great plan. I got home from helping set up the sound for another show around 6pm and we were showered and ready to go by 10pm. Perfect timing to make the trip up to Santa Fe and hear every single DJ we wanted.

But as I got in the car and I began to drive, the feeling started to change for me. If only for me. It starts deep down in your stomach, like an ache but you know it’s not something you ate, yet still it grows. And the closer we got, the more that feeling began to take over. I couldn’t even explain it. And my co-pilot, she tried in every way possible, but still it did nothing to help.

The anxiety and the fear and the uneasiness took over so much that by the time I made it Santa Fe and was ready to turn into the meow wolf parking lot, I just couldn’t. Similar to the day I quit my job I just couldn’t do it. Instead of turning in I just kept going. At first I said I was hungry, but I knew that wasn’t true. Eating wouldn’t help this.

We then agreed to switch so she could drive and I considered the idea that maybe I was just exhausted, although, again I knew that wasn’t true. Eventually I admitted to her that I just couldn’t go in and she agreed to drive me home. We drove home in silence without a word of anger or resentment. I didn’t tell her why and yet still she knew. We’ve been partners long enough to say things to each other without words. This was one of those times.

She then offered to take me to the after party thrown by Cenit going late into the morning; which was something I had been helping with all day. Just spending one day with this group was amazing to say the least. They are hardworking, and creative, and kind, and committed. I was there to learn and I found that I learned so much just in that. I feel such admiration for those who are so focused on this culture and this life that they don’t even have time to look up and read what the rest of us waste our time saying.

I look forward to seeing what the collective known as Cenit will do next and I wish to offer my help in any way possible. Whether it be helping lug those speakers down the stairs, or even just being the lonely guy in the middle of the dancefloor watching you guys decorate. It was an amazing day, and I’m only sad that I couldn’t see it at its peak last night. But even without that, I know it was good. And you earned it.

I should have at least been okay with that, but instead I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I asked her to take me home and we went straight to bed without saying a word. It was sad, but not in the way you’d think. Sad in a way that I knew when I woke up things would be different forever and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

All that was left for me to do was fall asleep. So I did. With her by my side.

But that was last night and today, in the sweltering heat I type these quickened words with absolute understanding of what must come next. We have to change, my love and I. We have to be better. We have to stop letting our love get in the way of our partnership, and most of all our friendship.

She is my best friend, and if I have to choose between my wife and my best friend, I pick her as my best friend because I want her to be okay. I want her to succeed. I want her to be what I see in her. Even if that means it’s not with me. I love her enough to let her go.

With that I must announce that there will be a change to Ourdancefloor a bit. It started as a commitment to the underground and how it looked from the point of view of two bears in love and on the road. Well, now it’s just not about us anymore. Our dancefloor isn’t just ours anymore. We’ve got to let go of that.

Now Ourdancefloor represents a chance not just to acknowledge those we come across in the culture that we admire, but also a chance to remember those we lost along the way. Ourdancefloor is theirs now as well.

I wish I coulda made it to that show last night, because I know I probably could’ve met Colette and I could’ve thanked her for her music, and I could’ve told her how I’ve been writing about her. How, I discovered her when I was sixteen and she was my teen idol just as much as any pop star. While the rest of the world was watching TRL, I was listening to House Music and DJ Colette.

We could’ve probably taken some pictures together too, but deep down I would’ve always known that in that picture something wasn’t right with me. That I was forcing it, and faking it, just a little. My heart is destroyed, and broken beyond repair. I don’t know when it’s going to feel better, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the dancefloor.

Because of that I’ll keep writing, and trying again. Trying to give New Mexico words to go with its beautiful landscapes and absolutely unique musical taste. I’m going to fall into my art, and I’m going to work my ass off to find a way back to that moment I could have had last night. The moment I knew I just couldn’t face.

And even if the whole world wouldn’t know the whole story, I would. If I had followed through with last night I would’ve fallen back in love with both House Music and with my love, and I would’ve started the cycle over again; the cycle that would eventually destroy our love once and for all. But I don’t want that.

We’ve come too far. We’ve done so much. We owe each other better.

So Our Love and Our Dancefloor aren’t just ours anymore. They belong to everyone. This culture and the people we lost along the way, demand more of us.

So, in closing I will do nothing more than share a video of a song by the Killers that I used to play a lot before I knew I was going to Las Vegas, Nevada. It was near the beginning of our travels, and it would get me ready and it would make me feel okay with taking this shot. A shot that I made dead on; a shot I didn’t know was aimed directly at my heart.

We don’t know when we start on them that these trips are going to change us more than we ever wanted. We don’t know they’re going to ask more than we can give, and still we know when the times comes, we have to be willing to accept it and move on. Now, it’s time to move on.

But I learned that lesson with time, and love, and doing it the hard way, although, most times I just didn’t have to. I learned it with going out there and living it, and knowing that without regret it was and will always be, worth it. So thanks to the DJ’s, and the promoters, and the dancers, and most of all, the girl who was mine, both all those years ago, and again last night.

See you on the dancefloor.

I only actually spoke to DJ Ohm aka Robert Ortega once in my life, and yet I’ll admit I knew of him for years. It’s a small city and an even smaller rave scene. Name’s get around fast especially when somebody is doing something nobody else is, and that’s the first thing that should be said about him. He was doing something only he could do.

His own sound. His own style. He was one of a kind. I suppose that’s the best thing that could be said about any of us. We are exactly us, and nothing more. But then again his reputation as probably the best scratch DJ in New Mexico is not what I will remember about him, although again his skill must be mentioned.

A 4 time DMC US Finalist and Red Bull Thre3style Regional Qualifier, he didn’t just take turntablism to new heights in New Mexico, he was and is its identity. Many of us grew up listening to the sounds of his scratches. It cannot be understated that in writing these words we didn’t just lose a person, but also something I suppose a little bit more than that. In this moment we lost a star.

What I will always remember about Robert Ortega was the one and only night we spoke, and connected in a way you usually do in this life. Just passing each other by for just a moment and yet in that moment, with what is essentially a stranger, you may find a truth you didn’t see before. That’s how I felt about that night, but I should also admit Ohm wasn’t the only reason I feel this way about that night.

I remember I had just gotten out of work, and we had decided to go to dinner with our friends, another couple we met somewhere along the way, that we found ourselves immensely connected to, and I feel that is an understatement. He’s an artist and she’s a dancer, and they seemed to be the type of people I’d meet no matter the time or place or surroundings. Our meeting was not coincidence.

But then something happens when you make these connections with people, even if you didn’t mean it, and that’s the fact that you drag each other into the pains you face without even trying. We let each other in, and in doing so our emotions become intertwined. Something I didn’t even think was possible.

On this night our friends were fighting when we got there, and I suppose most people would have left right away, but we aren’t like that. We’ve had our own passion filled fights of our own, and we have no place to judge or turn away. If you love us enough to show us that side of you I suppose we love you enough to stay. And we did.

Plus I was really fuckin hungry, and they promised us some good food so I put up with their fighting to eat, and I don’t feel ashamed admitting that. But in order to tell you the truth about this story, I’ll admit, we never actually got food. Not once all night long.

We started at some bar on Nob Hill, and I can’t remember the name but I would know how to get there if I needed to go back, and I remember how it looked inside. It’s strange how the memory works like that.

We started by taking shots, and I remember the boyfriend got mad and went outside. I guess, to throw a fit, but what was funny is that his fits would never work on us. We’d sit with our friend and we’d all kinda laugh about it, and we’d drink some more, and maybe order some nachos and we’d just ignore him. You have no idea how many times this happened, and it was always kind of fun. But tonight there were no nachos. And that’s when DJ Ohm comes into the story.

I can remember seeing his silhouette at the end of the bar. How funny to think these things now. He was hunched over, and already drunk, but trying to hold his own. The bar was nearly closing and he was at a point where you could tell even then that this wasn’t someone at the bar for joy, but rather for pain. It’s tough to admit that but I knew it was true. Those in pain often recognize others in pain first. We know our own.

“OHM!” She noticed him and called him over.

He noticed us before but did not want to approach until we were ready.

“How you doin, Ohm?”

You could tell he was upset, and yet he tried so hard to hide it. Then he told us about his trouble with his girlfriend and how they broke up again, and I didn’t know any of the details, but I suppose they never got back together, which is reason enough to be at a bar alone drinking the sorrow away. I’ve known that pain too many times before and even then I did not judge or resent him, but rather the opposite. We suddenly felt it with him.

After that he agreed to come hang with us and we went back to our friend’s house, and after that our friends just continued to fight more. It was up it was down it was all over the place, and it was never over anything, but also something I had no place to judge. Couples fight and when you’re in the middle of it you think you’re the only one going through it, but in reality everybody has fought about this stuff. We knew that. And so did Ohm.

It wasn’t all bad, though. We had moments of fun. Taking shots or just smoking weed, like I always do; or just talking. We talked a lot. Having that one moment of intimate conversation that lets you know we’re all in this, is something humans need desperately to survive. That night wasn’t as much about glamour or fun, but rather one where we were all miserable, but at least we were together. And sometimes that’s enough.

I told him I tried being a DJ when I was younger, and I was so bad that I stopped because I respected the art of DJ’ing so much that I wanted to leave it to the people who were natural to it. People like him. He smiled at that one and thanked me for saying that. Not everybody gets it, but you don’t have to be a DJ to understand.

Then he talked about his idea behind #realdjs, and how he wanted to use it as a way of getting back to the art and talent of being a real DJ. How we’ve forgotten that and we all agreed. He made a good point with that. We’ve lowered the standard a bit and we shouldn’t have. We have to be willing to ask more of a DJ and their craft and we have to see it as that. We have to see them as more. I suppose even more so now that he’s gone.

After that I remember our friend came into the room and he asked me why we were still there. Why do we care? And I remember so clearly what I said, even more so now based on who was listening.

“Most people, they only show you their fake side. The side for show. And even if you get to know them, you’re never sure if that’s them or if they’re still faking. But this, and you. I know you’re not faking. You can’t fake this. Anybody can be fake, but what you guys are doing now, is showing me the real you. And you don’t turn away from that.”

I suppose I’ve changed the words since then, but the idea is still the same, and I can remember Ohm responding the most to what I said. In these moments, of sorrow, and pain and all the struggle of live we have to get through, that’s when the real us comes out, and when that person comes out it’s as much about who’s there with you as it is about what you’re facing.

We’re all just trying to survive. I know that. Ohm knew that, and this night we spent together will always be a reminder of the messes we get ourselves into and the people we find along the way.

I never spoke to Ohm again after that night, but he gave me a fist bump after we talked, and I thanked him for the years of his talent, and we went our separate ways. One night only.

And I’d see him around, both before then and after. It’s like that here. Everybody sees everybody. We’re all just a part of it. And I know he had his demons, but so do I. So do we all. But still he carried on. Still scratching. Still representing New Mexico. Still rockin’ the rooftop, or sister bar, or maybe the El Rey if there’s a hip hop show. If we are a culture and a community he was a part of it, and now we lost one of our own.

In closing, I know this isn’t a story on DJ Ohm professionally as much as it’s a moment I shared with Robert Ortega personally, but I know that’s how I will remember him. A person I met in a bar one night in the Wild West as we both were just trying to find our way. I’m still searching for mine; I hope he finally found his.

Thanks to the friends who let me into the madness of their lives, and agreed to acknowledge the sorrow in my own. And thanks to Ohm. Thanks for the memories, for being one of a kind and for being a real DJ.

If life is a dancefloor I suppose the afterlife will be as well. And now at least we know, when it’s our time to get there, the music will be jumping, and that dancefloor will be filled with the people who went ahead to make sure it’s ready for us once it’s our time to finally get in.

I’ll see you on the dancefloor, you guys. We’ve gotta keep going, don’t we?

Here’s a cool video he made that not only showcases his talent but also his sense of humor.

DJ Ohm’s thoughts on Albuquerque DJ’s