Month: September 2022

Back From The Chi

Part II

It took me a minute to finally get to writing part 2 of our time in Chicago for Arc Music Festival, because writing about a festival is very much like going to a festival. Once you’re in it you’re in it, and whatever happens, happens. So, you just gotta go with it.

My two trips to Chicago are as much an example of this fact as any, and as I saw time and time again with this year’s edition, the city will ask more than you expected and it’s up to you to either respond, or not. With Day One it seems everybody responded. I mean, everybody.

From the minute we got to Union Park you could feel a different energy than the year before. Not as much anxiety coming out of quarantine, as the 2021 edition was the first festival back for many of us, and the tension was everywhere. Like, learning to walk again, last year was filled with apprehension that was replaced by excitement this year.

People weren’t as afraid, or self-conscious, or reserved this time. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that Day 1 of Arc Music festival went just about as hard as any Day 3 of a festival I have ever been to.

House and Techno FAM came to party in 2022, and it was a celebration of this city as well as one of the fact that we were finally starting to get some proper festivals of our own.

Day 1 started, strangely enough, nice and slow for my rave pal and I. We took our time recovering from what Pan-Pot did to everybody at Spybar the night before, and as the gates opened to the festival, we still remained in bed, eating Spaghetti together from our favorite spot in Chicago, Portillo’s.

It’s a secret pleasure of this traveling life that with every place you go, you also taste their local and favorite restaurants, and sometimes, those are what you miss the most when it’s time go.

As much as we loved the DJ’s playing to start day one, none of them could compare to our joy in finally eating that Spaghetti again. My only regret is not getting ribs too.

After taking our time, we finally felt fed and ready enough to enjoy the music, and as we boarded the green line, the energy was already building.

One of the huge advantages of this festival are the Subway lines of Chicago, which take you all around and back again, with this one dropping you right at the front door of the festival itself, causing Ubers to be secondary for a weekend.

We finally managed to get ourselves into the festival and facing the mainstage known as the Grid, dead on as Nora En Pure played that sultry smooth sound she seems to have such a skill at adapting to any stage she plays.

We have seen Nora at many spots in many different settings, and yet she always seems to know exactly how to adjust her sound to fit the dancefloor.

We didn’t stay long, though, as our priority was the Expansion stage, as Day 1 was dedicated to techno all day long. We barely missed Pan-Pot, but felt comforted by the fact that we saw them the night before, and found ourselves right at the beginning of a block that would consume both the majority of our day one at the festival but also our night at the afterparty.

Sama’ Abdulhadi, a Palestinian DJ once arrested during an event in her home country, started a heavy and authentic style of Techno that you could feel, and a perfect example of the sound she’s been spreading all around the world.

The weather was beautiful, with an overcast and cool weather, and the music was amazing, as Brazilian powerhouse Anna followed right after, continuing the energy and unity you always seem to feel from the Techno FAM, no matter where they’re from.

Techno is about us all being there collectively together, and enjoying this sound that has gone all around the world and back again.

Very much like House music, Techno was made in America but embraced in all corners of the world and these two DJs were such a good example of that as their ability and power could be felt at every drop of the beat.

Techno is Universal. Even Chicago knows that.

As Anna played with the Sunset and brought the crowd of techno freaks to an emotional peak, then the last DJ of the expansion stage came on. Richie Hawtin.

I’ve written many words and traveled many distances to see Richie Hawtin and every time has been outrageous in its own way.

Whether it’s in New York, or Detroit, or Los Angeles, or even here in Albuquerque that one time, Richie Hawtin seems to bring something a little different every time, while still staying true to that sound he’s championed for so long now.

Still though, even with saying that, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Richie play the way he did that night to close out the stage. He seems to always be trying to prove something, and with this one Richie went hard. So hard. He had the sound system blasting and the entire crowd dancing with joy.

There’s this secret of Techno that if it’s really loud, really fast, and really heavy, it causes the people listening to go insane and happy. Richie did that to everybody that night.

We just danced and enjoyed how good he really sounded, and every now and then all I could do was muster the same words I always seem to say when I see Richie Hawtin:

“Fuckin Richie.”

We managed to pull ourselves away from Richie just in time to finish the night at the Elrow stage where Chris Lake was controlling the beat in the way only he can, and true to its from, Elrow was as colorful and outrageous as you’d expect it to be.

Chris Lake is one of my favorite producers and DJ’s, and perhaps one of the very few that would justify me leaving Richie Hawtin, but needless to say, seeing Chris at the Elrow stage is an experience I knew I couldn’t miss, and by all standards he did exactly what he always does.

There was even a moment, near the end, where he actually did what any good DJ seems to know how to do. He pulled at our emotions, this time, playing Innerbloom, by Rufus Du Sol, but only the chorus, only enough to hurt just a little.

Only to get your attention long enough just to drop right into his own track, ‘Turn off the lights’, which caused everyone to go crazy, and sing along in unison as the confetti flew and everybody was dancing.

From there Chris finished with the Bob Sinclair track ‘World, Hold On,’ which samples the classing Frankie Knuckles song ‘The Whistle Song,’ and you could feel how insanely wild night one really was.

Starting in one place and ending in another. Going crazy to techno with Richie Hawtin and then singing our hearts out with Chris Lake. Chicago asked everything of us for day one, and in return House and Techno FAM gave everything back. I mean, everything.

As the silence carried over, and we all made our way out of the festival grounds, I just kept thinking one amazing fact that will always represent the day for me.

“Holy shit, Sonya. That was only day One.”

And that’s not even including, the afterparty.

With electronic music, as with life, there are good weeks and there are bad weeks, but we never seem to see them coming, do we?

We just go about our business, doing our own thing, trying to get through, and then bam, something amazing happens. But whether it be good or bad, we again, have no way of knowing.

We’re just a part of it sometimes, aren’t we? And since we are just one small part all we can do is hang on and enjoy the ride.

That’s how I feel going into the next week for electronic music here in New Mexico, but in the best possible way.

We have a good week coming up, with multiple shows happening in multiple venues, playing multiple styles. A chance to show just how much our little city has grown with its music.

The good week starts tomorrow, Saturday, September 17th, up North with a gathering known only as Mesa 2022, thrown by the mysterious but always proper, Team Everything.

This year is set to be a night to remember under the beautiful stars as the lineup includes a DJ that I enjoy greatly in Axel Boman.

The first time I heard Axel Boman was the first night of the Desert Hearts festival, and I can remember lying in a tent full of pillows surrounded by colorful lights and nature’s beauty, wondering what this outrageously amazing music was that was floating towards my ears.

He gave me my ‘Welcome to Desert Hearts’ moment in such a monumental way that I still get the chills thinking how good and natural that actually felt.

I’m so happy to see he is playing here this weekend, as he is accompanied by some great DJ’s in Swaylo, Varsity Acid, Girl Wunder, Melanie Moore, and the group Adobe Disco.

A truly eclectic and talented group of music makers that will help the night feel even better, I am happy to see every single one of them as a part of it.

On top of that don’t miss the four hour b2b of Spoolius and Numbtron that will bring in the Sunrise.

Such a great night ahead, and yet, beware, the show is sold out, and there will be no tickets at the door.

You either have one, or you’re not getting in, and this will be up in the Santa Fe Mountains, so just remember, some shows ask you to earn your experience.

But if you’re up for it, nature will show you what the nightclub and the warehouse never will.

The good week continues into next weekend on Friday, September 23rd, with two shows happening at the same time but in two different places.

First, is perhaps my favorite collective in New Mexico, with Cenit hosting another great and unique night of joy and music at Insideout.

I have no hesitation in admitting to you right now that I admire greatly what Cenit is doing not just with the music they are playing, and the shows they are having, but also with what they stand for.

In all my time in this city I don’t feel I’ve ever interacted with a group of people that have been more accepting and more inclusive than the people I met while helping set up for a show back in June for a wonderful Gay Pride event they hosted to great success.

I know I will write more about Cenit, as that day spent seeing first hand, the commitment and passion each person in that group has, was incredibly inspiring to me, and something I desperately needed at the time.

To them it was just letting some weird little blue haired dude come hang around for a bit, but to me it was a way to reconnect with the world at a time where I felt so shattered. I needed Cenit, and they found me.

I have already started another writing named ‘One day with Cenit’, that I will release eventually, but until then I cannot recommend more what this group is doing, and I’m so excited to see that for only $5 you can hear not just LNSC Rob plays his own authentic style, and Thumper play a type of techno I love knowing is here in the southwest, but you can also get a chance to witness the mysterious MEGAB4T.

https://soundcloud.com/user-222710735-552362619/cenit-2022-pride-mix-megab4t?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

On top of that they have lighting and install by ON-SYT, and I have seen first-hand the unique and creative environments they form around the DJ.

One time I can remember they had a friend who moved away, so inside the club they set up a spot that looked just like his room, so that they could feel he was there with them. Which I found amazingly sweet on top of incredibly fun.

I can’t say enough how much I wish for you to check this group out. They are what I feel represents the true nature and idea of this culture, and I can’t wait to see more.

But, that’s not the only show on Friday to attend as over at Effex, Mr. Afterhours presents is continuing his great run of shows on the rooftop with the up and coming House DJ Kendoll, bringing her bounce house sound to play alongside BLISSXKOTA and Absynthe.

What I like about what’s going on over at Effex is that, like a house track, they are creating a rhythm of shows that keep the standard at a higher level than perhaps it’s ever been here in our small desert city. We are growing, and with that, so is our music scene.

A scene filled with passion just like you can feel when you go to a NM United game, or even the upcoming and mesmerizing Balloon Fiesta.

We are creating something unique and specific to this city, and this night along with, We House Fridays, are a great sign of that.

What I like most is not where these shows have been, but rather where they are going.

Whichever show you pick on Friday, I feel you will get a good taste of what New Mexico is all about.

It’s the red and green Chile of House Music.

Don’t waste all your energy on the first night, though, as Saturday also proves to provide a show that represents this land so fucking well.

Perhaps my favorite show of the weekend is taking place at Insideout on Saturday, September 24th, with this month’s edition of House Proud providing a wonderful multigenerational lineup of true New Mexico House Music.

If there was ever a show that would show not just the then and now of New Mexico House Music, but also the future as well, maybe it would be this one.

All aspects of what makes house music so great in this city will be on display with the dynamic lineup of Vettaluv, DJ Eldon, The Rev, XKOTA, and Mcfly.

DJ Eldon and The Rev are two house music legends in New Mexico, and Vettaluv is a natural record player who knows how to read the dancefloor as well as anybody in this city.

Along with them is somebody I’m so happy to see on this lineup in XKOTA, who continues to show her evolution as a DJ who represents both House and Techno so well.

XKOTA is as versatile as any DJ I’ve come across, and I’m so excited to hear what sound she chooses to unload on this dancefloor.

I’ll admit I don’t go out much anymore in New Mexico, as I can feel the years on the dancefloor catching up to me, but this weekend is the first in a long time where I feel the itch to go out and enjoy the night again.

What’s so wonderful is that wherever you end up dancing, I know it will be a good representative of this beautiful city and where we wish to go with our music next.

I can’t say which one I’ll make it to, or any at all, but if you manage to see us dancing to our delight,

Don’t just come say hi, let’s talk a bit and make some plans for the culture. Buy me a drink and I’ll tell you how crazy New York and Chicago were, and we can move forward positively together.

These shows are more than just great music with great people. They are a chance to build for our culture, and to start over. For ourselves and also for those who are going to dance after us. We owe them a good dancefloor. We owe them more than just a Good Week.

Come find me on the dancefloor this weekend.

Maybe I’ll actually be there this time.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Part 1

Just got back from the Chi and my ears are still ringing, my feet are still tapping, and my head is still flyin’.

No city in the world could give me the weekend of House and Techno that Chicago just gave me and how could any of it have been real?

From Spybar to Smartbar, as complete a trip as we’d ever experience through the heart and soul of what we now call House and Techno.

But where one starts the other ends, and sometimes on the road to the party you bought a ticket for, you’ll often find the one you never knew existed in the first place.

What the city offered me this time was a redo, not just with Arc Music Festival, taking place at Union Park Sept 3rd-5th, but also with a place I often dreamed of, perhaps more than any other city in the world, and yet this time it would be so much more.

My dreams could never be,
the reality, that I would see,
in the windy
city.

Our original plan was to fly in a day later than we actually did, but the trip changed so we simply adapted like we always do. A subtle secret of the road is that you have to prepare for things to go wrong, or at the least, change, and you have to be ready to work around them.

In this case it was a good change, as we had somehow managed to get two tickets to the sold out Arc pre party at Spybar with the German Techno duo known all around the world as Pan-Pot.

No matter what city I’ve seen them in, or what time slot they play, I’ve found them to be absolutely world class with both their sound and their energy.

Pan-Pot is the type of act that you change your plans for, so we did.

We arrived in the early evening just before Sunset and as a friend from New Mexico on the same flight began to sing, you could tell the vibe of the city had already overtaken us again,

“I’m drunk, I’m high, and I’m in Chicago.”

We sang along as we wandered through the airport and found our way back to the life that’s spent in Airports and Hotels, Dancefloors and Warehouses. The House and Techno Life.

There aren’t very many of us that believe in this lifestyle, and yet somehow, we still manage to find each other on the same roads to the same places.

The two friends we departed with alone we had seen in Detroit, New York, and even the year before in Chicago.

It would start a theme of the weekend for us as we’d spend the entire time reconnecting with friends we met throughout our travels for this music. Chicago this year would be as much about love as it would be about music. I suppose we knew that, though.

After saying goodbye to our friends, we took the Orange line straight into the heart of Chicago, and began focusing immediately on the night ahead.

If House music was what brought us to this city, Techno would be what would help us survive it, in one way or the other.

Spybar had been a place friends had told us about for years, and it always had the reputation of being a small, yet solid place to hear the best DJ’s up close and personal in a very unique and direct way.

What I liked is that it was about four blocks from our hotel, causing it to be the easiest trip to an afterparty we’d make all weekend long in the crazy city that is known as Chicago.

After wandering the streets in confusion for a few minutes we finally stumbled upon the front door of the club, which was in an alleyway that you probably wouldn’t even notice walking by.

The club itself was in the basement and it very much gave me a déjà vu of the week before when we were in the BASEMENT in NY, but unlike there this club definitely had the big stage touch to it.

The crowd was grooving and bouncing to the sounds of Chicago’s own DJ Hyperactive as we walked in, and you could already feel the Techno fam take over the city a little bit.

It would be a true balance we’d struggle with all weekend long. We love the funk of House, but still here we are, on a Thursday, in a basement, listening to Techno.

Sometimes you just are who you are.

The club itself was very hip and low-key. You could walk right up to the DJ if it wasn’t too crowded, and you could hang back in the darkness if that’s your thing too.

It offered something you don’t see in many clubs, and I feel so grateful to have spent this one night with DJ Hyperactive and Pan Pot as the ones in charge of the music.

I suppose the highlight of the night for me would have been a little bit into the night, hearing DJ Hyperactive play a very much loved Donna Summer song, mixed over heavy beats.

I couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that we were having such a moment. We could have been anywhere, and yet we chose to be there, enjoying that exact one. It was a great one to have, and also one of the last ones I’d remember of the night after that.

After that Pan-Pot came on, and what’s so great about them is that their sound is so powerful and overwhelming that it kind of just blanks out the night for you.

I can remember them playing, and us dancing, and seeing friends from L.A., and some more from New Mexico, and we even made some new ones we’d see all weekend. It was just a whirlwind of fun and techno. Kinda always the way it goes, if I’m being honest.

We even went outside for a minute to enjoy the air, surrounded by the humidity Chicago would have all weekend, and it was truly amazing to feel. Sitting there, under the Chicago skyline, while all the world slept and prepared for the workday ahead; We, the lovers of techno, found a place to have that feeling again.

By the time the last track was played I assume they must have played for maybe 2-3 hours and yet again, I remember little else other than smoke, and fog, and strong drinks, and some other stuff, and the hard hitting European Techno that you could only hear in Chicago on that night.

We celebrated and clapped and made our way up the stairs, spilling out into the morning that used to be night, and as everybody else waited for their Uber’s and their Taxis, we simply strolled away, leaving Spybar, and what we felt, behind.

From there we’d stumble through the streets, finding spots to kiss and enjoy the night just a little while more, before finally finding our hotel room where we, for a moment, marveled at one simple fact. This wasn’t even day one. This was just the pre party.

The madness wasn’t supposed to start until we woke up, but the only problem with that, was that we weren’t done dreaming yet.

End of part 1

It is a constant and immediate understanding that every city I end up in will have it’s own version of an underground. Whether it be House, or Techno, or DnB, or even Hip-Hop for that matter, that seems to be one common thread I keep finding no matter where I go.

A subculture, created as a response to the mainstream that consumes each and every part of our daily lives. Every city has it, regardless of size or interest, and once you learn the ability to find it in one place, you are eventually able to find it anywhere. Then after a while it just starts to find you.

That’s how I feel today, sitting at my desk, typing these words to you now. I didn’t find the underground, the underground FOUND me. And because of that it has taken me to many places in this great land, all of them for the music, with each one teaching me a lesson. The lessons I used to finally find the underground in the biggest city out there. New York City.

We had been to New York City before, but I see so clearly how different things were back then. It was just before the quarantine and we were going for a two day festival called Time Warp. I was as high on that one as any trip I had taken before, and now looking back I know I wasn’t ready for the Underground yet.

It’s so silly saying that now since by then we had been to Underground shows in Detroit, Los Angeles, El Paso, Denver and many other cities, but none of them are quite like New York.

Especially because, in this city, the Underground means something a little bit different than anywhere else.

First, there’s the obvious Underground. To us, at least, in the music scene. The underground you expect. The “metaphorical” underground.

But then there’s the other kind. The actual Underground. And I’m not saying this in metaphors or codes or anything like that. I’m saying this as in the literal Underground. Seen best in the never-ending tunnels, walking paths and darkened hallways of the fucking Subway System.

We didn’t ride the Subway at all the first time. Mainly staying in the Bronx next to where the festival was. But this time was different.

This time I estimate the majority of our time was spent underground in the Subways. Waiting for our train, or wandering the hallways that lead from one line to the other.

Going downstairs, deeper into the darkness.

There’s an entire population of the city that spends all their time below ground. Hustling back and forth as people play music, or dance for change, or stand at their news stand completely unaware that there’s a Sun above ground.

I wonder still how many of them actually go up sometimes just to see the sky again for a bit, although they won’t see much as the giant skyscrapers block almost all of it out anyways.

What an amazingly large city to feel so small in, which I suppose is why the underground is so easy to accept for so many people.

As above so below in New York City.

It’s not just the Subways either, as you’ll find nearly every building big enough has a lower level and a few uppers as well. So many people in a city that has been there so long, all they can do is build up and down as far as they can go. Where else do they have left?

There was even a moment where I found myself sitting at a bench outside the World Trade Center memorial, only to look down and find at my feet, nearly five stories below me an entire mall built below the streets of the city. Something I would’ve never believed if I had not seen it myself.

Everywhere I went. New York was above me and also below.

That was the state I was in, when I finally made it to the underground I’m used to in the big city, with us finally having a night at Basement NY, a techno club made out of a basement below the Knockdown Center in Queens, just next to Brooklyn, which is where we stayed this time.

The night before we had seen the amazing Charlotte De Witte play all night long at the Brooklyn Mirage with what can only be seen as a declaration of where techno and the DJ herself are going in the future.

Such a stage, such a production, such an overwhelming sound coming out of the speakers.

It felt like we were at Mt. Olympus and Charlotte was making her claim as the Goddess of Techno.

I even joked that she must be the reincarnation of Athena herself, choosing to conquer the world with Techno this time. I’m still convinced this one might be true.

By all accounts it was amazing and life changing, and yet even with saying that, there’s no way I could ever compare that night to what I found in that Basement. What I found was the true face of techno. What I found was the Promised Land.

It started like many other places we’ve been to that play techno in the underground. With three big men inspecting us to make sure we could get in. And they never ask for tickets, and they never say much, but you know what’s happening when you’re standing there.

They’re making sure you know where you are, that you know what you’re doing, that you can handle yourself inside. It’s such a simple moment and yet one that is so universal. They ask how you’re doing, making sure you’re not too fucked up already, and you look them in the eye, and they make sure you’re dressed properly, and they simply nod, and say have a good time.

They’re making sure you belong, and as silly as that sounds, you feel comforted in knowing that you do.

From there you walk down a path into the darkness, and that is the last moment of reality that you will remember from the night, because after that, its all just a dream. A beautiful and frightening dream. The one you’ve always had. If you’ve always loved techno, at least.

You can already hear the music getting closer and closer and yet, you can see next to nothing. So consumed by fog, and smoke, and darkness all you can do is slowly move forward. Closer and closer to the amazing sound that lies at the other end of the basement.

You can’t see the DJ, but you know they are there. I think for a moment in the night I saw a silhouette of someone wearing headphones, and yet I have no idea who they really were. All I could see was the one light in the corner where the music seemed to be vibrating out all around us.

It resembled a monster that jumped into the walls and quickly crawled towards you on the dancefloor. Consuming you and forcing you to dance nonstop like a zombie in the night. A zombie covered in sweat and smiling from ear to ear.

The DJ’s scheduled to play for the night were UMFANG, Beatrice and Luke Slater although I’ll admit I have no idea who was playing or when. I just know that we got there and we started to dance, and the DJ played, and we all had each other in the darkness.

Far too often people are so consumed by set times, and so afraid they’ll miss the headliner that they forget to just enjoy the night, and I’d see that first hand with a lot of people in Chicago for the Boris Brechja after party, but this wasn’t that night and this isn’t that story.

I know when Luke Slater was playing later in the night but that’s because I had seen him before and I recognized a song he played, but even with saying that, I’ve never heard Techno like that before. It was so raw, and real, and stripped of all the glamour that seems to be associated with this culture these days.

It was just a bunch of strangers in the basement of a warehouse dancing in the darkness together because we loved the music. And the DJ’s were just people in the darkness too. Isn’t that why they joined this culture as well? To get lost all the same? Don’t they deserve that too?

We must have been down in that basement for four to five hours and yet all we could do was dance and enjoy the moment we had. The moment we worked so hard and traveled so far to experience for ourselves.

There was even a moment in the night where the music got a bit low, and everybody could feel it, and we were upset the sound system wasn’t bumping, but still we danced because it was so good, and we remained committed to that dancefloor.

Then a bit later, as the music built, suddenly the sound system kicked back in as well, and the noise was so loud all it could do was shout into the underground, and we, it’s disciples, all shouted in unison back. We were so connected at that moment and so fucking alive.

I will never feel that again, and still I know I can’t ever let it go.

Then there was another moment when It started to become morning, where we went and sat outside to smoke on our weed that we snuck into the show, and we sat underneath this massive chimney that towered up into the sky over us, and my date made a joke,

“Geeze, are we in Brooklyn or Berlin?” and we laughed, because the statement could not be more true.

Which is when I looked out and saw all the people dancing with us all night now that they were out in the moonlight as well.

All wearing black. All with colorful hair, or piercings, or tattoos. All out to smoke a cigarette, or a joint, or just to enjoy the cool air for a moment. All here because we all love this music and in the end, this culture.

We could have been anywhere in the world, and still, we’d probably be doing this same exact thing.

Our culture is our calling no matter where we end up.

From there we went back inside and danced for a while more and we never could find the bathroom all night. But what we did find were all these hidden walkways and pockets to sneak into and kiss and do a bump of k together, and just enjoy the darkness and the fog.

To enjoy the New York underground one more time.

Then sometime after five we decided it was time to go, and even though the music was still going I wanted it that way. Sometimes I’m obsessed with staying until the last track, and sometimes I like leaving knowing the music is still going.

That way somehow in my heart, the basement never stopped, and the techno is still alive out there right now. I need to know that about this one.

After that we went back to our hotel and passed out under the slowly rising sun, before spending one more day wandering those Subways all around the city. Under the rivers, under the skyscrapers, under the monuments everybody travels so far to see.

And we spent a moment seeing Madison Square Garden and the Empire State building, but I’ll admit it felt a bit weird. We felt a bit off. It just wasn’t where we belonged. We belonged downstairs with all the rest of the people like us.

We belonged where we always end up. No matter the place, or the time, or the reason. We belonged in the Underground.

Especially in NYC.

Come find me on the dancefloor some time.

I think you’ll know where I’ll be.