Ourdancefloor.net

House Music is like high school, although don’t bother trying to get those who love it to admit that. There’s drama, and commotion, and of course, traditions. More than anything house music has traditions, ones we hold close to our hearts. That’s how I feel when I say the next few words to you.

‘It’s Mark Farina week.’

Maybe in other states or other cites those words don’t mean as much since maybe Mark plays there all the time, or maybe house just isn’t big in that city, although I don’t believe that’s true at all.

Mark Farina is one of those acts that no matter how many times you see him, and no matter how many environments you see him in, you still get that feeling when you know you’re seeing him again.
It’s sort of like the prom or maybe homecoming.

All the cliques and groups of New Mexico, all seem to gather and celebrate once a year in the same way we’ve always done, and we do it for Mark Farina. He’s the reason we always all come together again. And he’s coming back. Playing the Electric Playhouse on April 2nd with The Rev and Eldon doing a b2b to start the night.

The first time I saw Mark Farina was at the Soundstage on Cutler. At least, that’s what I think it was called, since it never actually had an official name at the time.

I was maybe about 18 years old, still young, and naïve, but not as much as I was when I was fifteen and at my first rave. The three years since I had discovered raves had given me a lot, but up until that night, it had never given me as pure an evening of house music as I was about to have.

I had known what house music was, and I had heard it many times, but never like this. Never in a way that would change me so completely forever. That’s what Farina did that night. He changed me forever.

Over six hours of pure and uncut house music at its absolute best. I suppose it would be like doing cocaine in Columbia, or maybe smoking some weed from the Emerald Triangle.

The most natural of the most natural just for us. I wonder sometimes if I was the only one, he altered that night, and then I realize that isn’t the point.

On that night, for me, it was wonderful, and funky, and groovy, and magical, but maybe he had already done that to other people before. Maybe he still is. Maybe that’s just his job. Especially because when I actually start to think about, every time I’ve seen him has been memorable.

There was that time in El Paso when we saw him at Club 101, and everybody else was playing hard house and scratching and just going crazy, until Mark went on.

Completely out of place and yet still completely in control of the crowd and the sounds.

There was also that other time at Sister Bar when somebody pepper sprayed the dancefloor and everybody cleared the building, with Mark hardly even noticing.

As we stood outside waiting for the room to clear of the poison, Mark just stayed there playing straight through. So locked into the music that he didn’t even notice anything had changed.

Then there was my very first time at Meow Wolf, where from the dancefloor I could hear him slowly bring in the disco song ‘Ring My Bell’, and yet never let us hear the hook and vocals. Just the buildup. Just the expectation.

Just the feeling that we knew what was coming, and yet always changing it before we could ever fully feel the song we knew so well.
Sometimes the Dj’s job is not to play the song you love, but rather to keep your attention long enough just to flirt with your expectations. And when you are ready to hear that song, they simply move on, allowing you a chance to love something new.

I honestly can’t remember how many times I’ve seen Mark Farina live, and frankly I don’t want to. As time goes on, I know deep down it just doesn’t matter. What matters is that we have this moment, and we have it together, and every so often we’re allowed to have it again. Just like the first time.

I think of that first time a lot, and I am grateful to have had that moment. A stretch at the soundstage I don’t think I’ll ever forget. At that one place I saw DJ Rap and Dieselboy, and Kimball Collins, and of course, the previously mentioned Mark Farina.

There were these little periods during our rave days when the scene would continue to have Raves at the same place, but it would be different every time. The DJ would be in a different corner, the decorations would be different, and so would the Soundsystem.

We must’ve gone to at least ten raves at that same place, spaced out over about a year or so, and I don’t even think Mark Farina’s long set was my favorite night. Coming second to the night I saw DJ Rap and Dieselboy in the darkness.

For Farina they had a wall of speakers and Farina was on the floor in front of us. Playing a combination of records and CD’s. Which were still a new form used in Dj’ing, with us still years away from the CDJ culture we are in now.

He was still a pioneer then. Still a maverick. Still just making stuff up. But not much has changed, has it? He’s still a traveling DJ, we’re still a city in love with House Music, and it’s still that time of year again. That time for us to gather, and dance, and celebrate the one’s still here, while remembering the ones who aren’t.

We have lost many of the people we used to share the dancefloor with when Mark Farina first started coming to New Mexico, and yet, the one thing I can assure you is that if the tradition lives on so will they. House Music is what will keep them alive.

So please, go and dance, and celebrate love, life, house, and the memories we will never have back. Celebrate the Soundstage, and Meow Wolf, and the One-up lounge on 3RD and central. Where the stock exchange used to be. Or that time he played one of the Galactic Portals for the Cosmic Kidz. Or maybe the Sunshine Theatre, or Sister Bar, or the Blue Rooster, or finally the Electric Playhouse. All the places we’ve been together. All the places we saw Mark Farina.

‘It’s Mark Farina week,’ isn’t just my way of telling you to go to the fuckin show. It’s also my way of asking you to join our tradition. Come help us keep this feeling alive. Not just for each other, but also for the ones who can’t dance anymore.

I’ll see you on the dancefloor.

Or not.

Event Page Link

A Disco is not what you’re going to expect it to be. In our heads we picture the lit-up floor, and the disco ball, and the model’s doing cocaine in the corner, and we say, ‘now, that’s a disco’. And don’t get me wrong. Those places exist. All over the place. Often times right under your nose. You just don’t see them. Or maybe you just don’t want to.

The same goes for all dancefloors, though. You don’t find them until it’s time to find them, and I suppose that is the point in my writing about our night out at this disco in Albuquerque, NM. We just wanted to go to the fuckin disco.

This disco wasn’t like the one in our heads, though. This disco was at Still Spirits, and it was on a cold night in February just far enough from downtown to convince my love and I to finally go out again. We had gone out the weekend before, but that was different. We went to see a headliner at a club, and that was fun, but it didn’t quite scratch the itch we needed it to. Or is it itch the scratch? I don’t know.

Anyways, this story isn’t about that. I’ll talk about that after I talk about our night at A Disco. One we desperately desperately needed. Going out and dancing to House Music is like medicine, and we needed it bad. Life, work, family, the dramas of the world, they all start to get to you, and if you don’t have that release you may very well go insane. In fact, you’re probably gonna go insane either way so you might as well have fun and enjoy it for a bit.

We have always had a bit of a love/hate affair with New Mexico, and for a while we believed we’d never go out in town again, but that’s the thing about love and hate. If you have the ability to still feel one, you also have the ability to feel the other as well. The Yin and the Yang. The House and the Techno. If you hate me now, it means you may have loved me once, and also that you may love me again. That’s my constant struggle with this city. Eternally I am yours. Even if I fight it so horribly.

Which is why, there I was, sitting in our car, taking shots from the bottle, smoking weed, and giggling with my Albuquerque girl, just like we’ve done so many times. Just like we did when we were still sixteen. Although, everything was illegal then. And now it’s the opposite. Isn’t it crazy how life works like that?

I feel, I should also admit something about this night that Is embarrassing, but also a comical part to the rest of the story and whatever happens next. Although, I hope the organizers don’t take it so personal.

We snuck in. And it’s not because we didn’t wanna pay, or even that we didn’t have the money but simply that we knew it was probably the only way we were gonna get in. So, we made a decision and we acted on it. I don’t think you’d blame us if given the context, but I’ll explain it anyways.

So, we get there, and Still spirts is a very cool place, but also a little small, so there was a line to start. No big deal. But then they were saying they were at capacity and they weren’t letting anybody in. At first, we said, okay, we’ll wait. And we stood out in the cold and danced a little to the funky disco house we could hear inside, to keep us warm, and we said, we’ll get in, eventually.

But then came more people and more people. And then we were out there half an hour, and then forty-five minutes. And still they said the same. Nobody can come in. On top of that, we kept seeing people leave, and the general idea was they weren’t letting people in just cause of capacity, although we still stayed optimistic that we’d eventually be let in.

Then an hour came, and we were out there in the cold, and our buzz was wearing off, and so was our high a little bit, and still they weren’t letting us in. It was then they also opened the back up a little. Not a door, but a little bit bigger. So people can sit at the bar and look outside, but right now all they’d see is us freezing our butts off waiting to be let in. We were starting to wonder if we’d ever get in at that point.

It was nearly midnight now and this disco closed at 2am. It even got to the point where there were more people waiting outside than there were inside, and man, it looked wonderful inside. The lights, the music, the people having so much fun. It felt like I was the kid outside the birthday party who wasn’t invited. Not cool, right?

Well, that’s when it pays to have a partner. As I was upset about not getting in, she was slowly creeping towards that opening by the bar. And when she got there, I looked over just in time to see her give me the look. You know the look. The eyebrows raised, the twinkle in that eye. The biting of the lip a bit. She want’s me to get into trouble with her. She’s done waiting. She’s ready to sneak in.

Without a word she motioned over to me, and I suppose I listened, because in an instant we ducked under together, and now found ourselves clearly inside, and feeling the vibrations of the music immediately.

We laughed a bit and agreed to stay away from the front door for the night, but success. We were in. Now, all that was left was to enjoy the music and each other. So, we did.

She ordered us this amazing drink that was citrus and maybe like a margarita, that they served in a mason jar, and it got me so drunk so fast, because I’m such a lightweight, and she just kept feeding me drinks, and before you knew it, we were in the middle of A disco again. It just happens like that sometimes.

This disco was special. Adobe Disco was playing for the night, and what makes them unique is they are four DJ’s who sort of do a carousel on the mixer. One will go, then another, and so on. And they’ll just keep going around until it just doesn’t matter who’s playing but rather what, and what they make is a sound you can only find here. Tonight, they were also including the Rev into that mix, so what we had was a night of house music completely unique to this moment and this place.

I have been all around, at least enough to know that what we heard that night we could not have heard anywhere else in the world. It was a level of house and disco that it takes years to gain the knowledge of, and I know this because I am still on that same path as well. It’s a journey that never ends. House has no beginning and no end.

For example, there was a moment during the night, when the booze had given us that feeling again, and we just let go, which is why we found ourselves on the dancefloor. It was a small one, and packed, of course, but a solid dancefloor, no doubt. And deep in that dancefloor I began to hear the sounds of a song I had heard before. And now I was hearing it again. But not like this.

The song was “The Devil in Me” by Purple Disco Machine, and although this was the first time I heard this version of this song, it wasn’t the first time I heard it at all.

There’s this thing about house music where with each generation there will be a new remix of a song that has been around for a while. And it’s not even that they’re doing it over, it’s simply that every generation is gonna have their own version and style that they want to show, and that was what was happening right there.

The first time I heard the version of that song from my generation was maybe around 5 or 6 years ago, give or take. It was the first time I went to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. It had just opened a few months before and we had finally gotten tickets for a show there. We were going to see Mark Farina. An amazing way to have my first moment at such a place, and the night delivered.

My love and I wandered that place, and danced to house music, and did some molly in one of the hidden rooms, and went outside and smoked some weed, and we just had one of the best nights of our life. Mark Farina will always be one of our favorite DJ’s and on that night he played a version of Devil in Me, although it didn’t have the guy singing. I used to remember what that song was called, but I forgot and now I just can’t find it again.

I actually had not thought of that song at all for a long time, until I heard it playing again on that dancefloor that night at the disco. It was coming back to me, and with it all the memories that went along with that song. The memories for me, at least. And it was then I had the thought I feel I was meant to have.

We, as the children of house, are a part of a world that has been destroyed so many times, that home just doesn’t exist anymore. We’re just wandering through this world, looking for a place to call our own again. That’s what house music is for us. It’s our place to go. It’s our story. It’s our history.

When I hear this song, I don’t just hear this song. I hear the song before it, and the one before that, and the one before that. We have come to a point in our culture where our history has layers and generations to it. Which can be heard in every song. We are a living representation of the history of house because we know how far it’s come, and how far it has to go.

We are all a remix of a remix.

We danced for maybe two to three hours that night, but it could have been forever. It mattered not who played, but rather what they played, and most of all, where they played it. They didn’t play it at a festival, or a warehouse, or even a nightclub. On this night, they played it at A disco, and I never want to let this feeling go ever again. Don’t you feel the same?

Thanks to the DJ’s for the music, the bartenders for the strong drinks, the pretty woman for being mine, and to House Music, for being the soundtrack to our history. See you on the dancefloor.

The Lobo Theater first opened on August 19, 1938, and apparently, it’s the oldest standing movie theater on Route 66 still to this day. I didn’t know that the first time I went there, though. I just knew there was a fuckin rave, and I was still in that beautiful period in my life where missing the rave was considered a major sin.

We all have that feeling at one moment, and yet, when we’re having it the last thing, we want to do is acknowledge that’s what it is. Like magic. Like a secret. Like a rave.

Being young, careless, and just naïve enough to go into the kind of random places they usually have a rave, is a feeling you can’t have back, and yet, again, you struggle to realize it while you’re in the middle of it.

It’s a wave, and you’re just riding it, hoping it doesn’t end, hoping for another moment in the sunlight. Or the warehouse. A moment to be you. Or at least to find who you’re really meant to be.

But that’s not what the Lobo was. It was something different than what ravers were used to. It was a landmark, and yet one I never thought to see the inside of, until the night we went to Jammy Jam 2 on October 20th, 2000.

I had just turned sixteen and wanted nothing more than to rave. Rave all day. Rave all night. Rave in my sleep. Rave at school. Rave in the car. Rave Rave Rave. It was my life, and I wish I could say things have changed, but still, I know, my connection made to this insanely unique culture during that moment in my life is still as strong as ever, and the Lobo represents that to me, in a way.

It wasn’t the first place I went to a rave at. Or the second. Or the third. In fact, by then we had been going to raves so often, you just stop thinking about it. You just go. You don’t even remember the name, or sometimes the place.

You just know you have to be there.
It wasn’t even about who was ever playing either. I don’t believe it ever was. I mean, there was definitely a lineup, and set times, and all that other jazz, but everybody knew that only mattered to the DJ’s so they wouldn’t miss their moment. We’d all follow a schedule, but it never had anything to do with outside influences.

The idea was always the same. You show up when you show up, and you leave when you leave. And whatever moment you have during that time frame is the moment you were meant to have.

I see so clearly, looking back, we were far more serendipitous than we wanted to admit. The Raver is an eternal optimist and believer in the existence of fate.

I also remember everybody had to dress up in relation to the name of the Rave. Granted, our time at the Lobo didn’t start that, but in a way, it was the last place I remember seeing it on a normal basis. After that everybody changed just a bit and started wanting to look smooth. The theme of the party wasn’t important anymore. At least not as important as who was actually there. Things where different after the Lobo.

The memories I have of the Lobo, and that slanted dancefloor that I hated so much, and that alley in back where we always went to smoke cigarettes, or that morning where we all hung out up front under the sign while we waited for our ride to finally get there, I will cherish forever.

We sat and felt the cool air caress our skin as the pill we took showed its overwhelming strength and euphoria. We were young and in love with the music. In love with the friendships we made. In love with the moment.

I think of all of that, and I smile at the memories, while still acknowledging there are still new moments to be had. Moments with each other. Moments with the Music. Moments with the Lobo.

On Friday April 29, 2022, Donald Glaude is playing at the Lobo, and you have no idea how great it is to say that.

Not just because it means the Lobo is open again, but also because of who’s playing there. Donald Glaude has always been one of my favorite DJs, and I can still remember when he had his bleached blonde hair, and he’d lower the music every now and then just to scream “Get your fuckin hands up.” No mic or anything, though. Just his voice reminding you, he’s there too.

Donald never played at the Lobo back then, though. He played at club 211, he played at the Sunshine Theatre, and he even played at the Prophecy, out in the Santa Fe Mountains, although we never found that one. We just spent the whole night driving in the desert looking for the rave we could hear in the distance. I suppose that’s another story, though.

I don’t think Donald screams over the music anymore, although, I also don’t think it matters. His sound is timeless. Funky but heavy and full of that west coast sound New Mexico loves so much.

Combine a talent like Donald Glaude with a proper list of New Mexico house DJs, and what you have is a chance for New Mexico to have a moment with the Lobo, maybe like I did, during that period I loved so much. But in a new way. In a proper way. The way our younger selves would’ve wanted.

Please go early, stay late, and celebrate a night at a historic and unique spot that now has a chance to make a new story. This isn’t a walk down memory lane, it’s a continuation. A reminder that the story isn’t over, and neither is the Lobo. Neither are those fun, carefree nights, where all we need are the desert sky, house music and each other. See you on the dancefloor.

Event Page

https://soundcloud.com/djcaldme/call-mes-set-for-thiswav

The mix starts with a slow rhythm and in a way that says, this is only the beginning. Followed by some solid breakbeats and a sample from one of my favorite movies when I was younger called Heavy Weights. “Don’t worry, I have them on the buddy system.” A nice little touch not just to show that this DJ wants to be unique and different but also that he is willing to throw in effects and sound samples to create his own remix on the fly.

The art of using sound samples and acappellas is one I feel DJ’s have lost a bit of over the years, which makes it immensely refreshing to hear a DJ doing that again. That’s the first thing I’ll say about Call me Caldwell and his musical taste. Refreshing.

I feel it fair to admit that at times Rave culture gets stale in what it likes and doesn’t like, and yet, we also will always have the advantage of progression. Who we are at the beginning of our first rave is not who we’re going to be somewhere down the line. This is a lifestyle that will change you, but only if you let it. I can see and hear that when listening to Call Me on his most recent mix. Who he was when I first met him is not who he is now, and I’m happy to see how far he still has to go.

Now, don’t get me wrong, John Caldwell is still the friendly, kind and honest person I met years ago, but what has changed is his commitment to the music itself and his ability to show that when it’s his turn to mix. I can hear the different stops he’s made in life and how they have influenced his sound, and in my opinion, that is the most important aspect of being a DJ.

Many in the DJ profession are obsessed with the best sound, or the best mix, or even the best set up, and don’t get me wrong, Call Me is as focused on these aspects as anybody, but what I also like is I can hear his personality in the music he plays. He’s a bit of Dirtybird, and a bit of Techno, mixed with Desert Hearts, and that subtle progressive house sound you only get from playing in New Mexico. He’s not just showing you what he likes, but also where he’s been.

What I’ve also noticed about Call Me is his commitment to the technical side as well as the natural side. He wants to use all the tools he has at his disposal, and to him, playing a mix is like building a house. He’s a carpenter.

You’ve got to build from the ground up, and use everything you can to do it right, and to share that ultimate respect to those around you that you are putting every bit of effort into this moment with them. It’s not so simple as putting some songs together and Call Me gets that. Any chance to infuse your own style and your own alterations is an opportunity to show a side of you as a person. This DJ understands that balance.

The middle of this mix is my favorite part since it reminds me of a high-speed chase in some dystopian movie, and frankly, that’s always the sound I favor. I want to close my eyes and picture myself on some dark and crowded highway, running from some futuristic cyborg who’s trying to stop me from saving the one I love.

As dramatic as that sounds, that’s just what goes through my mind when on the dancefloor, and thankfully Call Me gives me a stretch where I can picture that, moving straight into one of my favorite samples ever, “If you’ve got to believe in something, why not believe in me?”

The first time I heard Call Me DJ was in a Motel 6 in Santa Fe, the morning after we partied at Meow Wolf all night. The standard with any event in our Culture is not just the show itself, but also the moments you spend with people after the show into the morning hours.

When the rest of the world is asleep you are up making connections during a moment you will never have back, and in a way you will never have again. That was the environment when Call Me’s career as a DJ started in my eyes, and now I am so excited to see where it goes from here.

Above all else, I like that Caldwell is still growing and evolving. When I first met him we were just two party people on the dancefloor, following the beat, seeing where it takes us next. From there we saw Detroit together, and even Chicago as well. For whatever reason, on these monumental trips that have changed my life, Caldwell was there too, and I believe it matters who you’re on the trip with as much as where the trip is.

With every moment that changed me I can see that it changed him as well. It’s a grand reminder that we’re all on our own paths, but if we’re lucky enough to have them walk along one another for a bit, all we can do is be grateful and enjoy the ride.

He’s funky, he’s got that heavy sound, and this mix shows that. Covering as many styles as anybody playing in New Mexico right now, and constantly making tweaks and enhancements when he can. It keeps you on your toes and makes sure you’re still listening.

The groove is the most important and strongest part of this and any mix. Can he keep it? Can he change while still holding that power? It’s far simpler than I describe it as, and yet I feel that’s what separates DJs from one another. Can you ride this wave and this groove to the end?

The mix ends with a journey through the many sounds of house, and it includes another sample I recognized immediately as “Mushrooms” by Marshall Jefferson, a classic I heard years and years before I ever met this DJ, and yet that is the beauty of music. It spans across generations, and cities, and even time itself. From there a song I heard in Chicago that’s about California that will always remind me of the elrow stage and a crazy weekend we will never have back.

Finally finishing with a killer track and my favorite of the mix, Touch My Body by DiCi, a vocally progressive and powerful way to bring everything to a close. By the end you’ll find that you were taken on a full and complete journey through sound waves in the air.

Be sure to find Call Me playing all around the state this summer and bump this mix while you picture the lasers that go with it. I look forward to the continuation of Call Me’s progression and evolution, and I can’t wait to see him again on the road somewhere down the line. See you on the dancefloor.

I met Xkota aka Raven, in a warehouse in NYC at about two o’ clock in the morning. I was in the middle of a very intense trip, and she simply appeared to me in the middle of the dancefloor, as if it was the most natural place for her to be at that moment and that time.

The strangest part about my meeting her, though, is that we are both from the same city, Albuquerque, New Mexico. But that city was hundred of miles away from where we actually stood on that cold November night.

Later on, she’d mention how she could tell I was in the middle of something outrageous at that moment, and still she understood, which I appreciated immensely, even though we still always have a good laugh about it every time we see each other.

Who we are on the road isn’t always who we are back home, and when you cross paths out there you seem to remember the ones who value those brief moments as much as anyone you may have back home, which I suppose I learned from my interactions with Raven.

After that weekend I wouldn’t see her again until she agreed to let me interview her over a year later, and after that I wouldn’t see her for at least another year in El Paso. Or maybe it was in Santa Fe? Honestly, it’s so hard to say sometimes because part of this life revolves around the fact that everybody is always either coming or going, and Raven is somebody who always has something on the horizon, with her future as a DJ being the best example of that.

In my conversations with Raven, I have found somebody absolutely and completely committed to the underground sound that we value so much more as time goes on. Sometimes you hear a DJ, and you know they understand even without speaking to them, and that is the feeling I get when listening to Xkota. Whether its as one half of the Housekeepers or when she’s playing some bangin’ techno on her own, you can hear the commitment to playing the sound right.

She represents the next generation of quality DJs in New Mexico that are ready to take over because she is more willing to play the right sound rather than the one that tops the charts. A DJ must remain true to their sound, and Xkota knows what she wants to play, she just simply needs the rest of the world to catch up.

I feel I should also admit that even though that warehouse was the first time I met Raven, it was not the first time I ever heard her DJ, and I’ve always been a bit embarrassed to admit that to her face, so I will now in print.

The first time I heard Xkota play was at Somos, a local festival held here in New Mexico, that I went to with my wife and three kids. A friend had given us tickets and the kids got in free, so we really had no excuse not to go. Plus, it was a chance to support Albuquerque and New Mexico, while giving our children a taste of our music, so we loved the idea, which became a special moment when we got to the dance stage.

As I arrived at the stage with my two daughters next to me, they noticed something before I did.

“Dad, the DJ’s a girl.” They said with excitement and joy.

“Of course, she is.” I replied as her logo flashed across the screen behind her.

XKOTA

“Girl’s can be DJ’s too?” I heard them ask.

“Heck yeah, they can.”

Now, to the rest of the world, this is a pretty basic conversation to have, but I see so clearly looking back, my daughters had never seen a Woman DJ before. In fact, this may have very possibly been the first DJ they ever saw live, so it was so monumental that Xkota was the one behind the decks.

She gave them this moment. My response was secondary to them because they were seeing the answer right in front of them. I could sense this moment giving them the confidence to do it as well.

They smiled and we danced, and it was a moment I can still remember clearly to this day even after I now know this person and have spoken with her many times. She gave my daughters something that evening that I never could, and I appreciate her so much for it.

She showed them what a woman can do, and she stood tall and confident both then and now. I am in debt to Raven for giving them that moment, and I know it was about so much more than her just being a DJ and yet, because she was living her truth and her life, it carried over onto the dancefloor and it inspired those of us in the crowd.

I don’t want you to think she’s just this inspiration, though, because when I listen to Raven DJ, I hear an authentic sound that many other DJ’s will never have. It’s something you just can’t fake. I have never viewed the DJ profession as a competition and yet you can’t deny there are layers to it, like a song. Raven is one of the strongest and most powerful layers.

I hear her and I know House and Techno will be okay in New Mexico as long as they follow the DJ’s who know what they’re doing. Raven knows what she’s doing.

What I like most about her DJ style, is that it’s constantly changing, along with her sound. I actually managed to find a recording of that Somos set she played, and in it you will find her House side was still the major sound, and yet there is no denying the intent and confidence in what is being played.

I sense a sound inspired by some of my favorite Chicago house DJs like Gene Ferris and Green Velvet, but I also feel a connection to Night Bass as well. That bounce, and pop, and of course the drop we love so much. It’s funky and upbeat, but still keeping that solid rhythm that is needed to rock the dancefloor.

I know this is not how she plays now, though. She has evolved and where she is now is not where she will end up. The best thing I can say to DJ Xkota is stay true to your sound. Believe in your sound. Have confidence in your sound because that will always be a valuable contribution to the New Mexico rave scene.

I look froward to seeing where this DJ is going and I am excited to hear that she is even playing far more techno now, which is always going to be the sound that drives this, and many other typewriters around the world.

This summer will be very busy for DJ Xkota as she will be playing multiple shows across multiple cities and multiple venues. Find her somewhere and show some love, and until then listen to her mix and tell her what you think. House music is alive in New Mexico, go out there and feel it’s heartbeat for yourself. See you on the Dancefloor.

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

“Yo we just went to church;
That’s what that was.”

We cheered in agreement as loud as we could in that tiny basement beneath that house turned into a nightclub, and at that time it was technically Sunday morning; which meant it was as much church for us as anywhere in the world could be, and the reason we were there was for House music.

I’m not going to spend too much time on this chapter because I’ve already talked about house music and I already talked about Mark farina, but that’s part of why I have to mention the blue rooster and this night in the first place; because we had all been down that road before. As I said, the name of the club was the blue rooster, but the actual place it was at has had many names over many years. I had heard about the house in Santa Fe that was really a club where the dj played in the basement, but it’s just one of those things you hear about, but you don’t believe it until you know it’s true.

I’m sure every city has a basement club, and maybe I’ll see a few, but up until this moment, that night is still the only basement club I’ve been to in my life, and man was it all it was cracked up to be. I’d later find out that the blue rooster was in the same spot as a previous club named the rouge cat, which I’m told was once considered one of the best clubs in the world at one point; this night would support that statement.

Trips to Santa Fe are always fun coming up from Albuquerque for the main reason that it gives you a one-hour drive in the car to do nothing but smoke weed and listen to music. And we smoked a lot of weed; so much weed that when we got there we got all paranoid and started thinking we were lost. We must’ve driven by the club at least five times before we noticed that was the place we were looking for, and even after that we still weren’t completely sure.

We’d eventually agree it was the right place when we saw people going in over and over, but even after that I remember we could only find parking at the courthouse, something I’ve never said before or since. The only parking for the club in Santa Fe was at the district courthouse. It really is a strange place to be on a Saturday night, and tonight, again, would be no different.

We got to the door, and you could tell it was a gay club because they always love my date, and I don’t mean that in a demeaning way, but rather the opposite. Gay men are always so kind to her, and it always means so much to me.

“You look lovely.”

“I love your makeup.”

“So much glitter, you came to the right place.”

They see her for who she is and they never objectify her. Gay clubs have been some of the safest and most welcoming places we have ever been, regardless of state or surroundings. No community is more accepting than the gay community and nothing will ever change that.

The club itself was extremely small, with the bar upstairs where the living room would be, and the kitchen just a kind of hang out area while waiting in line for the one and only bathroom. With that said I don’t think it fit for than maybe 100 people at full capacity, and that even included the dancefloor downstairs in the basement.

The stairs spiraled down like you see in those fancy movies where they’re walking down with wonder, and this was no different. If the first floor was designed as classic and subtle, the basement was full on disco nightclub, with the lit up dj booth and mirrors everywhere. I think the dancefloor lit up too, but maybe it just felt that way?

Mad men on the first floor, Saturday Night Fever in the basement. It must be said again no matter how many times I’ve already said it before; it is still one of the coolest clubs I’ve ever been to in my life, and what made it so cool was just how original and unique it really was. I know I will never have a night like that again; something I seem to say every time I drive up to Santa Fe; both the first time and the last time.

This time we took the trip for Mark Farina, who is a very beloved Dj in New Mexico, tonight being yet another example of why. He was expected to play about three hours, and we were already deep in the basement when he arrived. The best thing I’ll say about this night was how lucky I was to be there, and how beautiful my date really was. I can go on and on about the songs, and the transitions and even the breakdowns where he played three tracks at once, but none of that really compares to having a beautiful woman dancing to every single beat with you.

A secret about dancing to house music, and I don’t think it’s much of a secret, if I’m really thinking about it, is the simple fact that when it plays it makes you want to shake your butt, especially when you drink alcohol too; and when you do both with a beautiful woman with a nice Butt, it becomes a completely different night than you could have ever expected. And let me admit, my girl has a really nice butt.

There’s been many times where she hasn’t liked her butt, but I have no issue putting it in print that I love it, not just for its size but also it’s shape. Most nights when we’re laying in bed I’ll just lay up close to it and fall asleep like that. Or maybe when we’re watching a movie I’ll lay my head on one of her cheeks and I’ll just stay there like that, while she plays with my hair.

Most young men imagine having a beautiful woman and they only think of the sex like it’s some dirty movie, and don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of that, but there’s also times where you just want to lay and enjoy her body; how soft and curvy it is; how the silhouette of it looks in the shadow of the night as the morning sun slowly comes up. And also, how it feels having her up close on you as you both dance and move to the music together, so locked in unison with each other’s bodies that you forget anybody else is there; because to you nobody else matters.

On this night listening to house music in that basement, I’ll admit we got a little freaky, her and I. But again, that’s the way it goes; in fact, that’s the point. To get up on a pretty girl and to dance with her and only her, and to have that moment together. I can’t even tell you how many times it was only her and I; it will always be only her and I. That’s also part of the fun. You show up for one person, and one reason and you end up finding yourself surrounded by people looking for the exact same thing. While you’re lost in your world they’re lost in theirs, and all you can remember are those moments where you each come out of your bubble to enjoy it all together.

That basement was bumping too; bumping as much as any place I can remember. It was packed wall to wall and we were shoved up against a mirror to the side of the dj booth, which was still lit up and glowing. So was the floor; maybe. I can remember sweat dripping from the ceiling; which looking back now, it probably wasn’t sweat and it probably wasn’t safe, but that’s just the kind of night it was. Jammed so tight perspiration was Falling on us and we didn’t even care; in fact we were even a bit proud.

I can remember it getting so busy throughout the night that when you went upstairs to use the bathroom, or get a drink, or maybe smoke a cigarette, or as we did, wander the block smoking a joint, you had to wait in line to get back down. Even as people waited in line we couldn’t help but dance and sway to the beats that were just plowing through the floor and vibrating at our feet.

The closer in line you’d get the closer you were to seeing the madness happening in the basement, and the more you could hear the crowd celebrating with the music. All we could think about was getting back down there as soon as possible. I remember thinking if I manage to get back down I’m not leaving until the music is over. And we did, and we didn’t.

By the time the final track was played we were cheering and screaming with joy, with some people standing on the bar, and hanging from the pipes. I think most of the night the crowd was just as loud as the music, but it wasn’t belligerent or disrespectful. We reacted with such natural joy and pleasure that we couldn’t help but make a verbal response in unison. It wasn’t even about one song or moment; in fact I can’t remember one song he or anyone else played.

We ended up being in that basement for nearly six hours by the time the lights came on, and still to this day all I can remember is the beautiful woman I was with and the amazing music we heard together.

It was around this time, after playing for a funky and groovy three hours, holding the crowd without even a moment of break, Mark finally raised his head and hand and acknowledged us for the first time, as if he had forgotten we were there. A lot had changed in the fifteen years or so since the first time I had seen him. He was not as young and full of life anymore, but then again neither was I, although, I don’t think either of us had to be. The beauty of house has always been the fact that no matter how much changes both around you and within you, the music still always remains the same.

That same groovy sound you heard blowing out of the speakers in a warehouse as an awkward, lonely teenage boy, is the same you’ll hear deep in some basement as a grown man with a family at home and beautiful woman by your side. To finish the night off, as we celebrated the Dj one more time, the owner of the club finally got on the mic.

“Yo, we just went to church.
That’s what that was.
That was church right there.”

We all agreed as we slowly climbed the stairs out of the basement and out into the cold Sunday morning air. I lit up a joint as we walked hand in hand back towards the courthouse a bit quicker now. When we got there I leaned in close to her as she sat against the car, and we kissed softly and with passion, ready to go home and do more than just dance with one another.

Those drives home from Santa Fe were always exhausting but easy; if it’s possible to be both. Sure we were tired, our bodies were aching from the dancing, our ears still buzzing from the music; but Santa Fe was up high in the mountains, and as we cranked a new cd, and shared another joint, the view was always the same, it was all downhill from there. Some things will never change.