I live in an apartment in San Francisco with two other roommates. It's basically a two bedroom place that has the family room converted into an additional bedroom. It's okay for living, but for partying, not so much. There's no real space for people to lounge.

With a little help from a friend, I managed to tuck my bed away into my roommates' bedroom and clear out a space for people to dance. It worked tremendously. I hung up tube-lights in the archway of my window-nook which basically created a very eastern-style feel to my room, and lighting a candle worked wonders.

A precursory warning to this story, which may or may not come from direct, recent experience: Taking psilocybin mushrooms does not make you a better DJ. If you want to perform with any technical proficiency, do not make the poor decision to ingest the aforementioned substance. If you can handle the experience and aren't playing for an audience of audiophiles, however, you just might gain a little bit more insight into what people need to hear.

I started off with some downtempo stuff and created some decent rhythms, but the groove was insanely difficult to maintain because I was trying to host a party alongside doing a DJ gig. People kept coming up to me needing so many things, and I had to choose between playing the role of a host and playing the role of a DJ. Add to this the fact that I hadn't eaten for seven hours, and for some reason I thought it was a good idea to choose to do what I advised against in a previous section of this post.

At some point, I had to leave my own party. I walked down my block toward Haight St where I knew a corner market would be open. I got some interesting glances--it's not every day you see a guy in a lab coat with neon-orange spraypainted hair and huge sunglasses pass by. Echoes of the peoples' concerns at the party kept bounding through my head. Is this what God feels like? I just want everyone to be happy. Why do these whiny little fucking bitches keep nagging at me for shit?

I got myself some natural-hippy-coffee/energy drink at the corner store, took a moment to breathe, and went back to my party. Andy the host was gone. Dr. Awesome the DJ was ready to begin.

I seriously had to let what was inside of me settle so I ended up letting a bit of my previously-mixed stuff play through. But then something amazing happened: everything became clear as people started dancing to my grooves, and they were loving the moment, which somehow I had ended up being able to create in the space where I slept every day. I looked around and saw the pictures of my loved ones, my friends, my art. It was as though I realized the space and my being took control of it. And I knew it was time to drop Escape Velocity.

It was like being at church. During the first rise of the track, everyone gathered together in the middle of my room, their arms raised in the air forming a circle, almost as if they were entranced in some sort of mystic ritual. They reached for the sky in unison, and I was there with them from behind my setup.

Then, of course, the beat came in. People started DANCING THEIR ASSES OFF. There were somersaults in the room. There were people bounding off my couch, seemingly trying to touch the ceiling. There was an absolute, undeniable, jubilant energy which ran through each and every one of us which we all felt. If I hadn't have been in absolute awe of the moment, I would have been near tears.

I ended up mixing some great things together after that, with EBW 7 included, since it felt so very apropos. It was my first real DJ set in front of people where I was in control of the entire evening. There were so many moments which could have been summed up with that scene in Austin Powers where Mike Meyers exclaims, "It's my happening baby and it FREAKS ME OUT!"

And now, after all of my guests cleared out and most of the nasty shit I sprayed in my hair has been washed out, I sit writing this with an absolute sense of satisfaction and inner peace, thankful that I was able to create a space for people to truly experience the Chems' music outside of the brothers themselves performing.

hahahaha cracking story andy sounds like you had fun man!!! (as well as gaining a bit of wisdom) sometimes great parties appear from nowhere, nice little intimate venue - lovely.

i remember dj'ing on acid once, pretty tough as i couldnt look at the records without red and green lght flashing off them haha. proper rubber band time!

another tale of Dr. Awesome and his adventures. Love it!
It must have beena great feeling being able to perform for your friends and them just loving it and going mental. Im not surprised that Escape Velocity was the song that had people doing summersaults and jumping off couches!
The scene you depict with everyone dancing around in what was your bedroom reminds me of when i had a party once and about 50 people squished into the dancefloor i had made in my kitchen. absolute mayhem.

thanks for sharing, can't wait for the next adventure!

I consider it an more an event blog. Not only Pooter did you have a wide perception of your audience, but you also
gave good attention to detail of your jubilant ritual, whether or not you were in a mushroom state. I also
give your creative writing skills an a+.

Maybe you should try adding some LED lights for the room just to kick it up a little.

Haha awesome story! Nice making space in an apartment for a party. I fail at that. It also gets way too loud for surrounding tenants

MadPooter, on 04 April 2010 - 05:19 AM, said:

Teeheehe

Having once lived underneath a gaggle of budding dj's who had frequent house parties as well as a trampoline in their living room... I have to give your neighbors serious props for being so understanding of your house party. Especially during all that racket you kids must've been making when Escape Velocity was dropped, haha!

That sounds like one helluva part you had. May seem silly, but I'm glad the new Chem stuff is bringing everyone back to the board, too.

I tried playing DJ Hero the other night while mangled on assorteds and couldn't do it (seeing 9 tracks instead of 3 makes things hard). Can't imagine a real set!

Keep up the Dr Awesome stories. I dig it.