Rockwell

NEW ELECTRO REMIX

2009-04-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

My boy David Garcia hooked me up with an electro track that he and Jeff T. did - they remixed Paradiso Girl's new club hit "Patron Tequila". The original is a little cheesy but I think the remix is pure fire; I did an edit of the two that I've rocked at Foxtail, Opera, Area, and Suki 7 in the last week... and the crowd's gone bananas every time!

You can download or listen to the edit I did below. Give it about 2 minutes in to catch Garcia's electro version.

As always, comments are welcome.

Download (Right-Click and Save As)

-rockwell

KANYE WEST = RAP MUSIC?

2009-04-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

TRUE STORY: Earlier tonight I was playing Kanye West ("New Workout Plan") when some broad asked me to play "rap music".

It sounded like Kanye was rapping to me... so I just nodded my head and gave her a thumbs up.

-rockwell

MADCON

2009-04-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

Madcon rocked Area last Wednesday night. This is one of my favorite songs right now.

-rockwell

ROCKWELL ON THE... 2'S?

2009-03-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

My unfortunate impromptu 1-turntable set at Foxtail last Friday got me thinking to the last time I had to rock a set on 1 turntable...

Flashback to this video from Area on 02/11/2009. It was an eventful night with the beautiful Jessica Burciaga hosting (and celebrating her being chosen as Playboy's Miss February '09), Dj Mister-E celebrating his 30th birthday, Dj Skribble stopping by for a quick minute, and of course Paris Paul hyping the crowd.

I was opening for Mister-E and since he plays on cdj's (he rocks them), there weren't any turntables set up when I got to the club. Since we were both being lazy and I was only playing till 11ish anyway, we decided to set up just the right turntable for me to rock my set. Video evidence is below. Note how the left side has a cdj. I was thinking this could be a recession-approved rider any time cdj / turntable djs run into a similar situation.

Keep in mind this was early in the night before the party really got cracking. Hey!

-rockwell

ANOTHER NYE 2009 VIDEO

2009-03-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

I came across this footage from New Year's Eve at The Vanguard shot and posted to YouTube by some loving patrons in attendance. This video is right at the countdown at midnight, where I am playing PJANO by Eric Prydz (and which I then followed with my 2-0-0-9 remix, which you can barely hear the beginning of in this video).

The first thing I'd like to point out after viewing this video is that the MC (my friend Paris Paul) counted down 10 seconds too soon! Watch the earlier NYE video that I posted and you'll notice that when he finishes the countdown Paris actually turns around, sees the big screen, realizes he counted down too soon, and laughs at his error (he's the guy holding the mic).

The second thing I'd like to point out is that the 3,000 people in attendance counted down incorrectly with Paris rather than with the big screen - I guess for the most part people are audio, not visual, learners (?).

The last thing I'd like to point out (again, if you've watched the earlier video) is that 3 videographers were in the house on New Year's Eve and not one of them shot any content from the crowd's point of view... hence making this new video rather unique in my eyes.

-rockwell

HEADPHONES

2009-03-18T10:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, the other day I mentioned how 'ghetto' my headphones were because the padding fell off of them. What I failed to mention is that I keep a back-up pair of headphones at home at all times and (guess what?) the padding fell off of them too!

I actually didn't realize this when I posted the other day, but noticed it when I was practicing at home last night (yes, I do ocassionally practice... one must do so if they want to shed themselves of the title 'worst dj ever').

Perhaps this is less a testament to my laziness in making sure I have the proper dj gear and more to the deteriorating quality of Sony MDR-7506 headphones, but to me they're still my favorite.

-rockwell

I AM THAT BOOM BOOM POW!

2009-03-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

The other day my friend Priscilla tried to educate me on music by telling me that I should start playing The Black Eyed Peas' new song "BOOM BOOM POW" in my sets. Where has she been?

I had to educate her... letting her know that I BROKE the Black Eyed Peas new song (as evidenced by this [rather boring] video shot by an Interscope Rep who gave me the song on a flash drive at Opera Saturdays a few weeks back).

Note that half the people didn't know how to dance to the song because they had never heard it before... but thanks to me and my trail-blazing efforts, in a few short weeks it is now a top radio and club hit.

*sarcastic grin*

-rockwell

CONFUSES SAYS...

2009-03-17T20:36:00.001-07:00

..."To avoid all criticism: say nothing, do nothing, be nothing."

-rockwell

LOVING NOTES FROM MY LOYAL PATRONS

2009-03-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

So last week (which happens every so often), I received written messages from a couple of members of of my female fan base that I thought were worth posting. These "love notes" tend to happen more often at clubs like Suki 7 in Westlake Village, where I'm elevated above the crowd and am less accessible, because writing a note is one of the few ways a club-goer can communicate with me. However, I do also receive notes at other places like Area; perhaps because the patron feels they are better able to communicate their message to me through writing than verbally.

At any rate, below are two random notes I received last week on back-to-back nights at Area on Wednesday (the one on the left) and Suki 7 on Thursday (the one on the right). Note they both contained the phrase "F*ck You" but in totally different contexts.

In my defense, I can name at least 1 dj off the top of my head who I believe to be a worse dj than I, which would exonerate me from the "worst dj ever" title that one of these loyal patrons wanted to bestow upon me.

-rockwell

BADDEST DJ ON 1 TURNTABLE...?

2009-03-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

As promised in yesterday's post, here's a picture of me rocking Foxtail with only one turntable last Friday:

I actually started off the night with 2 turntables and was playing a wonderful set until around midnight, when a certain drunk someone tried passing a drink to a friend from the right front of the dj booth to the left of the dj booth using the area above my turntables as a path... the drink spilled all over the right turntable, caused a mess, and made the turntable's pitch control permanently stay at zero (in layman's terms, they "broke" it).

As if that wasn't enough damage for one night, this person actually refilled the drink and then again tried to pass it back to the friend on the other side of the dj booth, this time using the area above my laptop as their path. Luckily I intercepted the exchange and prevented further damage to my equipment (but in that split second, my laptop's life flashed before my eyes).

Anyway, I was stuck playing on the left side for the rest of the night, without the luxury of my naturally strongest hand... in my defense, I still think my set was wonderful. Here's a short 8 minute / 6 song snippet of my set post-accident:

Note how despite only one turntable I'm still able to chase, cut, drop acapellas, and use word play like I normally do... but my plight catches up to me when I'm unable to scratch key lines into key mixes (like "POP BOTTLES" from Fat Joe's I WON'T TELL into POP CHAMPAGNE, or "CALL THE ARABS" from Step Brothers BOATS AND HOES into ARAB MONEY [fast forward to the 6:50 mark]); instead, being forced to play the lines using the keys on my laptop... sigh.

(As a sidenote, I realized that my buddy Scotty Boy always plays on one turntable. Kudos to him; he's a braver man than I.)

-rockwell

THE STATE OF MY...

2009-03-15T22:55:00.000-07:00

...DJ GEAR.

Yeah, it's been a minute since my last post (or almost two months to be more exact). What can I say? - I've been busy with dj'ing and a bunch of projects. But I came to the realization today that I need to make time for important things in my life, things like... keeping my blog updated, or making sure the state of my dj gear is in order (and the latter turns out to be the reason for me doing the former).

So here's what it took to get me out of my blog hibernation:
I noticed today that I broke one of my needles last night at Opera Saturdays. This would normally not be any type of life-changing event because (like any self-respecting dj) I always carry 2 extra needles with me (a total of 4), but thanks to me not fixing the previous 2 needles I broke I'm down to my last one. I can technically still get by with one needle (as proven by the set I did at Foxtail last Friday... I promise to blog about this later), but playing with one needle is kind of like what Chris Rock says about driving a car with your feet: "You can do it, but it doesn't mean it's to be done". Knowing I'll have to make a Guitar Center run soon, I started doing inventory of my dj gear and what else I should pick up while I'm there. And it was during this inventory that I came to my important realization about the important things in life (or at least that I should take a little time to fix my gear... and update my blog every once in a while).

For the record, here's photographic evidence of all that's wrong with my dj gear:

1) First, the afore-mentioned needles. Note how 2 of the needles don't have a stylus on them (one of which I tried taping together with scotch tape when that part of the needle broke on me):

2) Second, my Serato records. Not only are they scratched to sh*t, but one of them has had its sticker torn since last year (proof of this is in the video from NYE at The Vanguard in an earlier post... Yes, I've been using the same beat-up, scratched and torn record for 3 months):

3) Lastly, my headphones. I was at a gig last week where a fellow dj pointed out to me that the padding fell off of them. Note that the padding didn't fall off on only one ear, but both! (When it fell off the first ear, I thought I was okay because I only technically listen to headphones in one ear so I could still use the padded side... but the padding fell off the other side so now I've just been grinning and bearing it like a dumbass).

Pretty ghetto.

Anyway, while it's good to stay busy it's not good to be TOO busy, if you know what I mean. (Or is it "If you stay ready, you don't have to GET ready?"... I can't remember).

-rockwell

CONFUSES SAYS...

2009-01-23T16:23:00.000-08:00

..."When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

-rockwell

EPIC NYE 2009 VIDEO

2009-01-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

-rockwell

BARACK-WELL?

2009-01-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Danny sent this picture over early this morning. I guess he's extra excited about the change in regime.

-rockwell

ROCKWELL AVE

2009-01-13T19:37:00.000-08:00

Erick Mora of Caramba Tequila sent in these pictures he took of "Rockwell Ave" in El Monte, CA.

-rockwell

LIVE AT AREA

2009-01-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday at Area was pretty crazy. It was Tiffany Pollard's birthday party, a People's Choice After-Party, and KTLA Channel 5 was in the house. I recorded my entire mix during the night (4 hours long!) and here is a 70-minute snippet of it. I think this mix started around 11:15 when the club was already packed to sh*t.

My homie Paris Paul of Check One-Two was rocking the mic for me. I think there's around 40 tracks in this one, mostly hip-hop and house/electro stuff. It's the next best thing to having been there last Wednesday. Enjoy!

Download mp3 File (Right-Click & Save)
Download Zip File

-rockwell

PHRASE OF THE DAY

2009-01-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

"Quid Pro Quo"

Today's PHRASE OF THE DAY was made famous by Anthony Hopkins aka Hannibal Lecter in the movie Silence of the Lambs (he uses it a little more than a minute and a half into the video, as does Jodi Foster later):

A less creepy, real life example of "quid pro quo":
A dj friend of mine requests my presence at her upcoming gig at Avalon, citing her presence a couple days earlier at my gig at The Vanguard as the reason why I should go.

-rockwell

CONFUSES SAYS...

2009-01-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

..."A year from now you'll be glad you started today."

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

-rockwell

IT'S ALMOST... TWO ZERO ZERO NINE!

2008-12-30T21:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post; I've been really busy doing holiday stuff and getting ready for my set on New Year's Eve.

Anyhow, here's a new remix "TWO ZERO ZERO NINE" that I finally finished this week (I've been planning the concept of it most of the year and should be dropping it live at The Vanguard sometime tomorrow around midnight). Special thanks to Ketch, Matrix, and Alexander for their help/input.

The best part about it is that it's technically relevant for the next 365 days.

Go to my myspace page to listen or right-click to download and enjoy.

-rockwell

CONFUSES SAYS...

2008-12-11T10:53:00.000-08:00

..."Remember this your life time through, there is always work to do... and failure waits for those who stay on some success made yesterday... tomorrow you must try once more, and even harder than before."

-rockwell

New Years Eve!

2008-12-10T15:22:00.000-08:00

Everybody knows New Year's Eve is the biggest party night of the year. This year (like last year), I'll be playing on the main stage at Vanguard from 10pm-1:30am.

A limited number of presale tickets are available for $40 for general admission and $100 for VIP admission w/ open bar.

Get your tickets here: NYE 2009 Tickets

-rockwell

WORD OF THE DAY

2008-12-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Today's word of the day is "shady".

shady
–adjective, shadier, shadiest.
1. abounding in shade; shaded: shady paths.
2. giving shade: a shady tree.
3. shadowy; indistinct; spectral.
4. of dubious character; rather disreputable: shady dealings.
—Idiom
5. on the shady side of, Informal. beyond (the specified age); more than: on the shady side of 40.

To use it in a sentence: I do not associate with shady characters.

-rockwell

PHRASE OF THE DAY

2008-12-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

"In vino veritas"

-rockwell

R.I.P. THE BODY SHOP?

2008-12-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

First Basque, now the Body Shop?

What's with my favorite Hollywood landmarks going down in flames this year?

I thought this would be an appropriate occasion to post a video of Motley Crue's "Girls, Girls, Girls" but YouTube wouldn't let me embed it on my page, so click the link here if you have 5 minutes to spare.

LA Times Article

-rockwell

WORD OF THE DAY

2008-12-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

Today's word of the day is "curt".

CURT
–adjective, -er, -est.
1. rudely brief in speech or abrupt in manner.
2. brief; concise; terse; laconic.
3. short; shortened.

To use it in a sentence:
If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor; I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this... So, pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fucking car.

-rockwell