Last week, I played a set in Calgary with DJ Pump and gave you some of his/our past history in the DJ game. The gig went really well; the club was rammed and there was a lot of collaboration between Pump & I, and also Smalltown Pete. Smalltown Mike was away working on his tan. Understandable. If I could, I would.

I said last week I would tell you some more about Smalltown DJs and I think today is the day to do it. This morning I received their Best of 2011 mix in the mail and it’s a good example of what I like about the dudes. Mike & Pete have been DJing since the early 90s and have a great night in Calgary that has been running for 12 & a half years called “Hai Karate”. in the early 2000s when I met them, they handed me 2 12″ releases featuring music made by their friends that they wanted played at their night. The people that attend their night come into Hai Karate with the expectation that they are going to hear new & great music, and with good reason – Smalltown have always been the type of dudes to find the song you love before you do, and then play it for you.

Their 2011 mix is a reflection of that. You’ve probably heard a few of these songs, but you probably haven’t heard them all. They reach across genres and styles and bring you a little bit of everything. Surely you’ll walk away writing down a few tunes to seek out outside of the mix, which is what good DJs should do — educate.

On top of Hai Karate, Pete & Mike have done an incredible job of curating Calgary’s music & nightlife tastes, helping develop an open minded scene that has made a mark on the city. Their club, Hifi, is a must-visit venue if you enjoy a good evening on the town, and this trend looks like it will continue with the opening of their new watering hole, Commonwealth.

Proud to call these dudes my friends – now onto the mix. Download by clicking on the arrow in the Soundcloud player widget. Enjoy!

SMALLTOWN DJs – BEST 2011 by Smalltown Djs

This weekend, I’ll be playing at a special event, motionball Toronto. I participated in 2 of their fundraising events last year and am happy to be part of the bill this year, providing entertainment along with DJs Kissette.

You can read all about motionball and their initiatives on their website. Their goal is to raise $250,000 for Special Olympics Canada in one night. This morning’s Metro News featured an article including my mug, so i thought I would relay the information over here.

The gala is sold out (woo hoo!), but you can still find ways to participate with the organization over at their website. They also do events in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa Calgary & Vancouver, so keep an ear out for an event in you area and get involved.

See you there.

I’m a pretty lucky person. In my line of work, i get to collaborate with a lot of great people. A lot of those people end up becoming my friends, naturally. This weekend turns out to be filled with 3 consecutive collaborative shows with 5 different bros of high merit that I would consider friends. CALGARY – EDMONTON – TORONTO here we come.

Thursday in Calgary, I’m rocking with a DJ I met 12 years ago. In my first trip to a national DJ competition, my best friend and DJ-partner-turned-lawyer “Kuttin’ Kracker” and I went to Montreal for the Canadian ITF finals. It pitted 2 winners from 5 regionals (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal & Halifax) against each other in a head-to-head, 2-minute showdown. Yes, Kracker and I went to Montreal to DJ for 2 minutes each. I guess I got 4 minutes: first the qualifying round and then I got smoked by DJ Wax in the first bracket. I did pull out the ‘Bastid foot trick’, never to be seen again. Pretend you never heard about it. But it was a great experience: my first trip to Montreal and a chance to meet some great DJs from across the country. I got a free t-shirt and wore that thing into the ground. Have a look at this line-up by clicking on the image to enlarge:

World DMC Champion (and future household DJ name) DJ A-Trak, future World DMC Champion DJ Dopey, DJ Grouch from the Turnstylz, DJ Wax & DJ Krisp (who are both still DJing in western Canada), P-Love (who works with Kid Koala), Precise who never showed up, two kids from Nova Scotia taking up a lot of space on the marquee, and a guy named DJ Pump from Calgary. Pump is a bad man on the turntables. I forget whether I had seen this routine of his before the competition or not, but below is his famous “Big Payback” routine. One James Brown record, one Dirtstyle record. First time I had seen that. Needless to say, he was a heavyweight at the competition:

Pump made a trip to the DMC world finals the next year, and then I started seeing him when I was touring out west for club shows. He also put out a double disc Golden Era mixtape that kicked ass (which I had to try SO HARD not to overlap/repeat when I was making my mix for Sneaker Freaker). Consider this a mini installment of “Someone Else’s Mixtape”.

Golden Era (90-94) Disc 1 by DJ PUMP
Golden Era (90-94) Disc 2 by DJ PUMP

And so, Thursday night I’m back at it with DJ Pump & some more great friends SMALLTOWN DJs (that’s another post of it’s own, but I’ve gotta spread this babble out) at a party called God of Snow at Smalltown’s very own club, The Hifi Club, 219 10 Ave SW in Calgary. Check the Facebook Event for more info.

Friday & Saturday I’m playing on 4 turntables with 2 great DJs from Toronto, but in 2 different cities. Friday sees me sharing the stage with DJ Wristpect for the very first time — long overdue for how long we’ve been talking about it — and it’s EDMONTON that gets the treatment. Wristpect is one of the hardest working DJs that I know, and makes great mixtapes, has traveled the world playing clubs, and holds down residencies in Toronto. We’ll be playing at Grant McEwan University. On Saturday, DJ P-Plus and I will be doing another Midnight Mix party at one of my favorite spots in Toronto – Revival @ College & Crawford. P-Plus and I have done about 4 of these and we always have fun playing just about anything under the sun, totally freestyle and based off the vibe in the room. The only way to play? No. But one of the best, if not the most important, in this world of pre-programmed ‘disc jockeys’.

I’ve got great friends! See you this weekend.

Last month, I participated in a program put together by my colleague and comrade Sammy Bananas called DJs Against Climate Change. Here’s the concept:

DJs Against Climate Change 2011 from sammy bananas on Vimeo.

I agree with Sammy’s take on the issue. Traveling in my career is a necessity, and therefore leaves me putting down a larger-than-average single person carbon footprint. As a result, I need to take extra steps to clean up after myself. No one likes a litterer.

Here’s is his summary of this year’s drive, taken from the DJs Against Climate Change website:

What a year! 2011′s DJs Against Climate Change year-end-drive was our most successful yet. 18 DJs banded together to offset 457,000 LBs of CO2, over one million miles worth of air travel. With these contributions we more than doubled our total offsets since the start of DJACC four years ago.

This year’s accomplishments can’t just be measured in carbon offsets. 2000 people watched the web video we created as a call to arms for the project, further raising awareness about the global issue of climate change, and helping demonstrate how individuals can join their communities, whether they be physical or digital, to take responsibility for their CO2 emissions.

Thank you to all the DJs that participated this year, including first timers in bold.
A-Trak, Anna Lunoe, Apt One, Chris Devlin, Cousin Cole, DJ Ayres, DJ Day, DJ Benny C, Mike the 2600 King, Morse Code, Pete Emes, The Hood Internet, thee Mike B, Treasure Fingers, Skinny Friedman, Skratch Bastid, Sammy Bananas, Willy Joy

My contribution offset 42,750 pounds of carbon emissions. It’s a small contribution towards a very big problem, but I believe in leading by example and hope that other people who travel as much as I do take similar steps to help clean up their own mess.

If you’re a DJ who would like to get involved, visit the website & get involved. Gotta run, flight is boarding…

Hello, and welcome to 2012 in Bastid land. 2011 was a fantastic year – lots of travel, new cities, new friends – and I can already see more of the same in the near future. To kick off the new year, I’ll be doing some shows in some of my favorite Canadian ‘delicacies’ – little bundles of joy known as ‘mountain towns’, whose residents have either evaded major cities or couldn’t get too far away from a mountain. Makes for a great mix of people.

From there, I’ll be running around more easterly parts of Western Canada (we’re that big) – From the Mountains to the Prairies – with a Toronto gig thrown in to wrap it all up. Here are the dates below. You can always check my dates page for upcoming shows, or stay on top of EVERYTHING by subscribing to my newsletter, but I felt like this excursion deserved some special attention to get the hay bail rolling.

Jan 12 – Whistler – Garfinkels w/ DJ Rich-A
Jan 13 – Castlegar – Element
Jan 14 – Fernie – Northern
Jan 15 – Revelstoke – Rivercity Pub & Patio Revelstoke
Jan 16 – Golden – Rockwater Lounge
Jan 19 – Calgary – The Hub @ Mount Royal University
Jan 20 – Saskatoon – Scratch Nightclub w/ The Gaff
Jan 21 - Regina – Pure Ultra Lounge
Jan 27 – Edmonton – Grant MacEwan University – w/ DJ Wristpect
Jan 28 – Toronto – Revival – Midnight Mix w/ DJ P-Plus

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