Skratch Bastid

((someone else’s mixtape)) – Smalltown DJs – Best of 2011 mix

skratch — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:59:53 +0000

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

Motionball TO 2012 Gala

skratch — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:23:26 +0000

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.

WE’RE ALL FRIENDS HERE – upcoming shows January 26-28

skratch — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:57:35 +0000

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.

DJs Against Climate Change

skratch — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:24:46 +0000

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…

From the Mountains to the Prairies and back – January Canadian dates

skratch — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:29:23 +0000

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

((someone else’s mixtape)) DJ Spinbad – EVERYTHING HE DOES

skratch — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:23:50 +0000

Carrying on with the “someone else’s mixtape” series, I thought it would be appropriate to feature a DJ that I’m playing with this weekend in Toronto. This Friday, I’m teaming up again with T-dot’s finest, DJ Starting From Scratch, and we’ll be rocking alongside New York’s DJ Spinbad. 6 turntables, 3 mixers, 3 DJs. If you don’t know the man and what he has brought to the table, I think his mixes are a great place to start.

The first thing I had ever heard from Spinbad was his remix of “Hip-Hop vs Rap” by KRS-ONE. “Hip Hop vs Rap” was a DJ favorite for a few reasons – it’s a banger, it was only ever released on 12″ (it was the B-Side to “Sound of the Police”), and it has an acapella. The acapella is just screaming to be cut up, as the second half of KRS’ verse is all popular (and I guess at times not-so-popular) quotes from other songs. Among other things, Premier cut it up for KRS’ “MCs Act Like They Don’t Know“.

Spinbad basically made it so that no one else can ever make a remix of that song ever again. Maybe take a phrase or two, but nope, no remixes! The way he flipped all of the different beats to the songs that are referenced and transitioned between them blew my mind. It made me think differently about attention to detail in remixes – each of the little beat pieces thrown in last for a few seconds but in the grand scheme of things makes a huge impact. A little can go a long way. (Listen to the track at the bottom of this post)

This track kicks off a mixtape built entirely of ‘blends’ (or acapella remixes) that was recorded by Spinbad and DJ JS-1 (no slouch either, Rahzel’s tour DJ among other things) – “The Cold Cutz Remixes”. Recorded in 1996 to an analog 4- or 8-track, it sounds pretty grimey 15 years later, but it doesn’t take away from the quality of the effort. The tape hiss & cue burn are just things you had to live with in 96. Though the first track is my favorite, many other tracks have that touch that reward those listening close.

Click here to go over to Spinbad’s main mixtape (19 of them!) page on his website. But don’t stop there – his ’80s Rock The Casbah’ mix (and the follow-up) is widely regarded as a mixtape gamechanger, crossing genres well before the term ‘mash-up’ existed and cutting up many 80s & 90s records which had never had the treatment before. You should probably just do yourself a favor and grab everything on the page.

If you’re in Toronto this Friday, be sure to stop by Revival. Needless to say I’m excited to share the stage with Spin & SFS and we’ve got 6 tables setup, so it’s guaranteed to be a once in a lifetime show. Who knows where the music will go…

See you there!

Additional info:

Taboo Events + Shaman + SFS Ent. Invite You To…

——- DOOWUTCHYALIKE ——-

Spinnin’ Wutchyalike, Jus’ How Ya Like…

The World Famous…
DJ STARTING FROM SCRATCH

With Special Guests…
DJ SPINBAD (NYC/Spinbad.com)
&
SKRATCH BASTID (SkratchBastid.com)

Hosted By…
THE LIFE OF THE PARTY (Hip-Hop Vs House)
WAN LUV (The Main Ingredient)

And Special Guest Host…
KARDINAL OFFISHALL – Canada’s Hip-Hop Ambassador!

Friday, Dec. 23rd, 2011
REVIVAL – 783 College St (W of Bathurst @ Shaw)
COVER: $20 B4 Midnight * $25 After
2 Floors All Access – Dooinit Til 4am!!!

Also Featuring…
DJ J-CLASS & JAMES REDI in The Stone Lounge

$15 Adv Tix @ Play De Record, Home Base & Livestock

Thanks To:
TO FLO, ReFresh Ent, Hyped?, FUSICOLOGY, & Play De Record

Info: DoowutchyalikeTO@gmail.com

RevivalBar.com, TabooEvents.com, StartingFromScratch.com, Spinbad.com, SkratchBastid.com

BEST DECEMBER EVER – Red Bull Three Style, collab w/ DJ Spinbad & DJ Starting From Scratch, NYE, more…

skratch — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:45:35 +0000

So we’re almost halfway through December and I’m calling it now: BEST MONTH EVER. I hit up Bermuda the first weekend of this month for a few shows, made my way through the depths of Canada via Thunder Bay, ON and Brandon, MB last weekend, en route to this week’s INCREDIBLE Red Bull ThreeStyle World Finals in Vancouver. I’ll be judging each night & performing on Wednesday, December 14th, with Peanut Butter Wolf.

When I get home, I have the pleasure of rocking the stage with my good homie DJ Starting From Scratch (your favorite entertainer’s favorite DJ) & one of my favorite mixtape makers Mr. DJ Spinbad. Dec 23rd we’ll be gracing one of my favorite rooms in Toronto, Revival (783 College Street). We’ll have 6 turntables setup. I don’t think you’re ready.

Then it’s off to Halifax for the holidays. I’ll be making the rounds in the Maritimes – PEI gets a taste on Dec 28th at Globe, I’ll slip Moncton the tongue under the mistletoe at iRock on Dec 29th, and then THE BIG ONE: New Year’s Eve at the World Trade & Convention Centre in Halifax for Making The Wish 2011. This is my third year in a row and I can honestly say it is THE place to be on the East Coast for New Year’s Eve – packed room of 2000+ all celebrating for the good cause of granting the wish of a child in need to visit Disney World. Great party, great night. DO NOT MISS! I mean, Jonathan Torrens is going:

Check out the flyers below and get your ass to a show! ‘Tis the season.

((someone else’s mixtape)) – DJ Vajra – “I Live For The Funk”

skratch — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:59:25 +0000

I’ve started a whenever-I-want-to-post-it series called “someone else’s mixtape“. I’m always checking out mixes and I know a lot of skratchbastid.com visitors come here for mine. So, I’ve decided to pass on mixes that catch my ear. This, as you know, can happen at any time. And so I am going to post them whenever I want. Subscribe to this feed at the bottom, I’ll never over-post, I promise.

I spoke with my man (and this year’s DMC World Champion!) DJ Vajra earlier this week and I asked him about his “I Live For The Funk” live mix that he recorded earlier this year. He said that it was a set he crafted for a show he played with funk outfit The New Matersounds and it was a compilation of a few different funk/soul oriented mixes of his, both new and never released. It came out great – but I’m not sure many people heard it. I think that judging by the soundcloud plays, this is an under-appreciated mix. If you’re a fan of good music and good mixes (and some tasteful scratches), I would suggest you look no further than the ‘play’ button below.

I Live For the Funk: A Live Mix by DJ Vajra

Here’s a youtube clip of him performing part of this mix live:

If you’ve frequented this website, than you’ve probably seen Vajra and I cut it up before. Be expecting some more of that in the future. Here is some footage from our last session:

CFL Grey Cup / Grey Cup Festival 2011

skratch — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:50:49 +0000

This weekend I’ll be heading out to Vancouver to take part in the festivities surrounding CANADA’S SUPERBOWL!!!! Okay, okay, maybe it’s not THAT big, but it’s still a yearly event that Canadians look forward to drinking beer whilst watching, typically with friends and food. It’s the Grey Cup, the final game of the Canadian Football League season. This year, the game will be held in Vancouver, and the BC Lions fortunately have home field advantage against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

My part? I will be the in-house DJ at the Molson Canadian House Friday & Saturday, hosting the day’s bands and wrapping up with a 2-hour set each night. Among the bands playing will be canuck rock legend Colin James and, I’m very happy to say, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings! Big fan – I’ve seen them 3 times and they never fail. I’ll have to dig up a heavy set to follow those guys. I put their tune “How Long Do I Have To Wait For Your Love?” (below) as the last song on my “Get Up!” mix, and it was one of my most requested/asked about tunes from that mix. Top notch group.

For a full schedule, head to the Molson Canadian House event page.

Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals – Dec 13th-17th

skratch — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:09:30 +0000

What do Z-Trip, Just Blaze, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, The Rub, DJ Nu-Mark, Peanut Butter Wolf, Smalltown DJs, Team Canada, Vinyl Ritchie, The Freshest, Faction Sound Crew, The Goodfellas and Skratch Bastid have in common?

Look up.

We are 3 weeks away from the week-long party that will be the 2nd Annual Red Bull Thre3Style World Championships. DJs from all over the globe will hit Vancouver with their best tunes & slickest routines, no doubt bringing along some top secret, last minute magic in an effort to bring home the gold. The event has grown this year, and the finals have been reorganized to give the people, and the DJs, the best club experience possible.

The competition has now been laid out over 4 ‘elimination’ nights to accommodate the amount of countries now involved (18!) and to give all DJs good prime-time slots to shine. The competitors have been evenly distributed over the 4 nights by continent, along with showcases from some of the biggest names in the biz (did you see that line-up??). The final night will feature a showdown between the winners from each elimination, and sets from seasoned dancefloor slayers DJ Z-Trip & DJ Nu-Mark, along with my brother-in-wax-allegiance Vinyl Ritchie. That means the best of the best will have to rock TWO venues & parties on different nights. Sounds like a suitable challenge for those looking to take home the title of “World’s Best Party Rocker”.

Last year’s world finals in Paris brought the house down at Élysée Montmartre and I can’t tell you how excited I am to see the world finals come to Canada – a country known for it’s enthusiastic crowds and party people. It will be the perfect setting for each country’s champ to show & prove. The event is bigger, the stakes are higher, and I’m ready to see a show! Catch you in Vancouver.

Tickets go on sale Thursday, December 1st in Vancouver at Beatstreet, LiveStock and Dipt. Web link for tickets and more info is over at the official Red Bull Thre3Style website. I will be judging at the elimination events all week, and performing Wednesday, December 14th, along with Vancouver’s The Freshest, and founder of Stones Throw Records, the legendary Peanut Butter Wolf.

Here are a couple videos to get you ready for the big event. First, a little Thre3Style 101 from yours truly for those who don’t know what the competition is all about:

…And here’s some footage from the Canadian Finals: