Detroit Electronic Music Festival

[mostapha]

Then you'll find the prices here much more better.…

Awesome. I'm bordering on broke at the moment, mostly because of expensive hobbies. It's going to depend mostly on priorities (upgrading to PT 10, possibly switching from SSL to TSP again depending on some specifics of 2.5, buying an analog synth, etc., and a lot on how many people go to me and whether my GF and I can figure out whether to go to that or some other festival in New Orleans around the same time.

DEMF has always leaned ore towards the deep/techno/underground side of things from my few years of going and following it.

Oh, I'm aware. I didn't get into that side of the underground all that long ago, and a lot of the names are vaguely familiar but don't really stand out yet. It hurts that I suck at remembering producers' names.

I like that scene in general, though a lot of the local stuff in Atlanta is kinda hit or miss. Some of the locals are really enjoyable and very good…some of them have been spinning deep house in one form or another since I was a kid…and there's at least one Detroit native that's made a big name for himself in the barely-underground but smaller because it's not top40, hip hop, or one of the big EDM sounds (trance, electro, dubstep) scene. I forget his name. There's really only a couple places doing it……only a couple production companies……and while most of the guys are great (especially if you're not into it for a DJ with a big name) some of them really suck.

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Really helpful. I'll check them out whether I go or not.

To repay in kind, I saw Mr. C (Richard West) play in Atlanta a year or so ago…on the last night before that club switched to top40 (was in the works already…not because he screwed up) and it was incredible. The guy was involved in the rise of Acid House and Rave, the frontman of the Shamen, and really knows what he's doing. It looked like he was playing games with the dance floor…trying to send specific groups into/out of VIP or to/from the bar with his tracks. Based on what he appeared to be watching while he was mixing, I'd be really surprised if that wasn't what he was doing.

He still tends a bit more towards those older acid/rave sounds…in a slightly dubbed out/laid back way, but he also played up front dubplates along with original pressings of house anthems in a way that made absolute sense. If you get a chance at DEMF, go see him. I think he's coming back to Atlanta in a week or two, and I'm definitely going.

Heh…the only downside of that night was that Mr. C didn't play the after party…he only brought vinyl and they didn't have turntables. I mean…it was in some guy's kitchen and they were basically out of space, but still. Weird. I'll have my tables in my trunk when I go see him next just in case.

[JasonBay]

If I remember correctly, isn't Habersham from ATL? Damon Fonooi is his real name I think. Guy was making sic tracks in the early to mid 2000's, and then suddenly stopped (something about having to run his parents restaurant or something like that).

[mostapha]

Yeah, he is. He also ran a small digital music shop that had a lot of good prog breaks and progressive releases, along with a lot of the more dubbed out stuff that I did enjoy around '05-'07. It went under at some point. I still miss it, mostly because Proton is the only label I remember liking from that era and my files aren't tagged correctly because I was using CDJs.

I don't remember him having to quit, but at any rate he's spinning and doing live PA stuff again. Not sure about recent releases, though, because……

I hate saying this because he's a very decent guy, but he's one of the guys I kinda dread seeing. Maybe I've only seen him on really off nights, but it's never been enjoyable. Which sucks because he plays alongside some really good people a lot of the time, and I often can't get my friends to stick around when his set is before someone I want to see (like Delic). Maybe just a difference in styles too. Or just badly planned nights: that happened at least once. A promoter thought it was a good idea to have a pair of after hours mainstream Prog House guys open up for him. They were all competent at what they did, but it effing killed the night. I felt bad for the guy, but I almost fell asleep because of the drastic drop in tempo/energy at the wrong time. And he was playing a live PA set (I think…he was using Live) so it's not like he could just play a different set.

Funny story…when the Prog House guy got off, Habersham bumped the USB cord to his sound card (he was running Traktor)……which caused that evil "an NI card was just unplugged" buzzing sound. The only response from the crowd, when it got turned off a few seconds later was some guy shouting "aww…I love dubstep."

[JasonBay]

To be honest, never heard a mix/set from him so I can't say anything on that front. BUT if he's still doing the same thing from 2005 I can see why no one would dig it.

And the online shop your thinking of was EDM Digital I believe. Was competing with Beatport at the time, and we all know how that worked out -_-

Cue story about the USB cord, at least some one has a sense of humour.

[mostapha]

I honestly don't remember the shop. And I do have a track or two of his on vinyl that I liked back then.

[djproben]

Damn. Still can't believe it but I just bought tickets. And airfare and reserved a hotel, so it looks like I'm all in.

The lineup looks great to me. I'm really interested in the old timers like Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May. Josh Wink, Mr. C., and Nic Fanciulli also appeal to me. Definitely interested in checking out Damian Lazaruz, Maceo Plex and Maya Jane Coles among others. Lots of other stuff appealing there, Mr Oizo, DJ Sneak, Carl Craig, Claude von Stroke, The Martinez Brothers, Major Lazer, Roni Size, and yeah probably a ton of the people I've never heard of will be fantastic as well.

Thanks for that afterparties link, I will be keeping an eye on that page as well as this one!

[mostapha]

You're excited about major lazer?

[djproben]

wouldn't necessarily use the word excited but yeah I'm pretty sure he can rock a show.

[herlsy]

VIP Passes ready plus a ton of presales, finished work for the day and flying out tomorrow afternoon. Ready to party my ass off.

[Xonetacular]

Looks fun, I wanted to go but couldn't convince anyone to spend the money to go with me and I wasn't about to fly to detroit by myself.