Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Our Engagement Party

My fiance and I celebrated our engagement at Lustre Lounge where LazZ and I work. We had a cocktail party for around seventy guests, which included mostly family and close friends of myself and my fiance (pic on left). This was a good crowd for Lustre Lounge, although we could have fitted in about thirty more people. The function lasted four hours.

As far as the music went, we didn't really hire a DJ for the night! Instead, LazZ made some non-stop mixes (80's & RnB) and I made a non-stop mix ("Sega & Baila"). We used MixMeister Pro. for making the mixes, although I must say my "Sega & Baila" (i.e. (similar sounding) danceable Sri Lankan music and danceable Mauritian music) mix was horrible -- thanks to creating the mix on an old version of MixMeister, and then transferring the mix to the latest version in the last minute to burn the CD! However I do hope that people at least got the main message of the "Sega and Bail"a mix, i.e.: the two cultures can coexist. But unfortunately, the mix could also have given them the impression, that they can't coexist peacefully!

The switching between CDs on the CDJs was mostly done by Fabrice (a.k.a. DJ Fab?), my (future) bro-in-law (pic on top right), who also played some nice slow warm-up music on the CDJs at the beginning. The sequencing of the warm-up music was chosen by DJ Fab, from a list created by my dad and (future) mom-in-law, from my dad's oldies collection. This was DJ Fab's first time playing overseas, in a real bar, on a real DJ system, so I doubt he'll forget the night any time soon! I wonder if he can now call himself an international DJ in Mauritius?









Towards the half-way mark, when the more danceable tunes were playing, a small dance group started forming, and they danced for a while to some of the Sega music. But soon the Sega music was over, and since we had already played the 80's mix earlier, we had only RnB left! As expected, the dancing didn't continue for too much longer!

The organisation of the event was handled by Lustre Lounge, who did a fantastic job of it as usual. Catering for the event was provided by Shane recommended by Lustre Lounge, who was very timely and organised in bringing and serving the food. All photographs shown above(except for the pic of DJ Fab), and more, were taken by the Wasantha Wimalaratne, who also did a fantastic (and very professional) job of it.

Overall, I think the night went very smoothly. Next time (i.e.at the wedding, not at a second engagement!), we'll be booking the venue for about six hours, and I'll try and get the message across a bit better, that the two cultures can coexist peacefully!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

NYE 06!!

DJ LazZ and I have been invited by LustreLounge to play at their NYE 06 masquerade party! This is probably my biggest gig of the year -- 6 hours of music ranging from RnB and Retro to Funky and Commercial House! LazZ will spin the non-house music while I handle the Housy side of things.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Icon Bar

Checked out Icon Bar on Flinder's Lane last night (Monday night because Tuesday was a public holiday). Not a bad place, but it was more of a club than a Bar. The DJ wasn't really too bothered about mixing so he played a mixture of RnB and House. The highlight was when they gave away $50 worth of drinks for the best dancer "on" the bar (yes -- literally, on top of the separation between the bar and punters!).

Thursday, October 20, 2005

DJ LazZ Bustin' It!!

DJ LazZ has been doing private parties at Lustre Lounge quite a bit in the past few months, playing anything from Underground and Commercial Punk, RnB and 80's to Commercial House!! Looks like he's been banging the right tunes to even lure the general public, making the bouncers' jobs harder in having to tell them its a private function!!

As for me, I've been a bit idle recently after my gig at Hotham. Had a lot of work to finish off, and a few important deadlines here and there. Also the two places where I used to play (Stellar Bar and Republika) has essentially "closed down" so I'm currently looking for more gigs, will probably do a few open decks just to keep the flow.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

The General Mt. Hotham

The General Entertainment Centre of Mount Hotham is a great place to unwind during the day and even a better place to party at night. With stunning views of snow covered mountains through large glass windows, a nice bar, and a great sound system, The General attracts top Australian DJs each year such as Mark Dynamix, John Course and Nik Fish, to entertain the Hotham crowd.

During the day, The General is a great place for some coffee with a view, or for some fast food made as you watch. At night, The General transforms into a restaurant with quite a sophisticated dinner menu and on most nights during the snow season, The General hosts entertainment ranging from darts, giveaways and Karaoke, to DJs playing tunes ranging from 80's and Top 40 to funky and commercial House!

Some pictures taken at The General are shown below.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

LazZ's 25th & Clint and Boogs @ Decorum

Had a house party to celebrate LazZ's 25th. LazZ was busting some 80's and RnB (pic on right) and managed to get people dancing and having a good time. Plenty of good food, booz and some good music made it a memorable night.

Afterwards we went and checked out Clint (pic below) and Boogs at Decorum. Decorum was nice. It was quiet, but apparently it gets packed Saturday nights. Clint played a good deep downbeat set, and Boogs played a nice eclectic set, including (Hip Hoppy) Vocal House and Breaks.

Monday, September 05, 2005

Dinner Plain Hotel -- Mt. Hotham!

Went on a Ski trip to Mt. Hotham with a group for the weekend, and stayed at the Snowbird Inn, close to the Ski Lifts for `The Summit'. It was fantastic to wake up each morning to see snow outside the window, and to see people skiing on the slopes!


Had a great time playing at the Dinner Plain Hotel, at Dinner Plain (10 minutes away from Hotham)!! I played a combined set on the Saturday night, with resident DJ Juddy, from 9pm - 1am. I started off, playing some soft US House, and then moved onto more upbeat US House. Juddy took over for a few tracks with some breaks and darker/electro house after which I continued with some of my more banging tunes, and some commercial stuff. From there we kept swapping every three tracks, until 1am.


The bar at the DP Hotel was awesome! Nice PA system (including lighting and a smoke machine), pool tables and nice comfy couches. They were giving away $1000, free drinks and a mountain bike as prizes for those who purchased a $8 raffle ticket. We didn't win the $1000 but my girl friend managed to win 6 shots, so it wasn't a total waste ;-D


There were lots of requests for country music (mainly Kenny Rogers), but we didn't end up playing (or having) any! Anyhow people seemed to be having a great time.

Definitely the best local gig so far!!

Friday, September 02, 2005

Ortofon Concordes!!

Bought a pair of Ortofon Concordes from Rhythm and Soul!! Costed me $300. I was in a hurry to buy these because I needed them for the gig up in the Snow. I had only about 10 minutes to bargain at Rhythm and Soul, but the fella was good enough to reduce it to $300, from $318.



Saturday, August 27, 2005

aLive @ Retreat Hotel!!

Went for an afternoon event organised by Luko and Luke MCD. Here's the description:

So you dont want to see another sun rise through blurry eyes? You dont want to wait till 4am for some live electronica? You like it live raw and real? Your not scared of a bit of sunlight? You like beer or champagn? You have nothing to do most Saturday arvos? You actually want to know what the people you have met in clubs look like? You have an open mind and are ready for something new?Well here it is "aLive" looks to give you the day time alternative with events based on the fact you can party anywhere any time and the music we love is right on our doorstep.


Hell of an event that was!! Here are some pics...












Sunday, August 14, 2005

Bye Bye Republika :-(

Had my last gig at Republika last night. They close on 20th August :-(

Was one of my best gigs. Played 11pm - 1am. Started off with US House and went onto play some commercial house/remixes which got the people dancing. Stayed till 2am with a couple of friends to finish off my 10-free-drinks coupon ;-)

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Fresh Nightclub -- Mauritius!

Had my first international performance last night, at the Fresh Nightclub in Mauritius. The set was brief and early, but I got a feel for the soundsystem, the type of music they play, and the `look' of a Nightclub in Mauritius. Here's a description of Fresh! taken from www.tropicscope.com/nightlife_in_mauritius.asp :-

Fresh! Grand Rivière North West (near Port Louis.) Freshly refurbished and taken over by young nightlife specialists, the management endeavours in establishing a “Fresh” concept that would attract any kind of people wishing to have fun in a “clean” environment. At the entrance is a semi-open lounge space with a bar where there is either a live animation or lounge music. Then comes the inside arena where people get heated up. The volumes of the building is close to ideal with a high roof and an excellent air-conditioning / ventilation. “The sexiest club in town” which is the motto, revealed to be true on several occasions.

The soundsystem was great, especially the monitor :P They were still fixing the soundsystem while I was playing, so the monitor kept going off an on, but didn't really bother me too much. Seemed like they payed very close attention to the sound and spent a lot of effort in getting the sound levels just right.

The equipment were standard -- Technics 1200s with a DJM500. They had a Denon CD Player as well (an earlier model without the platter) and a fairly generous amount of space to fit about 4 people in their comfortably. They also had Ortofon carts, but looked like they had a problem with one of them, although no dramas while I was playing.

The Nightclub had an open bar outside for people wanting some fresh air, and it looked like they were setting up some equipment for a DJ to play outside. Not sure how they were going to prevent the outside sound from interfering with the sound inside the club -- didn't stick around long enough to find out :-
The staff and DJs were friendly. I was asked to play towards the end if there was time (the DJs were booked for the whole night, and I contacted them in the last minute, so I could only fill in any empty slots) or on Saturday if there was a free slot, but none of these times suited me. Just a bit dissapointed I couldn't stick around and play for longer, but there's a good chance that I'll play there again on my next visit to Mauritius!

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Strike Bowling Bar

Played at Strike Bowling Bar for about 1.5 hours last night. T'was fun. Tried out some of my new electro tunes and electro-influenced house tunes ;) The bar staff and manager (??) was lovin' it. Not a lot of crew came down with me this time unlike last time, but t'was fun anyhow.

Might ask Clint to book me in for an Open Decks @ Stellar day after (Wed), so I can try out some of those tunes on a better soundsystem! The soundsystem at Strike was not going on full volume.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

This/Next Week

I'm playing this Saturday at Republika (132 Smith St. Collingwood, close to the CBD) - http://republika.com.au/, from 12.30 am - 2 am. Will be playing a few banging US House tunes since Republika is a nightclub, and more banging Electro tunes will follow from Resident DJ Clint Hargreaves right after.

This Monday, I'll be playing at e55 internet bar and cafe - http://www.efiftyfive.com. Will be spinning some layed back US House to start off the night.

Monday, July 04, 2005

Beach Party at Monterey, California!

I visited the Monterey county located in California for a conference last month. On the way there and on the way back I also managed to find some time to visit the wonderful San Fransisco and the huge New York!

Despite visiting Times Square in New York and a Broadway and Pier 39 (from where you can hop on a tour to Alcatraz!) in San Fransisco, the highlight of my visit to the states was a beach party organised by the conference committee. The party had some nice activities (e.g. table tennis), the scenery was great (I mean the beach), the food was amazing, , the people were very friendly, and the DJ was one of a kind! I spent most of my time at the party chatting with the DJ.

The DJ (I forget his name) was dressed for the occasion (look in the photos below for a guy with a big hat riding the waves!) and always wore a big smile. He had a huge CD collection and boy did he know his music! He didn't beatmatch but it seemed to me like he was experienced enough to remember the tune of any track in his collection. This is probably why he didn't use any headphones! The equipment he used were; a rack-mount (I think American DJ) CD players, a very sophisticated mixer, and what seemed to be 12" horn speakers and a subwoofer.

The venue was right next to the beach, and there were a few open fires outside on the sand with people sitting around them, chatting, eating, drinking and even burning their marshmellows in the fire! A friend told me that Americans always burn marshmellows before eating them, but I find this hard to believe! Anyway it was a fantastic environment for people to, among other things, kick back, relax and breathe in some fresh sea breeze, whilst listening to some good music!

Monday, June 27, 2005

Upcoming Gigs

June 27th [8pm - 10pm ] : Strike Bowling Bar

Playing at an Open Decks session. Looking forward to playing here while my friends go bowling :-P

June 30th [7.30pm - 11.30] : Lustre Lounge

Private function. I'll be playing some US House, Commercial House and requests.

July 2nd [8.00pm - 1.00am] : Lustre Lounge

Private function. I'll be playing mostly US House and Commercial House. Will also be playing a few 80's classics and some specific tunes requested beforehand.

Thursday, June 23, 2005

This Week!

Back from the US and after a long 3 week silence, looking forward to spinning some of that stuff at a place called Khokolat tonight. A bit intimidated by the digital Numark equipment at Khokolat :-P .. Hope the pitch riding doesn't get affected too much!

Here's the banner





Also doing my monthly gig at Stellar Bar Friday night 12.30 - close. Have to take my wn equipment this time as Stellar Bar was broken into and all the equipment stolen!!

Friday, May 27, 2005

This Weekend...

I'm playing at StellarBar (98 Bourke St) this Friday night, 1am - close (which is usually around 3 am). Entry is free so come on down and chill out. Resident DJ Clint Hargreaves will play till 1 am -- probably a combination of pumped up jazzy grooves and techy jacked up house. I'll be playing some quirky upbeat USHouse with a commercial touch :-)

I'll also be playing 9pm - 1am Saturday night at LustreLounge (252 Flinder's Ln), but not 100% sure if this is a private function or not. If anyone's interested you can send me an email and I'll find out!

Sunday, May 22, 2005

May DEMO Created!

My May DEMO is now online! I think this one is more funkier than the previous, and a bit better in terms of how long the mixes are and how different one mix is from the next. I think the tunes are better than the previous too and its a bit less boring!

1. Fred Everything -- Forever (Dub Mix)
2. Trentmoller -- Le Champagne
3. To-Ka Project -- Revolution
4. Alexander East -- Feel Me (JT Donaldson Remix)
5. Colette -- Feelin' Hypnotized (Jason Hodges Mix)
6. Natrural Rhythm -- Nevicata (Jason Hodges Remix)
7. Just Jason -- Different Things (Joey Youngman Mix)
8. Troydon -- Steppin' Up
9. Lawnchair Generals -- The Truth
10. Lawnchair Generals -- Alright
11. Funkalizer -- Capricorn
12. Joey Youngman -- Casual Encounters
13. Mario Fabriani -- Things to do

Friday, May 13, 2005

Upcoming gigs...

Playing at LustreLounge for a corporate function 9pm - 1am on Friday 27th. For the first time I was asked to play House music for a private function!! :-P I'll be playing mostly US House and a bit of commercial house to keep everyone happy

After this I have to head down to Stellar to play 1.30am - close (which is around 3am). 6 1/2 hours of house music -- what more can you ask for

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Joey Youngman @ F4, May 7th

oh boy did he rock it!!!

that place was so banging my ears are still blocked

im pretty sure most of his tracks ( at least past the halfway mark) were running at between 135-140 bpm

i would have thought a venue like F4 would make sure their turntables dont skip. it was skipping so badly at one point he just did a backspin on the skipping record and moved onto the next -- he was pretty upset...would've put me off if i was playing for sure ..he had the club going so well

the next time the record skipped a beat, i was closeby watching him so he asked me to call the manager he wanted people to move away from the decks

anyway was an awesome night..he said he's not sure when he's coming back to melbourne -- hope that had nothing to do with the skipping

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Playing this week

This Saturday -- 7th May, DJ LuKo and myself will be spinning some HipHop and House, at TempleBar Preccint @ 98 Smith Street. We will start at 9pm and go on till 1am, or even 2.30am depending on how many people turn up.

TempleBar is a really neat place. It is a bar/lounge/restaurant with some sofas and tables for dining. There are meals available from the kitchen until 10.30pm. They also have a big projector which we can use to watch any DVD we want, minus the sound of course :-)

Friday, April 15, 2005

Upcoming Gigs

Here are my upcoming gigs,

16th, Apr, Saturday -- I'll be playing a combined set at a new venue called Templebar [98 Smith St] with Dj LuKo from 10pm - 1am this Saturday. Entrance is Free so come on in and have a drink. I'll be playing some funky and chunky US House whilst LuKo keeps the rest happy with some Funk/RnB/HipHop :-P

LuKo: `This place is cool with a big projection screen, showing whatever I decide to bring and with comfortable surrounds, it makes the perfect warmup before moving either down the street to Republika (which doesn't open upstairs till 1am anyway!)' or some other club.

21st, Apr, Thursday -- I'll be playing at Two Floors Up [185 Lonsdale St] [date to be confirmed]. This is a lounge/nightclub and I'll be doing a 1 hour set sometime between 9 pm and 12 am. If interested, email me and I'll get back with full details. (I'm pretty sure entrance is free).

The Age, A2, 29/11/03, Melinda Houston: 'Similar to a nightclub, only nicer, this intimate venue has lounges for lounging and a dance floor for dancing, and a hypntic arrangement of liquers behind the bar.'

29th, Apr, Friday -- I'll be playing at Stellar Bar [98 Bourke Street] again, doing a 1 and half hour set, taking over from resident DJ Clint Hargreaves. Will start at around midnight. Entrance is free.

Website: `Nestled in the heart of Melbourne's CBD in Bourke Street, Stellar Bar is the choice when looking for a sophisticated and funky time with plenty of house grooves Thursday to Saturday provided by some of Melbourne's newest breed of vinyl spinners.'

30th, Apr, Saturday -- I'll be playing at Bunker Lounge opposoite RMIT on Swanston as a guest.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

April House Mix

Also posted in the House forum at inthemix.com.au. Received some positive and useful feedback which I'll post here once all the feedback comes through!

1. Bassline Road -- Infused
2. Solar House -- Basement Nights
3. Jake Childs -- Plain As Day
4. Joey Youngman -- The Pickup
5. Lawnchair Generals -- Speechless
6. Joey Youngman -- Keep Rocking
7. Lawnchair Generals -- One Thing
8. City Loop -- U Got Me
9. Armand Van Helden -- My My My (Ashley Beedle's New York Fam Remix)
10. Troydon -- Phat Boy
11. Jake Childs -- Soundz (Screwed and Chopped Remix)
12. JT Donaldson -- Makin' Music
13. Johnny Fiasco -- Jazzmatic
14. Jesus -- The Second Gift

Sunday, April 10, 2005

LukeMCD @ Republika

Went and saw Clint and LukeMCD perform at Republika. Was a good night! Luke played after Clint, although I thought it should have been the other way around as Clint's set was a bit more upbeat. Went with 5 friends and got free entry because Clint put us on the guestlist.

Friday, March 25, 2005

Open Decks @ Stellar Bar

Performed at the open decks session at Stellar Bar (98 Bourke St.). Had to drag my set along for 2 hours (10.30 - 12.30) because they couldn't find anyone to fill in the 11.30 - 12.30 gap. Stellar has a Rane mixer, and 2 technics 1210's and a nice soundsystem. No CDJs so had to play exclusively on Vinyl for the first time! Clint finished at 10.30 and I took over. Was heaps of fun -- would definitely have a go again sometime in the near future.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Caught a Few Gigs

Went to the RMIT Orientation afterparty at the Lounge. Luko was playing some old school hip hop and funk. Couldn't stay for long because it was a work day the next day. It was good to check him out after seeing him play at the fundraiser, in a more stress-free environment. Saw Luko the week after as well on the first day of their residency at a new night called Perseverance. They played some nice Funk/HipHop/House (mashup with DJ Snowie).

The next Thursday I went to see Clint Hargreaves play some layed back tunes at Stellar Bar, and a couple of days later at Republika where he played Electro.

Was good to see some fundraiser DJs in action!

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Tsunami Fundraiser -- Pool Party!

Held a pool party as an effort to collect money for the Asian Boxing day Tsunami

Overall, the numbers at the pool party were very low, probably because many people bought tickets just as a donation, without having any intention of turning up! :-) Another reason could have been that it was not hot enough for an outdoor event.

However, with a total of 150 tickets sold before the event, and around 30 sold on the day, we have raised a total of AUD $2,700 for OXFAM! OXFAM will use this money for long term Tsunami Relief. The money was sent to OXFAM (can be confirmed by calling OXFAM Australia) and we're waiting for a receipt.

Despite the low numbers, the entertainment at the Pool Party was top of its class, with DJs playing a variety of tunes covering House, HipHop and even a mashup of Rock and HipHop! Thanks to Al Mac,LUKO, Dave Chestwig, Clint Hargreaves and JulesPLees for putting on an awesome display of skills!

Thanks also to the many volunteers, without whom we would not have sold all those tickets (and without whom there would not have beena BBQ!). The volunteers who made this fundraiser possible were; Dronan Atkins, Lasantha de Silva, Valerie Raffa, Nuwan Malawara Arachchi, Gaya Jayatilleke, Suranga Hewagamage, Tharanga Madurapperuma, Sheilina Geerdharry, Asiri Wanigarathne, Sanjay Reddy, Dakshika Nawaratne, Sanjaya Wickramasinghe, Thish Muthukudaara, Hashan Kodituwakku, Nalaka Gooneratne, Claire Barratt, Ivan, Nayoma, Angelika Widjaja, Nadhi Jayatilleke, Alex Mckenzie, Clint Hargreaves and Dave Chestwig.

A big thank you to all our sponsors who provided us with much needed resources and facilities. Bar Altitude allowed free entry for the Afterparty and gave us funds for the event, YMCA gave us free useof their pool area, the Leader Community Newspaper gave us free advertising space on their newspaper, X-Treme Entertainment gave us all the DJ equipment for free, Lustre Lounge gave us funds for theevent as well as a free glass of champagne for everyone with a ticket, DRUIDS Cafe and Bar gave us two large platters with cakes and nibblesfor free and Village Curry House gave us a platter full of Samosas for free.

Thanks also to JB HiFi for giving us many DVDs to give away as prizes, and Fox FM for letting us advertise the fundraiser on their website.

Last but not least, thanks to the two bouncers, life guards for theirhelp and entertainment, James Phung for helping with poster design and a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this a fun and charitable event! :-)

RMIT CS and IT Orientation Again!

Played for RMIT CS/IT Orientation again. Not many people turned up and I turned up late (had to pick up the dex/mixer/speakers after 12 pm and the BBQ started at 12.30 :-/ ). I was also struggling a bit with the DJM100's (cueing is a bit funny in those compared to the CD dex I'm used to). Managed to get things working but not a large turn-up and I ended up playing only for about an hour. Most of those who turned up were Asians so they wouldn't have enjoyed the commercial house I was playing either! :-/

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Engagement @ Lustre Lounge

Played at a private function at Lustre for an engagement. Luckily they were not too fussed about the music! Played about 20 mins of 80's in the beginning, and when it looked like they weren't enjoying it, switched to HipHop for a while, played House for a while and due to popular demand, had to switch back to HipHop. Overall it was a fun night and they were very satisfied with the music.

Friday, January 14, 2005

No More Saturday Nights @ Lustre!

Heard from LustreLounge that they will not have their usual Saturday nights anymore!! This means I will only be playing at private functions! This gives me a bit of space to try out some other venues and concentrate on my PhD :->