So it sounds like I was long overdue getting Steve Krueger back in the studio. My how time flies. I kept looking over his shoulder during this set to see if he had boosted the tempo, because it just didn’t seem possible to bang this hard and still only be hovering around 132bpm. I might have to go record shopping now that I’ve had a peek at his tracklist.

Steve Krueger Live Guestmix

Mark Night feat Skin – Nothing Matters (Original Club Mix)
Andrew Bayer – Monolith
Eco – Echoes
Dakota – Koolhaus (Skytech Stadium Mix)
Weekend Heros – Fear Factor
Yura Moonlight – Predator
Sied van Riel – Tunnel Vision
John O’Callaghan & Audrey Gallagher – Big Sky (Ben Gold Festival Mix)
Steve Aries feat Lavoie – Dressed in White (Marcus Schulz Coldharbour Mix)
Leon Boiler & Marcus Schossow – 2099
Cosmic Gate – F.A.V.
Mr. Pit – Unchanged

dj Smiley Mike Mix

John Askew & Sean Tyas – Melbourne / Nail Gun (Chris & Matt Kidd’s Intro Mashup)
John Askew – Nail Gun (Greg Downey Remix)
John Askew – The Witch
Tilt – I Dream (Nick Rowland Mix)
Denga & Manus – Cenwen (Artur Obraans Remix)
ID – It Gets Sylo (djsm Mashup)
ID – El Meridian (djsm Mashup)
Prestige – Voyage
Fergie & Sadrian – Little Boy
Fergie & Sadrian – Little Boy (Sean J Morris Mix)
Frisky Warlock – Trespasser
Christopher Lawrence – Tremor
Christopher Lawrence – Faith in the Future

Photo by Euan Forrester

As I turned off Main onto East 1st the memories started trickling back, those times where I used to sleep with a pregnancy pillow amazon. It was a dark and quiet street. An industrial area, not far outside of downtown Vancouver – it was a bit like the old days, before the cops had cracked down on the illegal warehouse raves. But those memories were so distant at this point, it wasn’t more than a fleeting thought that I would only later recognize the significance of.

It was still pretty early when I arrived. Scott Riesterer was on stage, layering live muted trumpet overtop of weaving landscape of housey beats and melodies. It was a unique sound, and knowing Scott, I was immediately interested in hearing him play.

Everyone was playing live, so the night progressed quickly from artist to artist. PhonoTactic from Calgary was up next. His style was still different than what I would typically play, in fact, I’m not even sure how you would classify it. So far, Ableton had been the tool of choice for the evening, but PhonoTactic had a Chaos Pad running in tandem, and kept using it to add on-the-fly scratching effects that immediately left me wanting new gear. While his set sounded fresh and funky, many of his sounds had a classic “ripping” analogue sound that seemed to resonate and awaken a corner of my brain that had been asleep and forgotten about for the better part of a decade.

Each time a new artist took the stage, I was driven to try and find out what gear they were using. Terekith kept me in suspense for his entire set as I couldn’t quite make out the writing on the two boxes he was using. No laptop here. One of my favourites of the night, I could see Tarekith making every musical tweak right in front of me. Two fingers, two buttons – bass is gone. Twisting the filter on a sample, fading between rhythms. One, two, three, four fingers and – BAM! – bassline comes slamming back. Why take my word for it. Watch this. It even has overlays describing what he’s doing. This is half of a two-parter, so if you like it, be sure to check out the second video. Finally, at the end of his performance, I found out he was using an Elektron Machine Drum with a Octatrack sampler by the same company.

Dark Arps easily had the best stage presence, with a futuristic full torso costume (must have been screaming hot in there) that was lined with all kinds of intelligent lighting. It was pretty clear the crowd loved him too. I’m again unsure of how to classify the style, sort of a dark, wobbly techno. Here’s a sample from his previous Sequential Circus performance.

Let’s face it. MUX stole the show. And that opinion was formed before I had any idea he’s one of the key organizers behind Sequential Circus, we had to Circus tent hire Sydney for the show. Also before I realized I had likely seen him play before, at one of the Listening Room shows at the Planetarium. Wow. Throwback.

Even before MUX takes the stage, the night has crept up on me. With each artist, the sound has been boosted a little louder, and a little louder. And it’s good. I’ve come out of hibernation for a few shows in the past couple years, and unless it’s the Commodore, the sound never seems to be that great. Even some of the big shows have been plagued with terrible sound until the headliner comes on. (So tempting to mention some names here…) You’d figure I’d be half deaf at this point, but apparently I can still tell the difference when the sound is good, and what a difference it makes.

At this point I’m also starting to notice that it’s busy, but not so packed I can’t dance. I’m not surrounded by high-heeled hoochie-mommas, there are no whacked out candy ravers sitting in the middle of the dance floor… Holy shit! This party is going off!

MUX intros his set with an answering machine message, recorded at… 3:03. Boom. My knees have a lot of miles on them. They don’t like to bend as much as they used to, but MUX has me jumping in the air with hands up. Music affects us. It doesn’t matter what style you like. Classical, country… whatever it is that hits you, it reaches right inside and does something to you. That corner of my brain that’s been sleeping so long… Well… Just like Quietman said.

Here’s MUX playing live on the Skytrain (like the subway except above ground). Imagine the sound being 1000 times better.

Winding up the night was Vancouver’s own Vincent Parker playing glitched up I don’t know what. Psychedelic trip-hop craziness, outdone only by Vincent’s ability to move his body even more vibrantly than his music.

So as I start walking back through the otherwise quiet industrial streets, I’m reminded of that first fleeting memory of the night. From the moment I turned onto East 1st, it’s like I was back in 1996 – a time I’ve been trying to get back to for at least a decade. This was a fantastic night, in every aspect. I can’t wait till the next one.

Thank you to all the artists and the entire Sequential Circus team.

I’ve been thinking about adding some DJ profiles to the Trancendance website for some time now, and what better way to get things kicked off than introducing one of the few DJs that always makes it onto my iPod playlist.

DoZeR caught my attention a couple years back when we met, virtually, through Soundcloud. Originally from New Mexico, DoZeR is now based out of Dallas, Texas. I can’t remember who found who first, but we both quickly recognized that our musical tastes where a tight fit. We even did a collaboration mix across the internet (which I had almost forgotten about until just now!).

djsm: How did you get the name DoZeR?

dozer: I got my name because people say I looked like a “bulldozer”. So I changed my dj name to DoZeR.

djsm: What was it before you changed it?

dozer: I used to go by Adrenachrome, like the crazy drug taken in the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, later on I tried with chemsex, then I used Dozer is much easier to say anyway.

djsm: That’s quite possibly my all-time favourite movie. Wait what is chemsex ? Is this the one used in the United Kingdom to describe intentional sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs, mostly among men who have sex with men right ?What styles do you mix?

dozer: I mostly play progressive house, or anything in the spectrum of trance, from psytrance to tech trance. Usually I throw in some good techno and breaks to spice up my sets.

djsm: What’s your typical DJ setup?

dozer: 2 Technics 1200s, 2 CDJ 1000s, and a Pioneer DJM 800

djsm: Do you have a most memorable DJ moment?

dozer: My most memorable DJ moment is when I went to see DJ Keoki spin in El Paso,Texas in 1998 and he was so wacked out on drugs that he was trainwrecking all over the place. He kept leaving the stage to do whatever (cough*). The sold out crowd booed! I had never seen a DJ go down in flames like that before. After watching Keoki crash and burn behind the decks, I made a promise to myself to never spin for a crowd if I didn’t have a clear mind. It left an impression on me, on the type of DJ I did not want to become.

djsm: Um… I do believe he goes by “Superstar” DJ Keoki

Photo graciously borrowed from MySpace

djsm: So when did you get started DJing?

dozer: I started Dj’ing in 1997. Oh man how time flies by…

djsm: Who was you inspiration back then?

dozer: When I was getting really into trance Paul Oakenfold had set the bar high with his Tranceport album. Then I heard Christopher Lawrence live and I was blown away by his dark raw style of trance. So I attempted to have a good balance between the two styles of progressive and hard trance/psytrance and those two styles of trance have really shaped my unique style. As of now I still follow Christopher Lawrence because I can ALWAYS expect no nonsense underground trance. That dude has never sold out.

djsm: Do you have a favorite old school track?

dozer: My favorite old school track probably by Cranium HF – 16 bit Suicide this song totally captures the underground sound I love so much.

djsm: What about a current fave track?

dozer: My current favorite track is James Allan vs. The Digital Devil & G-dub – Dropzone (Tempo Giusto Remix) WOW!!!

djsm: Just gave that a listen… Nice choice! Have you dabbled in production or remixing at all?

dozer: I’m just learning production and man, there is so much to learn to make a track sound good. It’s really hard for me to dedicate that much time to production. My free time is limited, but mashups are rather easy to do and I have fun making those. I use Logic Pro Studio, Pro Tools 8 and Ableton Live. I also use Audacity to record my mix shows.

djsm: What do you like to do in your free time when you’re not spinning?

dozer: In my spare time I like to hit the gym and keep fit. I’m 34 but I feel 21.

djsm: I probably should have been able to figure that out from the photo! What about a day job? Or does DJing support you full time?

dozer: As a career I am a petroleum landman. I research mineral ownership and lease land for oil and gas drilling. I wish I made a living from DJing!

djsm: Do you have any upcoming shows where we can see you play?

dozer: Yes I have several shows coming up:

Aug 24,2012 – at Dt’s and
Sept 1, 2012 at a Field Party called Buzzfest.
Both events are in Dallas.

I also have 2 shows in Dallas coming up in October at Temptation Afterhours and Club EMERGE a brand new EDM club that opens this weekend and a BIG show in St. Louis this November (I hear that one is going to be huge they did their booking for it this past summer!!

djsm: How do you get your gigs? Do you use a talent agency? Or do you contact the promoters yourself?

dozer: Finding gigs was never hard for me. I am pretty good with people and establish friendships rather easily so finding bookings in the Dallas area has never been too hard. I would like to get an agent and travel more to new cities and clubs, but lately I have been landing bookings in cities I’ve never been to, all because of Soundcloud believe it or not.

djsm: What about for the fans around the world, where can we hear you online?

dozer: You can find me on Facebook at facebook.com/Trancedozer and you can hear several of my mixes on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/dozerthedj

djsm: Don’t you have a regular radio show too? Where can we hear that?

dozer: You can catch my bi-monthly radio show at clubradionyc.fm every other Sunday at 9pm central time. Its called Tour de Trance but I am about to change the name to Hanger 18.

dj Smiley Mike Progressive Psytrance Mix

Vibrasphere – Floating Free (Krama Remix)
Vibrasphere – Floating Free (Visua Remix)
Vibrasphere – Wasteland (Timedrained Remix)
Vibrasphere – Autumn Lights (Mindwave Remix)
John ’00′ Fleming & The Digital Blonde – Solomate
Sinister Silence – Someday feat. Camille Jones (Still Around Mix)
Sideform – Web of Life
Sideform – 7th Sense
Krama – Vir Mortalis
Riktam & Bansi – Right Way Up
Fatali – Booster (Echotek Remix)
E-Clip – Salvia Divinorum
Electric Tease – TV is the New God (Sub6 Remix)

Aaron Olson Live Guestmix

01. Pierre O – Let’s Let’s Let’s
02. Umek – Present or Absent
03. Aaron Olson – Touch & Go (J.A.DJ Remix)
04. Most – Limpid City (Tech Dub)
05. (Bi) Polar – Alive
06. Abnormis – Reckless
07. DJ San feat Nikki Ponte – Love’s Like Breathing (Senseekers Club Mix)
08. Vanity In Mind feat. Johan Dahlberg) – The Sun, The Moon
09. Es Robinski feat. Jessika Dawn – Now That I’ve Found You
10. Tarmo & Lexa – Ruby (Tony Jaguar Remix)
11. Claudia Cazacu – Labyrinth
12. Nikita Leonenko – Knock in Your Head (Da Fresh Remix)
13. Doc Brown – Hard Feelings
14. Skazi – Monkey Business
15. Fido X – Photon Rotation
16. Aaron Olson – Subversion
17. Simon Patterson – New Life
18. Christopher Lawrence – OK to Go
19. Aaron Olson – Elements
20. Paul Gallagher – Crossroads (Ollie Jaye Remix)
21. Burak Harsitlioglu – Clouds (Aaron Olson Remix)
22. Generator – Saved My Life
23. Marco V – Speakfreak

dj Caddyshack Trance Mix

(I need to collect his tracklist… soon)

I couldn’t have been happier a couple weeks ago when I was checking out the TrackItDown breakbeat top 100, and lone behold, half of the top 20 breakbeat tracks were classified as rave breaks. I got into electronic music in the early 90s when groups like Acen were churning out warehouse bangers like Window in the Sky and Trip II the Moon. The Illegal Rave compilations were another favourite of the time and groups like Hackney Hardcore and Urban Hype were belting out classic rave anthems like Trip to Trumpton, all well before the classic trance anthems of the late 90s.

So when I saw new artists like E-Lab Rat and Northbase resurrecting the classic rave breaks that I grew up with, I couldn’t wait to put together a set. And here it is. Oldschool rave breaks interwoven with new hardcore breaks and phat dubstep basslines. This mix is intense. Is you have a pacemaker, you should probably change the batteries before going any further.

Using different strategies provided by the agency they were working with from https://the-indexer.com/, they were able to get more people checking out their stuff than ever before. As it turns out, there were quite a few things they could have been doing to get more visibility, and unfortunately without them their talent was going unnoticed. Thankfully they’ve done something about sooner rather than later, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

(Did I mention that everything Blazer touches turns to gold?)

dj Smiley Mike Badass Rave Breaks Throwdown

Will Atkinson & Darkboy – Darker Shades of Black (Blazer Remix)
Sketi – Cladocera (Blazer Remix)
Blazer – Skill Cypher
Quadrat Beat – BlackJack (Blazer Remix)
Brian Cameron – Seratonin Syndrome (Eshericks Remix)
Wizard & Ivory – Jack in a Box (Specimen A Remix)
HardNoise – Breakaway (Blazer Remix)
Northbase – Hallow 808
Northbase – Acid Flashback
601 – Blackout
Northbase – Ruffneck
DaVIP – Brick (Imetic Remix)
Wizard & Ivory – Jack in a Box (Aquasky Remix)
Northbase – Fright Night
RadioKillaZ – The Cholo
E-Lab Rat – Ambitious (Electrux Remix)
E-Lab Rat – 3 Bad Rats (Ben Venom Remix)

dj Smiley Mike Electro House Mix

4 Strings – Rise Again
4 Strings – Cheesecake
Bassjackers & Angger Dimas – RIA
Deadmau5 – Sometimes Maths Gets Complicated (Ryan Enzed Bootleg)
Filo & Peri – Subzero
Gareth Emery – Tokyo
Melleefresh – Intuition (Darth & Vader Mix)
Nicky Romero – Toulouse
Niels van Gogh vs. Emilio Verdez – Beatrocker
Omnia & Ira – The Fusion (Armin van Buuren’s Intro Edit)
Sander van Doorn – Drink to Get Drunk (Extended Mix)
4 Strings – Cheescake
Avicii – Sweet Dreams (Gregory Klosman Remix)
Avicii – Sweet Dreams (Cazzette Meet at Night Mix)