DJ Drue

2012 year in review

djdrue — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:33:55 GMT

Wow, just wow… not one update on LJ since my last one…a year ago. I guess I really blew that one. It was my plan to update on LJ last year. I’m still wondering why I didn’t. I think part of it was that I didn’t think anyone would be interested. Tell you what, I’ll give it one more year, and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll hang up LJ for good. Same LJ email reminder that prompted my thoughts, just like last year.

So, how did I do? How did the larger plan go? What happened? Well, just like last year, it was a bit of a mixed bag, with good and bad points. Might as well start out with the physical stuff:

I had some minor surgery to remove a non-threatening cyst, which went well. I was in and out with no complications, for which I’m very thankful. I’ve also redoubled my efforts to stay in shape, and I’ve been really reaping the benefits of that, being in some of the best shape of my life, which has really helped in other areas of my life. I can’t really recommend it more highly.

2012 – more of the same but different.

The past year was really a lot more about sustaining momentum that I started the previous year, which turned out to be more challenging than I thought. Various factors around everyday living and family kind of kept me distracted enough to not put as much energy into my personal projects as I wanted. Another great year of friends, gatherings and music helped to balance the demands of everyday life. Without going into a ton of detail, there was a lot of misc. crap that kept pulling my time in a lot of different directions. Still, a good summer and fall are nothing to sneeze at, as I had a ton of fun with people from all over.

Music, Production, and Performance

After releasing most of the music I wrote earlier online, I continued to write and improve on my production skills. A difficult and daunting journey to say the least, and honestly not as rewarding as I thought. Creation is truly an act of pure will, and I ended up with more disappointment than satisfaction. I’m sure that my perception is skewed a bit, because I got quite a lot of compliments on my work. Still, I wasn’t satisfied, which resulted in another year of struggle, and me wondering if this is a good path. Still, my exposure to other, more talented producers has definitely allowed me to improve my work. I found myself offering more advice and assistance than I was getting myself last year, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. I also got some great news at the end of the year which will result in a release next year with a producer that I respect very much. Around summertime I started planning a very ambitious project similar to the one I prepared for the year before; unfortunately with my other plans shaping up for the year, I will have to put my plans for a more expanded live performance on hold this year, primarily for budgetary reasons. So I think the current watchword for me right now is to stay the course. keep writing, and see what happens.

On the Work Front

I was able to move around in the company that I work for, into a much better position, with a lot less stress, which was a real improvement to my overall well being. Can't really tell how much of an affect this has had overall, but I'm happy with where I'm at right now.

2013 and beyond.

In overall review, I did pretty badly in terms of what I wanted to do. I could come up with reasons why I didn’t accomplish the things I wanted in the past year, however I’m not sure what that would accomplish. I would add that I think a lot of why my blog, pictures, and other items of a internet flavor didn’t take a front seat may be because I’m not sure that my friends really need to see another pic of me on my bike, or what I was eating. I’m not sure if folks genuinely care what my opinion is on various Items. I guess I’m feeling a bit hesitant to share my personal drivel, and should make a genuine decision about whether I should or not.

Still, that being said, I did get a variety of good stuff done this past year, and while my overall outlook may appear a bit jaded, in reality, I’m looking forward to 2013 more than last year. I think that there will be a lot of significant changes on deck this year, and I’m ready to start turning some of my plans into reality.

2011 year in review

djdrue — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:39:32 GMT

So I'm not sure where to start here…

I guess it was probably the email reminder I got from livejournal today that my renewal for another year subscription was coming up that got me thinking. As the day wore on, I began to reflect on the year that has just passed, and where I was in the grand scheme of things. I didn’t even think of posting a yearly retrospective here on this blog like I had in the past. Then as it often happens, my thoughts about a variety of things bubbled up and swarmed around in my brain until I just had to either go back to work, or spend the day thinking about how I was going to process them.

Ultimately, I ended up only working a small section of the day, and spending the rest of the day web-surfing and thinking about the changes that I wanted to make in 2012. So I guess you could say that maybe this post is a hello, and a goodbye, and hopefully the starting of a larger plan.

First off, Livejournal, what happened? When did the fire go out? I guess the world changed (about 2 years ago), but LJ didn’t. The world’s attention span got reduced to 140 characters; blogs turned to tweets and tumblogs, posts, and updates - piped from one social site to another. I guess I’m not afraid to say that I’m influenced by xaotica, she’s usually got her finger on the pulse of most things internet-y, and besides being totally plugged in, she’s stuck with LJ, so I guess I will for the meantime, I think. I’m just not sure if anyone is reading on here anymore. I’ve connected my blogs posts to my Facebook feed, so I’m sure that a few people will jump over here. Many times I’ve thought about folding up this blog, calling it quits. However, the fact is that because of the age of this little corner of the internet, it’s pretty SEO optimized, meaning that this is a pretty big landing spot for people that search for me online, and I’m pretty sure that you can’t get better SEO for $17 a year. Right now I’m reading the updates from a few friends, and who knows, maybe long form blogging will come back again sometime. I think I may lock down most of my posts to “friends only” and use this blog as a personal spot for online genuflection. Either way, this post isn’t a “so long LJ whiners” post, but rather a commitment to keep using LJ, in a more intimate way, perhaps.

Either way, I’m cranking up and maintaining another blog in earnest over at my own site: djdrue.com. I’ll focus most of my music stuff there, while keeping more personal stuff here.

A look back at 2011

This past year was a bit of a mixed bag. At this time a year ago, I was kept very busy prepping for a live show that I was going to perform at a private event (OODE) that was composed of all my own original music. That went down in May and it was quite a success, I’ve got a few photos of me using my audiocubes, and some shaky video of the affair, both of which I wasn’t too happy with. It did show me that the live performance design that I came up with worked and was successful. Afterwards, I was pretty drained creatively, and kind of checked out on working on music for most of the summer. Burning Man was a very fun time this year, and helped to cement many friendships, and help me decide to participate in that community a little more than in the past. Most of the year was spent developing and expanding on the relationships that I had already formed, deepening my connections with many different people. My horoscope advised that 2010 would be the year to collaborate with people, so I guess I kinda blew that. I also didn’t make it to WMC this year either. I’m no longer quite so concerned about that though, after talking with some very big producers, I’ve come to realize it isn’t the networking opportunity that it once was.

Some epic moments in 2011 include: the wild ride that is the Oregon Country Fair, Talking with Lisa Shaw in Hollywood, Hanging out with Mark Knight in the studio, A few glorious motorcycle rides up PCH, Working with my friend Danielle on some house music, rocking out with my cubes out at OODE, and pushing the envelopes of reality with Dustin and Charlie at Burning Man. I would have to say though, that the brightest spot was spending my birthday at ‘Plunge’ in SF with all my Cloudfactory and Joyscout friends, what an amazing time, and the highlight of the year.

On the work front

I really became tired with the current position I have. I’ve learned about as much as I can where I am at, and I spent a good portion of the year looking for some other options. I don’t really feel like complaining too much, though, given the current employment outlook. The recession didn’t really help here, and the company pulled a bunch of money that they were going to use to fund new projects that I was interested in. I’ll continue to look for other opportunities, but for right now, I’m in more of a hold position for the first quarter of this year. I’m also going to take another whack at David Allen’s ‘Getting Things Done’ (GTD) method, in the hope of making my time at the office more efficient.

Music, Production, and Performance

As a quick recap, I’ve been spending most of the last year, and 2010 working on producing dance music, as opposed to playing it. This kind of culminated in a live show I did in May 2011. After really nearly killing myself writing, composing, arranging, mixing, and mastering enough music for a 90 min performance, I was pretty wiped out. I came out learning a bunch of stuff, and I could definitely see improvements both in my technique, and in terms of performing.

Still now after a long year, with a bit of a break, I’m not convinced that producing music is the ultimate goal for me. I don’t seem to have developed an inner desire to make music. I’m still only about 3 years into serious production, so I think that might just be a developmental thing, I don’t know, but I’m feeling a little skeptical right now. Maybe ‘demoralized’ is a better descriptor. Making music isn’t returning me the kind of rewards I was hoping for. Perhaps I just need to keep working at it (which I plan to). What I have learned over the past few months is that I really miss performing. I find the performance to be more gratifying than the work of producing. I was far happier just playing records in the club. When people identify an inner drive to do something, for me I’m thinking it’s more about the performance. At least that's what I'm feeling right now... I'd rather be tweaking beats on the street with a sampler and a speaker, then spending time in the studio. It's probably just a reflection of the current atmosphere of "everyone's a dj" that we've all been suffering from over the past few years, which makes finding steady gig work challenging.

I could go on and on about what I’ve learned that works, and what should be done, and all the minutia that goes into promotion and development, but ultimately, I’m more interested getting back into what I find rewarding, so I think that this year will be more focused on performance. I’m going to work on developing that a bit more and see if I can get that off the ground.

Additionally, I find that I’ve been teaching a lot of my friends that do have that creative voice in their heads, so I plan on doing more of that in the future. I’ve also been very privileged in being able to meet and work with some very big producers and DJ’s. I’ve learned that they are all very busy just managing their own schedules and tours, and that doesn’t leave room for a lot of new connections.

Behind the curtain and under the hood

2011 was a bit of a quiet year in terms of excitement and adventure. That’s not to say that I didn’t have fun. I think I join a lot of people who are pretty happy that this year is over with. It just didn’t have the spark of 2010. I think I’ll be really working on developing the seeds in my life that got planted several years ago. I’ve got some medical crap that I need to take care of. I have to have a cyst removed here in the near future (don’t worry folks, nothing to be scared of), and I’m still working out and staying fit. The Sun in LA sure makes getting out and being active a lot easier. My family is doing pretty good, despite some scares earlier in the year. I get up to the Northwest to see them as often as I can. I miss my friends in PDX a lot, and it’s very nice to know that they are all doing well, and PDX remains a fun place to come home to.

2012 and beyond

I've usually got about a 50% completion rate for stuff that I intend to do, but I definitely plan on more updates and more photos this year. I'm really bad at that and want to really improve there, so expect more info coming from me this year for sure.

Well, it’s a little early to tell, but look for more music stuff to be coming soon. I’m going to start by posting most of the music that I finished for the OODE set on my soundcloud page for people to download. Then I’ll probably resurrect the podcast, along with some Internet broadcasting with Brett Adams at Eve-Radio.com.

Also I’ll be shooting some video of me in the studio, maybe some screencasts for my friends about music production.

Another trip to Burning Man is probably going to happen, and potentially some really cool stuff associated with Oregon Country Fair (If I’m lucky). Like I said before, I’ll try to put some private friends-only stuff here and see if I can track my progress a little better this year. I’ll be posting more stuff at my facebook page (not my profile). But if you want the personal stuff… it will be locked here at Livejournal, (friends-only style) so make an LJ account (it's free!) if you want the really detailed stuff (this means you, facebook friends!)

Pictures, quotes, videos and cool internet errata will continue to flow from my Tumblr feed, which gets piped into facebook. New music, mixes, and remixes will be updated on soundcloud. I'll probably put most new photos up on my flickr account. From time to time, out on the road or otherwise, I’ll find something clever to tweet about.

So there you have it… the year behind and the year ahead, if you made it this far, I’m impressed, and you are as cool, if not cooler than I originally thought of you in real life.

Burning Man 2010 lineup...

djdrue — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:53:30 GMT

Sadly, I won't be going to Burning Man this year, and while I don't really go to burning man for the music, I have learned that many people don't have the same chances to hear music that I do. Several of my friends that are going have been asking me for my picks in terms of who to check out this year.

After Browsing the Lineup, here are my picks:

Tues

1) Tuesday night: Root society: Fort Knox 5 - 11 pm (Funky Breaky, and cool)

2) Tuesday night: Root Society: Donald Glaude - 1 am (Super awesome dj, fun set and great slot)

Wed

3) Wednesday Eve: Distrikt: Elite Force - 6 pm (A real jumpstart for the night)

4) Wednesday Night: Opulent Temple: Seb Fontaine and The Scumfrog - 10:45 pm (Big names with a nice spot, should be very good.)

5) Wednesday Night: Root society: Forrest Green - 3:15 am ( a friend of mine)

Thurs

6) Thursday Eve: Black Rock Syndicate: DJ Dan - 6:30 pm (Old School; Super bangin, good kickoff for the night)

7) Thursday Night: Disorient: Francois K & Osunlade - 11:30p-5a (Francios K is a rare appearance, not high energy, but will be good)

7a) Thursday Night: HookahDome: Jocelyn - 11pm ( An LA DJ with some great crates, and good time slot for her)

Fri

8) Friday Day: Black Rock Syndicate: Hatrias - 6pm

9) Friday Night: Pink Mammoth: Marquess Wyatt - 7 pm (House music on the playa won't get any better than this. Don't miss this one!)

10) Friday Night: Root Society: Santiago & Bushido - 11pm

11) Friday Night: Bass Camp: Elite Force and Dylan Rhymes - 4am (A really good pairing; hard and bangin')

Sat

12) Sat Night: Root Society: Santiago & Bushido - DJ Dan - Jefr Tale - Rabbit in the Moon : starts 11:15 pm (It will be sheer insanity in here all night)

13) Sat night /Sun morning: Hookahdome: Joceyln 6am

14) Sat night/ Sun morning: Bass Camp: Phutureprimitive 7am - (another very good friend of mine, trippy and mellow goodness)

In general, you are going to find really quality tunes at the Pink Mammoth, The Hookah Dome, and the Root Society.

I listed some folks twice, because I think they are worth watching, or if you miss them once you can catch them again.

For those of you going, have a blast.

New Summer Mix

djdrue — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:03:10 GMT

With Summer in full swing, it's time to break out the summer vibes. I've been collecting Latin House all year, and here's a nice dose of latin flavored Grooves to get you through your summer party season.

Download the mix here.

For those of you that like to embed and spread, please share your love with the player below.

New music from Trent Reznor

djdrue — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:01:27 GMT

I just got back from OODE and my brain isn't collected enough yet to write about that yet, but stay tuned, there will be a post on that shortly.

I'm back at work and super swamped, but just had to post the new release from Trent Reznor's side project How to destroy angels. Free download, but please support your musicians.

some stormtroopers on friday

djdrue — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:37:59 GMT

Magnetic message to Luke Skywalker.

Just one of the stormtrooper 365 project on flickr.

WMC 2010

djdrue — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:48:41 GMT

WMC Artist Roster
Getting Ready For Miami? Here's the Roster for artists for Winter Music Conference that I'm on.

down for the count

djdrue — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:49:18 GMT

Down for the Count by ~poopbear

Central Fire

djdrue — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:37:21 GMT

Every DJ has a story of that one record that they were desperate to get their hands on when they first heard it. This is the one for me.

I'll never forget when I finally had this hot record in my hands. It's classic acid break from the 90's, and the B-side is even more wicked than this one. Here's a quick trip down memory lane for those in the know.

New winter mix available for download

djdrue — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:12:29 GMT

It's been a while since I mixed some of the music that I've been getting my hands on recently. during my winter break, I finally had some time over the last few days to put together a nice mix to help keep you warm over the winter.

Wintermix 2009

Part 1
Part 2

More mixes available on my mix page.

I hope everyone has a great New Year!

Not tonight, you're not on the list...

djdrue — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:42:27 GMT

I'm currently digging the guestlist/blacklist meme that's been floating about, so I thought I'd release my guestlist/blacklist for 2009:

Guest List:

Mr. Obama - keep at it.

Health care reform initiatives.

Graphic Novel movie adaptations.

Spectrasonics audio applications.

Social Media integration apps for everthing.

SoundCloud.com.

Ableton Live 8.

Miniature midi controllers.

Small underground house nightclubs.

High quality, compact synths (blofeld, Dave Smith, Doepfer).

Producers who share their techniques.

Blacklist:

Night clubs that charge you to sit down.

Water that isn't free.

Reality TV.

Hipster Snarkiness.

The Death of Vinyl.

The Democratic party and their inability to pass ANY legislation with a super-majority.

The TSA and its security theater.

Promoters that make empty promises.

ASCAP and the RIAA's efforts to squeeze consumers for profit that they don't share with artists.

Tasers.

ILok DRM.

My new year's plans are pretty sketchy early on... but will definitely end up in the belly of the beast late.

back with the flavor...

djdrue — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:30:05 GMT

Holiday mixes are back on my mix page, www.djdrue.com.

I haven't really made a new one in a while... might work on one when I'm on vacation at home.

enjoy.

The discography begins and other news...

djdrue — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:31:25 GMT

Well, November 2009 is finally in the books and this is one to remember by far.

My first remix was released on Beatport over the Thanksgiving weekend. This is a pretty significant milestone for me, and represents quite a long journey. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, getting a release (even a remix) on beatport is the new bar by which DJ's and producers are measured. I kinda took my time with this, because it took a while to develop a sound and a production quality that would be good enough to put my name on. I was approached by the manager of a record label in Orange County, who mentioned that they had just signed a house music duo from Brazil called Fox 'N' Feel. When he asked me if I'd be interested in remixing their latest release, I jumped at the chance.

The rest is history:

What I'm finding out now is that the timeline between when you produce or remix something, and when it actually gets released is much longer than I originally thought. Despite what claims can be said about digital distribution and how it's freed the artist, it can still take weeks to get something on the market.

for those interested in buying it:

With a little luck, I'll have another remix coming out in December or January. In terms of production, all things are going quite well. I still have some bigger items in development, but there's not much I can say about them yet.
I've also posted the track on soundcloud, in the hopes that others might like it an embed it in other feeds.

I also wanted to congratulate _silent_star_ on the birth of her little one...I guess she can put this fear to rest.

New Release from Brett Adams - Be Free

djdrue — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:37:51 GMT

One of my production partners, Brett Adams, just released his latest work "Be Free". It is free to download from soundcloud.com.

Brett Adams - Be Free by brettadams

History of the "Amen Break"

djdrue — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:49:44 GMT

An amazing history of the amen break, along with its curious precedent and case for copyright reform. If you are a dj or producer, you should check this out.

YouTube - Video explains the world's most important 6-sec drum loop:

Updates and what not...

djdrue — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:12:35 GMT

My friend _silent_star_ recently posted that there's not enough posts from her friends on LJ, and I heartily agree. So in reponse to her, I'm taking a little time out of what has really been a hectic couple of weeks. If you have been posting recently, my thanks for keeping your friends in the loop, regardless of what you have been up to.

As for me, my time has been split between working at work and working at home...as it were, on some remix projects for a music label in Orange county.

Remixing projects have been a combination of fun and hard work. Nothing will teach you more about production than dealing with the issues that arise as a result of dealing with other people's music. That's not to say there's anything wrong with it, rather it's the process of dealing with issues related to timing or key of a piece, as opposed to it's artistic quality. And after a long day in the cube farm, the prospect of sitting in front of a mixing desk and starting at another monitor till the wee hours of the morning doesn't have a lot of appeal. Frankly, my health has been suffering a bit as a result. As I get deeper into various aspects of production, it's becoming apparent to me that I need to take some time and dedicate it to staying physically ok. The long hours slaving over groovy beats is definitely glamorous, but it comes with a price.

-- As a quick techincal aside, for those dj's and musicians that are interested, I'm using a combination of Ableton Live, with Logic as my main DAW.

In addition to the above, I was recently approached by someone to help them with some issues related to production. Said person shall remain nameless for now, but suffice it to say this is someone I hold in high regard, and I look forward to future developments more than ever.

Other Westside Record Crew members have finally broken into Beatport (which, incidentally, is a sign of success now - way to go RiSC!). This is a really exciting development. Brett Adams first single "Hear You" Seems to be doing well.
Please consider buying a track.

On the work front:
Life in the cube farm continues much this day as it always has, the little people scurrying to and fro, without so much as a a care for the outside world, for which I am extremely grateful. Watching my boss get pressured by his boss often makes me feel sorry, but hey that's life behind the corporate firewall, I guess.

Movie Reviews in One Sentence:

-- 9: I doubt that "Stitchpunk" will take off, but the animation is dazzling, and the story is charming.
-- Zombieland: A must-see for fans of the zombie comedy schtick, optional for the rest of us.
-- Pandorum: Kind of an 'Aliens' meets 'Sphere' deal; space vampires meet the jittercam, good sci-fi if you are a fan.
-- Inglorious Bastards: I don't know how 70's homage films became the rave, but an anti-nazi film about a pro-nazi film is avante garde (I guess.)
-- Surrogates: An interesting theme with a solid performance from Bruce Willis; great sci-fi, whether you're a fan or not.
-- Where the While Things Are - Spike Lee lives up to the hype by delivering a solid film with a lot of challenges.

Need to post about my chillits 2009 trip, will try to do that as soon as my photos are developed.

Workng working working... more to follow...keep posting people...

P.S. - henry rollins radio show on kcrw is like going to school (in a good way)

Burning Man 2009: Day 8 – The Journey Home and Some Final Thoughts

djdrue — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:45:26 GMT

The festive atmosphere continued on into the night, even after the temple burned. I had planned for a morning departure, so I spent time packing up our camp before turning in. However, the never ending parade of drunken partiers and art cars, made us decide to leave when we couldn’t get any sleep. We left about 3 am on Monday, which turned out to be a really good idea. In the dark, a slow dusty caravan of trucks, cars, and RV’s which formed a long line of red lights down the lonely two lane road out of the valley There was a massive police presence as dozens of police perched on all the outbound freeways. Our timing was perfect, though, in that they were just coming on shift, finishing their donuts, and not yet on the prowl.

Burning Man 2009 – Evolution – by fotogamie

We headed into Reno and curved off north towards Sacramento when my shift to drive came up. While I was driving, the rear bike rack came off and our bikes we dropped on the freeway… I was lucky though, I saw them starting to go, and pulled off before they broke free. Our bikes survived damage, because the bike on the bottom, which was headed for the scrap heap anyway, took the brunt of the damage from the road. We salvaged our bikes and kept on trucking back to LA. The rest of the trip back was thankfully uneventful.

I was climbing out of my first shower in a week, and I stopped to smell my grimy T-shirt. The playa dust, that irritant and constant element, suddenly felt familiar, and I didn’t necessarily want the smell to go away. The playa had gotten under my skin too.

As I was going through my clothes the following day, I smelled the playa dust on all my gear. It’s kind of funny how you don’t smell it out there, but you sure do when you come back. A constant companion on everything you own, that only takes on its own character when you get back to the real world.

Final Thoughts

Burning Man 2009-163 – by thebesinc

There have been several times where I had been approached by a friend who was telling me that they were getting ready to go to burning man for the first time. My automatic response has always been “I hear it changes your life.” It was a statement that I had never really taken to heart. What I had forgotten in going for the first time myself is that it would also happen to me.

Like all kinds of travel, you find that you come back a slightly different person. For this type of experience, though, I think the difference is a bit more tangible.

In pausing for a moment of self-reflection… I find that I took away a lot from the experience. I find that you learn about yourself and what you capable of. In addition, I came back with a slightly different view of the world. It makes you think about what you don’t need, and I find myself questioning what I can eliminate from my life.

There is a philosophy to the burner culture, and its underlying themes weren’t as liberal-elitist as I thought they were. The ethos of those ideals of community, volunteerism, participation, creative artistic expression, and radical self-reliance were of a much more universal nature.

The greatest experience for me was that from time to time, I felt like I had been transported to a place and time that was totally and wholly separate from everyday life, and that alone, may be worth all the effort.

Playa - by Ben Mook

Burning Man 2009: Day 7 - The Temple Burn -- I Get It Now

djdrue — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:40:30 GMT

By now, the playa dust was everywhere. Everything I owned that was black had now turned a pale gray. After living off of jerky, cold cuts, fruit cups, and granola, I was starting to look forward to a hot meal and a shower like I had never done before. There was still so much to see and do, though, that I didn’t spend more than a passing thought on it.

Sifting through the ashes of the man - By James Pitman

The pace and feel of our personal camp was quite chill, though, as strong winds drove dust storms through most of the day.

Burning man 2009 – by Kathleen Quilllian [via chiliberto]

In a stroke of genius, one of our camp mates busted out a Hookah, and some fine tobacco was shared by all, as we recounted our tales from the night before. As the sun started to go down, the winds shifted and the weather cleared. We started to head out to the temple.

Now I had gone out to the temple earlier in the week to check it out. It was covered with writings and pictures, memorials to friends and family. I have to admit, I picked up a really weird vibe out there…but I couldn’t pick out what it was. It seemed like there was a lot of sadness out there. I now realize what that was all about.

The Temple - Early Photos – 12 – by thebesinc

As we headed out there, the population had dropped by about half…a mere 20,000 people…but the mood was much different. Solemn, respectful, reverent…a mass congregation attending what was truly a spiritual event. A small procession walked the perimeter, chanting and singing. And then the temple burned, and I understood.

Burning Man 2009 – The Temple is Burning – by lou piote
The sheer presence of such a large group of people…totally and utterly silent…wrapped in their own thoughts, was the most profound experience I had in the desert.

It was impossible to deny that the spiritual/psychic energy of a collective of people that size, having a personal experience together, is a life changing event.

Burning Man 2009: Day 6 – The Man Burns

djdrue — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:34:00 GMT

Now I had heard that the real hardcore burner types, who take this experience to heart, usually come early and then kind of hole up in their camps on Friday and Saturday night. I was to discover that this, in many respects -- is quite true. The mood and vibe of the city became, to put it bluntly, surly. I saw words exchanged, some pretty rude and obnoxious behavior, and droves of brand new people, mostly twenty-somethings, on bikes that were not so dusty, with skin still fresh, clean, and glowing from the outside world. After 5 days of being out there already, I could see how observing a group of frat boys strolling down the lane and drinking beers could drive any good dreadlocked libertarian back to their camp.

Nevertheless, I briefly explored the city, only to find people stealing street signs, and an overall unpleasantness to the crowd that I had not expected. I surmise that this is probably the direct result of tired old-school, and fresh, ignorant newbies, thrown together. The general atmosphere, was tougher and meaner, and not in a “thunderdome” type of way.

I had been warned that once the man had burned down, you lost a significant landmark, and it would become much easier to get lost, so at the request of one of my friends, I went out to the center and took some bearings with a compass so that we might have a reference in case we got lost. I headed out to the temple, and just as I got there, a dust storm hit:

Burning Man 2009 – by Ted Chapman

By now, the dust was just another part of my body, and I was now completely used to it. I was able to successfully navigate across the desert, in zero visibility on my bike, using only the compass as my guide. It was surreal, almost like swimming underwater, with no landmarks. I found it to be an interesting and intriguing personal moment for me.

Saturday night lived up to the hype as the desert was crowded, literally with people, art cars, and general mayhem. It’s nearly impossible to describe: 30,000 to 40,000 people all in a giant ring around the man, a party and gathering of epic and astounding proportions…

Burn Night from MrNightshade on Vimeo.

In a giant cavalcade of fireworks and explosions, the massive structure exploded in flames, a massive monument to chaos, rebirth, and revolution:

The Man Burns at Burning Man 2009 from MrNightshade on Vimeo.

The final explosion was awesome. The pictures don’t really do it justice.

Man Burn – by Qathi

Despite the insanity that prevailed that night, I was conflicted as I saw a rather large law enforcement presence. It definitely tried to put a damper on the evening, but the gathering was just too huge to be contained. The surly and aggressive vibe that I felt the day before only became worse. I now understand why it may be more fun to socialize within your own camp or group on that night. Still a bit reeling from Thursday and Friday, I called it a bit of an early night, only 5 am…

Burning Man 2009 – Art Car /Dance club – by Ted Chapman

Burning Man 2009: Day 5 – The Weirdness Expands

djdrue — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:22:24 GMT

By friday, I was still not used to the dust storms which came across the desert with some regularity. I was actually pretty annoyed that the weather couldn’t really make up its mind. Previous visitors had told me the weather was much better this year, so I don’t think I should complain about it. Nevertheless, I was annoyed with the condition of the weather…still getting used to it I think.

Dust storm sweeps over the city – by anjuli ayer

Friday’s blistering heat kept me pretty close to my camp for most of the day; sleeping a little longer and taking time to relax and eat and recover from the previous night’s fun. Tonight I was only really going to be at one place, the opulent temple. Their DJ lineup looked fantastic. Up to this point, I had sort of seen burning man as an opportunity to see some great DJs in an atmosphere that was pretty hedonistic. A few of my campmates live in rather remote areas and spent little time around base camp, because they had come to really enjoy the music and dance. Still others, who had a penchant for live music, felt disappointed.

I was totally drooling over this rocket/missle bike:

Rocket Bike - by Christopher Robin-Blum

When the sun had set, the winds (which usually died down) did not seem to stop. As large clouds of dust assaulted the playa, I was determined not to be stopped as we headed across the city to the opulent temple.
By now the population of the city had really begun to swell, and the playa was full of various people and cars all milling about, blinking and glowing in the Nevada night. Both near and far, as far as the eye could see, large gouts of flame billowed and belched from all manner of vehicles and art installations across the desert.

Burning Man 2009 - by Ted Chapman

Over at the temple, I worked my way into the center of about 1000 people that had assembled to dance, and discovered that while in the middle of the crowd, you are protected from the wind, which was an unexpected benefit.
Carl Cox had just taken the decks, and was wearing a strap on mohawk, which seemed very apropos. The best thing about the DJ booth was that the DJ could shoot flames out over the crowd.

Burning Man 2009 - Opulent Temple - by Lou Piote

Despite the energy and excitement of the crowd, I found that dancing in a crowded group, on uneven ground, with a backpack filled with water, was really less than favorable, no matter who the DJ is. That didn’t stop me from having a good time. Unfortunately, the burning man equivalent of the “bridge and tunnel crowd” had started to arrive in force, and I found the meathead quotient of the crowd to have increased significantly.
After three days of dancing, drinking, and generally staying up late, my body had begun to show signs of wear, and my brain, while still very much in the fight, knew when to quit, so I called it a night. Still no sunrise for me on the playa, more to follow…

Burning Man 2009: Day 4 – Start the Party

djdrue — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:37:22 GMT

Thursday brought a sharp increase in temperature across the playa, and most of the day was spent in camp. It did, however, give me an opportunity to get to know some of my camp mates better. One person stands out to me more than the others. His name was Larry and he was an underground comic artist from the 60’s. I had the chance to sit and talk with him about his life, his comics, his artistic and creative drive, and his view of the world. I would hope that burning man is a place where everyone gets the chance to meet and converse with interesting people.

My friend Steve had a late arrival, and I had the distinct pleasure to take him out to the center of the playa and watch, as his head got blown as much as mine did a few days before. In the process of tripping around the city, I ran into some other friends, which was kind of a relief, since I knew that they were out here somewhere.

Despite the heat, I was able to get my groove on early at Pink Mammoth.
That night, our camp took up the party torch with full enthusiasm, as we headed out to see what sort of trouble we could get into.

Highlights included the Infected Mushroom show:

Infected Mushroom at the Opulent Temple - by mikea

Rabbit in the Moon over at the Root Society were also rocking it pretty hard:

burning man 2009 root society - by sikubean

and a really astounding set out at the hookahdome:

Beats Antique bumpin the ‘dome - by Ted Mills

I did not last until the sunrise…but a great time was had by all.
more to follow...

Burning Man 2009: Day 3 – Stripper Poles, Sunsets, and Sake.

djdrue — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:21:12 GMT

I had heard of the concept of “Playa Time” where people get distracted and miss connections and what not, and I was determined to see as much as I could.

Before I went to sleep the night before, I made a list of all the various events and things that I wanted to check out the following day. I would put down around 6-8 different events and would only be able to check out 3-4 every day, but after doing this for a while I felt like I got to see a lot of stuff. Checking in with seasoned burners who were surprised and how much ground I covered. Wednesday was one of those days. Even with the weather being irregular, I managed to get around a big chunk of the city.

Close to our camp was the site of a daily stripper pole contest, which always made for a great afternoon kick-off:

Working the Pole - by Danny Utah

One of my campmates is a big sake fan, so we went to a sake tasting. What I thought would be a mellow “tasting” turned out to be a full-on rager of a gathering with super-cooled sake being pumped by the gallon on tap. Playa Time definitely kicked in here, while we got our groove on and enjoyed the sub-zero libations:

Sake Watering Hole - by frogprince

That night we went to check out the flaming lotus girls art installation and other fire performances at the Shiva temple:

Towers of Shiva - by hardcoder

Burning Man 2009: Day 2 – Dust, Art, and Alcohol.

djdrue — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:40:05 GMT

The desert heat finally chased me from my bed, which was to become a bit of a regular thing for me out here. In the morning, we hopped on our bikes and headed out for another really good look at the playa. Admittedly, the view is truly mind boggling. The sheer magnitude and scale of the place really defies any verbal or written explanation. There were some truly amazing art pieces scattered around the desert, including an amazing metal butterfly sculpture.

Burning Man 2009 - by Tortuga Mer

Morning journeys out into the playa also became a fun ritual, as you could enjoy and observe the slow growth of the population throughout the week. In the afternoon, we had an informal meet and greet with our other theme camp members and got to know each other a bit better. There were the required discussions regarding erotic discourse, MOOP (matter-out-of-place) and, of course, how freaking cool this whole event and its people are. We went in search of some frozen margaritas and encountered a truck literally filled with margarita fixins for the whole week. It was to become one of our favorite places to swing by.

By around 1pm or so…I would retreat to the motor home for a 2-4 hour, air-conditioned nap, which in retrospect, was quite beneficial to the constitution. The weather turned rather foul with harsh dust storms on and off for most of the day, and there were chunks where you either had to hunker down and deal with it, or take shelter.

There would be a ton of music and excitement to come…but one camp really stood out for me…Pink Mammoth…a hulking pink structure that kept pumping out consistently good music all week. They would start playing music in the early afternoon, until the sun went down. This would be the resting place of the former “Deep End” crowd, and my hat goes off to them for all their hard work.

Pink Mammoth - by Marksmotos

I was still trying to get used to the concept of being dirty all the time, and I found myself washing my hands more than usual. There had been rumors of a nasty virus and some pinkeye going around, but I seemed to have dodged all of that.

My notes regarding Tuesday night are a bit hazy…as I got into the margaritas with my camp mates in earnest that evening. More to follow…

Burning Man 2009: Day 1 – The Journey Out.

djdrue — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:15:13 GMT

My companions and I headed out of LA on Sunday evening. We were only about two hours into our journey before things got interesting. We had just come down off the grapevine and were headed north to Bakersfield when the tread on the right front tire of our motor home sheared off. We appeared stuck in the middle of nowhere, but the universe was on our side as we discovered a 24 hour tire service a scant 12 miles from where we were in Coalinga, CA. After a quick pit stop, we were once again back on our way to Nevada.

As a quick aside, we were listening to Love Line on the radio, and I gotta say that Dr. Drew just gets through a ton more callers than Adam Carolla ever did. I find that I like the show much more now than I used to.

The miles rolled off pretty quickly as we made our way north… passed Sacramento without any traffic problems and headed east up into the mountains. I took the night shift while my friends were sleeping in back. I drove up and through the Yuba gap around 4:30 in the morning…which was fun. Slowly, the road became occupied with other motor homes and cars which shared our destination. I was headed down into Reno as the sun was coming up.

We stopped at the biggest WallMart I have ever seen in Reno, absolutely massive. By then I was beyond groggy and crashed out on the final leg to Gerlach.

the road to the man - by Amar

My worries regarding long waits in the sun were insubstantial, as the road off the highway and onto the black rock desert was light with traffic. Cruising along the 6 lane entrance, I got my first smell of the playa, its dust billowing around the cars racing up to the gate.

We made our way to the campsite and meet our campmates. We helped get a common area assembled and put filters on the outside of all the windows on the motor home to help keep the dust at bay. After getting set up, our whole camp had decided to go and volunteer at the Lamplighters, which is a group that lights the city as the sun is going down.

I had a great time doing it, but was caught in a dust storm that blew my bandana off my face and gave me a strong and forceful indoctrination to the playa and its elements. Despite the harshness of the task, I found the event to be inspiring and it instantly made me feel like part of a bigger community.

Lamplighters - by Jeff Sullivan

The heat and altitude did take its toll, though, and I found myself exhausted on the first night.

Nevertheless, I had made it…I was at Burning Man, and the craziness had just gotten started.

harder better finger stronger.

djdrue — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:42:26 GMT