RayRay DJing at Hookah Bass 2005

I wanted to share a picture of me DJing at one of the pivotal events that I had the pleasure of playing at. Hookah Bass was held at the Red Sea Lounge in Tempe, Az and put together by a good friend named Brice. Here, I got to play for 4 full hours anything that I wanted to a room full of happy, bubbly, hookah smoking people. The lounge  was redecorated with blacklight posters and phosphorous paints. What was absolutely divine about this gig was that I brought enough vinyl for 8 hours and had been frustrated with the 1 hour DJ sets that most DJs have grown accustomed to. I was prepared for everything – even as far as to breakdown the crowd from the intense, high energy driven music that had been playing for 4 full hours before me and explore any style of electronica and dance music that I wished. It was finally a time to see what it was like to be the shaman of a tribe.

I remember the order of almost every song that I played. I lowered the tempo through a steady 45 hours and dropped in Rabbit In The Moon – Deeper. I had always wanted to play this vinyl live, and the predicted few people came up to me asking for faster. I remember saying that this is just a new beginning and that all will be revealed soon!

After the set was over, my back killing me with pain for not moving from the turntables, a crowd of people swarmed me. One guy told me that I had changed his life – his girlfriend left him, his dog died, his truck got stolen, and in one night I had given him the hope he needed to live. This was the first time, and definitely not the last time from this point forward that I would receive these kinds of kudos. A few more pictures from Hookah Bass can be found in a new album in the gallery.

WE CALL IT TECHNO! tells the story of a tempestuous phase in music history, the first time that pop culture was created significantly in Germany. With exclusive interviews and comprehensive, mostly unreleased film and photo archive material from the years 1988-1993! –

OST: http://www.discogs.com/release/1388974 – 3 Phase feat. Dr. Motte – Der Klang Der Familie Bam Bam – Give It To Me Cosmic Baby – Cosmic Trigger 4 Cosmic Baby – Galaxia Cosmic Baby – New Zone Cybersonik – Technarchy Dance 2 Trance – We Came In Peace D-Shake – Yaaaah! Eon – Spice F.U.S.E. – FU2 F.U.S.E. – Substance Abuse Frankie Bones – Call It Techno Kid Paul & The Weird Club – Acid In My House Komakino – Dynacore Mark N-R-G – Turn The Bass Microbots – Cosmic Evolution Microglobe – What Is Space Nitzer Ebb – Warsaw Ghetto Ongaku – Mihon 3 Resistance D. – Cosmic Love Sequential – Ambiant Block Sequential – Sonne Space Cube – Pure Tendency T-Bone Castro – Wize Guys Are Freakin’ Lower Teste – The Wipe Break Boys – My House Is Your House Overlords – Sundown Thomas P. Heckmann – Floatation Thomas P. Heckmann – The Sound Of Colour Umo Detic – Fahrenhei

I can’t remember exactly how I came across this ebook, but it is an amazing and seldom known tale of how the underground party scene around London began. Class of ‘88 is the story of the true acid house experience. It was available for free from a website that no longer exists, so here’s a copy of it.

The things he went through just to be able to throw a party! Lying to police, telling them that they were filming a music video. Being kidnapped by military hoodlums. Some of my favorite DJs have been there since the beginning, their story being told within the book.

From Amaon’s page where you can purchase a copy:

Product Description
What went on behind the Acid House dream? The raves and huge dance parties of the late-1980s changed the face of popular culture, as hundreds of thousands of youngsters enjoyed the illicit thrills of ecstacy and vast, illegal “all-nighters”. Yet beneath the bright surface was a world of drug deals, violence, exploitation, protection rackets and armed robbery. In this book, Wayne Anthony tells the story of his two years as an illegal dance party organizer and promoter. In those two years he was beaten up, menaced by criminals and blackmailers, confronted with sawn-off shotguns, kidnapped and threatened with murder.