DJ Interview - Stevie G

Recently tracked down the influential track-master and freelance writer, Stevie G, for his personal views and perspectives on the highs and lows of surviving in Question.

Question: How would you summarize your background? Influences?

SG: Well, oddly enough I didn't really have a musical upbringing. My parents didn't listen to a lot of music when I was growing up. When I was in high school as a freshman, I hooked up with some friends, and they were punk-rockers. That was kind of my first introduction to live music - after that I was a punk-rocker for a number of years. I went on to play in bands for 12 years, and the bands were pretty successful. They were punk in attitude, but we kind of flipped it. The last band we had was called The Make-Up, and the type of music that we played we termed "Gospel Yea Yea," which was a cross between 60's French pop, the "Yea Yea" sound, like Francoise Hardy, and gospel, which involved a lot of call and response with the audience. We were also influenced a lot by the Detroit sound, MC5, The Stooges, stuff like that, and other Washington D.C. punk bands. The common misconception about punk rock is that punk-rockers only listen to punk music, which isn't true. I think that being a punk-rocker means you are actually open to the world of music at large, so that's how I got started. From punk rock I got into soul music and disco, I got into Jazz, I got into Brazilian music, African music. I had about 15,000 records in my collection before I left the States, and it consisted of everything I mentioned before.

Question: But through being introduced at that age to punk music, you didn't then find these other types of music too mellow?

SG: No, no, not at all. See, I don't believe in this mellow thing, man. If it's good, it's good. The tempo shouldn't matter at all. Punk music opened me up to a lot of things. Traveling and playing with different bands, I met all kinds of different people, and got exposed to different kinds of music and was buying different records all the time. I played bass in the first band, guitar in the second band, and drums in the last band, and then while I was doing that, I also started to DJ, and that was in '88. I started just messing around, we sort of had this elevated group house in D.C. and started these free New Year's Eve parties that became really legendary, you know, rafters being pulled from the doors and sweat on the walls. They weren't college parties, they were house parties for the punk community. But it wasn't a bunch of guys with Mohawks and studded out like that, it was more political. It was just like cool people, but they were from a punk background. They were house parties in a group house just on a home stereo system.

Question: So that was your first DJ set?

SG: First set? You mean, to a crowd? Yeah, that would have been 1843 Irving Street, North-West, D.C. That was my house, on New Years Eve '87. And at the time, there was great music too - the first Public Enemy record, first Eric B & Rakim record, Boogie Down Productions record, Poor Righteous Teachers, and The Native Tongue stuff, you know De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, all of that hip-hop. Also, all the English stuff, Talkin' Loud, Young Disciples, Brand New Heavies, Galliano, and then some James Brown, you know it was really a free-form thing, but it worked great! And we did those parties for three years in row. It got more and more crowded each year, and in between I'd get gigs with my band.

Question: Who would you say your strongest musical influences would be?

SG: Musically? Well, my favourite artist is Stevie Wonder. He's kind of my namesake too, because my given is Steven, my parents call me Steve. But, I kind of reinvented myself as Stevie, 'cause my friends were calling me that, and I was also a big Stevie Wonder fan and it kind of suits me, I guess, so, that's my number one. In terms of DJ's, Michelle and I are really into the underground New York sound. There was only one club that we used to go to, actually two clubs, and those were Shelter and Body&Soul. The Shelter is still going on, it's a 16 year old party, and these were parties that came out of the 70's and 80's disco scene in NY, so it's a lot of the same people and they still listen to a lot of the same music mixed with some of the more modern house music available now. The closest thing here would be The Junction party with DJ Gregory, Samo, etc. Timmy Regisford, he's the DJ at The Shelter, and another, DJ Harvey. He's another one of my favorites too.

Question: Who?

SG: DJ Harvey is English but he lives in Santa Monica now. He was a former Ministry of Sound DJ and became kind of a cult-figure. Not a lot of people have heard of him, but he's got a really great eclectic style. He plays across the board, but his flow is impeccable. Then there's another guy from NY, Antonio Ocasio, and also my peers in D.C., you know, we always had a really strong DJ community and underground scene.

Question: So, you came to Bali for the first time when?

SG: That would have been summer 2002 for Ku De Ta, where I was the second DJ there after K2, who's a good friend of mine from D.C. He came here the first year, and was doing all the sets by himself, was invited back the following year and asked me, nicely enough, to play with him. We met in D.C., and actually started playing together at the same clubs and became good friends. When he needed back up in Bali, he was nice enough to ask me. So we came, did the first year, got along with everyone, and I didn't mess up. Then they asked me back for the next two years, which was really cool. And I never took it for granted, that's why I believe I was always asked back. I always appreciated the position, and the benefits of it. I didn't think I deserved it necessarily, but I was really grateful for the opportunity granted by Ku De Ta, and so I didn't mess it up. You know, at the end of the day, I did my job, was professional about it and so was asked back.

Question: How would you sum up the good and the bad of playing, promoting and writing in Seminyak compared to where you're coming from?

SG: Well, it's new territory for us. Where I come from, it's really kind of particular. I can just first of all say that it's a city, so there's a lot of culture. It's also a primarily black city and we were very influenced by that musically, culturally, etc. So, we've adapted to it but it's been difficult. I mean, but it's also been surprising like in terms of DJ-ing for instance, like the Thursday parties we've been given a chance to try. I've seen it as a chance to play my music in a place where I think there is a lack of good alternative music venues, besides the club norm. So, I was looking for some place to be able to play my music, share my music. I'm not egotistical about it, I just think it's good music, and a lot of people don't know it here, or haven't been exposed to it, but people seem to be open to it and that's really surprised me. A lot of it's pretty deep but I find that people still respond to it. Sometimes I have to play a little more commercially, but I'm still playing old music, so at the end of the day it's still great.

In terms of writing, I didn't really do a lot of writing in the States. I did some stuff for XLR8R magazine in San Francisco, but doing it here has given me a chance to check out a lot of different aspects of life here, so my writing has broadened since I've been in Seminyak. Here, I get to write about architecture, food, art, and events, interview DJ's, all sorts of things. So with each project, I try to find something that interests me, and what I think others may also find interesting. Like if I'm interviewing Lisa Loud or Danny Howells, who are known as progressive DJs, I don't want to have a Q&A session about progressive house music, I would rather find out how they started off, and you then find out that Danny Howells is actually a funk fan, and his first party was a Prince party and he grew up on Motown stuff. That sort of thing interests me and I hope it might interest other people as well. Then I also get to promote these things in a way, like writing about F Lounge or writing about certain parties, I can sort of put my angle on it. Like, writing about The Junction, for instance, I know a lot about that music. I think more than a lot of people out here do, so therefore I'm able to elaborate more on it with a little bit of history, and so on. I started out writing here, because it gave me chance to eke out an existence apart from DJing which has it's ups and downs, especially when playing really particular music that isn't necessarily suited for the masses.

Question: What's your perspective on the current music scene here so far?

SG: I think it's a little limited at the moment but I think it's progressing. I think the weekly parties, such as the Thursday thing at F Lounge, where we're basically playing roots music all night, and the Techno monthly we do [Fade2Black], which is an opposite music style, but both still represent a real underground sound that's been gaining popularity. The first time I played in Paparazzi, during the last 30 minutes, I was able to drop straight classics, not remixes, from Donna Summer and Chaka Khan, and people were still able to dance to it. I know it might sound a little cliché, but it really is about pushing the envelope, you kind of try to force people to listen outside of the box. Folks wouldn't necessarily think that a Donna Summer might actually go well after a club song, but it actually does and you show how by mixing it in at the right time. So you're kind of connecting the musical dots for them. What I think is actually limiting about the scene here, is that the music that dominates the clubs here is not really progressive, in terms of ideas. It doesn't go anywhere, it doesn't take you on journey, which is what I've always grown up understanding music to do when played eclectically. It's a really live environment, it's got ups and downs and it should make you think. When the tempo slows down you take a break and then you're get really excited to get back on dance floor when it comes back fierce. I think there are a growing number of people here that are of the same mind. There's a community that's forming that supports each other and I've been getting hired to play more parties, playing what I play, you know. So, I think some refreshing changes are coming.

Question: Do you think that we're in a reflective stage, right now, with modern dance music looking back or revisiting old tracks?

SG: Yeah, I think that's part of the moment we're in, right now. Like, this whole electro or electro-clash phenomenon. This music utilizes slower break-beats with analog-style production and certain guitar rock elements. These are styles derived from old music, but yet, they're gaining popularity, because the norm was becoming a little bit too…flat. The whole word 'electro' is from the '80's. Kraftwerk was basically the first electro experiment and then hip-hop came out of electro, as well, like Africa Bambaata, so I think this resurgence brings things back full circle and is indicative of a certain desire to return back to basics, in a way.

Question: Any hopes for the future? Things you would like to see happen?

SG: I don't necessarily believe in big changes happening overnight. But I have faith in little revolutions, you know baby steps, I don't really have any complaints, I'm pretty satisfied with the way things are going. Bali is a really amazing place to be and it has a lot of potential, especially considering it's an island. It's not a city like Jakarta , so you also have to take that into account. I think in an island context a few things are going to be limited culturally, but I think Bali 's going in a really good direction. I just hope there might be more musical alternatives in the future. I'd really like to see more Indonesian DJ's pick up that mantle and take up the torch. I'd love to find a local protégé, someone that I would gladly give my old music to, so that they could know it and play it out if they dug it. The sound really needs to be disseminated locally so that there can be local representation for that sound at the clubs. Not just for the new music, but for the old music too, which would be nice. You'd hear different styles, from a local point of view.

Question: Funniest or most memorable gig situation…or are they all funny??

SG: Long pause. I think they're all very serious, as a matter of fact! Well, one time I was asked by a black friend of mine, to play his sister's wedding in D.C. and I had a little trepidation about playing it because weddings are really tricky. You have to be able to appeal to a really broad demographic, age-wise. So, I asked him to give me a list of the exact songs they wanted, and the list contained Prince, Marvin Gaye, Commodores, Earth, Wind & Fire, so I accepted it right away knowing that I had about 85 percent of the tracks. So I show up to the gig, and I'm playing what they had requested, trying to get the crowd going, but no one was really dancing, and then this little old lady came up and asked me if I had "Booty Call." I don't know if you're familiar with the line-dance phenomenon popular in black American culture, but it's not like country music line-dancing. It's a group dance for the young to old where everybody dances together in a line with choreographed steps that everybody knows. "Booty Call" happened to be a hot line-dance song at the time and I didn't have it because it wasn't on the list. So then she said, "Well, do you have 'Electric Boogaloo'?" which is another popular line-dance song by Marcia Griffiths, and I replied that it wasn't on the list either and she walked away disgusted.

After that and within the span of about 20 minutes, two more ladies came up and asked for the line-dance music I couldn't deliver. So, that was a really uncomfortable situation, but at the end of it worked out once they got a little tipsy and got them going to some Go Go, D.C.'s percussion heavy underground indigenous music which seemed to work. But from that point onwards, I've always remembered to have some line-dance music in my case, especially for a wedding. That's not really a funny moment I suppose. It's more of a crap-your-pants moment.

Question: What is that telephone-looking contraption you use instead of the headphones most DJ's use?

SG: It's called a Lollipop, which I designed and made myself from a few simple pieces.

Question: Any personal mantra that you would like to share? One that gets you through the day?

SG: Keep the spear burning.

Question: Favourite club track right now?

SG: "Paranoia" by John Tejada

Question: Favourite tune of all time?

SG: "Do I Do" by Stevie Wonder

Question: Favourite reggae tune right now?

SG: "Talk Love" by Sonya Spence

Question: Favourite footwear?

SG: Beach Walk flip-flops, from The Philippines. I brought six pairs before coming here and I've worn them all out. They crush Havaianas and come in the coolest color combinations. That's what I rock, man.

Question: Lastly, how do you feel about the moniker "Quizzical Mouse?"

SG: I embrace the title.

For further info or bookings email Stevie at: KillaFM@gmail.com

De Jay Club - Frontier Summer

Deejay Club threw a HUGE party series for the Independence weekend. The Summer Parade went on for three days straight. The first bash, Sunrise Parade, was held on August 16th, with a lineup of huge DJs with strong fan bases, such as 1945MF’s DJs Romy, Phatt Brothers, Electric Barbarellas and Andre Dunant (Paranoia). And on 17th of August Frontier Summer was on with big name DJs like Reynald (X2), Innerlight (1945MF), Deny (Clubhoppers) and Ade Bro (M1/43). The dance floor was flooded with clubbers and believe, Jakarta was most definitely in the house. On the last day, Final Parade featured DJs Dimdok (Original Naro), Debon (Electrosoul), Adhe (DafKaf) and Achidayat (Sound Syndicated). Deejay Club really raised the bar and went all out. So long those after hours club days!.

Double Six - Famous

Justin Alexander is a tireless worker and promoter. After being put back a few large and unfortunate steps after the last Two Tribes show he and Mark James’ Future Entertainment from Melbourne put on in 2005 he re-built this year to come back with another big show and in the process, help to put Bali back on the Aussie tourist map. Obviously, they do it for a buck too but, after all the back lash of the last terrorist attack here, Aussies definitely need some good work to return to Bali again, and that includes the DJ’s.
Mark James, Grant Smillie and Derek K, all from Melbourne, showed the way last week as Famous, the new moniker of the Melbourne based Future Entertainment’s prime nights in Melb and Sydney, hit our shores again. With DJs from all over the globe (Canada, UK, Germany, Sweden, plus the Aussie crew) and spectacular stage and lighting on two outdoor areas, the main 66 room and Bacio and Sindacate joining in, it was set to be one of the biggest gigs in near memory. It was a Wednesday night though and when I arrived at around 1.30am it appeared that maybe a few people had to work the next morning. About 1000 people were scattered around with most attention being drawn from the major, 3-video-paneled outdoor stage against the back of Bacio. It was pumping in that area for that time of night. Slowly the crowd built and by 3.30 a respectable mob was gyrating and bumping its way to party bliss. The music was good. Out of every zone the sound was excellent, new and fresh with a choice of electro here, house there and pumping anthems over there – it worked really well. We spoke to JA after the event and he said they got enough bods thru the door to make it work and we’re glad to hear it – we and the rest of Bali wants them to do it again..

Flounge - Double Event

F Lounge hosted a double whammy of parties on 15th of August. First was an outdoor session celebrating the new logo of Bandung’s groundbreaking Eat clothing line together with the launch of the debut major label outing for Jakarta band Agrikulture. After that the Maxim presented its Summer Breakout 07 party moved indoors to F-Lounge, with DJs Bimo, Mamit and Redy behind the decks. Things took a turn for the spicy with the surprise appearance of the scantily clad Maxim girls… double trouble.

Pacha - Pre Grand Opening

As a warm up before the actual grand opening, Pacha held a pre-Grand Opening last Saturday the 11th. There were sexy dancers and stilt walkers, residents Deejay Dee and Danny warmed up the decks followed by guest DJs Leon Shady (76Beat), Eric Salh (SWE) and Bali’s veteran DJ Agoeng Zen (Elektra 666).

MBargo - 3rd Anniversary

MBarGo has been going strong for three years now, and on August 10th they celebrated their anniversary. Hot girls at the entrance and free flow beer and daquiris on the inside greased the wheels; the regulars were all there, plus hip hop dancers, stilt walkers, a fire grinder and sexy dancers with all their shenanigans. DJ Georgia was on the one and twos with back up from Javaica percussion – but the highlight was the live freestyles from rapper Pitchblackgold who recently re-emerged after a six month stint in Macau.

Jakarta DJ's is On The Island

On the weekend of the Indonesian Independence Day, a massive array of Jakarta DJs will once again invade our island. Everyone will be here, including big names like the following: Adhe, champion of Asia Pacific Thirst Studio Competition 2005, Naro, a veteran DJ who helped establish Jakarta’s underground house scene way back in the early 90s, Bone, Electro DJ of The Year by REDMA Awards 2007, Riri, hugely popular Jakarta veteran and founder of Spinach records, Innerlight, winner of Heineken Thirst Studio Competition 2006, Ai Moonchild, a seasoned DJ who plays in Ibiza every now and then – indeed he put out a compilation called Destination Ibiza), Romy, (you know who he is….! And that’s just to name a few. The new generation is here in force too - DJs like Electric Barbarellas, a sexy female duo who won the Best Junior DJ & Best Female DJ by REDMA AWARDS 2007, Best Rookie DJ 2006 by Paranoia, and voted Best Local Performance DJ 2006 at Dejavu-Bali in The Beat Awards, The Freaks (a live PA sensation, with tracks already featured in a newcomer CD compilation by Johnny Walker), Bimo, part of 1945FM under the management of DJ Romy, and resident at Black Pearl, Marcell runner up at the Pioneer Pro DJ national competition and many many more. I mean, we wonder who the hell is going to play in Jakarta?? Check out the What’s On section for details of when and where.

Junction Bali Dance Music Festival

Now in its 3rd year, the dance music festival that turned this island back onto house music returns with no less than six events across five venues over the course of one week. Here’s a taste of what’s to come…

Pippi
DJ Pippi is one of the mainstays of the seminal Balearic sound that sprang from Ibiza. If it wasn’t for the likes of him, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold et al might never have emerged from their hep-cat rare groove phase and the UK might never have known house. He helms the world famous “Undiscovered Ibiza” mix series – just a few of the 27 compilations he’s put out (never mind the 41 productions and 18 remixes) over his 17 year career, as well as spinning all over the world. www.djpippi.com

Marques Wyatt
When it comes to deep, soulful house, Marquess Wyatt is the West Coast’s guardian. The L.A based DJ/Producer was largely responsible to switching the West on to the music that had taken root in New York and Chicago, planted by the likes of Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles. That was way back in the eighties. These days, his club, DEEP, is pretty much a West Coast institution hosting some of the hottest DJs in the house scene. This is the realness. House music with soul. www.deep-la.com

Nicolas Matar
Last year, Nicolas Matar was one of the mainstays of the Junction, Bali. As those who heard his sets last year can attest, he has a penchant for deep, vocal house, NY Garage and classics. You could look at him sort of like an East Coast counterpart of Wyatt – he owns and plays at Cielo Club, one of the homes of quality house music in New York, renowned for its impeccable sound system and proper house credentials – after all, Francois K is one of the three residents. www.cieloclub.com

Seiji
DJ Seiji is one of the founder members of UK broken beat collective Bugz in the Attic and a prolific producer and remixer of innovative electronic music. He’s worked under a range of monikers, but whatever he calls himself you can be assured of deep, soulful drummatic flavours. He recently produced Roisin Murphy’s new solo album and continues to put out soulful house under the name Homecookin’ London stylee people.
www.myspace.com/seijimusic

Rounding off the line up are DJ B out of Singapore and one of the pioneers of house in Jakarta, DJ Anton, cohorts Hogi and Cream, Kudeta’s Donni One plus Mamsa and Downey.

Saturday 11 August – Kudeta – Day Party DJs Nicolas Matar & Donni One
Thursday 16 August – Niksoma Hotel – Sunset Party 1500 - 2200 DJs Nicolas Matar, Pippi, Anton 200k
Thursday 16 August – F-Lounge – Night Party 2300 – 0600 DJs Seiji and Cream 50k
Friday 17 August – Sentosa – Sunset Party 1400 -2200 DJs Marques Wyatt & Hogi 150k
Friday 17 August – F Lounge – Night Party 2300 – 0600 DJs Downey & Marques Wyatt 50k
Saturday 18 August – Daydream – Sunset Party 1600 – 0300 - DJs Pippi, Seiji, Anton 150k

Obsesion - Black & White FunkadeMix

Black and White funkademix, truly serve the perfectly blend of fun. With some important essence of sexy dancers, live bands by Fantuzzi, The Flexyble and Thunder band, chased by the mixture of Electro funk & RnB groove presented by DJ K the latino maestre

Syndicate - Grand Opening

Replacing the old Papparazi lounge, the groovy urban Syndicate held a grand opening last Thursday. The entrance was lined with pimped out cars and guests were greeted with free flow beer, wine, champagne and tapas. There was also a summer fashion show by Mooks and Rusty, fireshow and DJs XLP, Mikey Moran, Patricia and Jerry were behind the decks, dropping oldskool alongside nuskool - Grandmaster Flash to Sir Mixalot to T.I to Michael Jackson. A new hotspot, no doubt.

Hu'u - DJ Brendon P

DJ Brendon P, one of the mainstays of Singapore’s house scene since the early days, was in Bali once again for an encore night of deep house, classics and other assorted soulful delights. The long serving Zouk resident had the dance floor jumping like he does till the wee hours.

Kudos - 4th Anniversary

Celebrating 4 years of non-stop fabulous entertainment, Kudos marked their anniversary with a night full of fantastic performances from the venue’s divas and go go dancers. The packed room stepped lively throughout to the DJs non-stop selection of hits. Happy Birthday, Kudos!

F Lounge - Fort Knox Five

JohnH of Washington nu-funkateers Fort Knox Five threw down a set of genre busting break beats that was tighter than…well, Fort Knox really. Every DJ likes to proclaim how eclectic they are in their tastes, but JohnH managed to keep a seamless flow that ventured from obscure rock to classic soul to hip hop to funk and back again. Half the time you couldn’t tell which were the originals and which had some added bottom end. No matter, the floor was filled. Stellar.

Double Six - Sandra Collins & Vella Virkhaus

World Renowned DJ Sandra Collins and moving image master Vella Virkhaus put together a mind boggling audiovisual performance at Double Six. With a huge screen hanging behind the booth featuring constantly changing images of everything from dragons to strange figures to anime style scenarios and abstract patterns, in tune with Sandra’s smooth, progressive flow. Pushing envelopes.

MBarGo - Escape From Alcatraz

A squad of cute dancers dressed in skimpy law enforcements outfits and sporting plastic firearms danced across the MBarGo bar as MC G-Voiz (himself dressed as an undercover narc in Kevlar vest) kept things live on the mic while DJ Gust kept it going on the floor with his bombastic hip hop beats. Stilt walkers and free flow Bintang sealed the deal for what was an arresting night of raucous fun. Ring the alarm!

July 12th 2007

Deejay Club ; DJ Eric Entrena

It may have been a bit quieter then expected at DeeJay Club in Kuta as DJs Aldo of Juice Magazine and Mamsa of Radio Plus opened up the night, but by the time Spanish DJ Eric Entrena hit the decks at 4:30am, the room had filled out nicely with a crowd eager to hear what the visiting guest had to offer. Keeping things chugging along with his brand of electro progressive, the audience was not disappointed and stayed on till the wee hours, DeeJay Club-style.

June 15th

Tranceworxx at DeeJay Club

It seems like Deejay Club is a-flood with international DJs lately. On Friday, June 29th there was Holland based DJ Robert Burns who tore up the dance floor with his hit tracks. He took to the decks around 3.30am, right after DJ Noise Addictive had warmed up the crowd. The vibe was progressive trance, which suited the crowd just fine, thank you very much.

Diva La Disco at Hu'u

It’s not the first time Bali’s seen a diva singinng a capella alongside a DJ, but Diva La Disco have the act down pat. Singer Mizmoni comes from a gospel background and her rich voice brought a whole new dimension to colleague Alex Botar’s house grooves. Mizmoni also had a lot of charisma, inviting guests to sing along with her and filling the dancefloor with gyrating bodies in no time.

Sentosa Club ; The Yak Magazine Party

Our esteemed colleagues at The Yak/The Bud pulled out the stops on June 29 for the third annual Yak Awards party. Bali’s social sets were out in force, all converging on the Sentosa Club where the early birds enjoyed oysters and champagne while DJs and live bands performed. There was an impressive light set up and the awards generated some excitement, but the piece de resistance had to be the ice sculpture, where chi chi guests got slowly sizzled on ultra chilled vodka.

June 29th

MBarGo : Pretty In Pink on June 28th

Some looked prettier than others in their pink get up, but no matter, MBarGo went off like a bucket of prawns in the sun, with the DJs throwing down remixes of classic R&B and Hip Hop while go-go dancers kept it hot and pink on the bar.