E. Moore’s latest project, “The Symphony” could be best described as just that. It’s an orchestra of local artists and out-of-towners that have helped to shape who we know as E. Moore, the producer and MC.
If you look back in the ACT:LIVE archive and read the interview I did with him last month, you’ll find that this CD is everything he promised us, and to me, the fact that he lived up to that promise means a bit more.
First off, I have to mention the packaging and quote E. Moore from our interview.
“I'm doing everything real grassroots. The CD could come out looking something like this (picks up a demo of a random artist, plain white writable CD with the artist's name scribbled on it). It could be stencils and shit, maybe some spray paint. We're working with what we got.” - E. Moore
It’s exactly that, a stenciled, spray paint image. Rugged and raw, it represents true art. He could have come off with the typical tough guy street image, which is popular today in this era of cookie cutter rap images of dollar signs and champagne bottles, but he didn't. Instead, on each CD you're getting a personal touch from the artist.
Hip- hop is about the art and the street. Graffiti covers these streets, just like it covers “The Symphony”.
If you’re familiar with E. Moore, it’s another experiment that’s heavy in loops and samples. There’s an intro and one interlude, but no breaks really, just thirty minutes of beat banging.
The CD length is doubled by the addition of a “side two”. E. Moore decided to place all the instrumentals on there as well. So, if you cats out there like these beats get out there and get the disc and put your own spin on it, it’s all love in this game.
I’m a big fan of the track “Better Days”, but I’d have to say the track that shined the most was “Care”, with Slim Chance. It’s not necessarily for the lyrical content, but Slim has a flow pattern that marries the beat in the right way.
“The Symphony” is also a good blend of east coast hip-hop, but also represents a real west-coast swing in the gangster sense. I’m talking about the heavy synth samples he loops over almost every song when I say that.
PyInfamous, of the famed duo E.B.B & F.L.O.W., makes an appearance straight from Mississippi on the track “Dignity”. If you’re into hip-hop and follow the scene, you’d have to have your head in a hole to not hear about Py. He makes his way up here July 19th for a show at High-Fidelity being put together by local hip-hop DJ, Tim Tones.
All in all, this mix is a good platform for E. Moore, and it’s a great example of where he is right now.
E. Moore’s been found everywhere between New York City and Toronto pushing this disc and getting the name out there. There’s no ads, no flash, just some good word of mouth. It’s great to see another local artist getting his name and the good name of Rochester out and beyond for others to pay attention to. There’s some serious talent in this town and it needs to be discovered and sharpened.
As for my ratings, well, I go by a rating of elements involved. This is how I will be rating all musical submissions on ACT:LIVE.
WOOD FIRE EARTH METAL WATER
"The Symphony", comes in at 3 out of 5 elements.
The album is solid and consistent throughout, it was done with heart honesty. That represents the earth, wood and metal the album concept structure is made of.
You can get out to any hip-hop show here in the city and find E. Moore backpackin' the CD old-school style, so pick it up directly from him, or you can visit his webpage linked here on ACT:LIVE to purchase it. Get your tickets to "The Symphony", now.
This past February, DJ Terry Mullan was invited to bring his acid house sound to High Fidelity and rocked it.
These pics were handed to us recently, so for those of you who were wondering where they went...here they are.
Apparently, Terry was cool as all hell and rocked the club with extreme energy. So much energy in fact, he broke the club mixer in a furious spasm of electronic bliss!
Here's a few words direct from his MySpace page...
"Being a fan of music sometimes means nothing else matters. This is true to life for Chicago’s Terry Mullan. His ears were alert at the right time, if house music is your thing. Right smack in the middle of the blossoming house development of Chicago during the mid 80's, at an early age, Terry was already in tune with what was actually happening."
"Although his roots began in hip-hop, Terry found himself smack in the middle of the Chicago house explosion. House and Disco were styles of music that were entirely new to Terry, but the match was struck. Faithfully listening and recording the then burgeoning Chicago airwaves, his nights during middle school were filled with the finest in Chicago house. DJ's like Farley “Jackmaster” funk, Fast Eddie, Armando, & Mike "Hitman" Wilson, via 102.7 WBMX. His mix tape collection fast became a fixture within his bedroom, constantly taping the shows, studying them. Some called it simulcasted education."
"Soon after the house scene was all grown up, entered the acid house sound. Here Terry really found solace. It was that added flavor he was waiting for, something new, twisted, and forward. Now all the elements were coming together. And with the addition of the Detroit sound, this was it, three different languages, disco, house, and techno. They could all translate the same message together or apart from one another. This is how Terry is like a translator. With his fluent style, these languages reflect his DJ’ing as well as the tracks he's now composing, which is his way of furthering the evolution of dance music."
I hope you all enjoy the pics. Better late than never.
Till next time, check out the story below to find out what's coming up next on ACT:LIVE.
After weeks of waiting and anticipation, ACT:LIVE would like to introduce Andrew Lipovsky to the team.
Andrew is a hella talented photographer attending R.I.T, and hails from Bloomfield, NY.
He is currently living in the Rochester area and will be covering a good portion of the rock and metal events in the city, as well as some other various visual arts based events.
The boy's got some sick photos and design work, so be sure to say hello and check out his work by clicking on his name at the header. He is also linked to the side column.
Coming up with this week and next week:
We sit down with The Boy And His Machine, a local rock group with a sense of humor and they're making some serious moves. I'll be checking out their show at The Montage and find out what makes the machine work.
For those of you that were there and remember, Terry Mullen was in town this past winter at High Fidelity and I was handed the pics that no one got to see. Better late than never, you crazy house music heads!!
I also will be taking a listen to local hip-hop artist E. Moore's newest effort, "The Symphony". The ACT:LIVE review.
Local hip-hop entrepreneur and globe trotter, Nikal Fieldz, he'll be in the building to talk with us about a world of topics. This is just in time for the voting to begin for Nikal Fieldz and his single "Be a Racist". That track has been nominated for a UMA award. Always grindin' and excitable, Nikal Fieldz on ACT:LIVE next week.
Till next time kiddies...
- Games
Right now we're listening to:
CKY"Familiar Realm" ("An Answer Can Be Found", 2005, Island/Def Jam)
We apologize for the lack in content this week. We expected to have a bunch of photos up from the Jazz Fest, as well as a few reviews from the Jazz Fest, but it seems that someone has stolen our newest writers laptop and blackberry.
Kim Hunter has had her hardware stolen from her place of work and if anyone out there knows anything or even cares, make sure you hit us up. It's a huge blow to Kim and to ACT:LIVE.
If you know anything, anything at all, please drop us a line. The email address is located on the right hand side of where you're reading this.
Coming up later this week, I sit down with Joey Arena and the band, The Boy And His Machine. They are a pop rock band with Rochester and Buffalo as their home base. They are playing this Friday at The Montage, off Chestnut St. downtown.
That interview will be up, amongst other things to check out this week and next week.
I also get on the phone with DJ HeavyGrinder, a house/hip-hop talent out of Los Angeles. She is coming July 12th to perform at Pearl Nightclub. She filled me in with some info about where she's been, where's she's going and what to expect. She was a real pleasure to speak with, so I hope you all enjoy.
In the meantime, here's a fun video from the guys in The Boy And His Machine.
I have been looking forward to my meeting with the good folks involved with the REHAB record party for some time now and it is a pleasure to share this interview with you all.
REHAB was started as a record party at the Bug Jar under the former name of Art School, a project from the mind of Rochester’s own indie genius, David McGinnis.
This party was started last August as a monthly rehabilitation clinic to loosen the audience from the weekday stretch and to also promote the consumption and appreciation for vinyl records.
Music today is quickly becoming more and more impersonal with the onslaught of thedigital mp3, so David has sought to make it his personal mission in this city to raise awareness to the fundamental roots of DJing and the art of digging.
I have never met a more thoughtful and deliberate artist in the DJ community unless you want to mention EWUN aka, aka, aka….
Monthly at the record party, David gives away a piece of vinyl to one lucky dancer, as well as roughly twenty CDs to those other lucky patrons. He spends the month combing the airwaves for new music, and carefully selects the perfect tracks to bring to your ears at the party. He also combines these tracks with live sampling and production to add a fourth dimension to the mix.
I was welcomed with open arms to talk with David and his partners and spent some time with them in the basement of the Bug Jar before their show. Now, I have never been in the basement of the Bug Jar, but as the music fan and nostalgic guy that I am, it sent chills up my spine to think of the memories and people that have graced this space. I was honored to have this opportunity.
I introduce David McGinnis, Pauline (DJ Tanner) and Benjamin Harrington: REHAB
ACT:LIVE: So tell us a little bit about yourselves, where you’re from, what you’re history is here, etc..
David: “I’ve known Ben for about fourteen years, since he was a youngin’. I kinda got him started playing records…another apprentice, I’m trying to pass it on.”
Ben: “I grew up in Livonia, NY, but moved in 2002 to Florida. I then moved to Savannah, GA only to move back here in March and re-connect with everyone. David had REHAB going on, I came and checked it out, he booked me to play and it went from there. It’s been evolving ever since.
I originally started playing breaks, then drum and bass, so this is a totally new sound for me. We’re doing something different though, we’re incorporating a lot of different sounds and it’s fun for me because I can throw in some dance stuff in and some other pop stuff, but still have that electronic edge. I really, really enjoy it because I don’t think we alienate anyone with our songs. It’s open to everyone.”
ACT:LIVE: So what’s going on?
Pauline: “I’m good, how are you?”
ACT:LIVE: Good, so where are you from?
Pauline: “Well, my name is Pauline. I’m from Caledonia, NY. I grew up on punk rock.
All of a sudden I met David, maybe six months ago and he was like, “Hey, heard you have a lot of records.” I was like, “Yeah, I like to play ‘em.” So, after that we just kind of got together and started playing records.
I like the fact that I can play songs that he’s never heard, and he can play songs that I’ve never heard, but somehow it just all melts together. Everyone knows it all just music and they can dance to it and get down to it. We get to expose people to new music every month and it’s so nice to know everyone can come and just have a good time. It doesn’t matter what you’re listening to, as long as you can shake your ass to it.”
ACT:LIVE: I really like that I can come in and hear some really obscure punk rock right on top of some old school jazz record, the diversity is inspiring.
ACT:LIVE: So, how about you David?
David: “My name is David McGinnis, I grew up in Rush. I’ve been in the city for many years now. We won’t go into my age. (laughs)
I’ve been playing records for about fourteen years now. Back then it was a lot different, back then there was only four or five kids in the city that were playing records. Old school guys like Rob Morley, John Slater. Those guys I used to go see when I was like eighteen, nineteen years old.
Those were guys that got me stoked to play records. Back then you couldn’t even find Technic 1200s to buy; you had to be in some secret club or something. It was really underground.
SkyeHigh was like the only place to get the vinyl you wanted, or the Bop Shop. SkyeHigh was on the forefront of the DJ scene with their weekly parties and record collection at the shop.
ACT:LIVE: So what happened recently to revive this passion and art?
David: “Well, about three years ago my roommate, Myah Farone, started doing Wednesday nights here at the Bug Jar. She wanted me to come and DJ, but I didn’t really want to bring my drum and bass, so I started bringing a lot of indie records. I’ve always been a big fan of indie music and have been a big collector of it. I was playing indie electronic stuff at the time, stuff like The Postal Service, when that was new. That had a really good response because no one was really playing it. It was either electronic or rock, no in between, like with mashups today, or groups like The Postal Service.
So, I did little parties here and there, then, last summer really wanted to create a night of indie, dance, pop, fusion, punk rock, just an everything goes type of party.
And now today we are really the only party in the city that plays one hundred percent vinyl with no digital filter. No one does it anymore, which is kind of sad to me actually. I take a lot of pride in it.
It’s expensive too. I mean, we have to go out and actually buy our own vinyl, pick each record, wait for it while it comes in off a special order and hope it makes it in time. There’s no downloading, we have to actually get out and dig through the crates.
There’s nothing like looking through the records, holding that special one up and being so excited to drop that for everyone at the end of the week. You can definitely connect with the crowd more. There’s more thought into the message.”
Ben: “It’s nice to have those four weeks to prepare and find those special records.”
David: “Another cool thing I have noticed is a lot of young people, not just DJs, are heading to the record stores to pick up vinyl because they are interested. I think people are starting to discover it all over again.
I hope that DJs will start to follow that trend, because really, there’s nothing that sounds better than a loud record at a club.”
ACT:LIVE: What’s your thing Ben?
Ben: “I’m kind of the new kid, but since I’ve been on I’ve been able to play all kinds of breaks, drum and bass…everything.
I can get up there and play straight rock and roll and people move to it, it’s awesome. It never gets boring and it keeps people listening to new things. Hopefully it gets people going home and digging through their parent’s record crates.
I hadn’t been buying records for a long time, so this opened my eyes back up to a fresh new world again. I’m so excited to go out and find those records again.
ACT:LIVE: I wanted to ask you, David, about the record you select to give away each month. How do you go about picking that?
David: “Well, every month I make twenty CDs of music to hand out. They have a mix of new songs for the month, songs that I will feature in the set. On the CDs is a number that I call out and if your number is called you get the record that I selected. I like to give everyone something to go home with, but I would really like people to see the records and get inspired to buy a turntable of any sort. I hope people appreciate it, because I really appreciate it when people come out. It’s really flattering.
People actually come up to us after the show and are like, “What was that track you played?” DJs never get that anymore.
As far as how do I pick the record, well, I pick a record that I have enjoyed or something really new. Tonight is a newer record that’s only been out for a few months, by MGMT.
They are formerly The Management, but due to some weird conflict with another band they changed their name to MGMT. The guy who produced it is a guy by the name of Dave Fridmann, he’s actually from Fredonia. He’s awesome, he does stuff with the Shins and the Flaming Lips.
I have also been finding that record labels are putting out a free mp3 download code with the records so that those without a turntable can get the music.
Mp3’s and digital music is great for speed, but there is nothing like holding the artwork, touching the record and being able to look at cool pictures or posters. You can’t get that through iTunes. Digital music isn’t tangible, which makes the audience disconnected to the music, potentially.
Bottom line is I usually pick something I like.”
ACT:LIVE: So you won the battle of the bands? That’s sounds hilarious considering you’re not a “band” per say, how did that happen?
David: “When the Art School project was going, my friend Myah took a CD of ours with a song called “Memorize” on it, and submitted it to a contest on WBER. We had no idea she did that because we never would have let her. We would have been like, “No way!”
Well, then we made it to the top ten, which got really exciting. Then, luckily we ended up winning. That got us on regular rotation for a year. It was really surprising and it really helped.
DJ Fixx is going to remix our song “We Got We” soon, that’s just another way things have branched out.”
ACT:LIVE: Where did the name REHAB come from?
David: “The reason I went with REHAB is because I thought of rehabilitation from life and the work week, and all those stresses that everyone can have. So, you could come here on a Friday night and forget about everything. You start over.
It’s a refreshing time and rehabilitation from digital music.”
Ben: “Yeah, in case you didn’t get it, we really like vinyl.” (laughs)
Ben: “I feel like people get so bummed out in Rochester. People always say,”Aw man, I gotta get out of here, there’s nothing going on.” That’s bullshit because there is so much going on here. This project is another way to prove that point, and we’re going to show people whether they like it or not.” (laughs)
ACT:LIVE: From my experience, if you just look through the papers you can find an endless sea of activities.
David: “I can remember years ago, I could go out any day of the week in the summer and find a couple hundred kids dancing to music at every different venue. I think it’s really coming back with things like ACT:LIVE, RIPROC and the parties that are being thrown within those networks.
That last big party at Pearl was a perfect example, which was unbelievable. It was like the old-school days. I know Jake (EWUN) is doing a lot to make that happen here, but he’s also gone a lot. He also plays different music, he plays a lot more drum and bass, but he’s become much more diverse.
ACT:LIVE: I thought the story of how you (David) met Pauline, was pretty cool...the part about how you used to come into the sandwich shop and recruited her to DJ.
(Pauline worked at Open Face on South Ave., David found out she has a huge record collection and coaxed her into learning how to play them and mix them. From what I have observed, Pauline was born to be a rock star and she has grown tremendously over the wheels of steel. It may have been a match made in hell (because heaven’s no fun), but regardless, Pauline plays with a real passion and animation, kudos. She is also very visually interactive with the audience through her body language. You can tell she has a real passion for the music she's playing.)
Pauline: “Well, we have a mutual friend, but he stalked me on MySpace.”
David: “Yeah, I stalked her.”
Pauline: “I never played a record before though, besides personal listening.”
ACT:LIVE: Are you having fun with it?
Pauline: “Oh, yeah.”
ACT:LIVE: One thing I admire is the intention behind each record you play, if you listen to the songs lyrics, more often than not, there is a message in each song.
David: “That’s the problem with the whole digital thing, there’s so much out there that it gets overlooked a lot. A lot of great messages are being missed. If you listen to DJs today the songs are sometimes chopped down to about thirty seconds too, so you miss that touch from a song. It can just pass right by.
That’s what we do down here; we try to take you different places emotionally. I mean, music really takes me to an emotional place, that’s the beauty of it. We’re not just playing random crap for you to hear; we’re actually playing records we love.
When you have to wait three weeks for a record because it’s on back order, and then you get it, that record is the best. The feeling is the best. Even if it’s not new and it’s an old-school classic, it actually means so much more to you.
If it’s in your computer, it’s just there; you can’t hold that or touch that.”
ACT:LIVE: How has the DJs role changed today, aside from the gear?
David: “Back in the day, people use to go out to clubs and parties to hear new music. Period. The radio was playing music, but playing the same songs over and over. If you went to a club and the DJ was playing the same stuff that you could hear on the radio, people would want to kill the DJ. Dance parties were a place to hear new music, the only place.
What’s cool is now, I can play some obscure track from the nineties at the club and kids will come up to me after the show asking all about it like it’s the hottest thing out and he wants to get it. That’s really flattering, because these kids need to know about this music, they need to know the history.”
Ben: “It’s an awesome feeling when somebody says, “Hey, I have that CD!”, and you’re like, “Yeah, well I have it on vinyl.” For some reason, it trumps everything.”
ACT:LIVE: I noticed that you have been using some new gear on stage, are you also improvising live with drums and samples?
David: “That’s another thing I have been introducing, again, something that’s different about REHAB parties.
I bring a drum machine out; I bring this cool thing called an omni-chord, an electronic harpsichord thing. I have this cool little thing from Korg too, a little portable synth.
I bring those to add a different element when like Ben or Pauline are playing, I’ll actually add effects or loops over the records they are playing and it adds a new feel to a song you may already be familiar with. It’s something that DJs do today with different software, but I do it manually. I love it.
Playing music for people, especially if they like it and get turned on, is the greatest feeling in the world.”
ACT:LIVE: I’m going to wrap it up quick here, but I have to ask about your apartment for rent…are you still looking for roommates in your house? I saw an ad online and the rent was only like, $155 a month!
David: “Yeah, I need two roommates. 93 Monica St. Two Rooms. I need good people, and somewhat responsible. (laughs)
If you like playing music, you’ll love my house. I gotta find someone soon, in the next couple of months. No security deposit, just move right in. I’ve been renting this house for the past seven years, the owner lives in Arizona, so I take care of it. It’s nice.”
It really was an honor to sit down and speak with Dave and the crew for this interview, I want to thank them for their time and thank the Bug Jar for always keeping it real.
I hope everyone out there can have a better understanding of what is going on out here and what’s happening from the artists’ eye view as well.
REHAB is scheduled for July 11th at the Bug Jar kiddies, we’ll see you there.
This past Friday, New York City's legendary remix producer and DJ, Junior Vasquez performed at TILT Nightclub and Ultra Lounge.
Junior Vasquez, born in Lancaster, PA and now a New York City "lifer", has remixed some of the biggest names in pop music, from Elton John, to Mary J. Blige, to Madonna.
If you were ever at Tunnel in Manhattan anytime in the nineties, you could have caught him there, ripping it up until daylight.
He has declared that the dance scene as we once knew it is dead and he hates to travel, but he did a great job Friday night to fool us.
TILT had a good crowd Friday night and I'm sure there were quite a few players in the gay community that came out just to see Junior, but I think it was just an inviting Saturday evening for people to come out, and those that didn't know what to expect had an uplifting night on the floor.
Cheers to Earl at Dade's Planner, DJ Dorian Leander and Tommy TILT of course.
Dade's Planner has another great act coming into town next month, DJ HeavyGrinder. HeavyGrinder is from Seattle but now resides in Los Angeles and has been tearing up the clubs and hearts of men world-wide, as well as producing some really hard remixes.
I will be speaking to HeavyGrinder before she arrives so she can let you know what to expect and what she has been up to.
The beautiful and talented DJ Heavy Grinder, later this month.
ACT:LIVE presents the REHAB interview and photos live from the Bug Jar! Coming up next! Stayed tuned kiddies...
It is with great pleasure that we announce ACT LIVE Music!
A website dedicated to the vibrant music scene here in Rochester, NY, ACTLIVEROCHESTER.com will feature:
- Music, Interviews, and Profiles of local artists! - Interviews with international artists! - Event Reviews (complete with video & photos!) - Record Reviews- and more!
All brought to you right from the hard-working individuals who are constantly working behind the scenes. From EDM, indie rock, hip-hop, to fine art, graff, and beyond!
Posts
