These days are so long!

 

It seems like an eternity since I was dancing in the ladies' toilets.

 

So last night ended up being a really late one, thanks to our worthy sponsors. Too much Red Bull for Si meant I couldn't sleep until 5am and so this morning I was the bleary-eyed one while my previously jetlagged cohorts all looked super fresh. I got to pack that shit in.

 

I was up early because I was super keen to get to the Academy at 10, 2 hours before our first lecture, as I was absolutely stinging to get some time on the turntables with my own records. Of course, as soon as we arrived at the joint I found out that they were still doing some construction work on the studios and it would be the evening before we could get in there. Some disappointment hit me, but it was mitigated by the fact that I was back at the magical disco school again and there was some kickass yoghurt and muesli to be had, as well as all the fresh fruit I could fit in my gob. The couple of hours flew by, as nascent relationships were strengthened amongst us lucky folk. It's really great - the degree of openness here is so wonderful. Nobody drops names, nobody plays games and everybody has time for you. Anxiety can happily be disregarded as people are truly interested in you and what you have to say, and people listen - they aren't just planning what to say next, or working out how they can make the conversation go back to them again. In short, nobody is too cool for this school.

 

And so on to our first lecture of the day, a frivolous icebreaker where each of us got our turn on the couch and were asked a few silly questions. It was also our first real interaction with Torsten, one of the main visionaries behind the Academy, and one of the guys asking the questions. I don't know why, but I'm a bit scared of him. It's silly really. I think perhaps I'm a little afraid that he'll find out that I'm actually here by mistake and kick me out!

 

Anyway, enough wanking. Everybody was great on the couch, and the atmosphere was one of affection and interest, and those relationships all got a little bit stronger. Even the quietest of the crew are starting to warm up now, which is great considering it's only the second day. At lunch (burritos with really fucken good guacamole) there was plenty of excited chatting going on and still no action in the studios. My records remained bagged and folorn.

 

But then we all piled downstairs again for the day's second lecture with Cut Chemist and a collaborator of his, Hymnal. Turns out that Hymnal and Cut go way back, back to middle school in fact. Two very interesting people with very different stories to tell. Cut told us his history, of being white and 12 and in the finals of a DJ comp that had the likes of Arabian Prince in it, and then went on to explain at some length the nature of sample clearance and what it's like being signed to a major. In short, he was signed to Warner by the boss of the label (!) and from my perspective it sounds like he's being fucked around. In fairness to the good folk at Warner, it sounds like all they're doing is exercising sound business sense but that isn't really compatible with artistry at the best of times. Cut spoke with great candour and feeling, and he might be some superstar with a big record deal, but I couldn't help but feel for him in his predicament. I really hope that it spurs him onto greater things, and that he finds a home somewhere that appreciates him more. Fuck the majors, Cut! You seem like a nice bloke - you don't belong there, and that's a good thing!

 

(Please note that I'm not calling him Cut all the time to try and imply some sort of familiarity or anything, it just seems silly writing Cut Chemist every time.)

 

So Cut was great, the honesty was amazing and he played us some lovely music, including a couple of rare treats from his legendary crate-digging sessions. Also amazing was his mate Hymnal, who contributed vocals on at least one of the tracks off Cut's new album but seemed to be more than a mere collaborator and rather something of a spiritual adviser. A very, VERY deep thinker, he was namechecking Jung and Kesey and Wolfe and tracing the philosophy that drove hip-hop, talking in very esoteric ways. A lover of psychedelic folk music, who would shake his head around, as if in a trance, whenever some music was played. Hopefully the guys will hang around a little longer and I'll be able to have some conversations with them - there was a lengthy Q&A session afterwards, but it'd be nice to engage in a longer dialogue. I'd definitely be super keen to have a chat with Hymnal though, share some thoughts about the spirituality angle and conscious music.

 

Anyways, make sure you watch the lecture on the website when it gets posted as it is definitely worth it.

 

So after an endless barrage of questions, the session ended and like a rat up a drainpipe I pegged it up to the studio level to find everything open for business. Ooooh yeah! I bagsed myself a studio, got my records and finally got to play some fucking tunes. An hour of JA music, back-to-backing with Tiago from Portugal who was rinsing a wicked Trojan box set, and then into some techier territory via a see mi yah mashup. It was so good, like having a nice stretch after a long flight. In the other studios people were getting down and starting to make beats, play tunes, talk shit. Then the gear room was opened up and we flew in. Oh my god!

 

Stuff I saw in the Gear Room:

 

303, 606, 808, 909, Juno 106

 

A bunch of mixers from Pioneer, Vestax and Rane (Including the MP2016)

 

Turntables from Technics and Vestax, including that weird one with the built-in mixer

 

A couple of pioneer DVD decks

 

Loads of effects and EQs and compressors.

 

A big fuckoff 24-channel Mackie Mixer

 

A couple of big electronic pianos

 

STACKS of novation and korg midi controllers

 

And basically the deal is this - you want something to use, you go up to Martin or Jules who run the gear room, tell them you want to borrow it and then you take whatever you want and go use it.

 

So, once I'd gotten the record playing out of my system, Ali and Joe had fired up the computer behind me and gotten Reason installed on it, and were bashing something out. I was having a listen and thought that some 909 handclap would sound good. So I went and got a 909 and plugged it in and had no idea how to make it go. Just as I'd got a good rimshot pattern going, it was time to go and check out the first Academy show, where Irish Daniel played a live set of beautiful free jazz that morphed into some pretty tough minimal, all off his laptop with a custom-built Max/MSP patch, and then Canadian Daniel layed down some no-nonsense minimal goodness from Traktor. Anybody who starts their set with 'Solomon's Prayer' by Luciano and Melchior is a winner in my books. Some good conversations with Dan the photographer over the parallels between photography and music in the analogue/digital debate were had, and other heads started arriving from the Academy - Jonas finally managed to tear himself away from the 808, Yuri had completed his radio show after a bit of difficulty with Serato, and we are finally a complete bunch of participants after Clara arrived, fresh from her show with the Modeselektor boys.

 

And that was the end, for me, of Day 2. I'm determined to get a half-decent sleep tonight, and get back into the joint on 10 tomorrow to continue my battle with the 909. I'm also doing a show on RBMAradio tomorrow night between 8 and 10, where I'll be showcasing a whole heap of Sydney music. I'm starting to get a little irritated by all this Melbourne cock-sucking that's going on and want to show people that there's some interesting shit happening up in the 612 as well. Who would have thought it - me getting all territorial about my adoptive hometown! So tune in to the radio tomorrow night to hear tunes from all your faves!

 

PS I got interviewed by the documentary crew today - that was weird but kinda cool as well! Tomorrow the 'real' press are arriving...