Australia and Romania
Posted: January 7, 2009
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Ahhhh yeah 2009 is here, but let’s not forget about 2008, what an incredible year it’s been. Lots of great stuff and gigs happened in '08, a New Website, Blogs, Free Mixes, USA President, Old School House in the MAIN rooms and great vibes all around.
I want to personally THANK YOU ALL for your steady support of House Music and the Battle to CHANGE things for the better. 2008 may be gone but the “Original House Gangster” continues into the New Year with a lot more to offer… Be ready for a whole
new experience in 09!
First up to mention is the mad skills of this 2 year old House Gangster. I was sent this video and couldn't believe it! Check it out, he's mixing up 2 of my records and is even showing his support for magnetic. Mad Respect little brotha!! Keep it up!!
Next, I have to mention an incredible project I'm working on, a “Back in The Box” CD that’s being released very shortly. After the Sneak Birthday Beats in early November, I returned home to get busy putting together a MIX CD coming out thru England’s NRK Records. The MIX is a compilation of some of the best house music produced between 1995 and 2000. It’s house music from around the world, music pulled from what can be argued to be the absolute best years of electronic music. I grabbed some of the favorite Sneak Signature House Music tracks and made the most amazing Double CD. I can’t say nothing but good things about it because I’m a BIG fan of this project myself. The mix was made with a lot of love and with many of my very favorite tracks, it's music that I loved playing for crowds between ‘95 & 2000 and am still rocking today. Look for it in FEB 09. I’ll be doing a small tour for the CD and will be playing some of the same cuts I selected for the mixes. I wish I could give you guys a taste but all I can give at this point is the track listing. Check it out!
Disc One
Blak 'n' Spanish – Call Da Vibe
Freeform Five ft. Carolyn Harding – One Day (Freeform Re - Form Dub)
BT – Remember (Mood II Swing Dub Mix)
Blue Boy – Sandman
Chris Simmonds - Rush n Soul
Mousse T - Ooh Song
Deepah Ones – In The Sky
Johnny Corporate – Sunday Shoutin (B Boys Shoutin Dub)
Global Communication – The Way
Studio 45 pres Le Pamp Playhouse - I Like The Sounds
Bob Sinclar – Visions Of Paradise
Cheek – Venus (Sunshine People Mix)
Cajmere feat. Dajae – Brighter Days (Underground Goodie)
The Brand New Heavies – Shelter (Danny D Mix)
Cricco Castelli – Life Is Changing
DJ D presents Hydraulic Dogs - Shake It For Me (Original Mix)
Disc Two
Markus Nikolai - Bushes (The Second Remix) (Version 2.1)
Johnny Fiasco – Conduction
Secret Ingredients - Chicago Chicago
The Chicago Connection – Dancin’ (Mark Grant Mix)
DJ Sneak – You Can’t Hide From Your Bud
Paul Johnson – Hit It Up
DJ Sneak - All Over My Face
Roach Motel pres. 2 Stupid Dogz – Trouble
Deaf n Dumb ft. S. Leger & Nicholas de Floraiant – Holiday On Night
I-Cube - Disco Cubism (Daft Punk Mix)
Happy Human – Horn Junk
C-Dock – Traffic Jam
Ian Pooley – Higgledy Piggledy
Bob Sinclar – The Ghetto (Original Cleared Version)
Fantom – Faithfull (Original Mix Par Fantom)
Far far away in the land of OZ.
So, I’m back on the road doing what I do best … bringing the beats. After a long ass flight to Australia, I have only enough time to wash up, grab a bite and get back into a car to get to one of Australia’s best events of the year, Harbour Life. The setting was crazy, a huge outdoor party in Sydney by the water in the harbor overlooking the Opera house and the famous Huge bridge behind it. When I first arrived the weather wasn’t great but as the day progressed, the clouds blew away and the sun came out to dance. I had to play an early set because I was double booked to play in Melbourne that same day. I put it down for HOUSE making everybody enjoy themselves and the little sun they all got while I played. I’m looking forward to going back someday soon to play and enjoy the scenery as it was spectacular to see and soak up. Big ups to Sydney for the love and appreciation and to the Police for not taking me in for smelling like the greeeen ... hahaha I got away with a little smoke while I played ... sweet! And so the party continued on!!!!
So I hop on a plane and get to Global Gathering in Melbourne, which was wet n cold ... it kinda felt like a chilly winter night. I totally did not expect this type of weather. Anyways, I got to the gig to be told that because of weather reasons they had to close a few outside areas and were making an effort to direct the party to the main stage. This was fine by me except the part about me playing for ONLY 35 MINUTES! Wow bummer!!! You have to understand that I love my job so when I'm given such a small set time I feel really ripped off. In any case, I did my job as I should and got on to rock it for the time I was given. I ended up doing a sweet 35 minutes as HARD and Fast as I could, and I did it all with a smile on my face. After all that, I chilled and met these two really cool fellas from Vancouver Canada who were there working and enjoying themselves. Jeff and Dan really made the rest of my Melbourne visit super cool! So as fast as I got there, I was out to catch another flight in the morning to Perth, Left Coast like San Francisco but in Australia! Perth never lets me down, it was overcast there too and we even had a little rain but the crowd came out to have a good time regardless. While there I hooked up with my Boy Xavier who is a local DJ and a good friend via his cousin TeeLoo from Toronto. We always try to hook up, have dinner, smoke and relax like you should on the west coast. Big ups to the Perth massive!!!
Next day with no sleep and hoping around like a frikkin Kangaroo, I flew back to Melbourne for the rest of the week to chill and enjoy some cool hang outs and dinners with some locals. My favorite thing in Melbourne is this place where they do some sort of Chicken and Lamb wrap, it looks like Burrito… if ya ever in Melbourne you must check out this place, it looks like a fast food joint but man the meat is GREAT! Cooked rotisserie style over real charcoal ... that’s the secret! Plus, you get some yummy garlic sauce and chili, Woaaasersss!! ... getting hungry just thinking about it … the place is called “lamb on a Spit” ... google it, find it, and say DJ Sneak sent ya!
For the rest of the week I hung out with a few friends and planned a Sneak attack to strike Friday night and play a small spot called “161”. I really felt cheated and disappointed by the amount of time I had to play at the Melbourne festival, so I fought with the “Man” to let me play for the locals … 161 Rocked!!! I ended up playin’ a 4 hour set to some good looking people in Melbourne. Thanks to those who helped in getting the word out on what was going on. Much Respect to all the people that came and supported and a special shout out to “Marky and Mike” for hanging tuff and talking me around. We’ll be doing this again next year I hope! Aussie RULES!!!!!!
Right after a fun night I had to fly to Brisbane for the 3rd party for Global Gathering and really I have to say this was the “funnest” party of the tour. Brisbane really showed up to Party! I found myself opening for the Gorillaz almost the whole tour and really enjoyed setting them up for their live set. I really loved this event the best ... PLUS I Smashed IT! I was able to record this set so download it if you can. No real hanging out after this event, so I got my drunk ass back to the hotel to go to sleep and to get ready for the final festival in Sydney.
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
Gorillaz in Brisbane ... so many people, it was mad!Sydney!!! Back again to beat it down one final time for the Global Gathering festival. The day was great, the weather was beautiful and the people were lined up to party… I did my usual Beat Down in an hour, I've done the fastest Beat Downs I’ve had to do on this tour but these festivals run on rock 'n' roll times. After my set, I found myself checking out the Mark Ronson Band live, we were all touring together but this was the right time to check them out, so I did, I thought they were really good actually, I had no idea what to expect… the night closed out with “Felix the electro cat” and off I went to meet my homeboy DJ MO FUNK from Sydney for some smoking by the harbor and tripping on the small critters walking about in the night. On the way out we had some meat pies and hot dogs, as we got ready for the after hours at this small venue called Lady Luxe.
This was a really small narrow packed little bar with a dance floor that fit no more than 200 people tops, the vibe was excellent and the true Sydney people were there diggin’ some really good house and minimal stuff. I played a real deep set with “trippy” melodic stuff for the crowd which seemed to work for everybody there including a lot of the festival people, plus the promoters that worked so hard these past 2 weekends to bring some musical variety to the Festival events. Overall I really made the best out of this festival dates and really did try to give people another flavor that they have been missing and asking to bring back. So until next times kids, keep it hot down under as summer is just rollin’ in for the next few months for the “aussies “, while the rest of the world gets frozen with snow. A very special thanks and shouts to Ming & “Fuzzy” for handling my tour as usual in OZ…
Romania ... Home Sweet Home.
ROMANIA!!!!! Why is it that I feel so at home when I touch down in Bucharest?? It’s probably cause I know the parties will be off the hook!!! As tired as I was when I got to Bucharest I had the feeling this week was going to be a really good one. I had a few days off which I used to try and catch up on some sleep. The trip from Australia to Romania was a looong haul! With luck on my side I was able to get thru it without even getting a cold or anyhthing. Anyway, I had a few days off in Bucharest so I hooked up with a few friends and walked about, took pictures, ate some awesome Romanian food and even went on the Bucharest subway! It’s just like NYC, rugged, dirty, beat down and full of life. I ended up doing a live set at a local radio station to promote the parties I was playin’ and just to let the people know that the House Gangster was in town.
On Friday we took a 3-hour car ride to a town called Craiova. The venue was small, tight and ready to be rocked! At first it felt a little cold so I had to come blazin’ with my best cuts to captivate this small town crowd, by the middle of a 5 hour set I had them going nuts playin whatever I wanted, it was total freedom, using the FORCE! By the end, this small place got jacked up with so many house beats and they absolutely loved the sound and vibe I put down for them. I'll tell you something, I was totally into what I was doing and just kept droppin’ cuts till the very end. I got a few parts to that night for download. And to Craiova, all I have to say is, Thank You for the Love!!!
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
Next day back on the road thru Romania to Bucharest, the drive was pretty fascinating, it's real Eastern European countryside. After a few hours and a few CDS in the car, we got back to the city for a couple of hours of resting for the big night. Soon enough I got the call and I was ready to take on the massive club with a beautiful hangin’ glass chandelier smack in the middle, very old school communist looking thing. Anyway I walked into the place by 1:30am ready to take on this Mad ready crowd… I rolled into my set like I usually do and never stopped till the lights came on like at 8:30 AM!!!! By this time I basically threw down a lot of the music I was carrying in my CD book. I played all kinds of madness to a very young and ready Romanian crowd. I loved every second of the experience; it was really a lovely journey for me and I know the people got it. I have to always thank all the fans that come out to support with their “I’m a house gangster” t- shirts on .... much respect for that. I want to thank the whole SUNRISE crew for promoting and making these gigs happen, these are magical sessions that I will always remember. I really feel like I'm getting a chance to educate people about House music and I truly feel they are listening to the message. Shouts to Cata, Raresh, Ali, Tibi and the rest of the Romanian crew ... these guys love house music so much and they are really helping it Blow Up in Eastern Europe. My set was so long this night I wasn't able to record it all but I put together a mix so you can get a sample of the night.
This Live set is available for 2 weeks or 500 downloads, whichever comes first ... get it while you can!
A video the Krystal Club ... the sound isn't the best but it'll give you an idea of the madness that was going on.
Much love to all the true DJ SNEAK fans that have supported my website, my music, my vibe, the blogs and who come out to my gigs and dance all night ... I thank you all so very much and get ready for another Bangin' year.
Sneak.
Past Blog Entries
June 2009 - 8 gigs in 10 days - Turin, Rome, London, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Mamaia, Liverpool & Aberdeen.
November 2008 - Miami, Timmins, Chicago, Amsterdam, Hull, Waterford, Estonia, Belfast & Sneak's Birthday Beats!
