Some music you should have…

Some of my fellow DJs and friends have put in some pretty fresh work this month…Here are some of my favorite mixes & edits on this lovely spring/summer weekend…

There’s a little bit of everything here…Moombahsoul, Disco, Electronic, Neo/Soul, Lounge, Retro…I love it if it moves me and these selections move me. 

#sharingiscaring

ENJOY and your welcome!

Dancefloor Sessions Vol.  - Nu Disco, Indie, Electro, Disco 

One of my favorite people and DJs, Tendaji has such a great ear for this genre in which he is not known for but I’m gonna make it my mission to let it be known!

Synthsual Seduction - Disco/Electronic/Indie mix - DJ Crykit

Crykit is an incredible dancer, a modern day bgirl…who now has a promising DJ career.  This mix is a personal favorite…she sent it to me the other day and I can’t stop playing it.  It definitely was a pleasant surprise, songs selections are fantastic…very sexy mix!

Anthony Valadez

I just had Anthony as one of my guests for VERSUS this past week,…WHAT A TALENT.  Technically flawless and fluid…his song selections are impeccable.  I’m putting up his mix page so you can choose your poison.  He’s one of my new favorites FOR SURE!

DJ ZIMMIE - Vegas Lounge mix

DJ Zimmie has a glass is half full fun approach to everything that he does.  This lounge mix is a perfect example.  It’s a bit pop-ish at times but not in a way that would turn off an elitist.  Its a great summer Sunday afternoon mix, I’m a big fan of Zimmie personally and professionally.

DJ Dainjazone - Indie-ish 4/26 

This one is an Electronic/Indie/Dubfeel but not in the obvious way, Dainjazone found some INCREDIBLE covers that he threw in here I’m awaiting a playlist…with the exception of a couple of hip hop tracks that I felt threw me off the uber sexual vibe throughout this mix its def a favorite of mine right now…

“Way To Go Bro” - Dave Fogg

This is an edit Dave just put together and leaked out this week, I LOVE this and can’t wait to play it.  I started my day out with it this morning and had it on repeat for a while.  Its a flawless example of well done Moombahsoul with a Philly twist, it’s minimal, not too complicated and there’s no way you’re not going to dance around your house to this,…I did all morning.
until next time…
xxxoh!

Next Up,…The Pittsburg Giant, DJ Zimmie

HANG THE DJ #20
Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, now residing in Portland, Oregon, DJ Zimmie is definitely one of a handful of DJ’s I am excited to hear live next time he swings out to Vegas.  I just dig his hustle and his work ethic.  For someone who has catapulted his own career, I was beyond impressed with the strength of his branding and promotional efforts.  From his logo to his edits down to his infamous DJ Zimmie drop (which is one of my favorites from any DJ)….everything is big, simple, and strong.  A lot like the man himself.  
 
I have never met Zimmie before, only exchanged emails of appreciation for each others work.  I googled him a year or two ago when I stumbled upon a remix he did of Biggie’s “Going Back To Cali” which was/is just plain GENIUS.  So effortless and so well done…Its def one of my favorites and anyone who’s heard me play knows I play it almost every time I spin…when I heard it I felt like this guy…
and since this image is from Zimmie’s website…this is apparently how he makes people feel when he’s behind the turntables.
 
Here’s a little background on Zimmie if you’re looking for something a little more formal…

“Zimmie is at the forefront of a new generation of party rocking DJs. His vast musical knowledge, crowd-pleasing song selection and creativity keep his schedule filled with gigs both in his hometown of Pittsburgh and around the globe. His skill and professionalism have made him the top DJ choice of companies such as Scion, Puma, Red Bull, Adidas, Vitamin Water, Scratch Academy and Cartoon Network. In Pittsburgh he is the first call for hi-profile club events, corporate functions and even parties for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins. Zimmie has also shared the stage with legends such as DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ AM, DJ Premier, Z-Trip, LMFAO, De La Soul and more in cities from New York to Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

No stranger to remixing, Zimmie is a regular contributor to DJCity.com and his remixes have been featured on blogs and websites internationally. His continually-expanding selection of top-notch mixtapes has reached hundreds of thousands of downloads and even spawned collaborations with globally-distributed magazines such as Sneaker Freaker.”

What little I do know about Zimmie is he has a beast of a sense of humor if you listen to his mixes it’ll slap you in the face upon introduction.  There’s nothing better than a DJ who is not only well versed in various genres but also injects humor into his creativity. Doing mix tapes (I will always call them “mixtapes” even though there is no more tapes involved) is something close to my loins…I’m obsessed with making them and I love stumbling upon other DJ’s who clearly share the same passion.  Zimmie is such a DJ, AND he has a solid resume of edits/remixes that have become DJ favorites to add to his repertoire.
Boys and girls it is my pleasure to introduce you to The Pittsburg Giant,…DJ Zimmie WHAT?!

How did you start?  
“Back in the day I had a job as the guy who drives around in the Red Bull car and hands out cans.  I worked with my now good friend, DJ Nugget.  We used to bring music to listen to on our shift and typically it was something we thought the other person may like but hadn’t heard.  I made a comment one day that I wish I had a job where I got paid to check out new music and share it with people and he suggested I try DJing (he was already DJing at the time).  I started going to his gigs and playing the first hour on his gear before anyone got there.  One day I decided to make the jump and bought all the gear.  After that it was just hustling to pay off everything I bought.”
What was your first gig and when? Were their any memorable moments that night good or bad?  
“My first gig was Tuesday nights at the Pittsburgh Deli Company (thanks Uncle Ray Ray!).  The deal was 10% of the bar and all the sandwiches I could eat (aka $25 and 2 sandwiches).  Aside from that I don’t really remember much about the first night.”
How long have you been djing?  
“Almost 10 years.”
What genre are you “known” for?  
“Professionally probably Top 40 (unfortunately) but hopefully someone out there knows me for something more funk or hip-hopish.”
What do you/would you love to play you don’t get booked for or that you’re not known for?  
“Funk & soul.  I’d love to get booked to just go in on some great funk of all types of loungey soul.  Stone cold grooves.”
Whats a couple of your new favorite artists/songs in the genre(s) your known for and especially genre(s) that you aren’t know for but really dig?  
“New stuff I’m digging: Action Bronson on the Hip-Hop tip.  Katy B and Ellie Goulding on the dancey tip.  (Top 40 isn’t producing anyone/thing I seem to care about)  On the funk & soul tip I just keep going backwards.  I can’t get enough Mizell Brothers.  Mayer Hawthorne is kinda tight for new stuff I guess.”
Do you have a manager? Do you think management is important on taking your career to the next level?  
“I handle all my own affairs.  I think managers are for people that are so busy they need to delegate things to other people to handle.  Also, managers are great in situations of opportunity that you may not know how to navigate (i.e. you get super famous for whatever reason and maybe people holler at you about commissioned production, movie work, etc.)  A lot of the time people who want managers (and don’t already have them) are just lazy or aren’t smart enough to figure how to get to the next level.  (someone somewhere is gonna get mad at me for that one)  Also, it’s important to realize that many advancements in your career are out of your control.  It’s not like at a bank where there is a defined advancement schedule if you’re a good worker.  In the DJ world, you can be at a skill level, experience level, etc. where you should be able to get gig X or pay scale Y and you may never get it for a million different reasons (a lot of which involve social reasons, who you know, who you bang, etc.).  A lot of managers want to step in, take a cut of what you’re already making and promise you the world but most of them never deliver.”
If you weren’t djing what would you be doing?  
“Something where I didn’t take my work home with me.  Probably something with food.  I’m a big food nerd.”
What is your hobby or interest when you’re not djing that people don’t know about?  
“Chilling.  I chill as hard as possible (after being a workaholic).  I love eating some dope food and just watching a flick or listening to some music.  I take my food and movie game real serious.  I probably watch 3-5 movies a week at least.”
Whats in your dj bag (aside needles, headphones, vinyl, and slipmats)  
“Snacks.  My metabolism is crazy (I’m 6’7” 240) so I usually can’t make it through a 4 hour gig without getting hungry.  I become a combination of hungry and angry (Hangry)
…so I keep anything from protein bars to sandwiches to burritos to jerky to whatever in my bag just in case.”
How do you deal with requests?  
“I deal with each request in a manner appropriate to the request.  If the person is polite, even if the request makes no sense, I’ll be polite.  If they’re a dick, or talk to me like I’m a piece of shit, the same courtesy is coming right back at them.  If people are nice I often end up having a mini conversation with them about what they wanna hear and why it may or may not work now or later or whatever.  If you’re nice, I’m nice.  If you’re not nice, I’m the biggest asshole you ever met.”

Top three re-occuring request situations? (i.e. “can you play something I can dance to”?)  
“I’m just gonna talk about one that I notice a lot but never seems to get talked about…  Someone comes up to me and says something super ignorant (Are you gonna play something good?  This music sucks?  Insert insult here… )  Then I make the Michael Bolton Office Space face…

and they realized they fucked up… The first thing they do is ask my name and introduce themselves, as if I wanna be their friend.  “What’s your name?  I’m Julie.”  Bitch nobody cares.  All you did was take the song you just requested and put it at the bottom of my list.  I just don’t understand that defense mechanism.  Just be nice in the first place.”

Who’s the “character” in the club that annoys you the most? i.e. club promoter, birthday girl, makin’ it rain dude, Jamie Foxx on the mic doin his “stump the dj” bit, etc.  
“A shitty opening DJ.  Your job is just as important as mine.  You’re supposed to get everyone ready to party and set me up to knock it out of the park.  If you were a good DJ you’d also really enjoy this part as you could flex your knowledge and play some dope shit that I can’t play during peak hour.  Instead you trainwreck your mixes, play inappropriate music with no direction or flow and then stand behind me and try to shark my mixes when I get on and have to do damage control.  Fuckouttahere.”
How do you feel about the current EDM takeover in nightlife?  
“I love EDM.  My newest mix is all female vocaled EDM.  But a lot of what’s popular right now on the club and on the radio isn’t true EDM.  It’s EDM influenced pop.  I can only hear so many songs at 128 bpm from Pitbull, Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Enrique, etc. before I, and the club goers, are so bored.  I’m happy that I can play music that isn’t 75 bpm but what I’d really love to see is more music spanning from 90 bpm to 130 bpm.  Can I get some new shit from 90-105?  If I need to play in certain BPM ranges it can sound dated because there hasn’t been much from 90-120 coming out in the past year.”
Weirdest moment djing?  
“A long time ago I was doing a gig in Pittsburgh at a now-defunct club.  Unbeknownst to me, the owner (psycho) got into an altercation with a customer.  He disappeared into the office and the next thing I know everyone is screaming and he’s coming down the stairs racking a shotgun.  The place clears out and my and my homie are hiding behind the DJ booth thinking this is the end.  He eventually went back to the office and we all ran away.”
Best moment djing?  
“This year I got to go to Australia to DJ for almost 2 weeks…

The whole experience was amazing.  I met so many dope people and got super re-inspired to keep pushing forward.  Thank you Mafia and Joe!  What up Eddie?!”

Worst moment djing?  
“One time I had to open up for LMFAO.  The Serato version had just come out which introduced the built-in sampler.  I’ve got a full house and somehow “Empire State of Mind” gets loaded into a sample bank and starts playing.  I’m pretty good at solving technical problems on the fly but for the life if me I couldn’t figure it out.  I hadn’t even started using the sampler yet so I didn’t know it existed really.  I’m playing a song on one deck at like 115 bpm and “Empire State of Mind” is trainwrecking over it on some mystery deck I can’t find.  I turn down the other deck, the sample track turns down too.  I let the whole song play out and then kept going.  A few DJ homies in the building are trying to help because they can tell I’m freaking but nobody knows what’s going on.  To top it all off I had to listen to LMFAO after that.  Ugh.”
Whats your dream gig?  
“Opening for Stevie Wonder.  Or playing a festival for a massive amount of people.  I’d love to just put together a dope Z-Trip style festival set, rock that shit and then crowd surf.”
What are you most proud of in your career thus far?  
“Any time I get to rock with someone I really respect or came up listening to and they give me props, it really makes me feel good about what I’m doing.  I’ve been fortunate enough to share the stage with some heavy hitters (Jazzy Jeff, Premier, Z-Trip, De La Soul, etc.) and I still keep in contact with a lot of those cats.”

How did you get started doing edits/remixes?  
“I got Ableton when version 4 came out.  I just started messing with it like a lot of people.  It was right around the time of mashups and the first music blogs.  Now I use it for DJ tools in my set, quick edits and also primarily for mixtapes.  I don’t think I’ll ever try original production.  I’ll just let the pros do that and I’ll play their shit when it comes out.”
Whats your most popular one?
“I’m gonna throw in 2, cuz they’re both good for the club and the iPod.  One of my first ones was a “Going Back to Cali” edit where I cycled through popular beats from Cali.  The other is a edit of Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes” and Common’s “The Light”…
Whats your favorite city/cities to play in?  
“Portland, Charlotte, Tampa.”
Tips - biggest and smallest or any short story about getting tipped?  
“I think we all get a few bucks here and there.  I’ve gotten a few Benjie’s in my day as well.  Anyone who knows me knows that I’m quite a fan of boobs…

One of the best perks of my job is that I occasionally get to see a gorgeous bosom in exchange for the new Britney song (or whatever).  Let it be known that this type of behavior greatly increases your chances of hearing your jam.”

What would people be surprised to know about you?  
“I’m probably one of the most non-DJ-type DJs you may ever meet.  I don’t drink, don’t do drugs, don’t sleep around.  I don’t really like most of the music I play at the club.  I don’t really like going to the club.  I don’t really party.  I just love music in general and DJing but sometimes I’m the odd man out.”

Whats on your ryder?  
“2 - Technics 1200s (battle style) / Rane TTM57 / Monitor on the right / 2 bottles of water / Red Bull  - Easiest ryder ever.”
Whats your poison? (drink of choice in the booth)  
“I don’t drink.  Never had a drink in my life (no lie)  I have been known to enjoy some delicious coffee though.  I’m becoming a bit of a coffee nerd.”
What will you be/or want to be doing 5 years from now?  
“I’ll still be DJing but hopefully I’m playing more of the types of parties I want to be playing.I’m still going to be putting out mixtapes of music I want to share with people. Hopefully I’m still traveling and meeting cool people and eating dope local food.  Hopefully I’m much closer to retiring and just enjoying my life.”
Where are your residencies?  
“I just moved to Portland so I’m still getting my chips up, but, my main spot right now is a dope venue called Crown Room.  I’m also in talks to be doing regular work with Couture and hopefully staying up with my Red Bull work.  My schedule is always mad hectic.”
Upcoming events/spot dates:
Sat - Dec 3 - Private Event - Seton Hill University
Sat - Dec 10 - Crown Room - Open Bar Party w/ Doodlebug (Digable Planets) - Portland, OR
Thur - Dec 22 - Crown Room w/ Foreign Exchange - Portland, OR
Thur - Dec 29 - Grandpa’s Feet (Funk & Soul) KICKOFF PARTY! - Crown Room - Portland, OR
Fri - Dec 30 - Couture - Portland, OR
Sat - Dec 31 - New Year’s Eve - Crown Room - Portland, OR

Full schedule on www.djzimmie.com


YOU CAN DOWNLOAD DJ ZIMMIES LATEST MIX “FEMME EDM” HERE:


OR FIND HIM ELSEWHERE:

Twitter:  @djzimmie
Facebook:  DJZimmieWHAT

http://soundcloud.com/djzimmie