X-Games Tomorrow

So tomorrow marks the start of X-Games 14...

http://goldstandard.dcshoes.com/

Super x-citing as last year was a great few days. Laura and I will be heading up after work Friday and staying at the standard LA for 2 nights... DC has booked the entire standard hotel out for the whole X-Games so it will be awesome. We'll all be there...

Stuff I am looking forward to see? I think I will miss all the Skateboarding because of the schedule however I can't wait to see Nate Adams & Adam Jones in the FMX... also will be cool to see how Robbie Maddison does... Moto Step up at the Staples Centre as well as Ricky Carmichael was seriously unlucky last year... BMX Big Air has a sweet line up with Mirra and hopefully Kagy if he isn't injured... plus I really want to see Daniel Dhers in the BMX Superpark. I havent seem him live before. Of course one of my favourites too is the Rally Car... I would love Ken to win... that would be so so sweet... then Travis 2 and Dave 3 hopefully!

Also I hope Danny wins on the Mega Ramp.

http://www.expn.com/ for more...

Favourite Album of 2002

2002 had a few good albums come out - and my year was split in two really so one set was my sound track to traveling and the other was my sound track to living in Byron. Whilst I traveled I bought mostly compilations however one purchase which was really random for me was Alicia Key's Songs in A Minor. A great album. Another great album of course was #1 by Fischerspooner.

My favourite album however was one I had the pleasure of launching at the club in Byron and a really great album that flowed like a compilation. It really played nicely...

I had spent a lot of time and effort in getting Sasha's first performance promoted and ready, and he was really great to work with. I forget his old tour manager at the time but we stayed in touch for a year or so afterwards... a good bloke. Sasha flew in and the weather was crap - raining cold - pretty unusual for December in Northern NSW. He was travelling with his American girlfriend and we put them up in Victoria's Boutique at Wategos which would have been better if it hadn't rained the whole time he was with us. I had just finished telling him and his missus that they didn't have much to worry about in terms of sharks, spiders or whatever as I guess they thought Byron Bay was just the middle of nowhere! Literally thirty seconds after telling him he was right to go for a swim without being eaten or whatever (we were driving from the hotel to dinner) I ran over a friggin python bigger than I had ever seen that spanned the whole width of the road and must have been thicker than my leg. At the time I owned a Honda Civic... however there was no way I was turning around to see if it was OK... I think it was fine and slithered off anyway... on that winding and dark road between Wategos and Byron there wasn't really anywhere to turn anyways.

After dinner we hit the club and of course it was a sell out show. Sasha was a god to every clubber back then... everyone owned his Global Underground: Ibiza CD although to be honest I preferred his Global Underground: San Francisco. Having said that "airdrawndagger" was my fav. album of 2002... and it was a great night out with a bunch of friends & clubbers from Sydney coming up to see him in a club that really only held 300 people... that show sold out quick.

It also marked my last night in Byron as I headed back to Sydney to start work with my current boss and friend for over 5 years, Nick Adcock.

The other part I loved about this album was the fact that my really great old friends Ben Korbel and Paddy Nash (a.k.a. Sounds) did the Sydney party for it... and they did a great job. They ended up moving the party as they sold that many tickets and pulling in over 5,000 people. I was so stoked for them... this was also really their first step in becoming the amazing festival promoters they are today - most famous for "We Love... Sounds" which really is a collaboration between them and my early mentors Mark & Sarah Broadbent... more about them to come in my posts about earlier years.

No clip from this one as most on You Tube suck from this album and to be honest to really appreciate this album you have to listen to it start to finish.

Now I have finished 2002... I will go back to 1999 next and then work back to 2008... when I have time as it's X-Games in LA next weekend.

Favourite Compilation of 2002

Following on in my little 2002 series is my favourite compilation from that year...

2002 was a fun year for me. Prior to moving to Byron I had a nice long vacation in between Home and the move north which lasted over three months and was pretty much the longest time I went without really having to do anything. LA, San Fran, New York, London, Ibiza, Poland, Switzerland... it was a great holiday. Through this time I listened to a bunch of music, bought a bunch of music and through going to a heap of great clubs (Space, The End, Fabric, Cafe Mambo & a bunch more) I was exposed to a bunch of great music.

The record which will always stick in my mind featured with a bunch of other great music all compiled and mixed by New Jersey's Harry "Choo Choo" Romero. On one of my favourite labels (Subliminal) it was two discs of bliss - and the anthem of the Ibiza summer was without doubt Layo & Bushwaka's "Love Story". A big house record and easily runner up in my favourite record that Fischerspooner took out for '02! That record of Layo & Bushwaka's however will always take me back to the terrace at Space in the heat and humidity - sucking down 10 Euro Bacardi Limon's and cheering on the planes as they flew in overhead... yes that was pre-roof days at Space!

So Harry's compilation that also featured Thrill Me (Junior Jack) and Green Velvet's "La La Land" amongst others was only runner up! Worth the purchase is Subliminal Sessions Volume 2.

My favourite compilation was however a Muzik Magazine cover mount that I picked up in all places at Bath in England. This was well before I had an Ipod so buying albums would mean the disc was straight into my discman and then hope the road (or walking or whatever) wouldn't cause the CD to skip!

This compilation is still amazing... I mentioned her as well in my other blog as she was certainly at the forefront of "electroclash". As a genre some people doubted it and "electroclash" copped some heat - but personally I really like it. "Berlin is Burning" is fantastic. A cover mount CD - but just brilliant... Miss Kitten mixed and compiled this and it's really an amazing compilation.

Below is a video featured on the mix, that is also one of her records... but this compilation really needs to be enjoyed start to finish as it flows so well and is a truly great compilation.

Favourite Record of 2002.

I think most (or at least a really really high %) of the world's best music comes out of the UK... let's face it... The Smith's, Sting, Iron Maiden, Sex Pistols, The Editors, Ian Brown, um... some small time band called The Beatles and most electronica that took us into and shaped the new millenium... don't forget to credit these guys with how music is produced and now purchased these days...

This band however was responsible for my favourite record of 2002 and they were AMERICAN.

Listening again to this band takes me back to Byron days when I used to go in to set the club up early and sound check playing this album (my old friend from home sydney Meredith Jordan introduced me to it) - #1 by New York City's Fischerspooner. I used to play this record and sing into the mic... mostly to myself (thankfully) but sometimes Tabitha (my bar manager) would get an earful.

These guys were ahead of it - and "electroclash" was still emerging in even London and Germany when these dudes were all over it (but suprisingly from the USA??!) ... For me it was them and Miss Kitten & The Hacker at the forefront...

This record is a treat... influencers must have been Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys & Kraftwerk...

I remember back to my record label days (and work with The Shop Music) when they released the follow up album called Odyssey. Tim McGee at EMI / Ministry and Craig "Burger Queen" at Sony got into a big old bidding war for the follow up... and the album wasn't nearly (unfortunately) as good as their first (featuring this record).

It was however the Adam Freeland (Marine Parade - also played at c-moog for me) remix of "Emerge" that made them the dosh (at least in clubland)...

However it was this record, "the 15th", which was my favourite record in 2002.... enjoy!

Favourite Remix from 2002.

Every year I have a favourite record, remix and album. Back in 2002 I was running a club in Byron Bay Australia that was truly remarkable. c-moog it was called.

A small but amazing beach town is Byron so with Simon, Susannah and Tim we had a tough but great time! Simon & Susannah Page are now back as owners at home sydney and through DC I am sponsoring their daughter (Sophie's) Sublime Snow Party with DC product this year. Sophie's cousin and flatmate is Bjorn Johnson who is one of my DC sponsored Pro Skateboarders... Tim, my old flatmate and Byron colleague is now Erick Morillo's tour manager with Subliminal Records. Amazing such a small world huh?

At Byron we used to have the who's who play... it was so rad. Tayo, Eric Powell, Noodles, as well as DJ Sasha (who is now managed by another mate of mine Harley Moon!).

The other old mate of mine I am super super stoked for from the Byron days is Callan Mulvey. Cal (or DJ Callahan as he was known back then) was famous for being the heart breaker in "Heart Break High" and he was also responsible for introducing me to some of my now favourite artists including Lyrics Born and Blackalicious. He is famous today for the GREATEST TV show to EVER come out of Australia called UNDERBELLY. His acting was amazing as Mark Moran - a murdered Melbournian Gangster...

My most favourite week however was when I had James Lavelle and Richard File (a.k.a UNKLE) stay at my house for a week making music and playing at the club. It was round about the same time James released his Global Underground CD "Barcelona". Global Underground is, still to this day, my most favourite progressive house mixed CDs. I am trying to collect the whole set.

Anyways - this was my favourite remix for 2002... I will follow it up later this week with favourite album and record for the year...

This is the REMIX of Ian Brown's F.E.A.R. by the aforementioned UNKLE.

Quadangle Bike

A quick post to mention the Video I posted below (bottom of web page). It's the teaser video for the DC x SE Racing Quadangle 24" Cruiser.

I have been working with the boys at MTV Asia on two promotions that start this month around Asia. We're basically giving away 2x of these super limited edition bikes (with a prize pack) on MTV's Swag and also on the MTV Asia Awards which will be totally AMAZING. Dave and Bert @ MTV are two great blokes and I am stoked to regularly work with them. I also have one of these in my office - however I really want to hit the streets with it sometime soon... I just love the non traditional BMX design language on this thing and the mat paint job looks great. Reminds me of when I used to hand paint my BMX as a kid. Check about the MTV Asia Awards here http://www.mtvasiaawards.com/

Welcome

So welcome to my new (and first ever) Blog spot. As this is all new to me I'll be testing it out and adding a few "catch up" posts with what I have been doing... definitely thankyou for stopping by...

So why am I doing this? Not too sure... I guess I need to try and stay as up to date as possible with Net Technology and there is no better way than being hands on... also it makes staying in touch with all "non facebook" friends and family much easier right?

So the image in my title box is of a pair of custom DC Shoes that an amazing artist (and all round great guy) called SBTG (Sabotage) made for me. He is such an awesome dude and is uber well known through his work with Nike, New Balance etc... I love these shoes... next to my car and watch they are pretty much my favourite things I own. Such a generous and thoughtful gift. I will post more pics of these... I had them professionally shot and now they live in a custom display case in my office in California.

So stay tuned... there will be pics, info and hopefully regular updates...

Cheers, Jeremy