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From The Digital Sweatshop
The Music, Art and Travels of Alan D. Oldham a.k.a. DJ T-1000.

Miles.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Miles came through with the vocal tracking for my new single! He processed my vocals on his laptop. Yes, it's got lyrics and vocals. It took him a month to do it, but the shit sounds incredible. It doesn't sound like anything I've ever recorded before, which is the goal.

Now, it's off to the remixers. You'll like who I've got lined up to remix this track, too. Both unlikely candidates to remix a DJ T-1000 track, but guys I've liked for a long time and wanted to work with on some level.

I've never talked about Miles Christian on here before, so let me pump him up now. He's the most talented, new-new-school local techno DJ in Chicago, bar none. He does it all, he makes bad-ass tracks (both house and schranz!) and his DJ show is the complete shit.

He had been bugging me since I moved here to hang out and come see him play and stuff, being a pest ;-) Then he had a date at Smartbar. I think it was February or early March, somewhere in there. I was like whatever, guest list, free drinks, nothing else better to do. I figured we'd have some martinis, stay for the first couple of minutes of his set to make it look good, then we'd break out.

Then he went on and started killin' it. I was shocked. This cat had two chicks freakin' on him as he played. He was drivin' those freaks crazy. There were like 15-20 people left, real diehards. They were climbing the walls. Of course, we ended up staying 'till the end. There are pics of me in the background, headbanging. I've seen everybody worth seeing, all over the world, so it takes a lot to keep my attention!

Then he gives me a CD.

His gabber stuff fits right in with the Lenny Dee/Rob Gee/Laurent Ho style, but then he does this slow, Gigolo-type industrial (with vocals!) and these metallic, Bangalter-type disco tracks, too. The cat does it all!

I've kinda taken him under my wing, giving him advice and stuff, as was done to me when Mike Banks took me in, years ago.

Hopefully, this kid will break wide soon, so get ready.


Random Thoughts.

Friday, June 24, 2005

Soundtrack for the day: Bowery Electric, "Bowery Electric" aka The Blue Album

The weather outside is great. I wish it were like this all year round. If I thought I could make a living out in California, I'd definitely consider moving out there where it's warm all the time.

Not much happening this week. Finished the Djax art job, now on to Seventh Sign. Shouldn't take long.

Just got hooked up with Cubase this week (thanks, Jimmy!). Been playing around with it. The VST plug-ins are sweet! I'm nowhere near making a track with it, though.

I've GOT to get back in the studio next week, after I knock out this last art job. I've got an EP to finish (Monoid), among other things. It's tough being a one-man show. You've got to put one thing down to finish the next.

Good news: "The Professional Volume One" EP will be out in September on Gayle San's label Equator, just in time for my move to Berlin. I can't wait to get there, man. A new beginning.

The "Taste of Chicago" starts this weekend! I want to head down there. I've never been to one since moving here.

I've been on a Larry David kick and been watching the first season of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" again. I love that show. Larry David's a genius.


Batman Begins.

Monday, June 20, 2005

Caught it over the weekend. Good film but not great.

The casting was top-notch. After many roles in cult flicks like "American Psycho" (Giaxia's favorite) and "Equilibrium," (that movie was the shit; rent it if you get the chance) the man Christian Bale has now officially hit the big time. There were no missteps in the supporting cast, either. Everytime Alfred came on the screen, I thought of that track "My Name Is Michael Caine" by Madness.

I liked most everything about the movie. I especially liked Wayne's training by the League of Shadows, particularly in the ninja arts. It all makes sense now (although they didn't explain--yet--how Wayne became the World's Greatest Detective). Liam Neeson appears as Wayne's teacher, essentially reprising his Qui-Gon role from "The Phantom Menace."

I also liked how the film was grounded in reality for the most part. It was established that Batman's high-tech toys, including the Batmobile (inspired by the tank that Batman drove in Frank Miller's "Dark Knight Returns" comic) were all Waynetech prototypes for the military that never got off the ground.

I liked how Batman had a hypersonic device to call bats.

Another great touch is that we never really see Batman in a full-on shot; he's always a blur of motion beating people up; all we see is his cape and people flying. We only saw him full-on maybe twice in the whole movie.

I thought Katie Holmes was just OK (call me a cynic, but it's funny to me how she and Big Tom are all in love when they've both got big summer movies to promote. Imagine that. How come they couldn't fall in love in like February?).

Here's the downside for me. Gotham City wasn't stylized enough. I like it when Gotham is its own character, you know. The city itself reflects the moral corruption (coming from a place like Detroit, I am sensitive to this). I wasn't a big fan of the brutalist, Anton Furst vision from the 1989 Batman movie, I'm more of a fan of the Animated Series take, that sleek Art Deco future with black and white TVs, 40's style cars, and police blimps.

In this movie, Gotham was most obviously Chicago; Michigan Avenue, Lower Wacker Drive, etc. "The Narrows," which were Gotham's slums, where most of the action took place, was like a CGI, pasted-on adjunct to the real Chicago. It kinda kills the suspension of disbelief when you can pick out landmarks.

Cillian Murphy never full-on became The Scarecrow. He just wore the mask a couple of times. That sucked.

Oh, and I miss the Danny Elfman theme, which was the best thing about the previous run of Bat-movies.

Other than that, though, it's a great re-imagining of the Batman legend. DC Comics is finally in the movie game after years of getting their asses kicked by Marvel flicks. Now let's see what they do with Ubermensch.


New Gear.

Friday, June 17, 2005

I've got five labels to go on this Djax order. Trying to get the inspiration to finish the job and get it out. Probably by Monday. Seventh Sign is next up, they need their art ASAP. Then there's a new art project I'm working on that I can't talk about yet.

I'm feeling the itch to buy some new gear, too. My friend Jimmy was ranting and raving about the Korg Kaoss Pad. I just figured that it was a DJ toy, like the Roland SP-808, not a hardcore FX box for studio, but Jimmy's going crazy over it. Jim's not a techno guy at all (thank God), but an emo rocker ;-) I like the Alesis AirFX, too. Cisco from The Advent is the first person I saw to use one live. The good thing about all this stuff is that you can get it all cheap now on eBay. I haven't bought a brand-new piece of gear from a shop since the '90s.

(I also want a hard drive recording interface. It will probably be my next purchase. That will defeat the need for a DAT machine or a CD recorder after all the trouble I've had with both.)

Not too much else happening. Will probably go see "Batman Begins" this weekend. And I still wanna see "Mr & Mrs. Smith."

My last entry talked about the new Superman, and lo and behold, he's on the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly along with Kate Bosworth, the new Lois Lane. I think they're getting ideas off me ;-) I wonder what "Batman" grossed. The Wednesday opening was a little weird.

I've been hearing "Do Ya" by Electric Light Orchestra everywhere lately. TV and radio! They're treating it like a new song.


Casting Mania.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

I have some of the best casting ideas for movies and TV ever, but since I'm not a Hollywood player, I can't get my ideas into theatres. But I *can* list them here!

WONDER WOMAN - Catherine Zeta-Jones. She's the only choice. If you saw "Chicago," she's still got the shape and athletic ability. Plus she can open a flick. Plus she looks like a Greek goddess (the way WW is supposed to look). I saw on the cover of Wizard that they're looking at all these young chippies to be WW. Hey, Joss Whedon, it's Wonder WOMAN, not Wonder Girl. Enough with this teenage WB casting. And "Buffy" was overrated. =P

The brunette from "Mulholland Drive" would be a sweet WW, too, if you wanted to go the traditional, '40s route with the milk-skin, black hair and red lips.

SUPERMAN - Tom Welling should have just been upgraded to full Superman status for the feature film. I wouldn't have thought so back in 2001, when "Smallville" first started, but I do now. He's huge, man. Plus people know him from TV already. I've seen a shot of that kid Brandon Roush as Superman, and he's just not cuttin' it for me. Jerry O'Connell ("Crossing Jordan") would have been a bad ass Superman, also. I read that he was actually up for the role but lost it to this nobody.

And I hear Kevin Spacey is Lex Luthor? WTF? They done lost their minds.

MIAMI VICE - Josh Holloway (Sawyer on "Lost") and Morris Chestnut ("Two Can Play That Game," "Confidence," etc.) are the real Crockett and Tubbs for 2005. Put them both in one show and watch the chicks go crazy. Colin Farrell (stock is down since "Alexander") and Jamie Foxx (too goofy looking to be bad-ass Tubbs) look like a trainwreck. And I'd revive "Vice" for TV, not for the box office. I'm usually down with Michael Mann but he lost me on this one. We'll just have to wait and see.

FANTASTIC FOUR - My dream cast was: George Clooney (circa "Three Kings," "The Peacemaker") as Mr. Fantastic, Meg Ryan or Michelle Pfeiffer as Invisible Woman, Ryan Phillippe (circa "Cruel Intentions") or Paul Walker ("The Fast and the Furious") as the Human Torch, and Michael Madsen as the Thing before he changes. And Jude Law would have been Victor Von Doom in flashbacks (remember Reed and Doom went to college together). I can see that cast is a bit '90s, though, I'll give you that.

Don't get me started on my ideas for "Star Trek." Contrary to some people, it doesn't need a "reboot" or "reimagining," just good Star Trek stories that respect the Original Series. Period.

Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour," "After the Sunset") has been named director of "X3." I don't know if I like that news. As I predicted, though, Jackman and Halle are both back with bells on after the twin flops of "Van Helsing" and "Catwoman."

I think I'd better get back to this art job now (Djax-Up-Beats). I'm almost done. You should start seeing these labels in record shops by fall. Then I gotta get back in the music studio and actually finish some music!


Not-So-Manic Monday.

Monday, June 13, 2005

Not much happening today. It was beautiful out there, I guess summer is actually here. I was lazy. I didn't do anything but do artwork for Djax and watch "Fat Actress."

"Fat Actress" is that Kirstie Alley show that premiered on Showtime, now on DVD. I saw the first four episodes. They were pretty good. The first one, where Kirstie tries to pick up black guys because she hears that they like big white women, was the funniest one. You can tell that they're big fans of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," another self-aware, cinema verite, Hollywood comedy that's filled with celebrity cameos. Kirstie Alley is no Larry David, though. You can tell they really play her size for laughs, because I've seen much fatter, less attractive women than Kirstie. But then again, they're not in Hollywood trying to act.

Verdict on "Fat Actress"? It was OK, but I can live without it.

My Entertainment Weekly subscription is running out. Since I'll be gone in a couple of months, I've decided not to renew it. It'll be painful. I love that magazine.


The Adventures of DJ T-1000: A New Hope.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Well, Providence, RI was great. Just when you start to lose faith in America, a gig like this happens to show there is hope. This was the best party I played in the USA so far in 2005, bar none.

Well, let's start by saying accommodations were top-notch. Took a swim, got some dinner at this cool restaurant, and watched "Collateral" on HBO. You can't get better than Michael Mann. And since I stayed at a Marriott, I got miles ;-)

On to the party itself. It was a club in a rough part of Providence, but it had that old-school warehouse vibe to it. The party was called "Red," and there was a discount at the door if you were dressed in red, so the whole crowd was in red. Yes, I said CROWD. They did about 600-700 people. It was a nice racial mix, as well as many scantily-clad women!

The dancefloor was packed the whole time. People were DANCING. Maybe you didn't hear me, I said they were DANCING. For those of you reading this from Europe, dancing at parties is rare in the USA.

The promoter told me he hadn't seen me play since Whistle 3, back in 2000. He said he wanted me to play hard again like the old days.

I gotta say that's the hardest I rocked it in the States in years. Here in the USA, I usually have to compromise my sets in some way, but not this time. No housy shit, no trendy minimal shit, just straight-up hard (hard for me means funky, club-style hard, not noisy/schranz/gabber hard). And the kids were havin' it, eating it up. It was like the old, East Coast rave days all over again!

(Oh, and I should mention that the sound system was GREAT.)

I was told that the city used to come down hard on parties, but then the mayor got indicted on some corruption charges. The club started slipping the cops cash under the table, and it was party time again!

This was the fifth or sixth party this production crew had done. These guys were no joke, either; they had this van painted with their logo on it, the whole nine. Have you ever seen promo vans painted with a rapper and his new album on the side of it, driving through town? Well, theirs was in that same style. Very professional.

It all goes to prove that the smaller cities and more outlying areas are better. The audiences in big cities are too trendy, snobbish, jaded and needlessly political. Yeah, and add broke to the list.

So, had a great weekend, great city, great weather, had the full rock star treatment, even my cold is almost gone! I get to start my work week with a smile.


If A Tree Falls in the Forest...

Friday, June 10, 2005

Well, I raised up out of my sick bed to play my last-ever party at Smartbar last night. How was it? Let's just say I didn't expect much, and I wasn't disappointed.

Berlin, here I come. ;-)

Our friends showed up though, as always, the Usual Suspects. It was like a get-together. And Steve Tang and I both played good sets. Steve is really wicked. Lots of old-school rarities. Very underrated Chicago DJ and producer. He's not like one of these assholes out here, talking shit about how good they are, and they suck. Steve is just the opposite. He lets his record collection do the talking ;-) I'm telling him to come crash with me overseas so he can get his foot in the door in Europe.

Now I must rise from the crypt yet again. I took a whole sick day yesterday and didn't do anything, now I got to get up like a man and take care of business.

I'm supposed to be playing this gig tomorrow night in Providence, RI, and don't have any info on it due to e-mail/server madness. I think I'd better call my agent and figure out what time my flight is ;-)


One Of Those Days.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Soundtrack of the day: "The Best of David Bowie" (thanks Giaxia)

So I got a ticket outside the house for parking on a day when they "cleaned the street." But the signs weren't up yesterday when I parked. It's a scam. I just paid a previous one this week! They write tickets for breathing in this city.

Then I took my CD recorder (Tascam CD-RW700) to Midwest to see if they could fix it. I had a CD stuck in the tray and it wouldn't come out. I'm figuring the job is about $35. Just remove the disc. Nothing was wrong with it otherwise. The guy calls me back and says that this diode is out, and that diode isn't getting power, blah blah blah. Bottom line: $65 minimum, $99 maximum. Fuck, for $75 more, I could buy a whole new one off eBay. So he got the stuck CD out, and I'm just having him close it up and give the shit back. God knows if it'll even record now. He probably sabotaged it.

Oh, and did I tell you my e-mail is down for the second day in a row? Server problems. At least when I had AOL you could always get your mail. You couldn't fucking SIGN ON, but when you could, dammit, your mail was there. And I haven't been able to access my info@alanoldham.com address in months. Why? Who knows?

For the next couple of days, make contact at: aoldham227@earthlink.net if you need to get a hold of me.

All this and I haven't even had lunch yet. I'm starved. Plus I feel a cold coming on. Giaxia had one, and her brother was coughing, now I'm getting sick. I can't be around sick people, man. I'm about to get like Howard Hughes, if you've got germs, stay away.

I'm staying in the house for the rest of the day, I don't care how nice it is out there.


Fade to Black.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Checked out the Jay-Z concert movie "Fade to Black." I'm not the biggest rap fan in the world, but if anybody can make me a believer, it's Jay-Z.

The documentary chronicles Jay-Z's sold-out farewell concert at Madison Square Garden in NYC. All walks of life were in the crowd; white, Black, Puerto Rican, everybody just a-freakin'. And all going crazy for their hero.

The show itself was a spectacle, featuring a live band led by ?uestlove of the Roots, and cameos by Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly (pre-meltdown), Foxy Brown, Missy Elliott, Ghostface, and more. Even Beyonce turned up to do "Crazy in Love" live with her boyfriend, Jay-Z. Man, that chick is sexy. With each entrance, the crowd got crazier.

Shots of the crowd revealed supermodels Naomi Campbell and Carmen Kass dancing to each track. You know you're the shit when you've got supermodels out in the crowd as fans, and NOT backstage!

The backstage action was heavy too. Usher, P. Diddy, Slick Rick The Ruler, and others held it down in the VIP.

Interspersed with the concert footage, we see Jay-Z criss-crossing the country in private jets as he assembles "The Black Album." As a producer, it was interesting to get glimpses into the studios of Timbaland (God, Tim got fat!), Rick Rubin, The Neptunes, Kanye West and others (all those guys are still running outboard gear to make tracks, using software only for laying down vocals; good to see!). Pharrell and Tim still sequence off the old-ass Ensoniq ESQ-1!

Oh, the movie wouldn't be any good without the songs. Jay-Z does all his hit singles, so don't worry. My favorite is "Dirt Off Ya Shoulders," that one is the complete shit.

"Fade to Black" is definitely a keeper. If you like music and the music business, you'll like this DVD. It cements Jay-Z's position as the post-Biggie & Tupac king of hip-hop, and the ultimate culmination of the aestethic P. Diddy started over a decade ago with his Bad Boy label; cinematic, widescreen, designer-label, New York City hip-hop.

It's too bad techno went wrong, especially in the USA. It could be guys like us making movies like this.


Friday.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Another beautiful morning. I'm sitting here drinking blueberry tea that my neighbor brought back from Colorado. Things are definitely looking up. I'm not even pissed anymore about this weekend's gigs being cancelled.

I'm four labels into this big, new art job for Djax, and I just got an order from Seventh Sign, Glasgow. We just did a deal where I illustrate for them exclusively for the UK for a year. As well as running the label, they also run a night at the Sub Club. I played for them last year.

Summer is also shaping up, gig-wise. Some new offers have come in. As soon as contracts are signed, I'll keep you posted of course. Who knows, I may be in your city soon. It may be your last chance to see me if you're in the USA, as I'm moving to Berlin this fall.

Been getting a LOT of good feedback from my Electric Avenue set last weekend. It's very gratifying. I should have recorded that set. It was a lot of fun to play.

We're still in talks to do this art show in France this fall. The organizer, Adeline (hi!), is living in Egypt at the moment. She goes back to Paris this month, though, so she can really get it rolling.

I know such cool people.

Next Thursday (June 9th), I'm at Smartbar here in Chicago for my postponed birthday party. Three-hour set. Steven Tang (www.emphasisrecordings.com) is the opener. $5 to get in. This will probably be my last Chicago appearance, so I hope to see you there!


The Birthday Present.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Today's theme song: "Judith" by A Perfect Circle.

What a beautiful day in Chicagoland. Spent the morning doing new artwork for Djax (a big order!), then had lunch down in the Loop with Giaxia. This is the first day in 2005 I've been able to rock shorts! I'll miss this kind of weather when I move to Berlin. I guess I'll draw some more later, then dub over some lowtempo tracks to send to a friend of mine who needs music for a CD-ROM she's putting together.

This girl I met in San Diego, Gina, sent me a present for my birthday! It's the book "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book." It's written by Gerard Jones. Back in the late '80s, in my comic book days, I actually tried out for a comic book he was writing, "The Score." I did some character studies and a couple of art pages (unpaid). Mark Badger ended up getting the job, though. DC put it out thru its Piranha Press imprint (the precursor to what is now Vertigo). Although the editor of Piranha, this nice guy named Neal Pozner who has since passed away, liked my stuff, I was too young at the time to have pulled it off.

She also sent a Mr. Spock birthday card!

Thanks for the gifts, Gina!

So the lesson here is, if you know how to spin and rock good shows, beautiful women will buy you stuff ;-)

PS: Back in 2003, This guy John Scott bought me "The Animatrix" DVD for my b-day as well! I know John reads this, so I thought I'd give him some long-delayed dap. I didn't have a blog back then ;-)