Meet Dr. Snakeskin.

Wie gehtsen! Alles ist klar mit dir?

Had a fun couple of days. Tuesday I went and had coffee with Dr. Snakeskin himself, Darius James. It was a blast. He's super-cool. Sat and talked about music and his work (which is what all artists want to talk about). He was also fascinated with my DJ work, a kind of mutual love-fest. He's a hip, old-school cat, in his '50s, with kind of a jazz critic-meets-voodoo priest presence. I feel blessed and happy that I've been able to meet both Darius and Overton Loyd in the last couple of months, such eccentic, creative and accomplished black men doing their thing.

And when you figure I met Overton in L.A. and Darius in Berlin, it makes me feel fortunate that I'm able to get around like I do.

Went to the Watergate 4 year anniversary party last night. Troy Pierce and Magda played, among others. There was a line to get in a mile long.


Luckily, I didn't have to wait long. I was on Tom Clark's guest list but ended up getting in with Richie Hawtin's slipstream/entourage. Yeah, the superstar was there. We talked for awhile, same ol' Rich.

Troy and Magda tagged. They had all kinds of shit up there, three laptops (two with Traktor and one with I think Reason), what looked like an outboard compressor, and two guitar pedals, all for minimal music. The shit was wild, it looked like Mission Control. You really wanna hate on minimal, you truly do, but it's the shit in the right environment, gotta admit. The crowd was going insane. And yes, I was dancing as well!


A couple of people recognized me and said hello, which was nice. Since I lost weight, nobody compares me to Carl Cox anymore =)

Met a lot of interesting people thanks to the party man, Tosh Cooey. He introduced me to everybody in sight. If you wanna meet anybody in Berlin, look him up.



Monika Kruse was there, too. I haven't seen her since Musik und Maschine back in '01. Pretty as ever. You'd think after all this time DJing, late nights, travel, she'd be looking old, but no, still model-gorgeous and healthy.


Unfortunately a negative note, and you know how I hate negativity. I ran into a couple of people there (Americans) who suck. Basically the kind of people I come here to get away from. I was like ugh, even here. I ignored them, though. I put up my rock star DJ forcefield.

Finally the smoky atmosphere got to me and I staggered out half-drunk on vodka shots at 7 am and the party was still going strong. I didn't completely lose my mind like last year at Weekend, but it was still a lot of fun.

(And Watergate isn't as big on the inside as it looks from the outside.)

And I forgot to mention how beautiful the weather's been here! It's been in the high 60s during the day, if not 70s on some days. And sunny almost everyday! I can't believe it.

Got this weekend off (don't know what I'm going to do yet), then off to Koln on the 4th.

And don't forget my lowtempo project "The Art of Transformation" is still available! Limited edition of 100. Listen and buy below.

Guten Morgen.

Greetings from Kreuzberg! I've been keeping vampire hours lately; up all night, sleep all day. I literally slept from 6 am to 6 pm last night. Dark when I went to sleep, dark when I woke up.

Played a big party in Neubrandenburg/Pasewalk last Saturday. It was different 'cause I drove to it, a 2 hour drive. I drove in with a couple of other guys, one of which was DJ James Flavour, the opening DJ of the night. It was even better 'cause we came right back afterwards, no hotels.


They had me on early, 12-2 am which was weird. I guess the promoters didn't know my sound so they didn't want to take any chances. The party was dead at first 'till I started playing minimal. Then it got crazy. I play minimal fast, not slow. My whole minimal set consists of the Richie Hawtin "DE9" double pack with all the loops (you could play an hour with that record), followed by the "Mcap" EP by Neil Landstrumm on Peacefrog, old-school, baby, what you know 'bout that. Once I had 'em I started blasting. Bait and switch. Really cool. At the end I busted out "Moody" by ESG. Feelin' moody, yeah yeah yeah. I played it at zero, too, didn't speed it up. Oh, those German girls started going insane. The place was packed by then.



The kid who came after me was pretty hot too. DJ Housemeister. He reminds me a lot of DJ Woody, only younger. He banged pretty hard. He's got records out on BPitch Control which surprised me. I thought they only put out minimal/electroclash hipster shit. Shows what I know.

OK, if you know me, you know I must give the female review. The girls from the countryside are serious. So ripe they're about to pop. Hips, tits and ass everywhere. POW! BAM! Innocent-looking too. For all intents and purposes this was a rave, so the chicks were super young. Forget the skinny, jaded, hipster Berlin chicks, check out the healthy farm girls. =) Wild shit, man. I love my job.


I'm a bad boy, I know. =) I try not to be but I can't help it.

So I'm supposed to be hooking up with Darius James this week for coffee. He's the shit. I read "Negrophobia" in hardcover back when it first came out in '92. Turns out he's here in Berlin too. Another African-American genius in exile from the Evil Empire =)

Berlin, Berlin.

Here I am in Berlin. It's been non-stop since I got here. Played the Tresor 15th Anniversary at SO36 (see above). Rocked from top to bottom. The Burden Brothers' live show killed. I was standing there taking notes. They use actual gear, man. No laptops. So inspiring. The crowd was incredible, but it's Berlin. Played a lot of wild shit mixed in with the hard techno and had a blast. Today I filmed my segment for Slices, the whole thing was so Hollywood. Cameras and lights all over the place. We shot at the Tresor offices. I actually did some drawing live on camera. I hope I come off OK. Video is the absolute new move. Just had dinner with the Burdens, Pacou and Carola and Max from Tresor. Now I'm writing this, watching the Psychedelic Furs on YouTube ("Love My Way"), and fighting jetlag. I'm getting up there, can't shake it off like I used to. Tschuss!

Blah Blah Blah.

I had a really creative couple of weeks. Just locked myself in the studio. Four pages into the new Johnny Gambit comic (five if you count the cover), and did another new track for the trip-hop project. Funky as hell. I'm really into the slow stuff now. It's pure sex. You can do so much more with it than techno (although I still like to play techno out to the right crowds). Wait 'till you hear it, it's gonna blow your mind.

Haven't watched too much TV or seen any good DVDs lately as I've been locked in the studio making my own entertainment.

It's that time of year again. Getting ready for the European DJ tour, dates to your left. Really looking forward to destroying some shit in Deutschland. God, I love it there. You just don't know. Berlin saves my life.

Bought some great new records at Groove Distribution's moving sale last week. Imports were $3.00 a piece, can't beat that.

And Markantonio from Analytic Trail sent some new promos to my Berlin address. I love his shit, that funky, clubby Naples sound. Always kills a dancefloor. I can't wait to play the shit out. I haven't heard too much from him since minimal took over.

"Slices," the DVD magazine of electronic music, is doing a feature on me. I'm really excited about it. We're filming in Berlin later this month. My artwork will be featured heavily as well! I can't wait. I'm ready for my close-up.

And my next art show/opening will be in December here in Chicago at No Friction Cafe in Bucktown. Details TBA.

Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of "The Art of Transformation!" It's not even really in stores yet so it's good to see it selling. I appreciate the worldwide support! Listen and buy below.

Lastly, for those of you wanting a set from me, a full four-hour set I played in Detroit back in July is now up HERE. It was a real fun evening, got to play a whole bunch of different stuff. Listen and enjoy.

Johnny Gambit Returns.

These are the first few pages of the new Johnny Gambit comic I've been working on. after all these years I finally worked out a story. I've got the first issue written and have an outline and ideas for the rest of the series. I did all these pages within a week and hope to keep up the pace.