The Music, Art and Travels of Alan D. Oldham a.k.a. DJ T-1000.
Another Jetset Weekend.
Went and played in the north of Spain over the weekend. It was pretty cool. The check-in line was a mile long. The flight was rough, too, nine hours from the time I left the house to arrival at the hotel. Nine hours is Chicago to Amsterdam direct! Berlin-Madrid, Madrid-Oviedo. Yeah, yeah, poor baby, quit whining. The good news, though, is that I got miles for the flight! Go, Sky Team.
It was cloudy and cold when I got there. When you say you're going to Spain, people automatically think sun, including me. Ha! Oviedo is pretty, though.
Dinner was great. I had to be careful not to eat too much. I had fried squid among other things. How generous my hosts were with the food! I don't like to eat too much before I play. I remember one time, though, me, Giaxia, and some other people had dinner with Carl Cox. He ate this huge steak dinner, got right in the limo, went to the club and proceeded to rock. I would have been falling asleep.
The gig itself was okay but the crowd wanted Rush-style hardness all night and I go up and down. It was a rough two hours. I was wondering how Octave One and Kenny Larkin did it. They had played the same club before me and I'm known to play harder than they do!
Got to my flight the next morning in the nick of time, they were closing the door on me. Had a whole row to myself, I love when that happens. Got back to Berlin that night for unexpected pasta and plum wine with friends, so nice of them to include me in their dinner plans.
Tonight I'm going to my girl
Chroma S.' birthday party, her and her über-cool (dig the umlaut!) Berlin Friedrichshain scenester friends, I love it. They're all so thin and pretty and I look better by osmosis. I give Chroma (a.k.a. Steffi) a lot of dap on here, don't I? I get infatuated really easy when people/things impress me. Then if I get sold out, I just shut down and I don't know you anymore. A lot of people have fallen into that zone with me, whole cities. =) I'm just weird like that.
After tonight, I'm just laying low in Berlin, no clubbing, no shopping, no nothing, just art and sleep. The new-style
Johnny Gambit # 1 is almost completed. I started it back in October, that's pretty fast for me. When I get back, the shopping to publishers (and writing/drawing the second issue) begins.
Special thanks this time to Adam Jay, who's finally bringing me back to Indy after an eight-year absence! Looking forward to it. Auch, danke vom Antje für die schön fruhstuck im Kurfurstendamm =)
-AO :: 10:34 AM ::
Maxin' and Relaxin'.
A gorgeous day in Berlin. It's actually warm enough to wear shorts! I'm glad to be over here this time of year.
Haven't been doing much except soaking up the weather, writing and drawing comics in outdoor cafes, drinking
lots of coffee, doing a little
shopping, relaxing between gigs.
I played in Stettin, Poland last weekend, about two hours by car from Berlin. Nice city, great club. Small but very enthusiastic crowd. Cool promoters. They bought me a very nice sushi dinner before the show, the way to my heart. I hope to visit there again soon.
Yesterday I went to the new
Tresor space. Max took me. It's inside a huge power plant (Vatenfall Kraftwerk). Crews were working non-stop. The new techno bunker is underground like the old Tresor and is all concrete. Descend if you dare.
I also had a meeting with Tresor the label concerning my new tracks. They will be dropping this fall, but not as an EP, but on two separate compilations instead. One vinyl, one CD-only. I think it's cool, more promotion for me.
Giaxia sent me a new white label for "Elektrofive" to play on tour. The first white label actually had somebody else's b-side on it! When I was told it was pressed in Detroit, it all made sense. They fixed the mistake though. That first run might be worth some money one day, but I doubt it. LOL.
She also packed in an Entertainment Weekly! (sound of choir) It's like from heaven.
I'm off to sunny Spain day after tomorrow courtesy of Natasha. Should be a good time, they love to party.
Lastly, my chillout/lowtempo CD
"The Art of Transformation" is BACK IN STOCK! Get yours today before they're gone again!
Thanks as always for your support.
PS: I heard "Baby 81", the new album from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They have returned to form after the horrible misfire that was "Howl." Kinda bar band-ish, a little shoegaze-y, dark, dirty, lowdown rock 'n' roll. I'll be getting this one for sure.
-AO :: 9:20 AM ::
Hello From Berlin.
Another quick update from Deutschland. After my jetset weekend last week (date in Milano, which was incredible, then the gallery opening and afterparty the next night), I got sick for a couple days and stayed inside. Didn't do much except recover. As of last night I was back out in force, though. Here are some shots from Milano.
My old friend Ronny Krieger invited me to a private party at Beatport's new offices. Yes, we are in talks to add the legendary
Generator back catalog to Beatport. After that, my gallery owner friends Jacek and
Anna invited me to hear a totally improvisational jazz group who had never played together before last night. They were really good! Very intellectual, European, and avant-garde. I really liked the atmosphere.
And here's a little
press coverage of my gallery opening.Oh, and
www.puresonikrecords.net is back online. Listen and buy "The Art of Transformation," and download my DJ sets and press photos. We will always be adding to the media section, and new products are in the pipeline as we speak.
Off to rock Poland tonight, baby! They like it hard.
-AO :: 3:44 AM ::
Update.
Man, I am exhausted. I've been non-stop since last Thursday. Arrived in Berlin and went straight to Milan to rock their "Funk You" night, then came back to Berlin for my art opening at Galerie Zero, then played the after hours at Raumklang with Chroma S. who completely rocked it. I love that girl.
Gonna collapse now. I'll go into more detail with pics at a later date.
-AO :: 6:43 PM ::
The Emancipation of Mimie.
This is a painting I just did for my latest art patron,
Mimie. My whole thing is to unleash her inner, sexy super-hero and immortalize it on canvas. It'll be 24" x 36" when completed. A few ladies have commissioned me to interpret them on canvas, two from the UK and one American (Mimie). I love my job. It's looking like I'll be busy painting all this summer!
The second 100-unit run of "The Art of Transformation" will be back from the plant this week, and back in stock! We made a couple of small changes in the artwork that will distinguish the runs. That's it, too, no more copies will be made after this. Order now!
I'm planning X5002 for Fall 2007 release.
See you in Berlin! It's 65-70 degrees there now, can you believe it? I'll be glad to get out of this goddamn Chicago deep freeze.
I'm back in the USA and available for booking as of June 1st. I wanna see America again this summer so promoters get at me.
Off to the airport. Thanks to all for your support!
-AO :: 6:21 PM ::
