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

My Weekend.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Went to the Wizard World convention on Saturday. It was pretty cool, but not as many publishers, big-name guests or celebrities as I expected. We saw Lou Ferrigno, that was it. Tried to get a pic, but it came out blurry. He was charging for pics, so it was on the sly. I caught up on my Ashley Wood purchases at a discount, though. I love cons, you can make deals. Just be loud and ask what they can do for you on price. Those guys don't wanna be hauling that shit back after the show.

Speaking of Ash, bought "Duostar Racers" at the con. Ash has finally succeeded in doing a comic where I can't tell what the fuck is going on. I mean for real. There's a sketchbook part in the back, but the whole thing is a sketchbook! It looks like he did the whole thing in a couple of hours. Oh well, I love the man's work so I'll let this one slide.

Ran into Cornelius from UR, inexplicably. I had no idea he was into comics all this time. Also saw a lot of old faces from my days going to cons in Detroit. I guess we're all arrested adolescents.

Passed out a few of the JOHNNY GAMBIT previews in hopes of getting picked up by a real publisher. They came out great, but my page sequence got messed up and a double-page splash I did didn't come out right. It was a short run though (25 copies) and will be fixed next time along with other tweaks. Quality was great otherwise. I'm selling a few of them, let me know if you want one. It might be worth something because of the printing error.



My weekend was action packed. I treated Giaxia to the con, so she treated me to "Wanted." Once you get past the fact that it's almost nothing like the comic, it was great. Best action set pieces and slo-mo gunplay since "The Matrix." I like when people do cool new things with guns, like Gunkata in "Equilibrium." In "Wanted" the big thing was making bullets curve around corners.

And Angelina Jolie is fucking Wonder Woman! Okay?! Get it done, DC. Dye her hair black and put her ass in the suit. You already fucked around and let Catherine Zeta-Jones get too old. Marvel is kicking your ass at the box office.

They ran a trailer for the new Punisher movie, "Punisher: War Zone." HOT TO DEATH. Ray Stevenson is the new Punisher. He was Titus Pullo in the great HBO series "Rome." Shit looks wayyyyy hotter than the Tom Jane/John Travolta one. And it's a female director, too! The whole thing looked like a Tim Bradstreet cover come to life as directed by John Woo circa "Hard Boiled." Looks like Marvel is going back and remaking their flops. Between that and the trailer for "Death Race," "The Dark Knight" looks staid by comparison. I'm not super-excited about it to be honest.

Getting ready to get back in the studio to make some techno. I've been too busy to rip my studio apart and rewire the whole thing like I want, but I'm getting to it. Also in the design phase for the trip-hop CD. I'm doing it myself. I'm finally gonna get it out this fall on xfive. MP3 previews coming soon.

Artwise, I'm doing a painting now and starting an album cover for Paul Birken.

Hope you're having a nice summer. I sure am. Hit me up. Leave a comment here or on Myspace.

Over and out.


Keepin' Shit Crunk.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Ran into L'il Jon at the airport in Berlin. My life is wild.



Venice.

Here are some random shots from Venice. The blonde is minimal DJ Guido Schneider's girlfriend, Verena. We came over on the same flight from Berlin. She was super-nice to me the whole trip.














Dresden.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Was in Dresden last night at the BK8 Club. Another great night in Deutschland. There were a few more people there this time than when I was there last year, which was good. Usually it's a super-hard club, like gabber style, but I brought the madness down a few BPMs. Gotta keep the funk in it, baby. I didn't go over 140. The crowd was into me, though. I don't care if it's a small crowd as long as they're going for it on the dancefloor. You couldn't even get that many people to a techno party in the States, sad but true.

Earlier that day, Marcel, the promoter, took me to see historic Dresden, the old district. What a beautiful place in the early summertime. I'm usually there when it's cold. And dark. Due to camera issues, there are no pics, unfortunately (I'm getting a new one when I get home, fuck it). We had dinner alfresco, surrounded by beautiful people. Super, super cool. What a life I've chiseled for myself.

A two hour drive in the German countryside and here I am, back in Berlin.

So I saw on CNN that Hillary finally got out and pledged her support to Obama. Well, that wasn't long, drawn-out, borderline racist ("Well, you know, RFK was assassinated in June..."), and bitter. Thanks, Hill. I always said she wasn't the one, you can ask Jeff Mills and his wife, we were talking about it last New Year's Day at JFK airport waiting to go back to Chicago. Yes, I'm name-dropping, but I've known him over 20 years, so what can I tell you. I also said then that John Edwards would be the nominee, so I'm not perfect.

Anyway, it's my last day of relaxation here in sunny Berlin. Last-minute shopping and sending out postcards tomorrow, then back to the crib on Tuesday, a.k.a. reality. Ripping the studio apart in anticipation of new gear, finishing two album covers, and publishing the Wizard World preview version of "Johnny Gambit: The Prodigal Son" =)

One last thing. I went to see Chroma play at Tascheles/High End Club on Friday. She was good as usual. So this friend of hers came to DJ next, right? He had Serato. Anyway, there was some issue with the right channel and his Serato couldn't get a signal. So he had to beat-match with the Serato using only one deck. Chroma, of course, still plays wax, so she had no problem.

You see where I'm going with this.

So it's "auf wiedersehn" to my beloved Deutschland until next time. Next blog will be live from Chicago.

Over and out.


Barcelona.

Thursday, June 05, 2008


Just got back from rocking the MOOG once again. I played there last October. Still the best midweek party in Europe. Small club, but super crowd. Hot and packed to the gills. I played on a new Vestax mixer and I must say it's the shit. Better than the Pioneer and I imagine more affordable than an Allen & Heath Xone mixer.

As I watched the opening DJ, Deckard, play his set, I noticed a lot of the new stuff he was playing off Traktor was missing something. Basslines, thump, swing. Nothing jumped out at me. Could it be that people are now producing tracks with an eye towards it being digitally distributed, hence the old analog warmth is lost? And in trying to keep with the minimal hype, have newer producers become formulaic?

When I started playing, I dropped some of that old Italian stuff. Gaetano Parisio, old Marco Carola, and the place started chuggin'. Say want you want, that shit still works. It's funky, soulful and hard all at once. Got into some newer UR, the latest Axis stuff, and a couple of my old Pure Sonik classics. Kids were going at it. By the time I dropped Stacey Pullen's "Ritual Beating System" they were climbing the walls. It's got an African chant in it that sounds like "Obama"!


This is why I'll continue to play the shit that works, man. Fuck being trendy, I'm classic. I mean, I like minimal when DJs who know how to play it are playing it. Troy Pierce and Magda at Weekend in Berlin in 2005 remains one of the best parties I've ever been to, and my girl Chroma is an amazing minimal DJ. But when it's time to go to work, I'll stick with the heavy tracks that rock shows, thank you. If the crowd at MOOG was any indication, I'm on the right track.

As usual didn't see too much of Barcelona, as I was in and out. But what I saw, I liked. Such an inspiring place. Lots of color, bad-ass architecture, avant-garde typefaces blasting at you, artists everywhere. The MOOG people took care of me, as usual. Another great night in Spain. Next time, maybe I'll stay for a couple of extra days and do the tourist thing.

Photos by Ena.


Notes From Tour.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008


Back in Berlin for a beautiful sunny day. Summer is definitely here in Europe. I really don't feel like doing anything, just chill at the flat. Here are some impressions from my last few dates.

Played Tresor Friday night. Not as busy as usual because it was the first warm night, plus Jeff Mills was playing the next night. It was pretty cool nonetheless. It's Tresor. Lars a.k.a. Funk D'Void was playing upstairs. Wild character. I'm actually seeing him tomorrow night at Moog in Barcelona (I'm headlining there).

Went to Dublin on Saturday afternoon. I'd never been there before. Liked it a lot! My hosts were very hospitable. I was treated to a BBQ when I arrived. Turns out Paris aka Detroit Grand Pubahs were in town. My host Stephanie and I went to the venue and stayed 'till 2 am and he never showed up. He probably came as soon as we left.

The name of the venue was Macgruder's. All that night the SNL skit was in my head.

After a day of sightseeing (and catching the season finale of LOST!), I played on the Sunday night as the next day was a Bank Holiday. I was way into it (the crowd was too!) when the club pulled the plug 15 minutes early. Fuck, I was pissed. I tried to play some extra records but the bouncer started looming over me. What a disappointment. It was a really good, funky set. The people were feeling it. Oh well, hopefully next time. Thanks to Subject and Nice n' Nasty for bringing me out.

I'd talk about the Irish girls I saw but it's politically incorrect to talk about women as sex objects. PM a brotha for details fellas, Uncle Al will hook you up.

Came home to Berlin on Monday afternoon. Ran into a friend at Warschauer Str. It was this beautiful black girl, Adora, who's friends with Miss Yetti. It's deep I run into people I know here on the street like a local.

It was still early so I got a massage on Spreewaldplatz. I'd never gotten a professional massage before. OMG. It was great. I had to pull my shorts halfway down my ass so she could do her thing, but I was like hey, it's Europe. She was feeling all these little stress points in my back, under my skin. My only complaint is that I wish the massage were harder. I want some big fucker to just rearrange my spine and twist my neck off.

I think she'll be the official Monday afternoon post-gig spot from now on, though. She told me to come back next week so she can work on my shoulder. It'll be my last Monday here before I go back to the States so I'll be there. There's a masseuse on Milwaukee Ave. back in the Chi, I think I'll hit her up when I get back. She's a little Asian thing, though, I want it hard.

Lenny and Lawrence (Octave One) were here and Lenny was telling me he was getting a little homesick. I thought to myself, "not me." LOL. What's with me? I don't care about anything. That concerns me sometimes. But not much, ha ha.

Off to Barcelona tomorrow to rock the Moog!

Over and out.