Posts tagged press
Here’s the extended version of my guest mix for the Deeper Shades of House podcast #365. It’s a segment of an (always?) all-vinyl set, recorded live on 01.27.11 while opening for John Tejada at Bottom Floor.
Big thanks to Lars Behrenroth for the support.
LINKS:
For Immediate Release: May 31, 2011
Bottom Floor Welcomes Special Guest DJ
Kai Alcé
To Bar Pico in Santa Monica
Thursday, June 30, 2011
SANTA MONICA, CA - Bottom Floor, the West Side’s champion of the deep house sound, will treat Los Angeles to a rare appearance by the revered Atlanta-based-but-Detroit-rooted DJ and producer Kai Alcé on Thursday, June 30, 2011 from 9:00pm to 2:00am at Bar Pico in Santa Monica. The date will mark the completion of six months of weekly events for Bottom Floor and the transition to a series of monthly events featuring out-of-town guests. Bottom Floor creator and resident DJ Morgan Alexander will also DJ. Bar Pico is located at 2819 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to attend. The entrance fee for this event is $10. For more information, please visit www.thebottomfloor.com.
Ratcheting up the uniqueness of the occasion, is the fact that Alcé has not performed in Los Angeles in over 10 years. “I’ve been working at least one of Kai’s records into my set each week, so he was right up top when I thought about who to bring in for our 25th event and to kick off the ‘Bottom Floor Welcomes…’ series. So many of his productions truly embody the sound I’m attempting to showcase here,” says Founder Alexander.
Alcé’s formidable string of productions on highly regarded labels such as Moodymann’s Mahogani Music, Omar S’ FXHE Records, and Brett Dancer’s Track Mode Recordings, have long elicited a knowing nod between DJs and fans favoring a mature and sophisticated set of house music. His start at Detroit’s now infamous Music Institute – first as a 16 year old coat check and then working his way up to running the lights – achieves fairytale status by the fact that his time there was initiated by distant cousin and house music luminary, Chez Damier. Alcé has the distinction and good fortune of being the only other person present in the DJ booth, while working the lights during Derrick May’s 3AM set on the final night of the club’s operation. His participation in such a seminal time and place for dance music, led to Alcé curating a series of 12” releases, coinciding with the Music Institute’s 20th anniversary. The 3rd installment just dropped during Detroit’s Movement Electronic Music Festival over Memorial Day Weekend.
NDATL, Alcé’s own label – named for his hometown influences of New York, Detroit, and Atlanta – has projects slated for 2011 from the likes of Patrice Scott, Brett Dancer, Chez Damier, Alton Miller, Apple Jac, Roland Clark, Jovonn, Omar S, MK, Abacus, Theo Parrish, Loosefingers (Larry Heard), Azulu Phantom, Phil Asher, Damon Lamar, Robert Owens, and of course Alcé himself.
Since its inception, Bottom Floor has hosted weekly guest DJs, including numerous appearances by LA heroes John Tejada (Palette Recordings), Santiago Salazar (Planet E), DJ Dex (Underground Resistance), and Lars Behrenroth (Deeper Shades of House), each delivering on the request to explore the deeper side of their record collections.
Also along for the ride, is electronic dance music community based nonprofit NextAid. Proceeds from the modest door fee benefit their ongoing projects to provide sustainable relief to vulnerable children and youth in Africa. For more information, please visit www.nextaid.org.
Kai Alcé (from a review/bio posted on NDATL.com) –
Observing the crowd from a dark corner in one of Atlanta’s premier Saturday night hot spots, a tangible fever suddenly permeates the dancing bodies. The origin of the change in the texture of the evening is understood: DJ Kai Alcé has stepped up to the decks. Positioned behind the tables, Alcé wields the mesmerizing powers of music upon the club-goers and sends them in to a trance of deep house rhythms. Whether his innate ability to elevate the souls of the people stems from his Haitian roots or his extensive house-related upbringing is a question most easily answered as a well-blended cocktail of the two.
Born in New York, Kai Yuri Alcé spent his early years on the island of St. Croix amidst the sounds of the Caribbean. His parents moved back to NY just in time for young Kai to experience the birth of hip-hop, a movement he associates with the beginning of his relationship with music independent of that of his parents. While seeing Kurtis Blow perform at a nearby school may indeed have influenced him to delve further into what was slowly becoming his passion, the strains of his Mother’s soca and his Father’s jazz can still be heard in the tracks Kai spins today. Still, as a true child of the ’70s this DJ’s penchant for airy vocals and soulful sounds exposes his disco roots.
After moving to Detroit in 1980 Kai began listening to ‘Electrifying Mojo’ on the radio, as well as The Wizard AKA Jeff Mills. When the ‘Music Institute’ opened in Detroit in 1987, it quickly became the city’s premier underground dance music location. Kai began working there at the age of 16 and subsequently witnessed the evolution of house alongside its most formidable DJs: Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, D. Wynn, Alton Miller, and kin Chez Damier. Among the benefits of working at the club was Kai’s easy access to the studios as they created such hits as Innercity’s “Goodlife” and Rhythim is Rhythim’s “It Is What It Is.” Surround by such mastery one can’t help but be inspired.
After completing high school, Kai moved to Atlanta to attend Morehouse College. Having maintained contact with relatives in Florida, he was prepared for the obscurity of the house scene in Atlanta. Whether out of saintly benevolence or mere concern for his own sanity, Kai set out to cultivate it. He began spinning at Club Velvet while still attending college, and it was simply a matter of time before he had set the vibe at Atlanta’s Traxx, Kaya, 688 Madhouse, Oxygen, Nomenclature, and Ying Yang music café, which paved the way for people such as India Arie, and Donnie. He now is the main resident at DEEP: Saturday nights at world famous MJQ concourse, which is now in its sixth year, hosting the likes of Phil Asher, Tedd Patterson, Jovonn, and King Britt to name a few. It was at the latter that he decided to solidify a direct link between the South and D-town roots by creating “Deep Detroit House Sessions.” So far Alcé has hosted the likes of Chez Damier, Alton Miller, Brett Dancer, Moodymann, Mike Huckaby, and Theo Parrish. The success of these parties is acknowledged not only by the crowd, but also by the DJs themselves, who often ask to come again soon. To learn more, please visit www.kaialce.com.
Morgan Alexander –
Morgan Alexander began building a sonic home in house music in the early nineties. Career highlights include a residency with LIFE, Boston’s largest deep house night, traveling with Mountain Dew’s entertainment presence for the X Games, regular features on the West Coast, and hosting “Wednesday Revolutions,” the deep installment of Boston’s revered electronic dance music show on WERS 88.9FM. Alexander volunteers a healthy portion of his time to a board appointment with NextAid – the dance music community’s response to helping vulnerable children and youth in Africa. 2011 finds him very much at home in sunny Santa Monica, producing Bottom Floor. The venture, formed with Halo of CityDeep Music, provides a multi-faceted platform for DJs and producers prolific in their ability to squeeze soul out of machines - www.soulmusement.com.
NextAid –
NextAid is a Los Angeles-based humanitarian nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of music to support sustainable development projects that serve vulnerable children, youth and women in Africa. Through music events and public education initiatives, NextAid provides empowering opportunities for concerned individuals to make a difference.
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For more information, photos or to set up interviews please contact Green Galacticʼs Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.
Please read below for the official press release, that can also be downloaded, here. Big thanks to our lovely friend and best darn publicist we know, Lynn Tejada of Green Galactic…
For Immediate Release: January 20, 2011
DJs Halo and Morgan Alexander Present
Bottom Floor
New Weekly Club Night
Every Thursday at Bar Pico in Santa Monica, CA
Upcoming Confirmed Guest DJs Include
John Tejada, Garth, Luke McKeehan, Lars Behrenroth, and Santiago Salazar
~ Welcome to the Bottom Floor. You can go no deeper ~
LOS ANGELES, CA – DJs Halo and Morgan Alexander present Bottom Floor, an exploration of deep grooves, happening every Thursday night at Bar Pico in Santa Monica, CA. The series kicked off with a soft launch on January 13, 2011 with Lars Behrenroth and aims to cater to a niche market of cultured electronic dance music fans. Each event will serve as a fundraiser, with net proceeds from the modest $5.00 door fee being donated to the dance music community based nonprofit, NextAid. Upcoming confirmed guest DJs include John Tejada, Garth, Luke McKeehan, Lars Behrenroth, and Santiago Salazar. Bar Pico is located at 2819 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405 (just west of Centinela Ave.). The weekly event will run from 9:00pm to 2:00am. Only patrons aged 21+ admitted. For more information please call Bar Pico at 310-310-8872 or visit http://thebottomfloor.com and http://www.facebook.com/bottomfloor.
Creators Halo (Brian Varga) and Alexander like to muse, “Welcome to the Bottom Floor. You can go no deeper.” They created the name Bottom Floor – and arguably the concept as a whole – in part as a response to the term “deep” being used and abused to the extent that it’s strayed so far from its original connotation. Musically, the duo have a strong affinity for the trend in current productions paying homage to the sounds of the nineties; where drum machines, pitched-back tempos, synth stabs, analog bass, and creamy chords were king.
“A deep record was something that punched you in the chest. It didn’t just ‘set you free’ because a wailing female vocalist told you it would,” says Alexander. They intend to showcase current artists embracing this sound, in addition to presenting those who created it the first time around. He continues, “You may very well hear a straight house tune from ’94, an Italian disco record, and a synth-laden techno track, all in the same evening.”
Setting the tone for things to come, attendees on January 27th will be treated to a performance by global favorite and LA local, John Tejada. Recently on tour throughout Europe, including a gig in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tejada just finished production on his latest techno album to be released later this year on his label Palette Recordings. His appearance is highly anticipated by everyone involved with the night. Alexander remarks, “I’m not sure if many of his techno fans realize this, but John knows exactly what’s up when it comes to going deep. Sprinkled throughout so many of his productions and DJ sets is the embodiment of the sound we’re going for. Since he’s agreed to play a special set for us, I think we’re in for a real treat.” See the specific Bottom Floor Tejada Facebook page here: http://tinyurl.com/bf-wsg-jt.
The choice to begin with Bar Pico as a location came after much research and surveying of the LA landscape, in terms of geography, venues, and what’s happening where. The team feels lucky to have secured a partnership with the 130-person capacity lounge with close proximity to the 10 and 405 freeways, so soon after its expansion and renovation from a previous life as Air Conditioned Lounge. The location will enable Westside Angelenos access to the caliber of events that previously meant braving the trek east.
Humanitarian organization NextAid will be in the house each week. Though the organization is not directly involved in the production of Bottom Floor, many of their volunteers and supporters will be in attendance, viewing the weekly as their “home base event” in Los Angeles. Monies collected will benefit NextAid’s ongoing projects to provide sustainable relief to vulnerable children and youth in Africa. For more information, please visit www.nextaid.org.
On tap for a monthly residency, is Lars Behrenroth - host of the wildly popular “Deeper Shades of House” podcast and radio show syndicated in over 20 countries worldwide. There are plans in place to expand Bottom Floor to larger semi-regular one-off events, with the first slated for Saturday, March 26, 2011.
About Halo:
Halo’s blend of deep house and modern sophisticated rhythms is keenly rooted in the early dance floor sounds of New York, Detroit and hometown Chicago. The brand of music he has fashioned is comfortable and timeless; it just fits. His productions, which reside in the record boxes of the world’s top DJs, are equally relevant month after month, year after year. Behind the decks, Halo remains among the most respected in the industry and continues to assert that DJing is his first passion. Credited with a diverse and remarkably long list of productions, remixes and collaborations, a stable and successful independent record label CityDeep Music, prestigious residencies and a globetrotting DJ schedule, the past few years have seen Halo take the industry by storm. Purveying his music, he has traveled around the world hitting far off destinations like London, South Africa, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Australia, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and the regular hot spots in Europe and the Americas. www.citydeepmusic.com
About Morgan Alexander:
Morgan Alexander began building a sonic home in house music in the Early Nineties. Career highlights include a residency with LIFE, Boston’s largest deep house night, traveling with Mountain Dew’s entertainment presence for the X Games, regular features on the West Coast, and hosting “Wednesday Revolutions,” the deep installment of Boston’s revered electronic dance music show on WERS 88.9FM. Morgan volunteers a healthy portion of his time to a board appointment with NextAid – the dance music community’s response to vulnerable children and youth in Africa. 2011 finds him very much at home in sunny Santa Monica, launching Bottom Floor. The new venture, formed with Halo of CityDeep Music, will provide a multi-faceted platform for DJs and producers prolific in their ability to squeeze soul out of machines. www.soulmusement.com
About NextAid:
NextAid is an LA-based nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of music to support sustainable development projects that serve vulnerable children, youth and women in Africa. Through music events and public education initiatives, NextAid provides empowering opportunities for concerned individuals to make a difference. www.nextaid.org
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For more information, images, or to set up interviews with the event producers, please contact Green Galactic’s Lynn Tejada (née Hasty) at 213-840-1201 or lynn@greengalactic.com.
