Sara T's Jamz! » interview

Interview w/ Jasefrmoutrspace + SATURDAY The Chase vs BlackDisco @ The Mountain Bar

Sara T. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:48:37 +0000

Last week I hit up DJ/Promoter Jasefrmoutrspace to ask him a few questions about his upcoming party on Saturday, futurejams & who does his always awesome flyers that I see around. His interview is below…

♥How did Saturdays VS. party come about?

It started a month back after my trip to NY. I was catching up with my friend Jacques Renault after seeing both him and Justin play. After the party the three of us were talking about The Chase and Justin asked me when I was going to bring him out. I’ve worked with Justin briefly before when I brought out Jacques. In addition to NY, I’ve also seen Justin play in LA and have heard a few of his mixes, which I really like. I thought that it would be great to have him play The Chase, and next thing you know, I’m back in LA planning the party.

So to make the party complete, since I had two rooms, I wanted to have Blackdisco host the upstairs. I’m a big fan of the Blackdisco parties and I’ve been thinking of working with Kevin from Blackdisco for a while. So I thought that this would be a good opportunity to work with some good friends and have a great party!

♥Who does the flyers/design for your nights?

One of my best friends, Jay. He’s a talented graphic designer and artist, who heads up the art direction for The Chase flyers. Sometimes we brainstorm on ideas, and I can always trust that he will take my abstract concepts to another level. He puts in a lot of time into the design of the flyers to give the people something fresh that you don’t always see these days. Jay does all my graphics, he’s great to work with, and I love his artistic expression.

This party was a special edition with Blackdisco. Kevin wanted to design the flyers, so we went with it, and the came out cool.

♥Any future parties you’re excited about?

I’m excited about all of them. I get to bring my dj friends from around the world to play for me and share their music with everyone out there.

And since you asked, up next, I have Brennan Green coming out to play a private birthday party for myself that I’m really looking forward to. Also, I’m excited to have the talented Woolfy play The Chase on July 4th, at The Mountain Bar.

Besides my monthly in Chinatown, I started a residency at the Avalon where I get the opportunity to feature some of my favorite djs. I have Jacques Renault down for early August, and some other big names in the works for the end of summer that I won’t say too much about now. There will be more info on my myspace page coming soon.

The Chase Vol.1 <=Download this mix

Glossy – Last Night
Den Hann – Night Shift
Hverfisgotu Disco – Forever (Dagur Nilsson Re-Edit)
Gay Marvine – I Who Have Nothing (Re-Edit)
Patrick Cowley – Menergy
Kebekelektrik – War Dance (Special Greg Wilson Re-Edit)
L.E.B Harmony – Feeling Love
Giorgio Moroder – Chase
Donna Summer – I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Megamix)

You can experience The Chase this Saturday @ The Mountain Bar this SATURDAY // CHINATOWN + Go to Jason’s myspace for more info about his parties & beyond…

COMMENT

Interview w/ Zoë Street Howe Author of Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits

Sara T. — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:03:43 +0000

♥What was the spark that initiated this book?

I had always really loved punk and reggae, free and alternative music, and I was a music writer and DJ of a punky reggae / experimental radio show called the Pogo Sessions (now Paranoimia) so it was natural for me to fall in love with The Slits and want to write about them and push them wherever I could.

But specifically, it was when I heard their cover version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ that I became really interested in them and their process.

They’d been written off as crazy girl punks, which they were too of course, but there was much more to them than that, as artists and as people, and I wanted to learn more. I was amazed when I realised no one had written a book about them, so after a while, I decided it might actually be a mission for me! Luckily the rest of The Slits and their comrades agreed, and Ari in particular has often rightly said that The Slits have always been swept under the carpet, and this is an opportunity to hopefully change that in some way.

But I also feel that it’s vital to draw attention to this group and what they did not simply because they absolutely deserve this tribute, but also for the sake of not just women but artists who are going their own way – I found learning about them wholly inspiring and motivating, and I hope the book will serve to spread this effect to others.

My idea was to particularly celebrate ‘Cut’, their seminal 1979 album which was so important and still sounds timeless, witty, original and exciting, and the book, which comes out this summer, will coincide with the 30-year anniversary of the album’s release. It also coincides with their then label Island Records’ 50-year anniversary too! So this is an important year all round.

♥What were some things you were surprised to find out while researching this book?

Well, The Slits and everyone around them are always full of surprises, so in the end, nothing is surprising because nothing, seemingly, is off limits! Whether it was their topless, muddy album cover for ‘Cut’, their decision to work with jazz legend Don Cherry, their impromptu door-stepping of Sun Ra on a trip to Philadelphia, they were very wild and free and open-minded, so anything was possible and doable in their eyes. But you’ll have to read the book to find out the real surprises… !

One thing that was very special, was that Viv Albertine, who initially it was thought would not want to be involved, not only gave a wonderful interview but told me that she had become inspired to play music again after all those years. Then at Mick Jones’ Carbon Casino last year I engineered a bit of a meeting between Tessa and Viv, the first time they’d seen each other or spoken in a very long time. They worked together a bit after that, and Viv even played two gigs with the ‘new’ Slits last autumn.

Viv has just recorded a really great solo album, out later this year, (I sing backing vocals and play percussion on it so have your earplugs at the ready for my bits). The Slits also have an album out this July, and I can’t wait to hear it.

♥Was there anything left out that you wished you could have put in?

If there was anything I’d had to leave out, then I probably wouldn’t be able to talk about it here either! But no, I’m very happy with how the book is and I feel it is all as it should be – I hope everyone else agrees!

I’d have loved to have included Island boss Chris Blackwell’s perspective and Clash guitarist Mick Jones’ too, but try as I might, I could not get hold of them for the life of me, and after a while I just couldn’t keep the whole book waiting on the off chance that we’d finally be able to sort something out with them as my deadline was looming.

Mick Jones was apparently aware of the book and up for an interview but I just could not pin him down unfortunately! But he is still an important part of the book as he was Viv’s boyfriend at the time, and he was very helpful to The Slits, tuning their guitars on tour etc.

♥Was there anybody who wasn’t interested in contributing to the book?

Well, as I say, Chris Blackwell has quite a wall around him it seems, so I don’t even know if any of my messages even got through to him, but there we have it.

Neneh Cherry, who became an honorary Slit towards the end of their career initially showed an interest and then went off radar and didn’t respond to any of my subsequent emails, which was such a shame, we’d have all loved her to be involved, but I know she’s incredibly busy.

Not that she was a particularly intrinsic part of The Slits’ story, but I thought it would be interesting to have Siouxsie Sioux’s perspective, as another female punk pioneer, but I received an email on her behalf stating that she didn’t conduct interviews unless they were about her. Fair enough! Better than no reply :)

But really, I’ve been incredibly lucky with the people who have been involved, it is testament to how respected and loved The Slits are that so many great people agreed to contribute their time and memories. The Slits themselves and Budgie, Vivien Goldman, Don Letts, Keith Levene, The Raincoats and many others have been incredibly generous with their time and support for this, and that has made it a very special experience for me, and has made for, I hope, a very special book.

To find out more & listen to Zoë Street Howe on the radio click here. Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits is now availible for preorder on AmazonUK . GET TO IT!

COMMENT

i admit i had hoped he would look like this

saratea — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 20:52:00 +0000

Dash Shaw is one of my favorite comic book guys hands down/all around.
You can find his new book Bottemless Belly Button out on Fantagraphics and here’s an interview from Comic Con.
IFC News on Bottomless Belly Button

sweet voice with perks of high

saratea — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:32:00 +0000

Jim Henson on the future of video

click clack move with a tethered heartbeat

Sara T. — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:05:00 +0000

Xiu Xiu || F.T.W.

new video from xiu xiu directed by the singer jamie stewart.
here’s an interview i did with jamie in july of 2005

you did not

Sara T. — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 17:53:00 +0000

it’s incredible every grace jones interview i saw from the 80s it seems like she’s coming off as defensive but every time, in reality, she is just correcting the facts and the assumptions that these men are making about her/women.