Well happy new years to everyone! 2012 the year the world ended or was at least meant to has come and gone and we now move into 2013, time definitely flies when your busy and 2012 was a busy and very good year for myself hopefully setting up 2013 to be a stellar year for me if things go to plan…
Anyways before getting to far ahead of myself, 2012 in review, here it is
– Jan: NYE DJn at the loft, while NYE isn’t a big deal here compared to most countries it was still a good night, the countdown went well, Auld langsyne mixed into party rock anthem then a selection of the previous years club bangers kept the reasonable crowd happy
– Jan: The 1am curfew began to take its toll on the nightlife around Itaewon, resulting in me finishing up at the Loft end of Jan making it my first full year residency here in Korea, good times, fun memories and met a lot of great people! But the place was holding me back and the timing to leave couldn’t have been more perfect
– Feb: With time now on my hands, came the arrival of Redbull Thr3style, while only had a few weeks to prepare I managed to get a set put together and recorded granting me passage into the top 16, while I wasn’t out to win this competition I still wanted to put my best out there as the exposure from this would be more beneficial than anything else
– Mar: Played my set at Club Eden, because of my dumb teaching job, no sound check, but my set went well, I didn’t screw anything up so I was happy, I didn’t make it thru to the next round but I had played well enough to turn heads and impress everyone who was there but more importantly I met some great people who have become good friends
– May: After Thre3style I continued to met other DJs and go see their gigs and get to know them better, eventually leading to my discovery and first guest set at Madholic in Hongdae, while unfortunately it wasn’t very busy that night there was still a few in attendance who I also got to met and become friends with
– June: While playing a few charity and other small gigs, this month saw me take on my 2nd residency here in Korea at JR pub, more of a sit down drinking and dinner orientated establishment they wanted to increase their nightlife more and thus I started playing here to great success and also used it as an opportunity to do video mixing as well
– July/August: Kept going much the same, DJn at JR pub, then afterwards going to Madholic or other gigs to see other DJs with the occasional side gig or random DJ appearance (Flow/KingClub etc), also I was away on holiday during this time so it was all in all a low key cruising month
– Sept: Saw the end of my tenure at JR, possibly a victim of my own success or behind the scenes politicking I will never know but finished off strong and enjoyed my time there
– Oct: This was a busy month having multiple appearances at different bars, the main ones of note being DOJO (I use to love her), FLOW (becoming part of the Soulful Sat line up) and a return to Madholic (which in hindsight I might have messed up, playing for the crowd instead of playing me… more to come on that later)
– Nov: This month and April were my quietest all year, no gigs, just a couple of one offs so meant time spent going around other clubs and catching up with people and seeing other DJs at work and seeing how crowds react to different songs and playing styles, basically as they say, research time!
– Dec: often the more busy month of the year, and this ended up being no different for me, had some major gigs, Move2 being the most important one for me, Seoul Seekers being the most forgettable one (due to laptop failure…) Other gigs included Flow and Bar Fly. Also a DJ workshop with DJ Angelo meant meeting new DJs and getting re-acquainted with other DJs
– But most importantly by the end of this month I now have 2 residencies, FLOW Bar, Friday nights 11-1 (Hip Hop & RnB) and Bar FLY Friday and Saturday 2-4 (Electro Pop/Hip Hop Club Joints)
So it has been a busy year, not crazy intense busy but as far as networking goes and getting myself out there, very good, plus the friends I have made and people I have met are awesome and will definitely help lead me to bigger and better things in 2013 however that isn’t something I will rely on and will always do my best to make it on my own merits which I have always done but its always nice to get a little help from your friends and to help them out as well.
Before I sign this off I have to give shout outs to all the Thre3style DJs I met, especially the Brand Nu boys and the other Korean DJs, its hard being a foreigner here at times but getting to know these guys and work with them has been a privilege. Also shout out to JC and the Iconz Media crew, been a pleasure working with them and last and def not least shout out to the Show Kingz crew, again its been a pleasure
So whats in store for 2013… as I said if things go to plan… well you just gotta wait and see!
akadjblaze 