DJ Juice Box

Juice Box @ Cafe del YVR 13 May 2012

What a fantastic start to the outdoor summer party season! I was so blessed to be given the sundown set!

It was a really relaxing Sunday afternoon of music, within the city and easy to access. I played the only progressive trance set; there was techno and house before me and full-on/dark melodic psy, and I felt like my set fit with the flow of the event perfectly.

This was my first time key-mixing and it was interesting. Didn’t go as smoothly as I had hoped but it wasn’t anywhere near awful. I am just more critical of my skills now that I’ve been doing it for 5 years. I do quite like the recording and thought I had a pretty good set progression. This is a skill that I look forward to becoming better at.

Time: 1.5 hrs

Speed: 136-140 bpm

Style: driving progressive psy

Set list:
1. Ritmo - Disharmonic Silence
2. Symphonix - People of the Dawn
3. Audiomatic - Lost in the Mix
4. 3D Mode - New Dawn
5. Solar Spectrum - 9th Wave
6. Ovnimoon - Believe in the Change
7. Zen Mechanics - Off the Grid
8. Funk Truck - Fuzzer Heads
9. Logic Bomb - Checksum
10. Vaishiyas - Fakes
11. Interactive Noise - Music for the Masses
12. Outsiders - Flake
13. Neelix - Good Old Times (Neelix rmx)
14. Loud - Teleport (Cover)
15. Chakra feat. Liquid Metal - Resurrection (Chakra & Krunch rmx)

Juice Box @ Organix 17 Feb 2012

ZOMG THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! The energy from the dance floor was incredible! I haven’t seen people get that excited and go off so fully to one of my sets in a really long time. Something must have been in the air! The nights that are “on” more than make up for the nights that are “off” and this was definitely an “on” night.

All of my mixes sound pretty technically decent. I am pleased with this.

Also, this was my first attempt to challenge myself by adhering to a “theme”. I chose to only play Israeli psy trance, since it’s my favourite and it has a very particular sound to it. Seems to be more…ecstatic? More 303s? I’m not sure what it is exactly. Funny thing is, I usually play half my sets with artists from Israel anyway, but given the constraint, it somehow seemed more difficult. There are only two tracks which were not fully Israeli, and that’s only because the artists doing the remixes are not from Israel. I don’t find that deterred with the theme enough. I didn’t do it the other way around (non-Israeli artist mixed by an Israeli artist). And I didn’t even get to play any Ananda Shake or Infected Mushroom!! Perhaps next Organix (or full-on) set, I’ll try to play all from the same record label…?

There was only one fuck up: I played the wrong track! I did this last time too, at my set in October, and I thought I took very careful precautions to not have that happen again! I don’t know if I mislabelled it or if I just hit the track advance button not enough times. However, unlike my fuck ups from my October set, this one actually sounded not so bad and the tempo was the same so I was able to mix with it fine. (and it didn’t break the theme! Huzzah!) So in the end, I was okay with this.

Time: 1.5 hrs

Speed: 145 bpm

Style: sweat your balls off melodic anthem-y full-on!

Set list:
1. Sesto Sento - Key to the Universe
2. Pop Stream - Gemini
3. ITP - Halleluyah
4. Intelabeam - Human Spin (with Sub6)
5. Beat Hackers - Dominator
6. Onyx & Perplex - Special Dedication (O-Version)
7. System Nipel - Be Free
8. Electro Sun - 24 Seven
9. Gataka - Spiritual Level
10. Vibe Tribe - Rocket Science
11. Astral Projection - One (Hujaboy rmx)
12. Azax Syndrom vs. Bliss - Psycho Madness
13. Hujaboy - Clouds Over Goa
14. Oforia - Unusual Game (Talamasca rmx)
15. Krunch - Pura Vida
16. X-Noize - On Board (Hipnotix rmx)

Juice Box @ Soundproof: Submersed 26 Nov 2011

NB: This is NOT a live recording. This is a studio recording of the tracks in the order I played them. The live recording did not work on my computer.

This was my fourth time playing at a Soundproof party, and like always, it was heaps of fun!! This one in particular was something quite magical.

The most endearing part about having been attending Soundproof parties for so long, when I started DJing, the Soundproof collective was super supportive of my contribution. This was consistent, even though I managed to clear a dance floor the first couple of times I played (the crowd is used to hearing non-psy trance, house or techno - I have been the only psy trance DJ to guest play at one of their events), I was still getting invited back to play. Which was great because that meant they still liked what I was doing, even if what I was doing was not making people dance.

So I had to think long and hard. What could I do to make the people dance? I knew that my first change would be to play progressive psy instead of full-on, because full-on tends to run around 145 bpm, but progressive ranges from 128-140 bpm. My third set (Trancemission 13) was a progressive set and it was mildly successful. People were dancing but the floor was still a bit bare. Choosing progressive was not fine tuned enough, I had to know the crowd and find something that would make everyone dance like crazy and not compromise my flavour or energy.

Not only was the set well-liked but people were going off and it moved from the DJ before me to the DJ after me extremely well. The time slot was perfect! I am confident in my ability now to rock the shit out of a Soundproof event. Thanks so much for inviting me back time and time again!! <3

This is what I came up with:

TIme: 1 hour

Speed: 132 bpm

Style: progressive psy trance (started with prog for “trance heads” and morphed into prog for “house heads” - or what I like to refer to as “sex trance”)

Set list:
1. Liquid Space - Life Breaks Down
2. Sensogram - DNA
3. Vaishiyas - Axon & John
4. Twice - Chapter One
5. Khainz - High Pressure
6. Ticon - A Sucker for Weekends
7. Clubgeister - Jeff Vader
8. Ido Ophir Miki Litvak - Meshugaim
9. Kopel - NN Shuffle

Juice Box @ Atlantis 09 Apr 2011

NB: This is NOT a live recording. This is a studio recording of the tracks in the order I played them. There were technical difficulties which prevented the live recording from happening.

This was an interesting party. It was my last event in Melbourne before I went back home to Vancouver, so it was a bit bittersweet. It was also very very wet and rainy and the area was filled with tiny little leeches! So my costume had to be modified, with my yoga pants tucked into my boots. But it was an underwater themed party, so I guess that was appropriate?

It was really fun to play at this event, despite the mishaps. People seemed to really enjoy this set, which is why I went out of my way to record it so long after the fact. My friends sure know how to lift my spirits.

Time: 1 hour

Style: progressive psy trance (for people who like psy trance) that gets your body moving in the morning

Speed: 134 bpm

Set list:
1. Quantize - The Path
2. Lish - On the Edge (Visual Paradox vs. Cosmic Tone rmx)
3. Symphonix - Those Were the Days
4. S-Range - Space (Ibojima rmx)
5. Suncontrolspecies - Spleens
6. Solaris Vibe - Jupiter Slice
7. Neelix - Chainsaw (Album version)
8. Zen Mechanics - Mecha
9. Fatali - Inner Depth
10. Protoculture - Big Blue

Here’s the flyer of the Soundproof party I’m playing at!

Should be super fun!

Juice Box @ Organix 12 Aug 2011

This was my second live recording of my set at Organix. I think this one worked out better sound-wise because I turned down the line-in volume quite a bit to minimize the distortion. Then I increased the volume in post-processing a little bit so the file wasn’t too quiet.

This set was SO MUCH FUN! I’m pretty sure my style has gotten a bit harder this year, mostly from the influence of one of my friends back in Melbourne. There is hard melodic stuff out there! I guess I’ve started to gravitate to things I feel are complementary to it. I also used to be super heavy on the “floaty vocal” tracks, and now I use them sparingly, when I think a dance break is needed! I still love them and are still my favourites but try not to overdo it. I still felt like this was an expression of my DJ style/music style and one of my friends commented and said it was my best set ever!!

The dance floor was CRAZY packed! Doing the first Friday after Shambhala was a smart move. I thought everyone would be tired from a festival (like after a holiday) but I suppose people were still in the afterglow seeking their next dance fix!

Technically speaking, I also thought most of my mixes were freaking awesome! Especially since I hadn’t played in a month and didn’t get a chance to practice at all beforehand. I also only realized at the end that I forgot to turn on the “master tempo” (to lock the pitch when I sped up/slowed down a track) but still worked out fine. I put a lot of love and thought into creating this set, so I hope you like it!

Time: 1.5 hours

Speed: 145 bpm

Style: aggressive and happy melodic full-on

Set list:
1. Xerox & Illumination - Turbulence
2. Biogenesis - Musical X-Change
3. Mekkanikka - A La Fraiche
4. Ananda Shake - Jumper
5. Aquatica feat. Safir - Angels
6. Beat Hackers - DJ Vengeance
7. Astrix - Acid Rocker
8. Exaile vs. Delysid - Fast and Furious
9. Poli vs. Brian Sentient - Tarsonis
10. Principles of Flight - Cerberus
11. X-Noize feat. Tom C - Clockwize
12. Electric Universe - Future Excursions
13. Loud - Subinya (Ace Ventura remix)
14. Rinkadink - Pirate Signal (Wizack Twizack remix)

Juice Box @ BitF 08 Jul 2011

This was definitely one of  my favourite sets to play this year! I was a bit stressed out leading up to the event that I wouldn’t be able to assemble a set in time that I thought was of quality. I played on the Friday night which is historically, not that busy. I was also told I had to end my set at 4am, but I could go longer if there was still a dancefloor. So I prepared a one-hour set, but since there were people still dancing, I had to think on my feet and whip out some tunes that would match what I had already been playing and still have a good set flow. Let me know what you think! The energy of the event was so sweet and lovely. <3 Some of my mixes are a bit odd, but not so bad given I didn't practice at all beforehand. Thanks to Andrew Haan for providing such a bad ass stage!!

Time: 1.5 hours

Speed: 143 bpm

Style: slightly aggressive but still uplifting melodic full-on?

Set list:
1. Mekkanikka vs. Mad Maxx - 2046
2. GMS - Brainstorm
3. Protoculture - Euphoric Recall
4. Astrix - Dharma
5. Ananda Shake - Blow
6. Aquatica vs. System Nipel - Chords of Paradise
7. Xerox & Illumination - Creature of the Night
8. Electric Universe - Electric Universe
9. Absolum vs. Painkiller - Help
10. Azax Syndrom vs. Space Tribe - Epidemic
11. Massive - Fresh Sensation
12. Jirah - In the Beginning…
13. Alien Jesus - Alien Jesus
14. 1200 Mics - Cling On

Juice Box @ Entheos 1 20 Jun 2011

This was a really fun event!! Even though I slept through most of it, arrived late, and missed all of my friends’ sets. *sadface* It is always a treat to be in a space where there is always action and something going on but the overall vibe of the event is still relaxed and feels familiar; reminded me of Melbourne. The morning vibe was super chill and receptive to the morning styles that I’d spent weeks preparing. Funny thing, the fellow on before me had played 2 of the tracks which I had pre-selected (it seems we had all planned our sets) so at the last minute I had to swap a couple out for other tracks. I don’t think it disturbed the flow at all! *grin* Even funnier was the guy before him had played 3 of his tracks as well! That doesn’t happen often so it was funny that the three of us had similar tastes. Meant that the DJ order was spot on!

It was also fun to see a lot of people dancing outside of the dome! Even though it wasn’t a particularly hot event, dancing inside the dome was really hot! A few people inside took off their shirts and it was 6am!

Thank you SO MUCH to Kaeli Starfield and Briden for giving me the opportunity! Hope I get a chance to play next year!! xoxo

Time: 1.5 hours

Speed: 132-141 bpm (starts slower and then ramps up!)

Style: happy morning sun rise shake your hips progressive

Set list:
1. DNA - Butterfly
2. Ticon - Magneta Drive
3. SunControlSpecies - Serenaii
4. Motion Drive - Stars
5. Vaishiyas - Bagn
6. Liquid Soul - Sweet Things
7. Galactika - Human Beings
8. Neelix - Smoke & Mirrors (Symphonix rmx)
9. Zen Mechanics - Mecha
10. Fatali - Soul Control
11. Alternative Control - Alternating Current
12. Dimitri D.K.N. - I Want You
13. Atomic Pulse - New World Order Part 2
14. Protoculture - Euphoric Recall
15. Black & White - Out of My Skin

Juice Box @ Organix 06 May 2011

FINALLY I have a LIVE recording of one of my Organix sets. I couldn’t seem to turn down the input level enough on my end to try to account for the ultra red-lining on the mixer (which we all have to do when we play on the club’s system…) so there is a little bit of muffle on the bass kicks, but that’s my only technical issue with the recording. Otherwise, it was a pretty bangin’ amazing set!! So GREAT to see all my Vancouver homies again and the dancefloor was packed the whole time!!

Time: 1.5 hours

Speed: 145 bpm? probably!

Style: fast and furious stomp it the fuck out dance til your feet bleed full-on

Set list:
1. Alternative Control - Rising Dawn (feat. Marco Ljujic and Ernest Velc)
2. Black & White - Bumper feat. PTX
3. Delirious - Silver Sky (Astrix rmx)
4. Cosmosis - No Such Thing
5. Beat Hackers - Let the Music Play
6. Space Cat - Joy Ride (Space Cat vs. Fresh remix)
7. A-Team - Cold Novembash
8. Dimitri D.K.N. - Farewell
9. Mood Deluxe - Hot Points
10. U-Recken - Powerful
11. Mekkanikka vs. Painkiller - Sublime
12. Exaile vs. Delysid - Fast and Furious
13. Azax Sydrom vs. Bliss - War on the Ground
14. Mekkanikka vs. Audio Hijack - Pure Sound
15. Painkiller vs. Toxic - Current Status
16. Toxic - Free Zone

This is going to be SO MUCH FUN! I haven’t DJed at Club 23 since July 2010 and this is also my first set in Vancouver after returning home from Melbourne, Australia.