>> A l e X a n g a

the next step [part 1]

Posted on January 30th, 2009 by Al'x.
Categories: AleXanga.

so that was fast.. why does it seem like the older we get, the faster time progresses? seriously, i got to japan in january 2006 and that year flew by.. then 2007 felt even faster.. and now its like 2008 went so fast that it didnt even happen!

well, obviously it did happen, and i ended up writing a massive book of a post. so ill divide it up and post one every couple of days. here’s part 1:

[ i quit odeon ]

yea, so after almost 2 years of being the music of odeon, im done. straight up, theres no drama and no bad feelings, nothing like that. i just felt like the time is right for me to move on. i am forever grateful to the owner, heni, for giving me the opportunity to do exactly what i came here to do. i wanted a regular gig in a nice place and complete control over the music- and thats what i had.

i learned sooooooo much about, well.. everything. djing, business, networking, dancing, roppongi, tokyo, japan, people, economics, LIFE.

man, honestly, when i first started spinning at odeon, i was garbage. my music was limited, my skills were whack, my transitions were rushed, my crowd control was weak, my stamina was low. garbage. i was totally amateur and i really couldnt believe that i was actually being paid to do what i was doing.

but i practiced my ass off. everytime i was behind the decks, i was practicing. built up my endurance like crazy. went from a weekend residency to 5-day full-time residency. i used to count how many good transitions id get in a night- and itd be a bonus if i go the timing right. (now i average 1:30 or so for my transitions, hehe) i went from 1 hour sets combined with 1 hour breaks to 12 hour sets with only bathroom breaks. i was in the dj booth longer than i did anything else.

so naturally, spending that much time with the turntables, my skills leveled up like crazy. i can confidently say that im a professional dj …and ill destroy you if u think u can rock harder than i do. i guess you can say, as a dj, i grew up in odeon.

see thats the thing, a couple months back, i started to realize that i outgrew the place. i knew most of the ppl in the crowd (and their favorite songs), packed rooms didnt get me excited anymore, and i forgot what it was like to get butterflies. everything just became a little too routine- i was literally workin 9-5 too (pm to am, though).

so where does that leave me now? well, fortunately, odeon served as a great place for networking so for the forseeable future, im just going to do events only. i met a ton of promoters and event organizers and ive been slowly increasing the non-odeon gigs over the past few months. not only are they more cost effective (work less for more pay~) but theyre just more FUN. [check out the video in my last post]

also, i know i said i was gonna do it last year, but im gonna spend a LOT of my time in the studio this year. it’s great how a lot of things just come together at the right time. when i first started djing, i was all about performance and playing live. dont get me wrong, i still love it but my interest in production and composition have grown to a very serious point. im not gonna wait for good songs to come out anymore, it’s time for me to make the songs i wanna play.

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