Greetings everyone, it's been awhile...
A lot has happened to say the least since our last post. At the end of 2019 I decided to take a break from the blog and start fresh in 2020 but life had other plans. When the pandemic took hold and the world came to a halt and with the uncertainty of the situation, I felt it wasn't appropriate to post during that time. What I thought would be a short break ultimately turned into years. Between Covid and my own personal reasons, the blog got put on the back burner. Then in early 2025 I started to feel enough time had passed and wanted to get back to it. But before that, I had a few loose ends I wanted to tie up.
So I decided to dust off a newer classic that we recored but never told the story behind it.
"Slam live at SmartBar Chicago" 01-17-2013.
At the time, Slam didn't what us to upload it anywhere so we didn't and we only shared links of the set from their official sites. And we never really shared how the this night came about or any details from the show until now.
This night was put together by Chicagos "Oktave" . From what I know they started organizing events in New York city in 2009 then made their way to Chicago in 2010. Oktave was well known around the Mid-west for booking International underground Techno artists and this night was no exception. Its founder "Jeff Derringer" opened and set the mood for the night. Sadly I havent seen any events from them since 2019.
Recording this set came about from another set of theirs we posted, "Slam live at rave krispies" . That was the first time they played here back in 1997 and we were fortunate to have been able to record it. We worked on the recording and story behind the night and posted it back in 2013. Seeing that they were coming to Chicago soon after I posted it, I sent them a message and shared the post. I told them that we saw that they were coming to play here later in the month and if they would be open to us recording the night. Well they responded and reposted the set and so happened to be looking to have sets of theirs recorded during their tour here in the states at the time. They wanted to be able to post it to their new "SlamRadio" podcast. I sent a message to both Derringer and the booking agent at Smartbar at the time, artist and DJ "Nate Manic" about everything and the rest is now here!
Slam behind the booth from the night.
Early into their set, a gentleman walked into the booth and started talking with the boys. They had a few laughs and as quickly as he had walked in, he walked out. Stuart turned to me and said something like, "That was unexpected". That man was fellow Scotsman "Irvin Welsh". Welsh moved to the city in 2009 and around this time he had been involved with the Chicago literary scene, participated in a staged reading of a new screenplay with the late "Don De Grazia" and discussed the plight of the homeless around the city with various publications. He was also teaching at Columbia College Chicago where I believe Derringer was also a proffesor so maybe there was a connection between Welsh making it out that night.
If you're a fan of "Smartbar" on Facebook, you can scroll through pictures of the night " here" captured by the fabulous "Tasya Menaker" and see the note that someone passed to the guys about "Chicago wants deep dark dirty bass" that they mention in the beginning of the podcast. Among many of the moments captured in the galley you also see "Derrick Carter" makeing an appearance who stopped by towards the end of the night. Also "The Blessed Madonna" and "Gramaphone" owner and "Queen" resident "Michael Serafini" were spotted in the club and in the pictures.
They played almost three hours but of course only used an hour on the podcast that captured the vibe of the night. This mix starts from about fifteen minutes into their set. They each had their own laptops running four decks using Tracktor and weaved through and over tracks from Chicago artists and other favorites including Robert Armanis "Fire Alarm", Fuction vs Jerome Sydenham remix of Steve Poindexters "Computer Madness", Dave Clark "The Compass" and "Maurizios" mix of Vainqueur "Lyot" and Green Velvet "Flash" to name a few. Below is the setlist from the hour podcast.
Set list.
- Loco & Jam - Vesta [Unrilis]
- Oz Romita - Breaking Bad (Tom Hades Remix) [Movement]
- Envoy - Dark Maneuvers (Slam Remix) [Soma]
- Steve Poindexter - Computer Madness (Function vs Jerome Sydenham Remix)
- Unknown
- On Off - Remoot [Analytical]
- Heron - Automower [White]
- Svida - Hold It [Klap Klap]
- Sergio Vilas - Big Boss [Subsensory]
- Slam - Area 51 [Drumcode]
- Ritzi Lee - Reverse Proceed [Theory]
- Bart Skils - Midnight Moving [100% Pure]
- 29 - Nu Demo [White]
- Truncate - Modify [Truncate]
- Adam Beyer + Alan Fitzpatrick - Human Reason (Len Faki Mix) [Drumcode]
- Jesper Dalbach - Diode Ladder [H]
If you haven't already, Click on the "Like" tab at the top right corner of the blog and follow us on various socials to get links to other DJ mixes, view classic party fliers from the Mid-West and beyond and event links to shows we are supporting. And of course check out "Slam" for more info what they have coming up and support what they do! After all, if it were not for the artists, none of these posts would be possible.
Hope this finds you all well.
Hope this finds you all well.
Cheers!
Gus Audio.
Gus Audio.
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