Influences: The Mole

This guy is a genius. I love him. You can’t shake him. He’s there to inspire you to be creative.
It’s a cable access show, not sure what time of day it aired, but he’s seems to have been popular. lots of callers.
I’ve watched a ton of his videos, and there’s some real gold in there. This is the one that got me hooked.
From time to time I catch myself mumbling ‘make some more of that juice man’ to no one in particular… Not sure if that part is inspiring, but yeah… he is …

Famous for the hutchison effect. Though i do love the idea of zero point energy, It’s not only the levitations and transmutations that interest me. he, like Chong, are from my hometown. and somehow this motivates me.
that and i love all his new videos, the beach scenes and cross dressing. The star trek parodies are particularly funny. then suddenly a montage of letters from the prince of Luxembourg or the US navy. Bizarre mix of stuff

I was working as a glorified janitor/repair man in the electro-acoustic department of Concordia university when i wandered into a classroom playing this movie. I arrived at this scene and it blew my mind.
To this day his work ethic, his emphasis on discipline and precision, and his way of thinking and putting words together excites me. I love that his-story is not my-story because my-story is a mystery, a mythology kind of stuff. I’m sure i’m misquoting him there, pardon me. but you get the idea.
I recommend the biography by John F. Szwed. Fascinating stuff. No drugs. No sex. No booze. No sleep. Powerful.

This guy is so huge! So many songs… So many records !!!
There are some people who have have done so much, my brain can’t handle it. Patrick is one of them. HUGE
this talk is sweet, I love that he has to get on the keyboard to sort some things out. Also learned that in the bush has a part in 5 on it… I’ve been hearing that song since i was little, and it’s so smooth that i never even noticed. Then again, i rarely count when i’m dancing.

I discovered Gino while I was living in Montreal. He instantly became one of my heroes. That blend of synth and funk. So much groove. so much soul. and from Montreal !! I wondered for ages where he was, what happened to him, then Wax Poetics interviewed him. Such a sad story, so much talent and success and the business pushed him away. Such a shame. Shame on you business ! Shame on you all !!

Her version of this song is heart breaking … In fact there is a sadness in this whole performance (Montreaux ’76) which is overwhelming, and i highly recommend it. I’ve got the dvd and it has often helped me through hard times. I believe this is at a time in her life when she had already left the US, upset with the state of the civil rights movement, having been lumped in with flower power. Fucking hippies, they always borrow stuff that isn’t theirs and sell it for mushrooms or tickets to the dead or jeans. -actually i love hippies…. just dislike their economics and sometimes suspect hygiene. Anyway, i ramble… this song. there are so many awkward songs dealing with the hardships of fame. Often these are hard to swallow, us plebes looking up to those on display, the famous, thinking -how glorious, and -if only …
but this song, Nina, she really puts it down. She always puts it down. 110% if not more. She demands it from her audience, just watch her sit that woman down at the start of this video. Really, at this point in her life, why should she play if her audience isn’t present and ready to accept.
I highly recommend the whole performance, but if you’re short on time, try at least the segue in the next song feelings. It’s amazing. Retains the pain.. and the audience, stiff motherfuckers, they only augment the distance between stage and stand. Poor Nina. Try her autobiography as well, amazing stuff. She always manages to make me feel like a coward and i love her for that.

The rediscovery of discovery.
My friend Jon asked me to join him at an art show. I’m not a total caveman, i’ll go if someone asks me, sometimes… and well… boy oh boy… what a surprise. There were a few videos online of this exhibit, but this one most captures what i experienced. The same number of people, the same amount of decay. What a pleasure to realise that there are indeed unimagined dreams, no, fantasies possible.
And no, they were not cold. They were very room temperature and yes, they were free… as much as you want.
I went back three times…

The human touch.
As much as i think about Bernie, and how amazing a musical message he gave to us, i must admit i think about this video often. That awkward moment where he answers what happened with the money. Especially at a publishing expo, it’s so painful, so wrong. It’s a story we hear again and again in this business of show. Bernie’s touched me in particular because i found him backwards in time, hearing the samples first and slowly, after considering them classic for years, finding the original. so uplifting to hear him dismiss the poison that resentment becomes. A real highlight is his advice to the younger generation. I’m keeping it to heart Bernie. i like playing with them machines, but i won’t let them do everything.

The 70’s synth dream room.
This place. These guys. The music. It is all so inspiring. angel dust. Living for the city. Fancy lady.
I have to admit, if synths are an addiction, then i caught it from Mathew Jonson. Big time. Staying up late trolling matrixsynth just to compare prices and wonder why i have such expensive tastes. Yeah, the sick has got me good. and i hope i never get better. thanks Mat!
Tonto could have ended up being any variant of noodle, thick or thin, but instead it sang… it sang so pretty ..
Neat fact, it now resides in Calgary, Alberta. How terribly odd that is. I wonder if it still sings with the stampeders and flames.

Wiked.
Not so long ago, i used to rave with some friends on the west coast. many good nights. Many good djs. Way too many dangerous drives home from seattle or portland. Dangerous ! Don’t do it !
The Wiked crew were a big influence on me. As were Doc Martin and Spun and Simon and Ernie Munson and Carlos and all those west coast american djs. Many of whom are still doing great stuff. Which is all the more inspiring.
So this video is one of the tapes from that time. other classic tapes: Doc’s i love how you make me feel. Jeno’s bang the drum. The come-unity tapes. Ah shit… there’s tons of them. first time i heard i love how you make me feel it was a closely guarded 10th generation copy. So worn out.
Since i’m listing djs who influenced me, i might as well hit some of Vancouver/ Victoria djs who were a big influence on me. Little T. T-bone. Dicky Doo. Tyger Dhula. John the Baptist. the Wizard of X. Hebegebe. Renee. Quickfix. Koosh. Scott W. Team Lounge. Ice-E-Fresh. Ekeem. Crisco. Frankie Furbo. Max Wise. Jesse. Damon and Zoltan. Again, many of them still doing great stuff.
Oh boy… listening to this tape sure brings back a lot of good memories. I might go find that shoebox of flyers i have hiding under my bed.

Before i knew what the Miami sound really was.
The sound of these early Murk record blew my mind. I was dying to know how they made it sound so huge (still think it has to be something with Carlos Santos). Again, I thought this was the Miami sound before i knew about Henry Stone and TK records and the real Miami sound. I used to think it was Cultural Vibes and Luke Skyywalker. And Murk. Tyger Dhula told me the first time he heard some lovin’ , the dj played it for 30 minutes, going from dub to vocal to beat, milking the fuck out of that pig. Apparently this was at the sound factory or one of those famous NY clubs from that time. Still to this day i love this idea.
Having said all this, it’s only Ralph Falcon from murk on this video. but it captures the sound beautifully.

I wanted to put dj Premier.
I can’t really think about new york without thinking of Premier and Marley Marl. and Prince Paul. and hip hop!!!!!
In keeping with my theme of the moment i’ve chosen Masters at Work. Their catalogue shows such an extreme work ethic and that doesn’t even take into account all the nights in the clubs. I love these guys.

Koosh showed me this when we first started hanging out. I have no idea how many times i’ve watched it since then. The kind of movie that felt ok to steal from block buster. Gonna charge me 60$ ? worth it!
I ended up playing doubles for years because of this movie. What can i say – i love hip hop!
Amazed i found a copy on youtube.

How amazing to listen to a sit down with this legend.
Such a pleasure. and inspiration. I’d be happy if this video never ended. Though i’d also probably be surrounded by pizza boxes and pimples because i’d never leave the house again.
Also loving the giant step slipmat.

Another canuck!
His track record is absurd, and i think the awards and recognition show how widely accepted his work is.
I guess, beyond all the incredible work, i’m most influenced by this atmospheric quality he puts into everything, Especially the new stuff. he’s got what we call at my house -the sauce. That mythic business that is beyond style or form.
Being so famous, there are so many videos with Daniel Lanois online. Playing with his bands or solo, giving tutorials to Pharell, talking about Bob Dylan or Neil Young. Getting random Canadian awards. The man is an epic legend … so it was hard to choose… and i know some people don’t like the whole – studio as an instrument – thing. But hey, some people don’t like ice cream. I’m not one of them.