Really.
Downtown Ventura, CA – from the Mission to Palm Street, as Mayor Bill Fulton’s Blog states, 62 pay stations are to be installed as part of a system of paid parking. The system gives you the option of ”tracking” your car via cash or card – the cost of which is based on current demand. Essentially, you park the car, crack the wallet, break out the cash or card, and go about enjoying your convenient access to downtown Ventura’s shops and businesses. The price will be decided by the computer you give the money to. As reported by the VC Star, the system will be turned on from 10a.m. to 10p.m. starting Sunday through Thursday and from 10a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. As Palm, Oak, California, Chestnut, Fir and Ash branch out further from Main Street, parking will be initially free, with charges being added the longer you park. Residential zones further east and Poli above Main will also be subject to parking licenses that will cost between $10 and $20, which, as one Ventura Star user “lag factor” put it: “sounds like LA or hollywood, which Ventura is definitely not.”
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The web is a wonderful place to find local businesses and vendors (and cats). If you want to get your dry-cleaning done, right now, you can do a quick Google search for “thousand oaks dry cleaning” and find some addresses, directions, services offered, and probably a few reviews. This makes things quick and easy and quite frankly, I could not survive without it. But what about hiring a DJ or entertainer? Probably 1/3 or less jobs come through the web for most DJ companies, but the percentage is increasing, and it will likely continue. DJ’s are generally not hired the same way that you may hire, say, a plumber. A plumber has a specific job to get done, and he either does it or he doesn’t (not to say that all plumbers are men, I’m sure there are plenty of women out there sporting the “plumbers crack” as well). My point is that if your plumber does the job wrong, they don’t get paid and you can hire a different plumber. A DJ needs to do the job right at the right time every time and so the biggest concern when looking for one is knowing that will be the case. Your event only happens once and you have never seen this DJ perform.
No matter how many paid advertisements, sexy websites, and internet directories you find yourself bombarded with, there really isn’t an obvious way of knowing that $250 DJ “Cracker Jack” from Craigslist is going to show up on time… or at all – let alone, put together the kind of experience you’ve been dreaming about. So here are a few tips that I’ve come up with to judge if you’re choosing the right DJ through the web.
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Although you might not know it yet, you need look no further than a dark little cubby on Thompson Blvd. for the most colorful nightlife in Ventura. Inside, the ceiling is a signature patchwork of old, slick records – their album sleeves quilt the walls and breath with music, melding into an ever evolving art gallery of local masterpieces – from photography to acrylic, with many of which for sale. And If you find colorful, artfully crafted compositions more appealing to the pallet than the eyes – you will be delighted to sip on one of Dirty Vinyl’s cocktails, served up by artisan drink maker, Erik Myles (voted best bartender in Ventura, 3 years running!).
Splashing together drinks with the speed and style of Jackson Pollack, Erik Myles is likely to help you discover your new favorite cocktail. For instance, have you ever been served a “Gonzo’s Revenge?” No? If you haven’t – you’re missing out. And once you wash down some fine drink – you’ll no doubt be swept up by the live music and mixing by Ventura’s most skillful artists and Local Ventura DJs. Dancing is a must, and if you can bring a little rhythm to those feet of yours you’ll be dancing in a pool of pastel colored lights to the vibratory joy of the best local Ventura entertainment. And who knows? You might even have an interesting conversation, or ten. This is made all the easier by an elegant and spacious, heated patio that connects to the accessible back parking lot. It’s easy to move inside and outside. And because the bar is an island and the staff is swift, service is available from just about anywhere inside. Dirty Vinyl is a dive bar with soul and a diverse crowd of regulars, both young and old, from every walk of life.
That cozy, cool beat-poet atmosphere may just be haunted by Alan Ginsberg. How else could a little Ventura establishment just off of Main be so seductive? Red lights glowing and pulsing, the heart of Dirty Vinyl pounds through the night – electrified with spirit.
More from Dirty Vinyl, Ventura DJ Venue and Art Gallery
Dirty Vinyl Info
Erik Myles Artist and Bartender
Dirty Vinyl on Facebook
Every once in a while an article comes a along that so many clients could really benefit from reading. Los Angeles Wedding DJ Elegant Event Entertainment writer Jason gives a good perspective on what exactly goes into pricing an LA Wedding DJ, and even some insight into the “cost” of hiring $250 Craigslist Wedding DJ as related to an article on Loud DJs. I highly recommend a read of this Los Angeles Wedding DJ article. Also, take a look at the photo of the “non-professional” DJ, it gave us all here a good laugh.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of Dj-ing for Matthew’s 40th birthday party at the Andaz Hotel in West Hollywood. This was Loud DJs first time at the venue. The venue itself is beautiful and tasteful. At first entering the building I literally thought I had waltzed into an art gallery by accident. The lobby is covered floor-to-ceiling with modern furniture and design pieces; the second floor mezzanine was showing off a photo collection dedicated to Ozzy Osbourne. Not your average hotel!
For the evening Loud Hollywood DJs was placed in one of several studios located on the mezzanine floor, overlooking the busy and colorful downtown Hollywood scene. Each of these studios is multi-purpose. They have hardwood floors, carpeted sections (which can be moved), large conference tables for corporate events and even a stylish iPod dock for using your own music. For presentation purposes they have professional A/V inputs for the ceiling PA system.
The party itself was a fun and obviously classy cocktail crowd. The entire far wall of Studio 4 at the Andaz was met with a full bar. The very courteous staff regularly kept the attendees fueled with a good selection of hors d’oeuvres and drinks. I kept to my diet soda w/lime of course. Music for the evening included tracks from one end of my library to the other, scanning hits meant to listen too, not force everyone to dance. All in all, I’m very happy to have DJ-ed Matt’s birthday party and hope for more opportunities to DJ at The Andaz Hollywood again!
More Photos in Hollywood DJ ing at the Andaz Hotel
I had heard a few months ago that Ableton and Serato were working on a project, and mostly assumed this would involve scratching clips within Ableton… sort of like an instance of SSL within Ableton, not the other way around! But as you can see in an article on CDM, Ableton inside Serato Scratch Live is the case for this new release. While you check that out, take a look at the new BEAST of a mixer that Rane is releasing in tandem. Two very exciting releases and I’m sure more to come at NAMM, which starts today.
Ean Golden posted a great article on DJTechTools concerning DJ etiquette that I would certainly recommend giving a good read. He provides some very good insight into dealing with other DJ’s, patrons, owners, and bouncers–whom I never see mentioned in DJ advice articles. I would have liked to see something about promoters in this article, but I could understand promoters needing an entire article unto themselves, which is why I plan on writing on that point very soon. That being said, give Ean’s article a read!
For the past five or six years, the art of Dj-ing has become increasingly more accessible to the general public. Becoming a disc jockey used to require a substantial investment into gear and media to play, as well as plenty of practice in mixing and beatmatching. The advent of timecoded vinyl systems such as Final Scratch, Scratch Live, Ms. Pinky, and many others along with completely internal systems such as PCDJ, Virtual DJ, etc. changed the game entirely. Downloading of music through torrents and other methods was already widespread, so quickly accumulating a music library at zero cost made Dj-ing far more attainable and thus more Dj’s entered the market. The fully internal software mixing options, though certainly not as popular as timecode systems in the professional world at that time, began getting greater attention because not only were they even lower cost than most timecode systems, they were easier to transport, had more features such as effects, and could bpm sync to tracks or a master clock automatically– almost completely bypassing a need to understand manual beatmatching. Software applications such as Traktor Pro can even quantize events and auto-gain tracks to create perfectly timed mixes even if the user makes a mistake, and programs like Mixed In Key reduce the chances of mixing clashing songs.
All things considered, the new emerging technology certainly felt like a threat to already established Dj’s because of software’s ability to do a lot of the work for the Dj, and the implication that this combined with lower cost-of-entry would bring many more Dj’s into the already diluted pool. The way I’ve always seen it is that if new technology arrives, one must understand and utilize it where needed to stay on top of the game and use it as an opportunity for more creativity. I use Traktor Pro, and set-up beat grids to keep my songs in sync, despite that I know how to beatmatch, because this affords me the chance to do things that would be very difficult otherwise. Mixing three decks in sync, using a sampler, and manipulating effects all at the same time using midi controllers; my mixes sound far better, and are more creative than what I could do with two turntables and a mixer alone (which I started with) and so I have the competitive edge and bring a new sound to the table. The new sound which I create, and the method of doing so is called controllerism, which is the generation of DJ from which I belong (turntablism being the alternate generation). But controllerists and digital Dj’s alike have been experiencing an exponential flood of new products and will subsequently receive a wave of new Dj’s.
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