RAVERS DIGEST DIGEST 51 REDxDROID.pdf · >> Email [email protected] to subscribe to Ravers Digest ( It is FREE ! ) Visit raversdigest.com - it will make you feel good

>> Email [email protected] to subscribe to Ravers Digest ( It is FREE ! ) Visit raversdigest.com - it will make you feel good. © RAVERS DIGEST 2005

RAVERS DIGESTDUB PRINT 7.1

AN INTERVIEW WITH RED SONYA

A DROID BEHAVIOR PARTY ... AND ...


OK RAVERS, HERE IS AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ONE AND ONLY DJ PROMOTER RED SONYA FROM SAN DIEGO..

First off Red, thanks for agreeing to help with this interview!! I have always wanted to tell people what goes into producing an event as a lot of RAVERS DIGEST readers plan to throw a party one day.

1) Throwing a party must take a lot of time, and from my own personal experience, most events just break even. So, the first question is why do you do it?

I enjoy bringing people together, it‛s so rewarding! I was more of a promoter before I started DJing. In 2001, I had an opportunity to do an event, and I pulled together some of my closest DJ friends at the time, (Skutech, Knottyboy, Jersan, and Frizz), and the rest is history really. 4 years later, I‛m still working w/ the same crew. We just like to have fun. We‛re blessed w/ a very supportive and loyal group of friends that come out to our events a lot. I feel like people trust that are parties are going to be fun and unique. We‛re not about making money. We usually try hard to budget right so that we don‛t have to charge so much at the door.


2) How many events do you help Vinyl Elements put together each year?

Well, first off, Vinyl Elements has been rocking a monthly event called REACTION at the Honey Bee Hive for over 3 years now. Currently, we are holding down every 3rd Saturday of the month there. We mix it up a lot @ REACTION. We have 2 areas to fill, so we always change up the music to make sure there‛s a variety, and we like to bring in live artists to perform alongside the DJ. Annually, we throw a park party called COMMUNITY in the summer, and a new year‛s party is usually a tradition of course. Knottyboy and I hold down GROOVE on Tuesday nights at the Red C Lounge downtown, and Knottyboy also DJs there on Sunday nights for a night called LIQUID which is a liquid DnB night. I also DJ @ Kava Lounge Thursday nights w/ Mark E Quark and Andy Boswell for a night we like to call DIG!. Seperately, Vinyl Elements Crew members may hold different residencies, but as a group we promote each other as much as we can. I send out weekly emails regarding anything my crew and I are involved in.

3) What is the range in dollars for booking a DJ?

I prefer not to talk about money issues involved in putting on events. But I can say, it depends on who the DJ is. It seems they‛re more expensive the further away they are. I find most DJs from Cali are down for the cause, and can be reasonable.


4) How much do you count on email to promote each event, versus paper fliers, versus web listings and myspace?

Email is very important, but I‛d say just as important as web promotions and flyers. I try my hardest to promote any way I can to get the word out there, and I never really have a way of knowing which method is the best. The hard part about email is building the list up. For the first few years of hosting events, I was the girl at the party w/ the clipboard who was signing people up. I think that‛s the way to do it, to get the crowd while they are they are having a good time, then invite them to come back!

5) When I throw a party, I am usually pretty anxious the night of the event. In fact, I always have a nightmare that nobody shows up. Does that happen to you?

Yes! I sometimes resort to frantic text messages the night of, to get that last reminder out to my homies! But I learned not to stress it too much. It‛s not worth it, I just have to remind my self to relax and have a good time. It helps to have a crew to work with. All of the Vinyl Elements DJs play different styles of music, have different crews of friends from different scenes, so when we all come together and party, it‛s usually a good time, and a decent turnout I‛d say.


6) Besides your own parties, where do you like to go in San Diego, and do you ever go to LA?

It‛s tough to say, ‘cause I work so much at night… I‛m into the local-dive-bar-w/-DJs scene. I like spots like Landlord Jim‛s & Bar Dynamite (both are fun on Wednesdays). Occasionally I‛ll hit up A C Lounge, Kadan, or The Whistlestop… I know for a fact that if I wasn‛t DJing every Thursday at the Kava Lounge, I‛d be rocking out at DEEP, San Diego‛s longest running DnB weekly, that now resides at the Honey Bee Hive. The Red C Lounge is also a fave spot for me, the bartenders rock, and I know the DJs every night of the week there. It‛s definitely a locals hang out (funny, ‘cause it has a mainstream crowd there too)…I honestly think there‛s a lack of cool venues in this town…. And no I never make it up to LA. Lame, I know.

7) What would you say is the best event you have ever attended, and what is the best event you have helped produce? What made those parties so special?

Hands down, my absolute favorite event is Coachella. I go every year, and have the time of my life. I love everything about it, the location, the music, the people, etc. One of my favorite events that I helped produce would probably be COMMUNITY last year. It was the coolest day party I can remember. I‛m sure it was because everyone I knew and have met and love in this underground scene was there. It was such a beautiful thing. I love seeing people come together.

8) What do you think about people who take drugs at parties?

As long as you can be responsible and respectable, then do what you choose.


9) Who are a few of your favorite DJs?

Crazy, the first few names that popped in my head were my friends. My local heroes are: Skutech, Andy Boswell, Mark E Quark, Jersan, Knottyboy, Ricky Wrecks…Other than that, there are too many good DJs to even try to list especially since I love so many different styles of music.

Thanks so much for your help red!

WELL, THERE YOU HAVE IT RAVERS !

OH, I MEAN

“ TH3R3 U HAVE IT RAVRS”

THESE PICS WERE ALL FROM THE VINYL ELEMENTS 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY AT THE HONEY BEE HIVE IN SAN DIEGO. THAT DUDE SPINNING IS Z-TRIP.




OVERDOSING ON NOTHING

“I am trippin... I keep thinking that everyone here is a DJ I know, like: that is RAW.”

“That is RAW.” says G-String, also know as “Mike.”

“Really? No fucking way! That is some krazy shit!” But there is no way that other dude was Jayvon, and hey, that‛s not Hazen over there, is it? No, it‛s not, you see, I was trippin, but I wasn‛t. Rockstar + Vodka + one little puff of wacky tobbaccy? That can‛t be enough to make me trip out.



It was the womb like atmosphere that triggered the frying sensation, and it seemed so suddenly clear to me the deepest connection with raving, and yes, this was a rave. No Drug Dealers, no Permits, no Lasers, no Promoters handing out fliers, no too much of much. 90 people, an LCD projector, DJs and minimal techno in a small dark box. Pulsating rhythms, mothers blood pumping, heart beating, lungs breathing. The warm, dark atmosphere. No wonder it makes you feel so close to those around you.



I actually started to howl like a wolf. But why? Well, I was tripped out by all that prenatal stuff, of course. It was overwhelming, really, it was. But was it really? What was so overwhelming? The simple music? The low budget visuals? The Go-Go dancer that was often motionless? Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe. Boop, Be-Doo-Dupe, Do Do Dupe.


There was barely enough to dance to, and yet I injured my left elbow from moving too suddenly too many times. Too bad, that was my new move.

People cheered and screamed at the DJs, everyone was just so into the music, and there was just so little there. You could imagine only a keyboard and drum set making up the records, and it was that simplicity that made it so provocative. Pure, Beautiful, Modern - Art.

... well, thats the article, really weird, huh? and really short, too. but i wrote that after we got home, which was at 5 AM or so, and before i went to sleep.







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RAVERS DIGEST DIGEST 51 REDxDROID.pdf · >> Email [email protected] to subscribe to Ravers Digest ( It is FREE ! ) Visit raversdigest.com - it will make you feel good