Thomas Datt i n Oakland!!

Saturday, July 16th, 2005


Thomas Datt came over from NYC to DJ last night at The Noodle Factory in Oakland and holy shit he blew me away! He played a bunch of his tracks (beautiful!) and the rest of his set was just so melodic. Oakland may suck in general, but he made part of the city glow last night. :D

I got to chat with him a few times before and during his set which was cool as hell. How many DJs / music producers do you know that walk around the dance floor at shows/parties/raves talking with their fans? Not many..

I've looked up to Thomas (and many other music producers) for a long time, so to finally be able to meet him in person was pretty incredible. Yeah, so what if I'm "star-struck"? :P~

We even got a picture taken of Thomas and me on the dance floor (during his set even -- he mixed in Swing 2 Harmony then ran out from behind the DJ booth onto the floor to dance, haha!), which is now posted with the event pictures at www.digiraver.com .. here's a link to the whole album! I'm glad this picture came out ok =)



And damn you Aaron for not making your way down from Boise for this and bringing vinyls for him to sign! =) Your loss tho! We'll catch him again, I'm sure.

I hope Thomas enjoys 1015 when he DJs in San Francisco on August 27. He's going to be spinning at the club his idol (Paul van Dyk) spins at whenever he comes to the bay area (a REAL venue!). How fucking cool is that?! Hopefully he'll come back more often because I really had a good time. If any of you are in the area that weekend, I suggest stopping by 1015 to see him spin!

Track of the night? 2v2!!!! (even if I DID jinx him with it :P )

Come back soon, Thomas.
- Ryan
Trance music

Friday, July 8th, 2005



I read this today and it was so perfect that I just had to post it here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trance

1. trance

A form of electronic music that has spiralled out from other forms such as techno and house. Essentially, trance combines a powerful "4-to-the-floor" (or occasionally breakbeat) drumtrack with a strong melodic hookline.

Trance is indisputably one of the most emotional genres that actually exists, because it is all self-interpretation. There are no instrumental or musical limits to trance, and rather than listening to some random guy screaming about his life, associating with a trance progression or hookline is much more deep, and much more personal.

Like other genres, trance has many subgenres, some of which have become very commercialised to the extent where the musical merit of some tracks must be questioned (eg. Flip'n'Fill, Scooter etc.)

At the higher end of the more uplifting, melodic (and relatively popular) styles of trance are DJs such as Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, and Ferry Corsten. These DJs in particular can make beautifully structured mixes their own music, and the music of others, building it into a euphoric collage which spans multiple energy levels, in order to provide the listener with peak/trough feelings, and carry them through numerous emotions and mental states.

The creation and spread of trance music is mainly down to machinery such as the Roland JP-8000 (providing the prominently manipulated supersaw wave), and experimental DJs such as Sasha & John Digweed.

--
Kudos to whoever wrote the above definition. I couldn't have said it better myself.
What am I up to?

Monday, May 2nd, 2005


Just got back (literally 5 minutes ago) from the airport after a weekend in Indio, California for Coachella 2005 Music Festival with Matt and Randy. It was a great time!

Man. I had been to a music festival before (Ultra Music Festival in Miami, FL) so I thought I knew what this was going to be like. Not even close. :P This was my first time at Coachella and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed by the variety in music genres at this two-day music and arts festival. Right when you walk into the "venue" (a huge, huge polo field converted into an enormous music grounds) you can tell just how massive it really is. 5 stages/large tents going all day with different artists rotating in and out every 45min to 1 1/2 hours. Just about any type of music you can think of could be found on one of the stages some time during the weekend. Rap, alternative, rock, trance, techno, drum and bass, synth-pop, even various R&B'ish and african music varieties.

I ended up seeing [all of, or bits of] Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Armin van Buuren, Junkie XL, The Bravery, The Dresden Dolls, Hernan Cattaneo, Weezer, Kasabian, Zap Mama (haha), and more.. Armin was the best set of the weekend for me, followed closely by Chemical Brothers. Junkie XL impressed me, as did Hernan Catteneo. The little I saw of Coldplay was great -- too bad their set overlapped with Chemical Brothers'. :(

One thing I wasn't expecting/wasn't aware of is that this isn't just a music festival. It's a big festival for arts in general, of which music is the biggest part. But there are amazing art exhibits throughout the grounds, such as ~50 large trashcans decorated with various themes to promote recycling, multiple large metal sculptures that spew fire (one with a turbine even!), a show with real robots that destroy various constructed items (mannequins, a large ugly paper mache baby), and even a real "tesla coil" with electricity shooting out of it. It was all pretty impressive.

On top of that, when nightfall came, the fields turned into a stunning display of art and color. Lighted palm trees, walls with hundreds of multi-colored circles lit up with blacklights, a large orange/pink dome with a mini dance club inside, spotlights around the perimeter of the entire venue pointing up at the same place in the sky creating a visible "cage" of light around the grounds, and of course, the light and laser shows at all of the stages and tents. We should have plenty of pictures of these things to post soon to share the beauty with everyone who couldn't attend!

While I may not have liked all of the music/bands/acts I saw during the weekend, it really didn't detract at all from my enjoyment of the overall Coachella experience. The mood of the festival-goers was very surreal -- almost unbelievably serene and mellow. Everyone was there to enjoy the arts and the different types of music. Coachella definitely brings some of the best of each music genre together under one "roof," and that is what I found most impressive about the festival. It didn't matter which gig I was watching -- everyone was so friendly and happy just to be there with so many other people who share a passion for music. With over 100,000 people over the two-day period, there were plenty of laughs and good times to go around. :)

Until next year...

-Ryan

What am I up to?

Tuesday, April 26th, 2005


Just got back from a great time in Los Angeles! Stephen and I (Eric was supposed to come too but had to work :/) met up in LA to go see Markus Schulz and Rank 1 perform at Circus, an amazing event put on by Spundae! I've gotta say KUDOS to all involved in making this show happen. Both Rank 1 and Markus were absolutely incredible and did not disappoint!

To start off the night, we had a chick in a short white dress run up to us with a permanant marker and say "HI I'M GETTING MARRIED WILL YOU PLEASE SIGN MY DRESS" ... Stephen and I kinda looked at each other, and I made sure she was seriously asking me to do what I thought she was asking, and she said "YEAH ANYWHERE!" So I signed her right breast. :P Stephen wimped out and signed her tummy when there was CLEARLY another titty to autograph, but whatever!

Then another chick caught our eye. She's the one on the right! Stephen grew another couple of balls and walked up to her and asked if he could take a picture OF ONLY HER SHOES! She just about lost it from laughing so hard but she said fine and ... he took a picture of her shoes. It's on my phone, I'll upload it later :P But you can tell in the pic that those heels were slamming! ;)

Another girl was asking me to sing to her the lyrics of the song that was playing at the time. She was a pretty cute asian chick and was really feeling the song, but couldn't make out the words. I was singing along with it and she apparently noticed and OBVIOUSLY KNEW I WAS AN EXPERT ON THE SUBJECT! :P~ We chatted a bit. Nice girl.

I'm not sure I've ever been as drunk as I was last night, but I had an incredible time! Damn those Redbull + Vodkas. ;) Markus played an encore of two songs, one which I had never heard before but fell in love with, followed by Markus Schulz - First Time (GREAT TRACK!). We got lucky enough to catch Markus after the show when he wasn't too busy and asked him what the name of the first song was: Airwave - When Things Go Wrong. EXCELLENT TUNE! Thank you Stephen, I owe you for having the balls I did not. ;P

The whole last hour and a half of Markus' set was songs I knew, many with vocals, which made getting into the music just that much easier. I loved it! Rank 1 blew my mind too! He played a high energy set that I wish I could remember more of. :P~ We even made it into a couple of pictures someone took and posted on the tranceaddict forums! I definitely can't wait for Spundae to put on more big DJ shows in LA and San Francisco!

-Ryan

Miami Trip!

Thursday, March 31st, 2005


You know how when you get back from a vacation, it often feels good to be home? This was not one of those -- this was a vacation I never wanted to end.

I just spent 5 days in Miami, Florida with some awesome people. Eric Flynn (friend and old roommate), Jennifer (friend who you have seen before on here), Stephen (friend and Eric's co-worker), and Clint (met him for the first time this trip, known him online for a while -- great guy).

pictures (don't take them too seriously)
alcohol does strange things to people. :P~

We went to Miami because it was the week of the Winter Music Conference, which is basically an 8-day electronic/trance/techno music extravaganza. All the major (and minor) DJs come to Miami for Ultra Music Festival and end up playing all the big clubs in the city every night leading up to it. We went to Club Space in Miami, which is one of the top 5 rated clubs in the country, and saw Edgar V and Paul Van Dyk -- the night was **SLAMMING**! Everyone had a fantastic time, and both DJs blew my mind. I have heard many PVD sets before, but this was by far the best I have ever heard him play. So many great songs I knew, so much energy, so upbeat -- perfect music selection for our first night of trance!

Harold and Joe met up with us that night for dinner and the club. Unfortunately, Joe's girlfriend wasn't feeling well so they had to leave early. I hope they had a good time until they had to go. All very nice people.

The next day was Ultra Music Festival!! It ran from 11am to Midnight, but after the night before there was no way we could dance for 13 hours, so we took our time and arrived between 4 and 5pm. We went directly to the main stage in the ampitheater and danced til the bitter end. What a night! Caught the very end of Ferry Corsten's set, then got to see Paul Oakenfold, Junkie XL, Tiesto and Paul Van Dyk. I was very happy with most of the music all the DJs played. Lots of popular and perhaps "overplayed" tracks, but this is a festival with hundreds of thousands of people to appeal to. The mix and variety in the sets was perfect. Junkie XL provided the perfect break between the full-on trance DJ sets. I was overjoyed (and over-exhausted) by the time Paul Van Dyk closed the festival down with "Nothing But You" and "Time of Our Lives"!

The following two days were for recuperation and seeing the city. We met up with Joel (on the left) for a few hours, which was nice since he's another guy we've known online for a while but never met until this trip. Really cool guy -- wish we could have hung out longer. Our last night in Miami could not have been better -- it was the perfect ending to a perfect vacation with a perfect group of friends. I miss them already.

I did not want to leave.

-Ryan

What am I up to?

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2005


Just got back from a nice relaxing trip to Hollywood and San Diego with Matt.

The main point of the trip was to see Armin van Buuren live at Circus Disco. I have to say, Armin blew my mind! This was the first time I had seen him spin live even though I have been a long-time fan and listening to his music and A State Of Trance mixes for a very long time. He did not disappoint! He threw down a bunch of tracks I know and love, including Above and Beyond - No One On Earth (Gabriel & Dresden Vocal Mix) and Ridgewalkers feat. El - Find (Kyau Vs. Albert Remix). What a night. :)

pic1, pic2, pic3, pic4, pic5, pic6, pic7, pic8

San Diego right afterwards and was pretty laid back. Sleep late, watch tv, drive around a bit, get lunch, get dinner, socialize with my family, go home. Always nice to see the folks, just hope Matt wasn't bored out of his mind. :P

-Ryan
Florida Trip!

Thursday, January 13th, 2005


Just got back from a 6 day trip to Florida with Matt! It's been over 15 years since I was last there (specifically Orlando) to do the tourist thing, so this was all totally new to me. The weather couldn't have been better--with our fancy Seabring Convertible (:P), we tackled the 75-85 degree weather from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando to Tampa.

The primary reason for going was to see Jimmy Eat World who was playing 3 shows in the 3 cities I just mentioned one after another. The Revolution in Ft. Lauderdale was a nice, cozy venue. House of Blues in Orlando was larger, but just like the other HoB I've been to, so there doesn't seem to be much variety in how they come. The Masquerade just outside of Tampa sucked though--aside from the cheap drinks--and is a plain, boring, ugly venue. The sound was fine though. :P

We were able to stop at both Universal themeparks, 3 Disney parks (Epcot, MGM Studios, and a little bit of Magic Kingdom), and the Kennedy Space Center.

The most memorable part of the trip was the food. Here's a brief list of the places we ate, which were nothing less than extraordinary (if not for the food, then the atmosphere):

Oasis Cafe at Seabreeze Boulevard - Ft. Lauderdale
Fulton's Crab House at Downtown Disney - Orlando
Lombard's Seafood Grille at Universal Studios - Orlando
Emeril's at Universal Studios CityWalk - Orlando
Coral Reef Restaurant at Epcot - Orlando
Mitsukoshi Teppanyaki at Epcot - Orlando (incredible calamari)

While on the subject of food, I might as well mention two amazing restaurants we went to in Vegas the week before:

RumJungle at Mandalay Bay
Luxor Steakhouse at Luxor (great escargot)

All in all, the last two weeks have been unforgettable and were spent with some very great people. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend lots of money on two great vacations. :P

Ryan

What am I up to?

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005


A lot of people have been asking what I've been up to, so updating my website is in order. :P

A list of recent concerts and shows:

10-26-04 Jimmy Eat World @ House Of Blues - Las Vegas, NV
10-29-04 Paul Van Dyk @ 1015 - San Francisco, CA
10-31-04 Paul Oakenfold @ Ruby Skye - San Francisco, CA
11-17-04 Simple Plan @ The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA
12-15-04 Tiesto @ Ruby Skye - San Francisco, CA
12-30-04 David Copperfield @ MGM Grand - Las Vegas, NV
01-01-05 Tiesto @ Ice - Las Vegas, NV
01-07-05 Jimmy Eat World @ Revolution - Ft Lauderdale, FL
01-08-05 Jimmy Eat World @ House Of Blues - Orlando, FL
01-09-05 Jimmy Eat World @ The Masquerade - Ybor City, FL

New Year's Eve in Vegas is insane! I'm so glad I went! Being on Las Vegas Blvd when it's shut down to traffic is way cool. We had the best seats in the house for the many fireworks displays off casino rooftops all the way down the strip. Definitely an experience!

pics <3

A "me" update

Saturday, October 9th, 2004


People have been bugging me for a recent picture for a while...
So here you go (clicky):


Taken a few weeks ago during my visit with my grandparents in Bend, Oregon. Enjoy!

-Ryan




(c) Gaschamber Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.