"You Played The Set Of The Night"

Quote from one of the promoters.

You cannot ask for much more than that.

I had done my typical limited preparation, all recently burned CDs (from the 6 months) have no labels printed so I have to go by memory.  I have at least mixed all the tracks once in my bedroom but generally in a different order.

I was quite excited to be having a full room of potential dancers, for those that don't know, Bridges nightclub is split over two floors, ground and basement, and there were potentially 140 people to come straight in after the excellent boat party to where I was about to play.

However the decks were not set up so everyone was sent downstairs where the music was already playing.

I resigned myself to playing to two people and the staff like last time.  I put on my first track and started looking for the second.

Except the second track I had planned to play was on the same CD.  And that was the end of my planning.

I had a few tracks that I had recently discovered that I really wanted to play but at least half the tracks were chosen on the night.  Some I didn't have a clue what they sounded like before I tried cueing them up.

I enjoy playing this way.  Far more fun than having your whole set planned - but each to their own.

Slowly surely the upstairs bar started to fill up and given that the vibe of the boat party had finished up-tempo and everyone was in a party mood, I decided to play house music, often of the more jacking variety rather than my usual more deeper/minimal style that I would play for a warm-up set.

I tried to keep it interesting, playing some slightly more downtempo tracks in between the party monsters.

My particular favourite track that I played was this monster which got a really good reaction:

This was easily my best ever set, it could hardly have gone any better, some really good mixing, no fuck-ups, so many compliments - not only by friends but many randoms too, I must have had 15 or so people come up to me during the night to say how much they loved my set.

Honoured.  And more excited now for future sets.  Confidence has boomed.

Only slight downside was having my first experience of a laptop DJ setting up to play after me - and of course the sound cut out.  Revenge of the laptops!  However I totally forgot to sneak up and pull his out whilst he was playing...must remember next time ;-)

A massive thank you to the guys behind Time2Groove, not only for two excellent parties in one day, but especially for the opportunity and I am delighted to have repaid your faith in me.

Next up I am playing around 11:30pm to 00:30am at Hubfest on Saturday 22nd June 2013.  I will be DJing after the bands so may have a slightly different style of house music to play for you.

I would be delighted if some can join me - it is only £6 entry and it is an all-day event for those who like bands.

Also I have a new mix up and would be delighted if you had chance to listen.

Upcoming DJ Set Gigs - 2 Of Them!!!

Sets.  Gigs.  Whatever you call them, it is another step on the way to superstardom and having far more blow jobs from groupies and endless lines of benzocaine or lidocaine from promoters, ticking off more stadiums than your average non-league football fan.

For the present I am delighted to be able to announce two upcoming sets.

Tonight, Saturday 1st June 2013, I will be playing at Bridges Nightclub in Reading for Time 2 Groove.

10:30pm to 11:30pm.  £10 on the door.

It is the after party from the boat party and sure to be a great atmosphere, lots of special people are going to be there.

And on Saturday 22nd June 2013, I am playing at Hubfest, which is mostly a rock/indie event, and I am one of the two after-party DJs introducing house music to hundreds of people who have never heard it before because they all wear black.  I might need some dancers please.  This will be £6 to get in.

It might be like putting a band on at the end of a club night, but I like a challenge and I have several tracks in mind that I think will appeal to those of both musical faiths.

And if you cannot wait to see me DJ, there are now a total of 9 mixes publicly available on Mixcloud, the latest of which is Cinderella Rockerfella and I think it is rather fab.

See you on the dancefloor.

Cinderella Rockerfella by James Winfield on Mixcloud

Less Cargo

I made this mix a few weeks ago to commemorate good friends that have moved to France for 6 months or so on new adventures in their lives.

The challenge I set myself was to create a mix where every track had a French producer or remixer, to prove that the French do make really good underground music - and to go over a variety of house music genres.

I like the flow of this mix, starting with more summery house tracks, then goes into deeper territory before going into percussive house and the beautiful classic by Agoria - Les Violins Ivres.

Then my favourite mix where I mix the aforementioned track into the Amine Edge remix of Ghetto Kraviz - upping the tempo and I was surprised how well together they went together when mixing, I had feared a car crash.

I finished the mix off in techno territory, and with a bona-fide classic.

I recorded it in one attempt, though I appreciate a few of the mixes were slightly off, either in terms of beat-matching just being a tiny bit off perfection, or sometimes my timing.  I am starting to think that at this stage in the Superstar DJ project there perhaps should be a bit more quality control, which is why I haven't really promoted this mix at all.

It is good, everyone I have played it to has given me positive feedback - but I know I can do better.

Tracklisting as follows:

1. Etienne De Crecy - Prix Choc
2. Dan Ghenacia & Shonky - Close To The Edge
3. Okain - Sleepwalking
4. Intruder - Amame (Dyed Soundorom Downtown Remix)
5. Gwen Maze & Jef K - Boy Meets Girl
6. Dan Ghenacia - Da Doo Da
7. Agoria - Les Violons Ivres (Super Remix)
8. Nina Kraviz - Ghetto Kraviz (Amine Edge Mix)
9. Jennifer Cardini & Shonky - August In Paris
10. Chateau Flight - Chichi Devils
11. Agoria - Code 1026

Less Cargo by James Winfield on Mixcloud

Massive Announcement

Dear Fans and Stalkers

It is the news that you have been waiting for, the first big announcement of 2013 – James Winfield’s first DJ set of the year.

Yes, I will be playing for Time 2 Groove on Saturday 2^nd March 2013 – between 10pm and midnight.  On the Flight Deck – which I assume is the upper floor of the two.

I am really excited, it is a massive opportunity for me to move up the superstar DJ ladder and just play some beautiful music that I love even more than my fans love me.

So much so, that I am even going to get a hair cut.  And I have ordered a new t-shirt, though whether it arrives in time is another matter.  I might even play some trance or some fake house.

The night itself has lots of local house DJs, is promoted by 3 lovely people, is only £5 to get in and they are hiring a Martin Audio soundsystem.  That is what fabric have.  Better than Funktion One.

Enough talking – please come.

Pavement Cyclist - Recorded Mix Number Six

I am not a huge fan of techno. I wouldn't normally play it unless I was in the mood and the crowd were up for it. 

I much prefer house music. 

However I hate pavement cyclists. They are a menace to society. I want rid of them. Now I am not a violent person nor do I approve of violence so I decided the best way to show my distaste towards the pavement cyclist scumbags that every day impede upon my peaceful pedestrian activities was to record a techno mix influenced by them. 

Dedicated to anyone who has had to move out of the way for those selfish arseholes. 

This is my sixth publicly available DJ mix and I have plenty more planned.

Tracklisting:

1. Marc Houle - Seeing In The Dark

2. Eric Johnston - Waiting For Weird

3. Clouds - Optic

4. Wolfgang Voigt - Kafkatrax 3.2

5. Excercise One - Top Score!

6. Soul Center - Dyr Bul Scyl

7. Vitalic - La Rock 01

8. Hrdvsion - Prettier Than That

9. A. Mochi - Black Reigns

10. Planetary Assault Systems - Sucktion

11. Traversable Wormhole - Where 2d Meets 3d (Chris Liebing Remix)

12. Dominik Eulberg & Gabriel Ananda - Eucalypse Now!

13. Mr. Flagio - Take A Chance

Why Am I The Favourite DJ Of Only One Person????? Hello...

Hello.

And I mean that in a camp, sarcastic kind of tone.

I'm sat here wondering what position I will come in in the Resident Advisor DJ poll this year, having yet again failed to finish about Jimmy Saville in the DJ Mag poll (though that one is a bag of shit and we all know that), and I had a glance at my DJ page on Resident Advisor to find that I only have one fan.

ONE solitary fan.

Only one person has me as one of their favourite DJs.

Maybe this means I will sneak into the top 100 as a total surprise, but maybe not.  How many years do I have to wait?  I've been DJing for over a year now.

Ricardo Villalobos is a favourite of 12959 RA users.
Sven Vath is a favourite of 6803 RA users.
Even Swedish House Mafia are a favourite of 653 RA users.

For fuck's sake - Skrillex has 332 more people that rate him as a favourite than I have.

Surely I am better and more popular than Skrillex?  I have a real name for a start.

Go on, show me some love.

Unexpected Update

Us prospective superstar DJs live an uncertain life between the realms of excitement and delusion.

I have actually been putting the hours in the last couple of weeks to practice, and I was looking forward to a good night out on Friday when the call came "Do you want to play for the first 45 minutes?".

I thought for about 30 seconds.

"Hell yes" was answer.

So instead of preparing for a night out, I had to quickly think about which of the zillions of tracks I have, I should play.

I only played maybe half a dozen tracks, but it all seemed to go well, and I actually got people dancing!  OK two of them were my friends, but there were other people dancing too.

I started with:

And finished with:

It was a really enjoyable 45 minutes, my first taste of CDJ2000's - wow they are superb.  Sub89 does have a really good set up.  I was perhaps a little overwhelmed with two Martin Audio monitor booth speakers at first as I am rather not used to that but all was good.

And the night I played for, Listed, was run by good people with really good taste in music, so I hope they have more nights in Reading at Sub89.

Anyway, back to my teleport, I need a beer.