Acid House

This week Doc Martin is bringing the creator of Acid House DJ Pierre to a warehouse somewhere in the city. They will be celebrating 20 years of Acid house.

In 1987 I heard my first Acid House at a party called "Sexpress" at a bar on 7th, just east of the LA River in Boyle Heights, the real Eastside. The DJ/promoter was DJ Adrian who had been a part of the Awesome Foursome DJ crew which included: Mark 'Danger,' Willie 'Guilty, & Danny 'Debonair.' From El Sereno house parties, to Hollywood established and floating parties like/at: Details, Red Zone, Florentine Gardens, Ukranian Hall and Rosie's these guys played out a lot in mid to late 80's. By 1987, Adrian was doing his own thing and focusing on the new House music coming from Chicago and New York.

At "Sexpress" you would walk into a dark room lit by black lights and televisions that were set upside down playing porn. The walls were covered in black plastic with day glo doodles and splattering all over. The beats were relentless, instrumental and mind blowing.

In the other room, the bar to be exact, Eddie Ayala, Johhny Vatos and John Avila of Oingo Boingo played East L.A. rock classics to give you a break from the new sonic experience that was Acid house.

Here is the link to a mix I made using some of the earliest Acid House I could find. It aired on my radio show. Here it is in it's entirety. Enjoy. PT Acid House mix

I don't usually think of promoting parties on here, but being that classic rocks stations and the print media are spending so much time on the 1967 Summer of Love, I think this is important to recognize our own cultural creations such as Rave culture which was bigger and still very much alive. In the UK their Summer of Love was in 1988, here in L.A. 1992 saw the crest of the large illegal raves. Today we have larger events at the Sports Arena, Orange show and other venues all based on those early models of raving.

I hope you come out and experience this music as it was meant to be experienced, in a warehouse, with great DJs, open minded music lovers and dancing like no one is watching.

Alignment & Form

I took my first yoga class at the Eagle Rock rec ctr. about 4.5 yrs. ago. I had really bad back problems and some friends told me they got rid of their back problems by doing Yoga.

The first time I did it was so hard to keep up. My body had never moved into some of those positions and the breathing was intense. At the end of it, when we went into meditation, I left my body. When I returned I was totally refreshed and hooked.

I followed that same teacher, Knekoh (pronounced Nico) to the abandoned Merchant's Bank on the corner of 4th and Main St. when she left the Eagle Rock ctr. I saw her go through her pregnancy doing amazing gravity defying positions. She taught up til the day before her son was born and she came back to teaching exactly one week after giving birth doing most all the same amazing positions. She is my hero. I would practive once or twice a week and saw my body change. I felt taller, stronger, more energy and no more back problems.

Eventually Knekoh opened up a proper studio across the street in the San Fernando building where she named it Yoga Circle Downtown. At times I have been dedicated to going two or three times a week and wow, I was unstoppable. My body wouldn't accept crap food. I was never sick or sore. Never tired or in dis-ease. This was about two years ago and I was seriously considering becoming a yoga teacher with Knekho as my master teacher.

I have visited other studios, except a Bikram, and none of them teach like Knekoh. Some are too loopy, some are too laid back, some are too into being perfect, some are just boring. Knekoh is a former dancer, she knows the power of a good physical workout, knows how to help you focus on a muscle, leaves you to explore your personal edge, helps you push yourself when she sees you are kicking back, she goes into the meditation and esoteric elements of yoga, but not to the point where you just want to sit and stare at your navel. You get a physical and meta-physical workout with her.

At other times I would get so busy with work and life that I would miss up to a month, only to return to once or twice a week. During these breaks I would practice at home on my own. I increased my time in a head stand to up to 5 minutes. Knekho told the class one time that Yogis lived so long because they spend so much time upside down. It reverses how the body works with gravity, opens up places and gives organs a chance to re-align, breathe and rest from sitting the same way. Makes sense to me! So I love being upside down.

This last break from serious yoga was about 6 months. I really felt it this past month. My back pains returned. I gained some weight. I am eating crap.

Today, I went back and Knekoh was there with open arms. It was so good. I did the beginner alignment and form class and I surprised myself that I was able to do things I thought I wasn't going to do. I feel great. I haven't gone out of my body since that first time, but other experiences and moments of clarity have presented themselves. I feel aligned. My muscles are tight and I know I will be sore in some places tommorow, but I will love it.

OM

Eastside vs. eastside CHINGAZOS

Throughout bloglandia there has been an upsurge in the battle over what is considered Eastside spurred on by a new rag, which will remain nameless here. This rag claims to reflect the views of 'eastsiders' in neighborhoods such as Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park and Downtown LA.

One word that all the discussions like here, here, and here have pussy footed around is RACISM/WHITE SUPREMACY.

This re-imagining of LA is fueld by racism/white supremacy. Yes there are and have been Chicanos or hi-spanics also claiming Eastide on the westside of the river, but racism doesn't just come from white toward people of color, in its most insidious form racism/white supremacy manifests in the minds and actions of people of color who agree with the lies and views of reality from a white is always right perspective. Think: dye blonde hair & blue contact lenses on a person of color and feeling safe around white people as opposed to your own people of color.
Blonde Asian?

How is this racist? Well when did the term come up in these areas? When there was enough white people in these areas lower middle class sections to make them feel they had a community. Up until then they were just a few gringos in the middle of brown working class areas. They learned the language shopped in the 'marketas' and blended in. Yes, there have always been white people in the hills high above Echo Park & Silver Lake and Los Feliz is primiarily white, but those folks don't worry about stuff like this, they got theirs. It is the ones who are trying to make a buck by labeling their area into a demographic to sell and to sell to.

Funny how these folks from the rag don't include Thai Town, Little Armenia, Korea Town or Philipino Town in their view of Eastside. uh maybe because there is not enough white people in these areas? Just like the 'Westside' does that include Mar Vista, the brown and black areas of Culver City? What about Palms? NO. Not enough rich white people there.

These terms and attempts to change cultural, social, political and plain old LA history is what racists do.

What about the dang Nayarit bar in Echo Park? Oh yeah we agreed to call it the Echo.

Folks blame immigrants for coming here and not learning the language and culture, but they are only doing what they see others doing. They move into our areas, once they get enough of them in, they start changing names, opening shops that only cater to theirs and stop trying to learn the local vernacular.
So it is.

East of...
...where you use to live?
...where you wish you lived?
...what you know?
...where you are comfortable?
...where you always go to?
...where you feel safe?
...where you always find and take a date?

Another Supa Dupa LA weekend!

I'm on vacation and this past weekend was the epitome of a great LA weekend:

Thurs:
After a great accupuncture session in the valle, as I was driving down the 5 back to BH, Harry G. called me to be sure to pick up a copy of the latest "L.A. Weekly." It has a new feature article by Pachucoville's favorite Daniel Hernandez titled "The Art Outlaws of East L.A.". It is about Asco the art collective started by Harry Gamboa Jr., Gronk, Patsi Valdez and Willie Heron in the late 1960s. It is dope because it sheds a light on this super group of artists. Just the images alone show that these Chicanos with no art school credentials, from the streets of ELA were able to shake things up in ways many today are still trying to do. Looking at how hip they look and knowing how bad ass they are in their own way really made me happy that Chicano/as have Asco to look to for inspiration and angry that the "LA Weekly" ignores so many contemporary bad ass Chicano artists. Two weeks ago they had their annual "LA People" issue where they list people they think are cool or are 'doing something' for LA. Some folks were in there for truly doing something others for being a door guy, being born to rich parents and able to be weird on a trust fund, others because they surf! Anyway, I'll stick to positives. Read this article.

Fri:
MIDNITE RIDAZZ!!!! Big Bike Dan put this ride together and called it The World's Slowest Race!
We started at House of Spirits in Echo Park, rode East back to BH and to the Mariachi Plaza where Big Bike Dan played some cumbias, boleros and other Spanish party music for the Ridazz to dance to. We then headed back over the river via 4th/3rd st. and back West on Temple to Hoover North, East on Sunset to Echo Park where the 'race' to be last was held. DOPE L.A. Style!

Sat:*
My homeboy RC1 had his B-day party in Malibu @ Moonshadows (yup where Mel Gibson got pedo and busted), so it was a ride and half. Very fun, though. Driving the long way through the valley and through Las Virgenes is what So. Cal driving beauty is all about. If you don't know, ask somebody. Moonshadows on the edge of the Pacific, with dope beats, great friends and pretty people, are the stuff "Entourage" scenes are written around. Lovely.

Sun:
Grand Performances kicked off their season by shutting down Grand Ave. between 4th and 2nd streets and let Ozomatli headline a dope afternoon of LA style beats. WOW, can never go wrong with Ozo in the L.A. streets.
DEEP 'Where House Lives' was hosting Body & Soul from NYC.
Some background: Deep has been going on for about 9 or 10 yrs now in and around Hollywood. It has been at the Vanguard on Hollywood Blvd. for the last two years. Its resident DJ, founder, guru, rock star, is Marques Wyatt. He has kept Deep alive on Sunday nights by surrounding himself with great peeps and hosting house-landia's premiere DJs.
Body & Soul was a long running party in NYC that lasted about 10yrs and ended about 7 years ago.Today it tours around the world. Its DJs are Francois Kervorkian, Danny Krivit and Joe Joaquin Clausell. These three are all successful veteran DJs and producers who have spent most of their lives traveling the world because of their skills as DJs and their music.
I got there about 10:45 and the party was in full effect. Everyone associated with house music was there. One guy put his foot in his mouth when he said he felt like he was at the Winter Music Conference in Miami, because of the all the DJs and music heads. He was quickly reminded that we have parties like this in LA every weekend, not just during conference. Anyway. It was magical.


The music, the programming, the dancers, the energy, the trust in the DJs, the love of the dancefloor, all were hitting their ideal levels and kept over 400 people clapping and cheeringt until 4:15 pm when 'Lovely Day," the last song, ended. Most peeps I talked to today said they will go on record saying that this was the best event they have been to in a long time.

Next week at Deep, Louie Vega of Masters At Work and Elements of Life will DJ and celebrate his birthday. He makes sure he celebrates his b-day every year in LA at Deep, he knows.

Thanks Marques, Big Cee, Slick Dada, Augie, and everyone involved for keeping house music's home going strong.

Thanks LA for another supa dupa weekend.
I hope everyone has supa dupa dope times.

"Not everyone understands house music, it's a spiritual thing, a body thing, a soul thing." - Eddie Amador, House Music

*Thanks Yaneth for the heads up!