Where to begin...
OH MY DAYS
Never have I received such love and respect on a journey - and it was indeed a journey from start to finish.
Sorry crew dem if this gets a little Live Journal
Partial Cali-mob arrived on Wednesday and barely maneuvered our way to central to sort out hotels and whatnot. We met with the wonderful miss DOTS for some pretzels and duty-free Single Malt business at the hotel and then made our way to Covent Garden for some mashup beats at Navajo Joe from the one like Chico. A great pre-game dance for the trek to Brixton for one of the many life highlights this trip provided.
You lot don't know from where I come but let's just say that the fact I had the opportunity to see the one David Rodigan at his weekly at Mass was a true affirmation of my love of the dance. When Hera had him big up the Cali crew I was practically in tears... yeah that's emo - fuck you. Big up all of my friends who made the trip with me. It meant a lot and I will not soon forget. To quote a text from Georgina
"I can't believe a bunch of Californian's introduced me to one of the best nights in South London!"
Much respect to Hatcha on Thursday who showed Hera and I a proper time in Croydon (a pleasure, Benga) before meeting with Sam and Moldy to head to Transition to cut some dubs. Jason, you are a don. Mad knowledge and a super nice guy to boot! Respect to Hijak and the tunes you were cutting. Leon - what a surprise to meet you at work and then hear your debut set at DMZ!! BIG!
What u know about the JP Witherspoon's Victoria Station crew?? We drowned in pints staring at commuters, massive queues in front of Burger King and some badman pasty business until the staff was practically pulling the chairs from under our asses. Nightbus wanderings to the hotel to grab the duty-free vodka for some street drinking before off to bed. Great to meet Boomnoise, Far-from-slow Pokes and man Reso... I have never seen Child so happy in my life.
Friday was the Black Market pilgrimage - Lucky Charms to Youngsta, shop rounds and English Brekkies with N-Type, and bumping into Ramadanman was CLASSIC. As gutted as I was not to represent at the Goldsmith party I was really glad I got to meet folks at FWD and experience the plastic people sound system. We could only be so lucky to have a venue so concerned with the sound and understanding how it's meant to be heard. Big up Sarah and Amy and all crew that I met that evening... Benny-Ill, Coki, Crazy D, Heny-G (u are a proper gentleman), El-B, Max, Delendi, Grand, Walsh, doorman Winston and all.
Saturday- David once again played host as we wandered Soho... you sir are a sound human being...
What can I say that was not already said. Definitely in the Top 5 shows of my life... no doubt. Big up Mala for the VIP treatment for the long travelers. DMZ for an unforgettable event and all deejays/emcees for gracing us with presence. Scottish Army in the queue, Forensix in the drink "I'M FROM MANCHESTER U FUCKING MUPPET!", Markle, Seckle (badman), Swedish film crew "Now you will be famous!" ummm... yeah whatevs, hallway crew, smokers crew and all...
Massive respect to all of your for your hospitality and general good vibe. We can only hope to return the love at some point. Special thanks to Georgina, N-Type, Ramadanman and Hatcha for their unparalleled hosting and guiding.
I wish I had a chance to meet more folks but when you are in the dance you can't expect to connect with all you'd like.
I'm still reeling from this and will be for a long time. We are fucking stoked for the future and even more life has been injected into the SureFire crew and all of Cali-mob. I can't wait to get started on bookings for the rest of the year and am having a fucking hard time doing the work that actually pays money cause all I care about right now is the sound.
Last but not least thanks to ALL YOU FOLK WHO READ THIS LONG LOAD OF CRAP!!!
More pictures and movies to follow shortly... the bastards are still uploading!
Respect London Massive!!!!