The crowd stares at him silently- waiting for his words.  His words are his strength and when he speaks- you will get chills.  Oveous Maximus is his name and sitting here tonight at Culture Clash’s 1 year Anniversary I feel honored to be in his presence.  Its one thing to hear of how he got retired from the Apollo for winning too many times but to sit in front of him and make eye contact with this lyrical master- now that’s another thing.  His words sprinkle on me like a fresh morning dew and awaken so many senses that I feel like I’ve just been fed knowlege by the gods’ themselves.  What’s more is the emotion behind his words.  Never did I know that words could be so powerful yet so tangible.  Its one thing to say what you mean but to mean what you say . . . no one can do it like OVE.  So after the show I just had to sit down with him to find out exactly what’s going on in his world these days.      

The Triple Threat: OVEOUS MAXIMUS

JF: So what have you been up to lately?

OVE: I just shot my first music video for my album Future Intentions.  I never thought it would happen, I mean I knew it would happen I just didn’t think it would happen so suddenly.  I’m really excited man- I’ve always wanted to bring a visual to the music and I’ve always enjoyed making music.  The song is called Wanna Be Happy and we just shot this amazing video in New York.  It’s a very cinematic, moody video and I’m the only character in it.  The song was inspired by a person who’s all alone searching for happiness so we really carried that theme throughout the whole thing.  I can’t wait to see it.  I’m also gonna be shooting two more videos November 21st in Los Angeles.  One is for my boy Quetzal Guerrero’s album for the song called Day in the Life and the other is a song called Never Stop for my album.  So we’ve been busy man, just busy doing what we love to do.

JF: I know a lot of people out there aren’t at that state right now where they are doing what they love to do- could you offer them up some guidance? 

 OVE: I would say be very passionate about what you do and be smart about how you market what you do.  Dedicate all your time to it cause that’s the only way you’re gonna be successful- you gotta put 120 thousand percent into what you love.  Everyday I’m doing something towards what I love to do and in making myself a better artist.  So work very hard- work, work, work and give it everything you have and most importantly have a strategic game plan and a strong team of people that can help you accomplish it.  No one does anything by themselves.

JF: I know your brother is a big inspiration behind what you do- so what do you think he would say about your success if he were alive today? 

Ove: He would be proud.  I could picture him saying something like ”Shit man you’re doing your thing son.”  He would definitely celebrate it with me and definitely be proud and that makes me really happy to know that I’ve honored him (he pauses for a bit and his eyes get a little glassy) that’s what I strive to do everyday so I’m certain that he’d be thrilled to see our accomplishments.  I say WE cause I feel like we’re together- me in the flesh and him in spirit.  We’re a team- wherever I go whatever I do, he’s there.

Watch Oveous perform Letter to Ziiinc- inspired by his brother Carlos:

JF: Can you tell us a littel bit about Moca Arts?

Ove: It started out as my artistic endeavor of all things created by me and now its like the umbrella that I operate under. 

JF: What is it named after?

Moca is a city in the Dominican Republic that I lived in for 3 years when I was like 9 years old and I experienced a lot there that I thought were some of the purest days of my life.  I just remember some very innocent young, pure and humble beginnings. 

JF: I heard you also have a clothing line.  Can you tell us a little bit about the clothing line and how you balance all these things?

Ove:  Well- balancing just means that you have to sacrifice a lot.  I wake up and I start working right away.  I work out of my home office and I got a studio in my crib.  As for the clothing line- I started a clothing line with my manager and my really close friend- Bobby Mileage.  So we started Bobby Mileage clothing and Mileage High Clothing and we’ve done really well.   We’ve had amazing sales in Japan and in Europe.  Every time we put out a product it sells out.  We’ve been really blessed.  We’ve come up with some really interesting and artistic stuff.  I was able to do whatever I wanted and had total creative freedom which was really nice. 

JF: Where can we get the line?

We just bought the domain name for the website:  BobbyMileageClothing.com so it will be up and running soon enough.

JF: I know you’ve been involved in the house music community a lot- where did your interest in this music come from?

 OVE: Many years ago, I used to go to the club to release stress.  We used to get our dance on and battle it out in cyphers.  I used to just love going to the club and hearing some great house music and just dancing my ass off.  For many years I used to go to the club and just be a fan of the music.  Fast forward many years later to 2005 and I meet this amazing producer named Osunlade  from Yoruba Records and then Louie Vega on the same night   What’s amazing is that same night they both offer me  the opportunity to do music on their label.  So I was like oh shit, let’s do this!  And the rest is pretty much history. 

 JF: Are you affiliated with any other record labels in the House Music industry?

I’m also affiliated with Bradford James from Seed Recordings.  I started Seed Recordings with Manuel Rivera aka Deknology and Brad later took over and made it an official label.

 JF: What does SEED Stand for?

 OVE: Soul Enters Every Dancer.  I designed the logo and came up with the acronym.  Dek and me pretty much built that whole thing.  I guess you could say I planted the Seed for SEED.  Then Brad one day introduced me to the music of Boddhi Satva and Boddhi Satva made this cool broken beat that I fell in love with and I wrote a song to.  It’s called I Apologize and we gave it to Osunlade and he released it.  Next thing you know we have remixes and it was a top five track on Traxsource.

JF: The Ezel Remix is sick!

Ove: People love that remix  (He sings the beat and smiles).  Yeah that’s a good one.  (to hear the track click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaB5vBjI0aw )

JF: Your poem Ode to the Dancers was featured on the Yoruba Soul Mix of Osunlade’s Track Mirror Dance- I heard it started here in Miami during WMC 2007.  Can you tell us about that?

Ove: I think the first time I performed it was at the dance competition for Soul Simple.  My man Voodoo Ray is the one that told me he wished I would do that poem and when we did it- it was crazy.  It was pretty cool cause at that time I had no idea that the piece was gonna resonate with so many people in the scene.  Everyone in the room was just totally with it- you could feel the energy in the room and it was a beautiful experience.  It was definitely a very memorable performance.  Then Osunlade- was like let me get the vocals for that shit- so my boy Dave Sol Rivera recorded them, sent them his way and Osunlade threw it on Mirror Dance.  Next thing you know everybody knows the song.   

  JF: Hell Yea, that was definitely the song of the conference.

Ove: Everywhere I go its playing- I went to Singapore, Amersterdam, London- no matter where I go people know that song!   Those lyrics just came out of nowhere and just came together – its just crazy. 

JF: But every house head can relate – that’s the beautiful part.  Will you be doing anything for the WMC this year?

Ove: This year I’m actually going to be heading to South by South West- which is a huge music festival in Austin, Texas to focus on my hip hop presence.  People that are just established now like Kid Cudi and Wale all head over there.  I’m trying to go there to showcase what I can do.  I’m blessed cause I’m kinda like The Triple Threat- I can rap, I can do spoken word and I can sing a little bit so I feel like I can put together a good show all around. 

JF: Now tell me a little bit about your new album Future Intention, what was the inspiration behind it?

Ove: Future Intentions was my attempt to first of all show that I’m a rapper- that I can rap and that I’m not the average rapper – I like to push the boundaries of writing -and talk about different things that you don’t normally hear- not your every day I got this or I got that.  I like to be more reflective of personal things and life situations so Future Intentions was a take at that.  I think  its what the future is moving towards and we’re trying to be trend setting. Lyrically and production-wise we’re trying to push the envelope.   My boy Thosh came up with the beats and I wrote the lyrics and its really experimental hip hop. 

 JF: How come you decided to make this album free?

Ove: You have a dude that people are listening to for the first time as a producer and a lot of people are hearing me for the first time as a lyricist- so I wanted to release the project like half an album and half a mix tape.  I wanted people to get a feel for me.  I just really wanted my work out there and  I didn’t want to wait for a label to sign off on it.  I really just wanted to get it out there.  

JF: Ah I see- that makes a lot of sense.  So tell me what is your most memorable performance to date:

Ove: God there’s a lot man but the Apollo definitely has to be one of them.   Just cause I remember the feeling of 1, 500 people screaming in joy.  Feeling their energy and their vibration- it was amazing.  It was the first time that I ever did anything not just on national but international television so the Apollo defnitely has to be one of the most memorable.

 JF: Is it true that they retired you from the Apollo?

Ove: Yeah they totally did. They were like you won like 4 0r 5 times so its time to give someone else a try.  

JF: How long had you been performing for before you tried out for the Apollo?

Ove: About a year.  I started in the spring of 2004.  I started going to Nuyorican in Spring of 2003 so Apollo happened a year and a half later. 

JF: How did it feel man? Like after a year- wow.

Ove: Yeah it was crazy.  I remember how it all started- I was on a date and I went to the usher at the Apollo theatre and I asked him when they were having auditions and he told me in about a month.  So I went to the audition.  There were 350 people auditioning I was number 54 and I did about a minute and a half and they stopped me and asked me to come the next day.  Mo’nique announcing my name for the first time . . . (he laughs quietly to himself like he’s reliving the moment) . . .  It was really cool man.  I’ll never forget that.  Apollo was the hardest thing to do cause they’ll either love you or hate you.  And it was tough- there were times when the crowd was mixed- some people liked it and some people weren’t feeling it and I had to fight my way and I still made it through.  So its crazy.  To get a standing ovation out of that room was amazing.  I”ll never forget that.

JF: So tell us one thing about you that most people don’t know.

 Ove: Um . . . I am really obsessed with cereal.  I love cereal so much I don’t have a favorite.  Cause I love them all.  They are all my children.   Cereal was the one meal you couldn’t go wrong with- whenever we was hungry-cereal would save the day. 

 One of my favorites is called Quisp- its made by Quaker.  Its a little pink alien cartoon on the cover of the box with a true blue background.  I loved it so much that I put it in a frame in my kitchen. 

JF: Haha that’s awesome!  Well thank you Ove for taking the time to sit with us and welcome to the Saraswati Family.  We look forward to having you back in Miami with us real soon!

Ove and Culture Clash Host Ezzio

Check out Oveous’ House tracks on:  http://www.traxsource.com/index.php?act=search&ss=oveous+maximus&sc=artists&cf=all&gf=0

Download Oveous’ Future Intentions Album: http://oveous.blogspot.com/2009/06/finally-oveous-maximus-future.html

Oveous and Thosh guide us through their track Shooting Star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiD8tthcMXc

Check out the video of Oveous performing Ode to a Dancer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfz9AaVVnlk

Watch Oveous perform Wind Got a Children- written for  Hector Lavoe’s Nephew- Louie Vega:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eibyvu6vBcE

The 45th Southport Weekender will be taking place this weekend (6th, 7th and 8th Nov) at Pontins in Southport. Being indoors, it brings the festival atmosphere without having to gamble with the British weather. The bi-annual Southport Weekender has been running for 21 years this year, and is one of the largest and most-loved indoor festivals in Europe.

DJs and artists appearing on this occasion include India, Jazzanova, The Sunburst Band, Zed Bias, Donae’o, Kenny Dope, Frankie Knuckles, Gilles Peterson, Dennis Ferrer, Kerri Chandler, DJ Spinna, Quentin Harris, Frankie Feliciano, and a recent favourite of mine Ronnie Herel.

If you’re interested in going down, it’s still not too late to book.

Visit the website for more information, photographs and podcasts:

http://www.southportweekender.co.uk

There’s also a DVD called “One Nation Under A Groove”, produced by Naked Talent Productions, that offers an insight into what the Southport Weekender is all about, recorded over 7 years in time for the 20th Anniversary celebrations last year. Click here for a trailer and more info.

I won’t be able to make it down this time, unfortunately, so I’m relying on you guys to let me know how it went (and record some of the awesome sets!)

To get you in the mood, here is a Fanatix set recorded at the last SPW, kindly shared by Fanatix-member Neil Pierce:

Louie Vega And Jay Sealee Feat. Julie McKnight, Diamond Life (Copyright Main Mix)

myspace.com

Carl Cox & Louie Vega – Global Episode 322

Mirror

Per sabato 1 Novembre il Nu Echoes ha in programma una serata imperdibile. Alla consolle uno special guest di tutto rispetto: Louie Vega.

Nato nel Bronx e cresciuto tra le sonorità jazz del padre e i primi passi di hip-hop nati in quel periodo, ora è un’importantissima icona nel movimento house mondiale.

Insieme a lui si esibirà Massimo Lippoli, in main room.

Nella seconda sala, si daranno il cambio alla consolle Francesco del Garda, Denni Benedetti e Ricci jr.

Clubul Cielo este o piesa de arta situata in centru celui mai chic district din New York – Meat Packing. Spatiul a fost conceput pentru dans, locatia fiind excelenta, ca si panorama. Cielo a reprezentat un nou nivel de calitate in viata de noapte a uriasei metropole americane, totul fiind construit pe conceptul “back to basic”; cei mai buni DJi ai lumii, un decor si un sistem de lumini care te impietresc, dar si cel mai apreciat sistem de sunet din lume, de la pionierii britanici – Funktion One, care-l va zdruncina si pe cel mai teribil audiofil….Ringul de dans este plasat in centrul clubului, in jur aflandu-se canapele comode , pe nuante de maro si bej, cu un sistem de iluminat care imbraca perfect design-ul clubului.
Toate aceste caracteristici i-au adus Clubului Cielo o serie de premii si nominalizari in cadrul competitiilor internationale de gen,  si au creat din el un brand international, cu un scop bine determinat – varf in materie de club si muzica electronica.

Cielo Awards 2004 – 2008:

In anul 2004 a fost castigator la sectiunea “Best Club”, in cadrul Dancestar Awards;
In acelasi an a primit trofeul pentru “Best Interior Design” (Club World Awards)
Best Venue USA – Urb Magazine 2005
Best Resident DJ – Francois K – Club Worls Awards (2005 si 2006)
Best Nightclub – Village Choice 2006
Best Deep House Club – New York Magazine 2006
Top 50 Nightclubs In The World – DJ Magazine (2006 si 2007)
Best Club – Club World Awards 2008

Toate aceste lucruri nu erau posibile fara prezenta unor nume mari din muzica electronica. Clubul Cielo nu a facut niciodata “economie” in ceea ce priveste calitatea un dance act:

Dave Dresden, Roger Sanchez, Jojo Flores, Martjin Ten Velden, Laurent Garnier, Sandy Rivera, Layo & Bushwacha!, Carl Craig, Francois K., Louie Vega, Kevin Hedge, Berhouz, Junior Vasquez, Dennis Ferrer, Tedd Patterson,   Marques Wyatt, Demon Days, Ben Watt, Giles Peterson, Jazzanova, Victor Calderone, Steve Lawler, Sebastian Leger, Sander Kleinenberg, John Creamer,  Frankie Knuckles, Dean K. , Loco Dice, Jody Wisternoff, Tom Stephan, Josh Gabriel, Danny Tenaglia, Theo Parrish, Mathew Dekay, Mark Knight, Kevin Saunderson, Steve Bug, Misstress Barbara, Cobblestone Jazz, D. Ramirez, Chris Liebing, Joris Voorn….

Evenimente Cielo NYC:
Vineri – 22 August 2008
“Playtime” @ Cielo Club
Line-up  – Karizma;
Luni -  25 August 2008
Deep Space
Line-up – Todd Terje
Marti, 26 August 2008
“Dusk Recordings’ 3 Year Anniversary”
Line-up – Lance Jordan, Samsara, Alex Karalanian, Tim O’Connell, Marta (Live)
Joi – 28 August 2008
Roger Sanchez presents: “Secret Soul Sessions Summer ‘08″
Line-up – Roger Sanchez
Joi – 11 Septembrie 2008
Cielo presents: “Layo & Bushwacka!”
Line-up – Layo & Bushwacka!,  Alex Graham
Vineri – 12 Septembrie 2008
“Cielo Gets Deep”
Line-up – Marques Wyatt
Marti – 16 Septembrie 2008
“Cielo presents…”
Line-up -  Deadmau5
Joi – 18 Septembrie 2008
“Cielo presents …”
Line-up – Trentemoller
Joi – 25 Septembrie 2008
“Cielo presents Demon Days”
Line-up – Carl Craig

Fania has always been considered the Mecca of Latin music, mixing traditional Latin styles and recording some of the most memorable moments in salsa, boogaloo and Afro-Cuban jazz. Here we find a stacked deck of great tracks, providing a snapshot of Fania’s glorious catalogue including original songs from Tito Puente, Hector Lavoe, Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, La Lupe, Ray Baretto and more. The second disc ventures into remix territory with contributions from Bugz In the Attic, DJ Format, Nicola Conte, Louie Vega and Aaron Jerome. While some of the reworks are great, the brunt of the payoff here is in the original tracks themselves, which is why this came about in the first place, right? So, I thought I would not only give you a taste of this great record, but also give you a glimpse of what Fania was all about with a look at Leon Gast’s 1972 documentary Fania All Stars: Our Latin Thing, which you can watch in 9 parts on youtube. Enjoy.

Roberto Roena – Take Five (Nicola Conte remix).mp3

Mr. Bongo Records Online

I came across this live video of my friends DJ Louie Vega/ Kenny Dope of MAW fame at my favorite conference of all conferences: Winter Music Conference in Miami. Fitting as Atlanta is anxiously awaiting Jeff Townes (DJ Jazzy Jeff) arrival this week where he will no doubt shut this city down as he does about 2 times per year. The importance of DJing has been on my mind a lot lately as I recently had an opportunity to take my kids to Barnes & Noble to see Grandmaster Flash at his book signing for his book, “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats”. Looking forward to getting into the book and big up to Flash, who is truly a scientist first and then a DJ.

Being friends with various DJ’s has its clear advantages besides knowing all the very cool and rare records and being plugged in to all the best venues worldwide. I absolutely love being in the booth with a great DJ (incl but not limited to the likes of King Britt, Timmy Regisford, Rich Medina, O.P., D-Nice, etc etc) and being able to see people of all colors, shapes, sizes and religions, losing their mind and on one central beat, controlled by one man/woman and two plates. During those almost spiritual like moments, I fall in love all over again with this amazing thing called music.

Maybe that’s what life is…a wink of the eye and winking stars.

                                         

                                                                          -Jack Kerouac

Music:

Manuel De La Mare reworks Ian Round’s, Dancin’. Proper grand piano and strings on this one.

Out on Italy’s Hotfinger records.

Ian Round – Dancin’ (Manuel De La Mare Mash)

 Reach…classic……

 Lil’ Mo Yin Yang aka Lil’ Louie Vega + Erick Mo’ Morillo + TV Rock remix = massive

Out on Strictly Rhythm!!!!

Lil’ Mo’ Yin Yang – Reach (TV Rock Mix)

Event Details

With the Dolce Crew

Marques Wyatt and Our Miami homegirl Laura

Tuesday our day started out with meeting the French Twins and a cafecito from Puerto Sagua- mmm good!   Then we headed to Segafredos and heard Dennis Baker drop some of his new unreleased hits.  In the evening, we were off to the Shelter party where Timmy Regisfod ripped it once again!  Over 10 hours of energy exchanged between Timmy and the crowd and he sure knew how to steer us right.  

Anane gets down @ Soul Heaven

Wednesday was our first official pool party of the conference- Soul Heaven @ Fountainbleau.  Terry Hunter, Louie Vega and Lil’ Louis ripped Miami a new one!  And Lil Louis was signing copies of his new book- A Man’s Diary which we def recommend getting a copy of. We’re halfway done with it and started reading it a week ago (its 509 pages).

Oveus, Ezel, Ivan, Stell*R and Trinidadian Deep

Next we hit up Casanova Suites for the Seed Party.  Bradford James prepared a killer line up which included a performance by none other than His Oveousness, Oveous Maximus. “We are the sons and daughters of a dance revolution…”   It was only the first day and we slept as soundly as babies hearing their mother’s voice in a lullaby.  

Boddhi Satva @ CityDeep

Turns out Boddhi was staying at a hotel near our place so on Thursday we woke up to Boddhi’s phone call and off we were to Halo’s CityDeep party at the Beach Plaza. The first song Boddhi dropped “Stop Crying the World is Changing” really just gave us chills.  A note on Boddhi Satva- he was on everybody’s “favorite DJ” list of the conference and we got lucky enough to have him tear it up at our event.

Djinji, Ivan and Boddhi conducting biz

follow the pink sneakers ...

Friday we woke up at 10am with butterflies in our stomach and began the preparations for our party- The Future. Before we knew it- it was 6pm and people started arriving.  Around 11pm we had a special visit from the Code Enforcement and the Fire Department. Luckily they told the manager at La Flora that they weren’t going to shut us down because, “We had a nice crowd and a great vibe going.”  Romero Britto, Ezel, Dr. Love, Oveus Maximus, Ed Dunn, Bradford James and The Martinez Brothers all stopped by to show love.

Jeannie and the French Twins

Melissa, Ivan, Louie Vega and Jeannie

the rain didn't stop this party!!!

Renee, Boddhi and Duce

• Shelter Party @ Shine
• Soul Heaven Pool Party @ Fountainbleau
• The Future @ La Flora Hotel

• Body and Soul
• The Libation Party
• Lou Gorbea’s Revolution Party

• Duce Martinez
• Boddhi Satva
• Djinji Brown

This is how Miami gets down!

Presenta

PREVENDITA UOMO/DONNA :30€

MASSIMO 328.7168977

CONTATTO FACEBOOK: CRISANTI MASSIMO

LITTLE LOUIE VEGA

La svolta per Louie arriva da ragazzo, a 14 anni inizia a frequentare i primi ambienti hip-hop, una cultura che nacque qualche anno prima proprio nei quartieri neri delle metropoli americane (NYC in primis); nel 1984 ottiene il suo primo incarico come dj resident allo Chez sensual. In questi ambienti conosce un ragazzo con cui stringe un’amicizia e una collaborazione artistica: Kenny ‘Dope’ Gonzales, un dj che all’epoca suonava funk e breakbeat.In quel momento lo stile di Louie Vega era già ben definito, e i suoi set erano già un crossover di latin, garage e dischi pop e rock come ad esempio pride degli U2.

Louie insieme a Kenny fonda dopo poco il progetto Masters at Work (MAW), il nome con cui tra la fine degli anni ottanta e per tutti gli anni novanta e 2000 fanno uscire decine e decine di dischi e remix, portando il ragazzo al successo internazionale. In seguito si sposa con la cantante La India (i due ora sono divisi, e Vega è assieme ad un’altra cantante: Anane), con la quale ha un’altra collaborazione artistica. Lei finora ha impiegato la sua voce per dischi salsa, ma Louie inizia a riprodurre per lei le prime basi house. Numerose sono le collaborazioni tra i MAW e La India, tra le più importanti Runaway, Love and happines, To be in love e Backfired. Nel frattempo il progetto MAW si è evoluto, fino a diventare una etichetta discografica (MAW records) al top nel mondo house, e Louie Vega ha diffuso il suo stile fatto da una mescolanza di deep, jazz, latin, accompagnata da groove. Louie spesso si esibisce con l’amico e partner Kenny Dope, creando set sofisticati soprattutto nelle serate masters at work da loro organizzate; si esibiscono insieme a ballerini, percussionisti, vocalist, e naturalmente La India.

AOL POSSE

DJ FIORE