DiscoEx Archive: The Birth of...


It’s been a long time/ I shouldn’t have left you / Without a hot beat to step to” -Rakim
One thing is certain: it’s not been a quiet summer. Surely, I have not produced a threesie of worthy music in a while, and my last DJ set was from April, but I know when you read what I’ve got on brewing you’ll soften that hard heart a little. Oh, you might not be able to tell from the volume (zero) of blog traffic here, but in the depths of the Machina the discoompa-loompas have been workin’ overtime. Labors of love, my droogies, have I been toiling upon these last few weeks.
Labor 1: Logan 6 is on the way.
We’re not officially calling it that, of course; in fact I won’t know boy or girl until it shows up, but the concept’s valid: my girl and I are in the middle stages of self-replication, wherein we inflict ourselves on the future beyond the reach of our own corporeal presence. So of course I’ll be brining my kid up on a healthy stew of jazz/soul/funk/techno/hiphop/punk/classical/afro/latin/rock/noise/ambient so they’ll have no way to rebel, sonically speaking, except to resort to bubblegum pop songs written by my cousin or perhaps pseudo-Kazakhistani barroom anti-semitic folk. Either way, I’m screwed.
Labor 2: KCSC 2.0
For those who don’t know, I started my DJ life at KCSC in Chico, a then-cable, now-internet radio station owned and operated by students. This occupied a fairly sizable chunk of my college career by the end of it, so I will always have fond memories since all the bad memories have melted away like tears in rain. At any rate, after 25+ years of being stuck in a rundown, ramshackle shitty warehouse, my beloved alma mater is moving studios to…. a rundown, ramshackle shitty warehouse about 3 blocks away, next to the most notorious fraternity bar in town (groan) but across the street from the most delicious autentico Mexican restaurant in town (groan… with pleasure). I’m privileged to be back involved as the station engineer, working with the most motivated, creative group of kids I can imagine getting to build the new station with.
For a trip down memory lane for KCSC alumni, here’s a flickr set of the old studio @ Stiles Warehouse:

And on to the future: the construction of the new station in half the square footage @ the Rainbow Bread Warehouse: 
One of the coolest things about getting to do this studio project is that there’s been money and time enough for us to do it right, but not money enough for us to get other people to do it. So from some drawings I provided, the incredibly talented 1991 station alumnus Neil Tanner came up with real studio furniture including formica countertops and my other favorite feature, a countertop which opens to reveal a real DJ setup. This past week we ran 500 ft. of cabling through the warehouse from the on-air studio to the ridiculously inconveniently located server room, and we’ve started building the specifications for the wiring harness to tie the whole thing together: 16 input sources, 8 output sources, two patch bays, intra-studio connection, live call-in capabilities, live band and DJ performance setups… it gwan be wicked. keep chooned, seen?
Labor 3: Getting outside instead of staying in
Those evenings when I used to stay home and play records I’ve lately been hopping on my bike (or the hamster wheel at the gym) and putting twenty miles of distance under tires, and damn it’s nice to live the active life. I’d like to be out dancing more but I have to say that my feet have not been feeling inspired at the usual haunt, which grows increasingly smoky and loud each time I visit. It’s summer, yo, open that retractable ceiling fer chrissakes!! Ahem.
Labor 4: Re-launch the blog
I’ve upgraded the blog to Wordpress 2.0 which opens the door to many new features, and I intend to use them. Coming soon, Disco Ex Machina will be reborn with a new interface, new sidebar action, and new content. I’ll be posting some various and sundry radio shows here shortly, including the infamous “Porno show” which defiled the Bay Area’s daytime airwaves a few years ago - I’ve had many requests for it, so save your drool, it’ll be your back-to-school-porno-present from your dirty uncle Logan 5. I’m also looking at getting back to hosting a regular radio show on KCSC and if that happens you can bet I’ll be podcasting that material through here. Between that and my new digital camera (Canon SD450 Elph, and it’s really teeny) there ought to be a plethora of pinatas of content for this place.
Thanks for sticking with me. If you didn’t read this far, um, get bent?

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