Rebel On The Road #2

Following from the February edition of Rebel On The Road, we follow Damian as he spends time in Miami for the annual Winter Music Conference, and more specifically, the Crosstown Rebels Get Lost party and the Hot Natured party at Electric Pickle.

March 2011

In the 'good ol' days' of the Miami Winter Music Conference, whilst thousands of International dance music aficionados descended on the city for a week of debauchery, there actually was work being done too; meetings being held poolside, acts being signed, records exchanging hands. This year, the much-publicised split between the organisers of the Ultra festival and the owners of the WMC meant that the month of March down at the beach was going to be a bit of a mess.

What we weren't expecting in the last week of March was Miami turning into a tale of two cities; on one side, the commercial, mainstream acts plied their trade at the Ultra Festival whilst on the other, the cream of the global underground electronic world turned out in force and partied hard for a week, very hard.

The Crosstown Rebels Get Lost party had sold out weeks in advance and it was super exciting for me to find the queue forming outside at 430am when I arrived for all the final checks and whatnot. This was the 6th year I had forced myself to sleep on the Friday night in order to get up and be fresh for the opening of the party at 5am. Seth Troxler acted as my wake up call this time around as he called from my hotel lobby at 420am in order to pass me the donation buckets for our Red Dot Relief campaign in aid of Japan (we got serious in Miami on the fund raising front and have raised over $20,000).

Each year Get Lost Miami has created some very special memorable moments and the feeling amongst our crew was how on earth are we to make this one better than last year. By the time I started playing at 8am (I always play at this time so I can get cracking into the fun early), the club was rammed upstairs and down and the vibe was ridiculous and then when we opened the terrace at 11am, a whole new level of craziness began.

I stupidly wore two of the hottest outfits I could possibly find; one that I had designed for me by a friend Krel, the other that looked like it belonged in an 1850's Chinese circus. I figured as it was my party, I should make some kind of effort, even if it does mean looking like a idiot for the day, like I care, right?

Anyway, it was around 5pm that my best mate and I slipped off inside to the darkness for a minute where we sat and took stock of all the madness that was going on around us and if truth be told, I was starting to feel a little sick. It was then that we realised that I actually hadn't eaten a proper meal for almost 3 days and it was at this point that we agreed allowing our friends from Clive's Jamaican Restaurant next door to cook chicken and rice at the back of the terrace could possibly have been one of the best bookings of the day. I think it was Nicholas Jaar that came over and simply laughed at the sight of me gingerly picking at some food whilst dressed in a full length green and gold wizard gown; looking like a spacefreak from the future and an old hippy at the same time.

I'm not sure what really possesses me to dress up and play, I do love it though. I've been building a collection of bizarro clothes for years now and coupled with my ridiculous fancy dress box that still grows weekly, I have such a wide variety of possible outfits to look silly in, I guess it would be rude not to sometimes. I do think it's odd though for someone who takes his music and career so seriously to actually do some of things I do. Maybe I just never grew up, like Peter Pan?

So I just launched my first in what may or may not become a line of jewellery items designed by me for Crosstown Rebels. We introduced the steel pieces, called Mind Gate, at the Get Lost party by giving away one to each artist that played. At times I felt like Jim'll Fix It, handing over Jimmy Saville's prestigious medals after a successful "Fix It" challenge. I made them using a pen and my mind, scribbling away for a few hours with geometric patterns and shapes. Many people have been asking where they can get them, well in the next few days they will be available at http://www.crosstownrebels.com I think they're very cool, but what do I know?

The following night after Get Lost all roads led back to the Electric Pickle for the Hot Natured party, another super packed, magical night; once again all the heads and faces and all our favourite party people from around the world were together again for one more night of dancing and laughing, well almost one more night - As after the after of the afterparty, with just 50 of us dancing together as the club owner played us some perfect music, we all made our way to the house some members of our crew rented for the week. The fun continued through to the early hours of the following morning, the Tuesday morning I think it was. I had a really special moment there as I went to investigate what Jamie Jones was up to and found him, Lee Foss and Kenny Glasgow working on a tune together with a little audience of friends just hanging out on the bed and around the room. I tell you this; the bassline they concocted that morning and the melody they had running has been in my head ever since. It's quite magical to watch other people create and share a feeling together making music, I felt really proud of them at that moment, and it was special.

Anyway, must dash, I have a fetish party in Berlin to play at that I have to find an outfit for.

Watched: Hanna
Read: Tarot by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Listened: Mirrorwriting by Jamie Woon