And we’re back! Little bit of technical difficulty there, I lost my credit card and couldn’t pay for my domain name any other way so we went dark, went quiet for a week there.

Let’s recap on where I was at that point because I’ve been all into everything since so let’s not choke ourselves trying to process too many new vibes and information, put the pieces back together and take up the thread again.

I hadn’t been blogging that much anyway because I’ve been getting busy, so I guess it reinforces blogging as some kind of intermediary tier of creativity.

What did I do? Oh that gig, my god, the humanity, I just can’t get it. If they want to surround the good things about drum and bass with an army of retarded baboons what am I supposed to do? Whatever, I’ll just stand there smug because I’m not the biggest dickhead in the room. A triumph indeed.

And what the money and all that? Yeah well yeah, and our front room, we said this space is a place for the clients to come in and dwell, but since that’s a very limited time, really it’s my space for thinking on creative goals. I put my bass guitar in there as a statement of intent, I’ll probably set the decks up in there next, because we’re getting ready and set to put down music and video in a more focused, real, way.

Because it’s now becoming focal to be creative, and produce creative content, I am devoting more physical space to it – which is an extention of stuff science. In the front room I’m doing music and editing, but in my old office space, I’ll be making a set. During the week it’ll be a little laptop workspace, but then I just whip away that stuff and I’ve got a big wall to film against. This is particularly for pirates.

That’s what I was trying to get at this whole time, the pirates, y’know, the best thing was I went and did a 3 hour pirate stint for a community market day and it was awesome! I got paid really well, lots of girls, I got one really hot chicks number and could probably have got a second if I’d been quicker to spot the gap, but yeah kind of well, I went to play a drum and bass dj gig and it was a disaster, but then I went and dressed up as a pirate, got paid decently and met hot girls.

It’s that thing, the girls could see I was good with the kids, and y’know, you have to demonstrate your value, they have got to see you displaying a casual competence of skill.

But y’know? Bro, I don’t fight what the good lord is telling me. I love to DJ drum and bass, and I will, but the lord has spoken and there’s a feeling that where I’m doing my pirate thing, doors are opening, where I’m DJing drum and bass, it’s a circus. The choice is yours, the circus you love with retarded baboons, or jumping around for little kids, which offers life’s true rewards, material rewards, the enrichment of bringing joy to kids, and the admiration of certain women – and to be realistic, girls who like that stuff are likely to be nice good girls.

Everyone can be a DJ, not everyone can dress up as a pirate and entertain kids. I’m just being honest – so to speak. A lot more young men feel confident DJing then dressing up as a pirate and entertaining kids.

That’s why it’s special. And I’m sort of saying this because make drum and bass, DJ drum and bass, make videos, dress up as a pirate, whatever – y’know – it’s the creative buzz, it all intertwines, and the fact that I seem to be doing well as a pirate means I should just go with it, if it opens the doors to other experiences and possibilities then it’s all part of the creative experience.

The pirate metaphor doesn’t strictly translate, I’m my own kind of pirate, I adapt the metaphor to match the kind of pirate I am. If I’m the drum and bass Dj that is a pirate as well, then whatever. Whatever.

A pirate is just a character to act as this anomalous presence, which is what I am. I dress as a pirate, do you know I make drum and bass? That’s the moment I’m riding for, the moment people who like my music realise I dress up as a pirate and such, and people, maybe mums and dads, realise I make drum and bass. It would spin someone out.

I guess the whole breaking character thing is big, sometimes I will act like a pirate, the next shot well, I’m a guy dressed as a pirate, that’s the charm.

That’s the narrative. In this narrative I am a pirate, I am a drum and bass DJ, I am those things, that’s the story as it is and that’s what we’re working with. If it changes, it changes, this blog will change and I’ll be writing about something else, but right now I do my business, I dress up as a pirate and run around, I make and DJ drum and bass and chaotic gigs, I blog, I make amateur videos, whatever.

I hope it works for you because right now that’s all I’ve got to work with.

So I was out doing my posters. It’s not always about the subtext but it’s a complicated world we live in. The forensic team had moved in to test whether if on friday I really was in love, or just faking it – preliminaries had revealed that on monday, I had friday on my mind. Was it premeditated? Was it a crime of passion? Were there any signs of a struggle? What was the motive?

Hey, what about the desert narrative? What about it? This is obviously some lost flashback / flash forward shit or like a dream sequence or something okay so go with it ok?

Is this it? Is my life over? My real life? Was their foul play suspected? What are the charges? Are we really dealing with a homicide here, detective?

Well in the days around the events I’d been on a bit of a self indulgence roller coaster in the last couple of days. Firstly I managed to this young cutie’s number even though she was with 2 guys who were younger, better looking and taller than me, which made me feel like a don! I mean I was out postering, I wasn’t wearing nice clothes, I didn’t do my hair, I was wearing my glasses, I just gave her pure sass, then told her she was cute and I wanted her number. She told she “wasn’t looking for a relationship”.

I told her that – well to be honest with you I think I said “I’m not looking for a relationship. We can get a coffee or something” which really is quite lame when I could have said – “I’m not talking about a relationship, I’m talking about your number.” but hey, I still got it. She’s not super hot, more cute with a nice figure.

Again like Ashley, some evolutionary action on it. Short, slim, pugnacious brown haired anglo saxon girl seeks boy . . . similar.

When I texted her – gotta mention this, she texts back “I thort I gave u the wrong number”.

You gotta understand girls. I might give all my money back to be 21 again, but if I had to give up all my money AND what I know about girls the deal would be off. You gotta understand that it is not a pretty girl’s job in life to make your life easier, in fact, pretty girls love to make your life a misery. A lot of guys think that because they have a dick they should get pretty girls, like on TV – but as I said, this is a philosophy blog. A lot of guys don’t realise that having a dick has put them into competition, and the girls are in this competition too, to screen as many losers as possible by being evasive.

It’s a little bit complex and so a lot of guys never quite click to it. To me, asking girls not to have these screening processes in play – reacting as if they’re being “a bitch” – is as dumb as asking guys not to like looking at boobs and legs and asses. This girl, about 21 I guess, could send that text to 21 year old me, and I’d be all butthurt – crazy as it sounds – whattya mean wrong number? I thought she liked me? boohoohoo what a mean girl! – this is how the girl throws losers off the trail. You can’t take it seriously. You’re the heat seeking missile, she is just deploying decoy flares to throw off inferior dickhead missiles from shooting her plain out of the sky.

But she didn’t even pull out the “you’re old” line, which was a bit of a break.

I txted her some line about a “secret” she texts back immediately “wats the secret?”. I didn’t text her back. She fell for that? This girl doesn’t know how deep she’s in. I’m not sure if I’m going to deploy the command this time for her to “wear a nice dress.” So corny playing commanding man guy but hey. It might work, you just have to know when to change gear and stop being a prick, it’s very subtle.

So yeah, that was brilliant, got the young cutie’s number while the orbiters sat on the bench. It was a nice frame shift when I asked her if one of those guys was her boyfriend. There were a couple of other things – I walked away from her twice, and a reasonably hot girl I knew was there too, and I started talking to her and ignoring young cutie.

Somewhere subconsciously I could tell by the way she stared back at me that she was down. Longer than 3 seconds on the stare back and it has to be a reload, round 2. Don’t make excuses, whatever. She’s into you. I think I’ll ask for reasonably hot girl’s number also in future.

But . . . the next night I played at Fu Bar and their were some comments from isolated parties about the standard of my DJing and I kind of lost the plot. To be honest there was a lot of it flying around – a bit of DJ snark. It was pissing down with rain so the crowd was thin, we were all working just to keep the dancefloor alive.

I would love to be a great DJ, but DJing is not my first priority (my business), my second (my tunes), or my third (girls). I am a pretty good DJ. The problem of course there are less Drum and Bass DJ’s now so there’s less competition, and the quality has dropped. My DJing hasn’t gotten much better, it’s just there’s less guys who are better than me. I’ve told people that I can’t take my DJing as a top priority, and I would rather not play after 1 am, because if you kill the dancefloor after 1 am, you kill the gig, and you kill the vibe for the DJ’s after you.

I take it seriously, but it’s not my priority. I agreed to play first after the dubstep guys, and as usual, because people seem to think I don’t mind, people are all fucking with the levels and fussing around in the booth, even moving around the CDJ’s while I’m playing and of course this time, as was bound to happen, it stops my track, right when I’m squaring up a complicated double drop – as if rolling over from the dubstep guys – 3 of them in the booth no doubt DJ’s/MC’s – wasn’t hard enough.

So when I get told my set was shitty when I still kept the dancefloor going made me feel bummed out. Mainly bummed out because I thought it was totally unjustified and I completely overreacted. My set had a few sloppy moments, but otherwise maintained the standard heard over the night. I didn’t kill the floor.

There’s no body, detective, there’s no crime. I’m not your man. But something wasn’t right. There must be more.

Mainly I was pissed off because I’m trying to roll up and meet some girls, coming down to play a set on a wet as fill in night, and I’m being told that shit! but to be honest, more talk was being expressed on behalf of some of the other performances, I just got pissy because not only do I take it seriously, but more so, having dudes getting on me when I’m just keen to meet some girls pisses me off.

I don’t want to snap, in fact I . . . literally I have no compulsion to do so. I just think that y’know, some neanderthal behaviour may be warranted in doses. It may be important to signal to people how little you give a fuck, that you don’t actually care. I know people who very often threaten to cut out but never do, while I’m the opposite. If I’m not complaining it means I’m too busy moving pawns to make my exit strategy.

An “exit strategy” you say? Do you think this may be of interest to police?

Look, Djing is not in my top 4 priorities, I can’t help but think I’ve just gotta let this one ride. Y’know? This all pisses me off but you got to remember that the club is where there is going to be well . . . girls.

But you miss the point. You stand there in the club and get bitched out, you won’t be the one rolling up on the ladies. You tell any punk haters to eat a dick, well sure you won’t be welcome, but hey. You’re not somebodies bitch. I’ve had fight club fantasies, but I really wouldn’t want to damage my teeth, now I see why fight club is important as a work. You want to feel alive, you want back the dignity you deserve as a man, not be spat on. If I played a shitty set, I’d know. This dude was giving me bullshit energy and I was pissed.

Look, I was pissed off on the night ok detective, I got in one dude’s face and he pushed me but you gotta understand this is me, I only did it and got away with it because anyone would see the idea of me of all people eyeballing a dude and starting a fight in a club absurd, you gotta see me on this ok? Personally I don’t think I could handle getting punched in the mouth or losing a tooth, that would really suck.

It’s just all this stuff I been writing about competition as a constant, you can’t the blame the girl for screening you, you can’t blame other males for wanting to dominate you by any means necessary, it’s how people are, it’s their feeble biological, hormone driven way. But it’s also what pisses me off when I think there’s a possibility that it’s got nothing to do with my DJing, but a dude taking a shot just so he can rob my status and feel like he’s bigger than me.

There doesn’t seem to be any good reason to put up with that just because it’s one spot you can leverage you status to meet club girls. It’s not the only place in the world to meet girls. You can meet them on the street if you’re dismissive enough toward them.

Of course at this point I didn’t know that there was to be a forensic team called in for an investigation on a crime scene. If there had been a murder, if there was a case to answer, then it would seem this case was only just beginning to unravel it’s dark tale.

So it’s another night, another gig, I’m okay, I was really sailing into the wind but I pulled it out. I wasn’t well placed to start with and I really didn’t start well, but the fact I did manage to get the dancefloor back, well I was happy. I didn’t have the best of circumstances, I get a bit pissy because everyone thinks they can get all on my shit, an MC jostling me is just what happens, but all other DJ’s rocking on up and tweaking levels and mic level, and then you got the mic cord dangling across the cdj wheel which can be a deadly silent killer. The mixer was ratty also I had no clue where the cues were but I could hear both tunes so I just winged it.

The approach was a bit lackadaisical but I don’t know what else to do, I gotst to get my money, and do my songs and say hullo to the girls and I don’t have it all together to make sure every detail of the gig is going to plan. It’s quite frustrating because I believe I can deliver as a DJ but I simply can’t make it a priority.

I was bagging off with some blonde, I didn’t know what was going on but does it really matter? I don’t know. I wasn’t necessarily proud of my behaviour, let’s just say I’m left wondering if there’s anything to be ashamed about. I’m not going to go into what happened with the girl, she was nothing to write home about and batshit crazy to boot but that’s another story. It’s more the light from the triangle cuts a stream through the darkness.

Oh the bar staff weren’t happy I was creeping round the back with some girl. Oh I was having vacant distracted conversations with all kinds of young guys who were all excited about being excited. Whatever – at the end of the day, I played my set and brought it back from the edge and then I met some girl and took her home. Look, that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Do you understand me? Rock the crowd, get your money, go home with the girl, that’s all you can ask for. Obviously the whole affair was quite much more complex and convoluted than that but on the face of the daily news, that’s what’s to be said. Then you can rot in your grave while our friendly maggot friends can eat your brain, and also active protozoa and bacteria breaking you down.

A light appears from the triangular metastructure.

I’m not going to lie, what’s the point of even having a blog about breakbeat lifestyles and philosophy if you’re just going to spout garbage?

It’s not easy to step up and claim that vibe. To say, okay, I’m sorry but I am going to rock this sound system, then I’m going to get all the money, and then I’m going to get all the girls.

Y’know why? because I’m worried about some thing with some thing to do with it. Some nonsense going on. I don’t want to sound like a dick, but if you become a bigshot, it’s hard to keep everybody happy because there’ll be all kinds of issues arising, and little things and people which you can’t afford to worry about because it takes a lot of concentration and effort to be able to destroy a dancefloor, get all your money happening and then run around chasing girls. There’s just not much more room in your head. Maybe that’s why you do have to be humble.

You see a lot of top dogs coming unstuck thinking they can do and say anything, but the little people don’t like to feel little and they hold the big people up.

But yes, life is hard, and winning is harder. I’m not sure if it makes you any smarter if you analyze it but I think what I’m getting at is to ascend and move on, to transcend, you must learn to not give a shit about little things. Sure if the DJ’s, myself included, were more organised, we could have rocked that crowd, but we weren’t and we didn’t, not really. Oh well. Better luck next time.

When you’re programmed to struggle, it’s hard to let go. It’s like your running along the runway and suddenly you’re flying but your legs are still frantically kicking, when all you really need do is soar on the wings of your mind. Deep concept, huh?

It’s like a scene out of lost, trying to bust open the hatch to the triangle, I tried to have brain transplant, and we’ve been archiving and travelling through time and all research personnel are pulling out all the stops so we can master the interdimensional brain functioning computator techniques.

This is think club on the next level, this is the sequel where all the think club activists bust loose and just start thinking everywhere and all over your face until your face starts thinking about higher abstract concepts.

We’re not building this pyramid fast enough.

We just need to do that, get some sweet pyraminds happening so no dickheads or neanderthals come lurking about, and we need to get some aliens to come down in their ufo’s, sort my brain transplant out for me, and get our pyramid together so all the think club family don’t have to concern themselves with neanderthals.

Boy we are doing a lot of music stuff now, business is blowing up for christmas but the universe must be balanced in such things, more beats that label dudes are interested in have to be tidied up and I have gigs coming up.

Oh and of course I’m laying down a new mix, which is I think called Make Believe because none of the challengers seemed to have much stick so Make Believe it is.

I was just pretty excited to have my life back. So excited that I got a little bit rabid on my blog and just started spouting and going crazy. Something always happens, and then something after that. I think we were trying to make sense of it all and just got a little bit carried away. The world is an overwhelming place sometimes.

Let’s review:

First, we opened the triangle into an archiving space

But we intercepted by holy maggots, they are waiting to eat my flesh when I rot.

We somehow sorted everything because we shook down the debtors, and we realised we had our money and we were free to go.

And so I jumped on the decks and started mixing out hard.

I think it took a lot longer to explain that up until now but that’s how we process.

And now we have gigs coming up, and then after christmas of course not much business and we want to completely tidy up our task list with everything sorted – music, videos, websites – sorted. I want to be ripping into those videos, have the photoshoot done so I can get on with my new website and then once I’ve rolled all these remixes, I can start at square 1 – a song and a video.

Man, I gotta lot to do. I just need to get into it like a hustler. Or not, because we’re waiting for the triangle to open. But that’s what I’m saying, complete the task list and wait to feel the sunshine of the triangle’s love shining down.

But yeah, we gone been doing whole lotta musics everywhere.

I don’t know if I talked about the power supply but basically it runs all the appliances and tools and stuff and you get it out of the plug, so if you don’t plug computer in to the wall you can’t make any kinds of beats there. A lot of people want to have the power but they are unable to access it, and if your computer won’t turn on it may be because of the power supply. Sometimes the computer can get very dusty and dirty inside and that will cause the unit to over heat

This is the last tune that’s of interest to outside parties that I have to finish and then I guess, see what happens, more remixes and then if labels don’t want our tunes we do our own

What about polyps? I have to make sure that no one wants it. It’s obvious no one wants songs like Wine Cooler an Who Loves Ya? So once we add Polyps or Pretty Ghosts or even we go back and say we want Ill Fish on there, then yeah, y’know? We got a lot of songs that are the ones I think are good.

But then some label might be all like well we want Hang ‘em High and I have to go do that and my pile of songs I think are good keeps building up. So we have to do Power Supply because someone likes it.

The mix, well is easy because I buy all my tunes every fortnight on beatport and I’ve bought tunes and the decks are set up so we’re into it.

Then we have to play the gigs so we realise we’re not living in a dream, or it’s a dream where I have to listen and play a good set.

Honestly I just feel like I’m too old to drop a shitty set, if there’s going to be shitty DJ it may as well be some young dickhead.

Mainly I get too cocky and think I know all my tricks so well, but in the club when it’s loud on full on, it’s a different deal.

But I think now I have done my cd of mixes, I will now go about putting together some club mixes so I’m not forced to have to rely on pulling off stupidly challenging mixes I put on my cd when I get to the club, and it’s loud as hell and kids are screaming and dudes I trying to talk to you and mc’s are yelling their heads off and other DJ’s and dudes in the booth are bumping you and you’re sweating . . .

The beatles started experimenting with drugs and went to india and in pace with the times evolved from sublime innocent pop into the conceptual complexity of what rock’n roll still is now.

Do you feel you need to go to India? That’s what this blog is about for me trying to get to India, trying to unlock some essential creativity. I just figured once I had some money it might get easier, now I’m not so sure.

But people still click on my ads, I guess that’s something. You can put that on my headstone, here lies Matt the Romantech, he got a lot of ad clicks on his blog. Maybe because I didn’t go postering tonight I’m not full of all that restless cultural energy, but it’s always there.

I walk around the street putting up the posters, I wonder when I’ll do something worth advertising with posters. There’s a culture in Auckland but I can’t find it and I barely try.

I’ve lost touch. I tried to do my own thing and lost site of the main thing, because I’m a fool if I don’t think other people are doing underground stuff in Auckland while I’m pining away on this romantic ideal.

The problem with some average club gig is that when it’s done, it’s never really talked about unless it was truly remarkable for some reason. You can’t poster that some dumb club gig, or even advertise your underground gig, that defeats the point, if everyone knows and your desperate to pull them into your tired old vibe.

Club gigs are not a cause to celebrate, they’re just another club gig, and I just want to party in a freestyle progressive way. That’s what I’m thinking could be part of my reality compound vibe. Searching, reaching out in the darkness for true culture.

You need a space and a purpose, a space for the purpose of people losing themselves in a vibe. So it’s got to be safe, and I need to explore how people could possibly be influenced in a positive way by the surroundings.

It’s a massive mission. But if you start with a space and a purpose in that space you must be able to create the new 21st century party.

Could I advertise my website with posters? Y’know once it gets good enough? It’s like you need to have some kind of statement.

What are you trying to say that needs to be told? Do I only feel like I need to find something to say just so I can be the one to say it? Can I see, but am not confident, too affected by it all, to speak?

What’s the statement?

That I want attention?

That time passes, vibes roll on, the experience of life as a human on the planet earth shifts slowly.

Do you know of anything underground going on? There’s only one time you’re alive to create something magical and perhaps even secret.

Either I will connect with underground inhabitants or I will have to build my own with what resources are available but I refuse to believe auckland is bereft of any spirit and desire to see tight exclusive parties go down where you can really disappear from yourself.

I’d put posters up with random cryptic concepts on them pimping a site where action was going down, where my excavations were being archived, we’ll only have this secret magic now, soon we’ll be gone.

paint a place white and hand out art supplies. Do something different. Have kids twitter which way they want the sound to go.

It’s about artistry and control, it’s about people finding positivity in this kind of outcome, they don’t have to be rolling up in beamers or whatever, they come to party and disappear into a zone.

You sell them a ticket by taking their phone number personally, so when they roll up to the gig they show ID and they receive a text custom to their phone which is entry . . . I gotta think about it, gotta make something happen, gotta kick something that means something. Kill them with positive vibes.

I bought a bass guitar! I just went on Trademe and had a look for a giggle. Bid up to $79 and I actually got it!

Auction finished on a sunday morning – bad move for selling to muso’s, but hey – their loss, my gain.

I’m really excited about it. At first it just seemed like something cool to do, that I could do – another thing I like about being older now – often you can actually see that somethings just not going to work out.

But since I got the thing home, and realised what a good deal I got, and started playing, I got really excited about it, I got a big rush, just playing again and getting into it.

I had actually talked about getting a bass earlier on the blog, but I can’t find any of the best examples at this point, so just for your info its not exactly just out of the blue.

For a bit of history, I played bass in our high school indie/shoegaze band “Furver” which I am tending to invoke as I move forward on the next step – originally it was my Trip Hop outfit “Further” and I think that’s what it will be whenever I collaborate on non-drum and bass projects, well you can be in my band Further.

If you want.

It’ll still be a Trip Hop thing, but also a more indie, more spaced out and even dubsteppy thing. So back to the roots, but also baring fruits!

The idea of the Bass came in seeing so many white stripes type line ups emerging in my vicinity – there was cure motel and there was the neo-kalishnikovs, both which I toured with on Short Circuit tours, neither of which had a bass player.

But it was also a concept I called “Blenheim on a Tuesday” I saw singer/songwriters playing places like Blenheim on a Tuesday and I wanted to work out how I could play a cafe in a place like Blenheim on a Tuesday, so I could tour hard, playing 5 or more gigs a week.

Not with a pumping drum and bass set. But I could if I did low key trip hop/indie/alt country vibe.

This also came from a lot of discussion between darcy and I which led to him doing Cure Motel, that we felt instruments were needed to connect with audiences when the bloom came of the rose of the dance/electronica scene that grew in the 90’s. People wanted to see action, and as long as it sounded good then, great.

The common thread of course was versatility and economy when on tour or putting together a nights entertainment, and if you dig deep enough on this blog and elsewhere you’ll see how the concept of convergence led to idea I had of how a perfect performance would pitch itself.

I can play trip hop and slung back spacious and basscious stuff at the beginning of a gig, I can make it deeper and more meaningful with a vocalist there and I can progress toward more indie and alt country vibes, they can get heavier in their indie and punky disco influence, another band could take over at that point or I could just forge ahead into nu disco, indie rave, and electro, I could do some reality compound electroclash if I wanted to or just play the instrumentals. A DJ could take over playing house, breaks, electro even dubstep, or I could be the DJ, using my own way to get to the drum and bass place, then I’m able to go to the full blown shoegaze dubstep business, it could be an epic headliner, or completely slung out to be a dreamy wind down, and then back to where we started, trip hop, dreamy beats.

36 mins – trip hop / dreampop / alt country
36 mins – indie, electroclash, nu rave
36 mins – electro / house / breaks
36 mins – drum and bass
36 mins – dubstep / dreamstep / trip hop

and though each step mixes together, each can be played an individual short set, parts can be removed or added or elongated as is suitable to the venue.

If people want a drum and bass set or a live indie dubstep fusion band they can have it.

Or they can have the show I put on, and possibly, where I had to, I could carry a whole night on my own.

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Okay this is the official Romantech blog post about the detonate festival where I try to stay on topic and avoid sinking into the metaphysical relativity of uber-capitalist post modern hedonistic lifestyles, or y’know all that self indulgent crap I’m trying to cut down on on this blog.

This little therapy session is over, and we are certainly living in the future in case you didn’t know but I think I just think that because I’m old. Well “youngish” as opposed to being young. Hate being “youngish”. But i’ll live with it and stop grinding it over.

Because today we’re not here for deep meaningful new years discussion and personal assessment we’ll just be discussing the Detonate festival in Urenui, just out of New Plymouth.

At the end of the day I played a good set and the crowd got into it, that’s the most important thing. Ultimately that’s why I do it. When I’m killing it in the mix and the crowd are going off and feeling it, I’m getting high on that vibe and getting fully energised and vibed up.

The weather was great what other interesting things of note are their to mention?

The event organiser Natalie was a delight and there were lots of explosions going off for the “detonate” part of the festival which provided a bit of novelty, especially the momentary dissonance between seeing the explosion, hearing the sound and feeling the heatwave.

There was a nice little backstage area but we didn’t end up there much for some reason, there were lots of treats, but also lots of rockers posing off. I took my camera and interviewed Clap Clap Riot briefly. I think they did a devo cover which was pretty sweet.

I kept a look our for These Four Walls as Ambrozia’s cousin is in the band apparently. As a pretty textbook post-emo hey kinda veered, I liked their overblown stuff and there was good balance between

We met a guy named Terry who tagged along with us a fair bit telling us we needed to visit Nova Scotia “off the coast of Switzerland” where apparently there are phenomenal looking women throwing themselves after the kiwi accent. Funny dude.

I think the guys before us were Hedline and MC Felony, they were older guys and the DJ, Hedline, had only been playing out for 9 months but he was still holding down a big party electro breaks vibe when we jumped on at 10pm, and the crowd were well into it, he;s managed to build it from nothing as it had been pretty hot during the day with some tech house guys and the Professor playing funk, house and funky breaks.

Some trashy bird jumped up in the booth while I was playing and started asking me about DJing and standing next to me so I instantly started putting a hard mack down on her and rubbing her butt

There were quite a few significantly good looking women there who were just going crazy to the music all night, they weren’t hanging round with their friends they were just there getting into it, good company really. Girls that look like that in Auckland don’t drop their carefully manicured guard for the merest second.

Those New Plymouth girls though, the tans on them! Witnessed some amazingly well sunned young ladies in attendance.

The midnight fireworks were great because it was short and sweet, they didn’t play it out, they just put up as many fireworks as they could in the shortest space, which was really effective.

And that’s about as much as i can be botheres writing to be honest.

]]> http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2010/01/official-romantech-and-soul-science-at-detonat-festival-post/feed/ 0 http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2009/12/romantech-soul-science-timeline-archives/ http://romantech.co.nz/blog/2009/12/romantech-soul-science-timeline-archives/#comments Fri, 25 Dec 2009 11:28:12 +0000 Matt Romantech http://romantech.co.nz/blog/?p=328

Working on a Soul Science / Romantech Timeline . . . comprehensive as, bro . . . but still a work in progress . . .

2002

Romantech Track “Plate Techtonics”

Romantech Mix: “Doom”

Romantech Track: “Release”

Data:Bass Residency @ Shots
Romantech, Culprit (Detail), Teddy Edit, Bobbylon

2003

Data:Bass resumes at K rd Ballroom
Romantech, Kyren, Teddy Edit, Allie, LX, Culprit, Bobbylon,

May: Data:Bass Sampler 1 Release
Romantech Track: “Chain Reaction”
Further Track: “Disturbing Thoughts”

May 1: rumble in the jungle
Dionysus, Kyren, Culprit, Romantech, Fiction, MC Jen-I

June 21: Tansgression – Silverdale
Fiction, Kyren, Culprit, Romantech, Teddy Edit

Drive Software
Romantech Track “Lynch Mob”
Romantech Track “Good Music”

August: Data:Bass Sampler 2:
Romantech Track: Shots
Romantech Track: Almost home

August 22: Bring The Ruckus @ the K Rd Ballroom
Data:Bass Net DJ’s + Guests

Sept 12: Mindset @ Paradise Bar
State of Mind, 4tune, Kyren, Romantech,

Sept 27 DB1: Data:Bass turns 1 @ Paradise Bar
State of Mind, Fiction, Culprit,

October: Mental Illness 1
Romantech Track: Druggie Scum
Romantech Track: Disturbing thoughts
Style Over Substance Track:

Nov 8: Search & Destroy @ Paradise Bar
State of Mind, Kyren, Fiction,

Nov: Version festival & Release @ Odeon

New years Eve @ Resolution

2004:

Jan 16: Data:bass gig

Offbeat party @ Duo

PSC Party @ The Office

Style Over Substance track: Molly & John

Romantech track: Innocence

Trouble In paradise: March 5, 19, 26
Style Over Substance First Gig

April 30: Mechanisms of Mentality

Mental Illness 2
Romantech”

Further Release – “Distance”
Further Track “Disturbing Thoughts”
Further Track “Make It Last”
Further Track: “Nag Champa”
Further Track: “Walk Me Home”
Further Track “Floored”
Further Remix “
Further Track “Version” ft. Catguts

Lickwicked
Romantech Track – “Moving On”

August Short Circuit 2

K rd Karnival

Mechanica

2005

Club Bizarre Electro Shock 29 Jan

Liquid Underground Feb 12 // Feb 26

Liquid Underground vs Twisted Breaks April 9

vs Live Fusion April 23

Further Release “Sounds Good”
Further Track “Who Da Man?”
Further Track “Down The Line”
Further Track “left & Right & Wrong””
Further Track “Dogsbody Dub”

May: Short Circuit 1
Short circuit CD
Romantech Track – “Like You Do” ft. Haze
Romantech Track – “Metro Sound”
Romantech Track – “Ice Breaker
Further Track – “Nag Champa”

May 5 Re:Fuel
May 6: Queenstown
May 7: Wanaka
May 12: Jetset
May 14: Phat
May 20: 101
May 21: Guv’nors
May 28: Viper

Sept 10 Infrasound @ Plume / galatos

Oct –
Romantech DJ Mixes
Down and Out chill Out Mix
Decks In The City

Style Over Substance relaunches on Myspace as Reality Compound
Reality Compound track: I Need Myspace
Reality Compound track: Get Some Pussy

Romantech Remix: “Dizzy Boy” Bylli Crayone

Dec 23: Full Circle Xmas party @ Foci
Romantech, Carnage, Blazem, JGA, Nato, Control, Whitebait, MC Pakage

Romantech Release: Result
Romantech Track: Acid Jam
Romantech Track: The Book

2006

Romantech track: Can Only Ask
Reality Compound: Make Me
Reality Compound: Fake It

Jan 27 Mental Illness 3 part @ Foci
Romantech, Nato, Blazem, Carnage, Control, Emu, Catguts
Romantech Track
Romantech Track

Feb 4 Aqueous @ Moth

March: Soul Science @ Foci residency begins

April:
Reality Compound Release: Get Real
Reality Compound: All The Rage
Reality Compound: Sell Out
Reality Compound: Maybe Someday

Romantech Track “Sweet Ambrozia”
Romantech Track “Pacificized” ft. 4.5 Hz

May 9: Emu EP Release

June 6: Snapshot @ Khuja
Makky, Blazem, Nato, romantech, Control. JGA, Fraser S, Future 1, Absilute Value

Short Circuit 2.5 ft. Emu, Opiou, Deano, Uberloser
Short Circuit Video

6 July Welly
7 July Palmerston Nth
8 July Wanganui
12 July Queenstown
13 July Apartment 1
14 July Backstage
15 July Capitol

Romantech Release / Mix: Oceanic Chill
Romantech Track: “Where’s Baby?”
Romantech Remix: Wyvil “Mandroid” \

Artificial Intelligence Tour
Aug 4 @ 4:20, Auckland: Emma G & Jess Hartley,
Aug 5 @ Subculture

Romantech Remix: “Falling” Halluciagea

Sept 21: Base
Sept 22: Bar Xcel

Dunedin fringe
Invercargill

Queenstown
Wanaka

Oct 20/21: Greg Packer Tour
Oct 20 @ 4:20, Auckland: Emma G & Jess Hartley, Romantech, Control, Nato, MC Pakage, Format, Rhyas, Kritical,
Oct 21 @ Capitol

Romantech Release: Special Times
Romantech Track: Everything
Romantech Track: Sure Enough
Romantech Track: Long T’ing

Romantech Remix: “Shell Shock” Perceptual Chaos

Dec 16 Snapshot Christmas @ 4:20

Dec 23 Short Circuit Xmas Great Barrier Island

2007

DJ Asides @ Rising Sun Jan 26
Riddle, B-Line, Emma G, Nato, Romantech, Control

Romantech track: Positive Vibes
Romantech Track: Girlfriends
Romantech Remix: NSU “Neutron Star”

Mar 17: Make or Breaks @ Fu:
Timmy Schumacher, The Retainers, Romantech, Tech, Nabb

Mar 23: Snatch @ Foci
Riddlw, Nato, Pakage, Swindle, Blazem, Grind, Romantech, Control

Jun 16 Niceness @ Club Duo
Jess & Emma, Pakage, Nato, Grind, Kritical

Romantech Release: Such Heavy Wings
Romantech Track: Ill Fish
Romantech Track: They Shine
Romantech Track: Past Lives

Ourrr Show Upfm Compilation
Soul Science track: “Desire”

June 23: Snatch @ Foci
Jess & Emma, Blazem, Mr. Mun, Romantech, Control

DJ Suv Tour
Aug 3: Curve, Wellington w/ Liquid gold
Aug 4: Fu, Auckland w/ Funkshun, Blazem, Nato, Darnell, Upsetta + MC Pakage
Aug 7: Safari, Auckland (Special Appearance)
Aug 10: Subculture, Queenstown w/ D-Jade
Aug 11: Capitol, Christchurch w/ Urban Notion, Deall

Soul Science Release: Suv vs. Soul Science mix

Short Circuit Tour ft. Emu, Cure Motel, DJ Dusk

Sept 28: Snatch championship DJ Competition @ Foci
Darnell, Cluedo, Rafa, Nutron

Romantech Remix: Tom Bosley Experience “Self Examination Circus”

Soul Science Track: Alpha Vidi

Dec 23: Snapshot Xmas at Safari
Emma G, Darnell, Blazem, Upsetta, Nutron, Romantech, Orawen, Cluedo,

2008

Fusion Soul @ Fu Jan 27
Lobo, Solkai, The Others, Makky, Orawen, Kwrk, Cris V, Dan P, Soul Science

Beat Dungeon Sonic Confinement Compilation:
Romantech Track: Gonna Getcha

DJ A-Sides @ Fu Feb 1
Swindle, Future1, Upsetta, Cluedo, Romantech, Control

DJ A-Sides @ Whangaparoa Feb 4
Romantech, Control, Future 1

Fusion Soul @ Fu Mar 23
Future 1, Nato, Makky, Cluedo, Pakage, Upsetta, Romantech, Control

Reality Compound Video: “Scene Fuck Jam” ft. Aidan Sine

Soul Science Track: Dirty

Romantech Remix: “Forever” ft. Zeisha

Snapshot Jun 1 @ Fu
Contraban, Nato, Nutron, Makky, Cluedo, Kwrk, Romantech, Control

Soul Science Track: Conspiracy

Short Circuit 5 ft Romantech, Cure Motel, Stress Cadet, Lobo [Aus],
sept 3: Coherant, Auckland
sept 4: Palmerston Nth
sept 5: Wanganui

sept 10: Christchurch
sept 11:
sept 12: Bank cafe, Timaru

Sept 19: High Society
Nato, Contraban, Mash Up Mafia, Romantech, Control, Zpak, Kwrk, Paul G. MC Joobz

Oct 26: Snapshot Labour Day @ Fu
Funkshun, Mash Up Mafia, Control, Romantech, Zpak, Jacey, Antic, MC Bella Mafia

Dec 18: Futurebound @ Carpark

Dec 31: New Years Eve 2008 @ Fu

2009

January Short Circuit 6
Romantech, Cure Motel, The Neo Kalishnikovs
Jan 14: Wunderbar, Lyttleton
Jan 15: Red Rocks, Wanaka
Jan 16: Revolver, Queenstown
Jan 17: Tillerman’s, Invercargill
Jan 18: Fox glacier

Jan 17:Full Intention @ Fu
Control, Lobo, Nato, Zpak, Paul G, Whitebait

Jan 25: Mixed Company @ Fu
Mashup Mafia, Soul Science, Zpak, Xman

Feb 21: DJ A-Sides Sat @ fu
Control, Romantech, Zpak, Merge, Kwrk, Antic, Whitebait, MC Bella Mafia

March 8: Free A-Sides Gig
Control, Romantech, Zpak, Antic, Epod,

March 11: Downbeat Syndrome @ Lot44
Soul Science, Stray Theories, NSU, Sharkweek

Soul Science Track: Copywrong Remix

Apr 12: Full Intention 2
Control, Romantech, Zpak, Perceptual chaos, Evade, Whitebait, MC Bella Mafia

May 8: Extra Mile @ Zen

May 19: Drop It Down @ Fu
Nato, Bugsy, Control, Romantech, Zpak, Kwrk, Antic

May 31: Low Key @ Fu
Control, Romantech, Zpak, Mike E, Phil O, Jefsta

Soul Science track: Special request

October Short Circuit
Oct 16 The Dux, Christchurch
Oct 17 The Dux, Queenstown
Oct 18 Red Rocks, Wanaka

Soul Science track: Kings

Romantech remix: NSU ft. Lost In Japan “16786”

October 25 – Sunday jam
Bugsy, control, Romantech, Evade, Mike E, Zpak, MC Bella Mafia

Ocrober 31 : Rebound @ Fu
Romantech, Control, Merge, Kwrk, Evade, Surface

Nov 6: Dojo Inspectors pre release
Soul Science, Emma G,

Soul Science Release: Dojo Inspectors – Live 13 track mix

Romantech Remix: Sharkweek “Robospacejesus”

Dec 12 NSU Escape release / Zen 2nd Bday ft. Stray Theories

Romantech Remix / Video: Mister Jack “Dream A Little Dream”

How good am I updating my blog with relevant information about y’know gigs and music and stuff that’s supposed to be important?

Look I know what’s important, okay? Anyway. I’m an artist. Or something.

Basically, I play gigs, I do. I’m active in that way, and songs, music, I make it, but y’know. What is that really relevant to in the history of the universe? Anyway.

I am playing this weekend and both the NSU launch party for the EP Escape.

December 12 at Rising SUn.

I should really have facebook links and all that jazz but this is an UNDERGROUND blog, nu underground, actually, which is super artistically pure, 100% free of posers. Respectable people still might heed the name of Romantech however so I try not to swear.

But the NSU EP features the original version of a song I went on to remix, it’s title is numeric – um, I forget quite what – which is just the kind of  trivia that you’d expect to find on this kind of blog so there’s a bone for all you dogs. And the bassline is out of tune on the remix so I’ll probably spend more years in purgatory redeeming myself for that particular sin, and probably being beaten with bats. And chased.

Sin, sin, my child! And juju. Bad Juju. Both my computers are working again and my hard drive with all my songs from 2006 and 2007 has been recovered, which I guess on this blog where that stuff matters, that is a big deal. It’s relevant to my circumstances. Computers that don’t make music and also actually destroy and lose music are definitely the work of unfavourable entities in any religion I’m likely to be a part of.

So computers that are making and storing music means happy faces and less jujutastic activity where just about everything is all going to hell, basically.

We are also playing as Soul Science at the Zen 2nd Birthday. We’re like at the bottom of the flyer, oh the ignominy! What? Okay, okay alright I’ll settle down.

But both will feature Micah aka Stray Theories on Sax with us and doing his own performances of the rich deep beats he makes at the NSU party. I was totally into this because basically it was my commitment to short circuit lifestyles. And beat dungeon lifestyles. Touring, gigs, jamming, putting down beats – filming it of course – it’s about creative vision and creative freedom, man! like, Dude!

To me, this music stuff has already branched off beyond whether your new tune was better than your last one, that’s what I saying like, I make music, so what? There’s a story, there’s a journey, there’s a message and all the rest. Lifestyle, ya moafz! Creative, artistic, and keeping it fresh with community and activity.

Speaking of messages, girls wont give you their phone number, they want you to message them on facebook. I got booted off Facebook for my marketeering. I want to launch my vibe onto that, y’know – my brand (the cauldron of which is this blog into which you now peer) – but it looks like I need to be expedient for my own personal welfare.

I’ve always known that I should get organised. I’m thinking after all these recent trials, maybe for once in my life I actually will. Except I’m a lunatic, but anyway.

Finally we’ll be playing the Detonate festival in Taranaki for new years, 11-1am the sweet spot basically, but of course this will be a separate dance/dj zone.

I don’t want to be twiddling my thumbs on new years. I played Fu last year, it was awesome. There was purity in it. Definitely, it was one of my best new years ever. Basically I just chilled at home after midnight, then cruised down to fu and rocked the crowd and then cruised home again in the morning light.

But anyway, check out this creepy apartment creeper. Imagine that! I’m sure I could paint up some metaphor for how this has a deep meaning in terms something going on but really it’s just some twisted, distinctly dislocated vibes. wtfoflcopter

Alright it’s now time for the unofficial Dojo Inspectors autopsy, I’m not sure if there’ll be an official, whatever, um, basically, now it’s over, I suppose I better discuss it.

It’s actually only the gig that’s over, and this relentless schedule of like tour and then gigs every weekend after that for 3 weeks, y’know, that’s over, and that’s good.

Dojo Inspectors isn’t over, really it’s only just begun, it’s that the trauma of doing gigs under pressure was a bit much, we had to peel back our commitments and ride it out, and I am satisfied I made the right decision to weather it out and come back.

Sure, we lost the opportunity to promote the gig and the release and make the gig more successful but we held onto the priority of making sure the release was decent and not burning out on desperate measures.

You can tell that I’m upbeat even though the gig didn’t go that great, because we’re still in it, we’ll be back on it and ramping soon as rather than needing a week or two to recover. The Dojo Inspectors full mix should be ready soon and then I can kick into the more solid consistent promotion I’m used to with my business.

So the real focus is the gig. We couldn’t commit the resources and so it didn’t go that great but we were up against it and it still seems like a quiet time of year with exams on and such, which really underlines how circumstance can effect a gig.

I did also play an awful set I stopped the wrong tune twice. Oh well I guess it’s forgotten now, that’s what these gigs are like, all we really have to carry forward is the lessons we learnt, which I guess are some interesting ones, perhaps some stuff I can’t really get in deep with in the blog.

It’s just as I probably mentioned, I am interested in what new possibilities might exist for special parties happening not in a club where the environment is totally predicated on the sale of alcohol.

If the main outcome of the night becomes all about leveraging the music to sell booze, I’m not sure if that’s a successful recipe for a vibe that’s going to go off.

I don’t have anything against young people but I do regard seriously the fact that they are coming from a different angle. I don’t think we need to exclude younger people at all, I just think we need to be aware that they come with a whole bunch of built up ideas that may not match

Kids never knew about raving, they never experienced a time when it was driven purely by music and not with this club vibe, and the drinking industry. I’m not going to go into too much except to tsay I’m being pushed further to the point where doing the private party – “nu underground” concept is becoming more appealing, or at least, I feel the need to attempt to go down this path to see wat lies ahead.