ChicagoVerseUniteD: Chicago Scene Salvation

Chicago veteran DJ and CVU favorite Miguel Martin, AKA Trancid, has posted a new mix entitled Synth Complex. The new wave-laced and electro-set release features cuts from the likes of Miss Kitten, White Lies, and Joy Division, and marks, according to Martin, “(The) first time in YEARS that I have recorded a mix at a sub-130 bpm level.” In sending the mix to CVU, the Chicago scene staple supplied the following update.

So, 2011 is marking the beginning of my new solo stuff, post-(Dark Wave Disco). What I’m going to start doing in the next month is getting together with my (friend) Frank from Echonine and begin doing remix work and eventually original material, just more for personal satisfaction and taking things to another level. Our first remix is going to be a track called No Health from this band out of California called The New Division. I will be going under the new production name of “Androides Paranoide” I even have a new URL registered for it. http://androidesparanoide.com

Download Synth Complex below, with a tracklist following the Soundcloud player.

Trancid – Synth Complex
1] Cut Copy : Take Me Over (Mylo Remix)
2] White Lies : Bigger Than Us (Datassette Remix)
3] Villa Nah : Running On (Kebacid Remix)
4] Jori Hulkkonen feat Jerry Valuri : I Am Dead (Whomadewho Remix)
5] Miss Kittin : All You Need (Gesaffelstein Remix)
6] Groove Armada : History (Grum Remix)
7] Joris Voorn : The Secret
8] Two Door Cinema Club : What You Know (LightsoverLA Club Mix)
9] Monarchy : The Phoenix Alive (Kris Menace Mix)
10] David E Sugar : Flea Market (Sharooz Remix)
11] Bag Raiders : Turbo Love (Light Year Remix)
12] Vandroid : Master & Slave (Van She Tech Remix)
13] I Am The Cosmos : So Glad (Gesaffelstein Remix)
14] Whomadewho : The Plot (Discodeine Remix)
15] Severed Heads : Dead Eyes Opened (12″ Version)
16] Joy Division : She’s Lost Control (D. Ramirez Edit)

This week on the ChicagoVerseUniteD audio podcast: Anthony Spina of Old Style!

This week on the ChicagoVerseUniteD audio podcast: Anthony Spina of Old Style calls in to discuss his Run The Streets event, happening this Thursday, November 4th, at Debonair Social Club, featuring support from local talent including Dark Wave Disco, Kid Color, and more, as well as local independent media support from friends of the CVU podcast like Cream Team, Everyone Is Famous, and UR Chicago. Spina shares his views on the strength of the Chicago underground, remaining in Chicago to strengthen the scene, and the origins of first ward alderman Proco Joe Moreno‘s involvement with Run The Streets.

CVU48: Anthony Spina
Right-click the link to download CVU48, or stream the show below
[vodpod id=Video.4816823&w=425&h=50&fv=]

Dark Wave Disco‘s DJ Trancid has posted a new mix to his Soundcloud page, available for streaming below, or download by right-clicking here.

Trancid – Airwave Alienation Mix

The dark and dancey electro-heavy mix comes just before Trancid and the Dark Wave Crew gear up for a massive weekend of Lollapalooza after-parties, including those posted below.

Dark Wave Disco’s five-year anniversary happens tonight at the newly-opened Chicago Beauty Bar. (For more on the club, check out the recent CVU podcast interview with Beauty Bar owner Paul Devitt.) While this week’s 50th edition of The Ministry Of The Dynasty features an interview with the Dark Wave DJ’s in support of tonight’s event, an archived Chicago*uniteD podcast finds the DJ collective checking in at the time of its two-year anniversary.

C*U02: Dark Wave Disco
Right-click the link to be taken to Div Share download page, or stream C*U02 below

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.935187&w=425&h=50&fv=]

Be sure to check out Dark Wave Disco’s five-year anniversary event tonight at Beauty Bar. For more info, check out this week’s The Ministry Of The Dynasty: your pop love podcast

This audio archive post features interview-centric podcasts from The Dynasty’s 2006/2007 podcast series, Chicago*uniteD.

In 2005, digital media and promotions outfit The Ministry Of The Dynasty arrived as Chicago’s first music and nightlife culture podcast. In 2006 and through 2007, The Dynasty (pictured below) produced the short-lived spin-off, Chicago*uniteD, which continued TMOTD’s focus on local and national indie and electro culture scene, and featured interviews with premiere local and national talent. C*U was hosted by Jaime Black, Desiree (AKA Lady D), blogger Rachel White (then known as The White Rabbit), and event producer/DJ/screen-printer Mikul Wing.

(C*U-era Dynasty: Desiree, graphic/web designer Zarin Finesse, Black, Rabbit, Wing, & Alice)

(Photo Credit: Clayton Hauck @ Everyone Is Famous Dot Com)

A  new episode of the currently running ChicagoVerseUniteD podcast drops early next week (more on that at the end of the post), but in the meantime, the audio archive below features the C*U podcast.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.926203&w=425&h=138&fv=]

C*U S1E1: Brave New World (Where Are They Now?) (Feat. an interview with DJ Joe Vor-Tech)
C*U S1E2: Two Years Dark (The Boy(‘s) Night In) (Feat. an interview with Dark Wave Disco for the DJ group’s two-year anniversary)
C*U S1E3: Mafia (Feat. an interview with DJ Jordan Z for the then-newly launched New Indie Mafia party)
C*U S1E4: A Summer Scene Transmission (Feat. Mat Devine of Kill Hannah plus a spotlight on Going.com)
C*U S1E5: A Summer Scene Transmission (A September Scene Remix) (The condensed edit of the above podcast, with new commentary)
C*U S2E0: 2/30: Chicago Ignited (Feat. interviews with Plain White T’s, Blake Miller (Moving Units/Weird Science/Weird Science), Walter Meego, and Villains)

Live review of Lollapalooza 2009 artists Dark Wave Disco, He Say, She Say, Moneypenny, and Yello Fever, as well as Lolla 2008 alums Flosstradamus. Up now at The Onion‘s A.V. Chicago site.

DARK WAVE DISCO BIO

Featuring Resident DJ’s

Mark Gertz * Trancid * Greg Corner (Kill Hannah)

+

 host PaulInChicago & visuals by Arturo Valle

MySpace.com/DarkWaveDisco

****

(Left to right: Gertz, Martin, Corner, Valle, Rodriguez)

Renowned Chicago nightlife institution Dark Wave Disco was born on a Tuesday night in March of 2005, at dancehall hipster haven Sonotheque. A venue continually reduced to standing room only on nights when Dark Wave would touch down, with lines stretching far along Chicago Avenue. Lines populated by music, nightlife, art, and culture junkies alike, all united by their desire to dance and demand for decadence. A demand to which the Dark Wave Disco DJ’s cater to at every appearance, alongside the biggest names in nightlife, from local to national to international talent.

Dark Wave Disco originated as the brainchild of Chicago DJ/electro culture aficionado Mark Gertz and promoter/graphic artist Paul “InChicago” Rodriguez. Together, the pair went about assembling their nightlife super-group dream team, an outfit that still produce Dark Wave to this day. Joined by veteran electro DJ Miguel “Trancid” Martin, Kill Hannah bassist and hipster indie enthusiast Greg Corner, and visual video artist Arturo Valle, Dark Wave Disco emerged fully realized and poised for takeover.

Yet for group ringleader Gertz, the party needed more than just backing from the perfect team. For Dark Wave to execute properly, it would also require vision. Fortunately, for Gertz, Dark Wave’s vision was clear from day one. As the DJ told Chicago’s Illinois Entertainer magazine in 2007, he drew inspiration from none other than New York nightlife cult icon Andy Warhol, and “the parties he threw at his factory, the bringing together of fashion, art, music, (and) film. But not mainstream pop-culture, (rather), obscure sub-pop culture.”

Sure enough, one look at Dark Wave’s track record confirms Gertz’s words. Over the past four years, the outfit has hosted and performed alongside the most important names in the underground and established names in the industry, creating an otherwise non-existent ground zero wherein indie music and nightlife culture converge. Talent including: Justice, Steve Aoki, Le Castle Vania, The MisShapes, Felix Da Housecat, Tommie Sunshine, MSTRKRFT, Spank Rock, The Faint, Uffie, VHS Or Beta, Chris Holmes, Carlos D (Interpol), Shiny Toy Guns, Blake Miller (Moving Units/Weird Science/Lies In Disguise), The Bloody Beetroots, A-Trak, Junior Sanchez, The Teenagers, Classixx (formerly Young Americans), Feadz, Mount Sims, Lady Sovereign, Spencer Product, LA Riots, She Wants Revenge, Junkie XL, Villains, Felix Cartel, Lauren Flax, Chloe Little, Riot In Belgium, Sinden, So Me, Go! Motion, Mark Verbos, Richard Oh, Keith Wilson, and many, many more. In addition, Dark Wave Disco has often teamed with and produced events in collaboration with premiere music industry institutions. Among them the likes of URB, BPM, and Filter magazines, Dim Mak, The Cobra Snake, and even major sponsors such as Toyota.

Aside from constant headlining appearances at premiere nightclubs, concerts, after-parties and private events, the Dark Wave outfit’s scope expands with astonishing inertia. These days, it’s not uncommon to catch the DWD circus in cities ranging from Milwaukee all the way to the west coast, where the group touched down in LA on tour in 2008.

Now in 2009, the Dark Wave operation turn their focus to their newest nightlife venture, Fuck Your Request, held monthly at Lumen (Lumen-Chicago.com) in Chicago’s chic warehouse district. Displaying continuing passion and innovation, the night signals Dark Wave’s unyielding momentum, in and outside of Chicago, in 2009 and beyond.

                                             ****

For all media requests, including photos, videos, and interviews, contact Jaime Black at Chicago United Publicity — jaimeblackfromchicago@gmail.com

The Teenagers
Dark Wave Disco At Sonoteque, Chicago
Saturday, January 26, 2008

From Illinois Entertainer Dot Com

There’s a good chance a group whose most notorious song is a document of the narrator sleeping with his step-cousin shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Perhaps that should’ve been the first indication of what was to come.

Synth-heavy French electro outfit The Teenagers touched down for their first ever Chicago appearance over the weekend, performing a set midway through Saturday night’s Dark Wave Disco monthly at Sonoteque. The result was a mixed experiment: a frenzied, haphazard experiment that at best was cheesy french electro (better translated for stage with guitars, bass, and a live drummer) that didn’t take itself too seriously. At worst, the trio-led Teenagers were a loose, disjointed, intoxicated train-wreck.

The primary example of which was unfortunately the night’s most anticipated moment, the psuedo-incestious (and aforementioned) hook-up tale, “Homecoming.” Easily the most remarkable moment on The Teens’ Reality Check(Merok) debut, it instead stood as a mess of drunken fangirls at the mic for the female responses in the song’s storyline. A novel-enough idea, but poorly executed, in part due to the level of intoxication between the female audience members, and in part because they didn’t know all the words. The venue’s unfavorable acoustics didn’t help, as sound got lost and muddled along the way.

That’s not to imply there weren’t elements of the night that succeeded. Frontman Quentin Delafon stood as the focal point of the rushed performance, sporting a goofy grin throughout the majority of the set, engaging the crowd with frequent visits into it, and a tangible sense of excitement. There was no doubt he was enjoying the tone of the evening, and, judging by the reaction from the over-eager crowd practically spilling onto the low stage on the north end of Sonoteque, he wasn’t the only one.

They hinted at it on “Homecoming” and throughout Reaility Check, and Saturday night cemented the fact The Teenagers know how to have fun, especially onstage. It’s possible if they took their fun a little more seriously, it could do a world of good.

– Jaime de’Medici

Dark Wave Disco
Redefining Partying In Chicago Two Years At A Time

From Illinois Entertainer Dot Com

For every party, club night, or DJ event that launches in Chicago with any level of staying power, there are countless more that vanish into the night, leaving behind nothing more than a trail of desperate, screaming flyers strewn outside Crobar at 5 a.m.

So when a local DJ party crosses the two-year mark, it’s not only impressive, it’s almost unheard of. Which makes the Chicago party Dark Wave Disco’s two-and-a-half year march toward a more celebratory, electro-laden tomorrow all the more remarkable.

Dark Wave Disco began as a monthly held in the city’s West Town neighborhood, at hipster haven Sonotheque, a club that’s laid back on the inside and non-descript on the out — except when Dark Wave takes over. Then it’s not uncommon to see lines stretching down the block, all waiting to get inside and hear sets spun by not only the DW residents, but the likes of The Faint, Lady Sovereign, and Tommie Sunshine. It’s a party with a repeat fanbase who regard the event — and its offshoot weekly and one-off parties — must-attend affairs.

Of course, a large part of DW’s appeal, to speak nothing of its longevity, can be attributed to the team behind its production, a virtual Chicago nightlife supergroup. The brainchild of Chicago DJ and indie/electro music aficionado Mark Gertz, alongside promoter/visual artist Paul “In Chicago” Rodriguez, the night was born, like so many great ventures, from someplace between necessity and boredom.

“Chicago, at that point, was so just flooded with house music parties, and — I know house music is from Chicago and it’s great, but — there weren’t even any good house music parties at that point,” Gertz recalls, equating his dissatisfaction with Dark Wave’s catalyst for launching. “Like there are these couple, little-tiny one-off parties, and there’s the thing Miguel [Martin] played at, at Big Wig on Sundays, but they never really were that advertised, and, never that out in the open, and it was like, ‘We need to change this and put together a party for the kind of music that we like.’”

From there, Gertz went about assembling his dream team, hand picking players from their respective, established nights: Big Wig’s Black Sundays yielded Miguel “Trancid” Martin, a veteran electro DJ; from Blue Mondays at Tre Via (now Debonair) came Kill Hannah bassist and hipster-indie aficionado Greg Corner; and Darkroom’s Brit-pop monthly Panic groomed visual artist Arturo Valle. For Gertz, each member is an essential component to Dark Wave’s continued success.

“Greg, I kind of knew like around from Wicker Park. He and I had identical music tastes, just kind of grew up in the same scenes, went to raves back in the ’90s, liked The Cure,” he recalls. “Miguel I just would see out all the time DJing. I mean, Greg wasn’t necessarily at that point a true DJ in the sense of being a DJ, but had great musical tastes and I knew would play, come in, play great songs. Him and I could just play songs for the first maybe hour or two of the night, and then Miguel — “Trancid,” that is — was a really talented DJ, and played all the great new electro stuff, and music that was coming up and not big yet, and getting fresh and starting to get play in Chicago, but still be underground at the same time. He was an insanely talented DJ. So, I was like, with those two it’ll be a perfect combination, and then I just love music and kind of had this vision of what I want a party to be, and where I want it to go, and the kind of people I want there, and with, I’d say, Andy Warhol as my inspiration, looking at what he did, the parties he threw at his Factory, and the bringing together of fashion, art, music, film, but not mainstream pop-culture, sort of like, obscure sub-pop culture.”

Pop culture, certainly; obscure, not so much. Since its launch, Dark Wave’s presence throughout Chicago has grown, with Gertz and Martin DJing, usually together, at multiple nightlife functions throughout the week. Not only that, the DW circus has taken to the road, already invading Milwaukee and even doing a week-long stint in Los Angeles.

Yet, for all the lines outdoors and L.A. nights, Dark Wave — and its proprietors — remains consistently engaging and refreshingly down-to-earth at each event, maintaining surprisingly personal connections with many of its attendees. It could be the night’s crew is in it for all the right reasons: a shared love of music and a desire to provide the city with a type of event that didn’t exist a few short years ago. Or it could just be, unlike party scenes elsewhere, Chicago crowds prefer a different type of party.

“I’ll preface this by saying I love the scenes like ours in New York, London, and L.A., but in Chicago people are far more concerned, for the most part, with music, and actually what you’re playing,” Gertz muses. Not that L.A. or New York shun music, but, as far as Gertz is concerned, “in Chicago, it’s a little more, it’s the Midwest, so people are a little bit more, for lack of a better word, real, and are seriously going there to hear the music. They’re going there mostly for the music, because they know we’re going to play good music at the party, so that’s the main reason [for repeat attendance].”

Indeed, music factors heavily into Dark Wave Disco. Over the years, the party has drawn its share of notable names, ranging from the underground and indie elite to the more credible end of the mainstream spectrum. Past Dark Wave DJ and performance talent includes members of Spank Rock, Moving Units, noted hipster rocker Carlos D of Interpol, New York party monsters The Misshapes, scenester popstress Uffie, and more.

Of course, such success is sure to spawn imitators, a development Gertz has taken in stride.

“I think there are a lot of other parties that are electros now, which is a good thing, it’s good to see people catching on to the music we like,” he begins, choosing his next words carefully. “But, I think, we’re solid, the five of us that do the party. I think the five of us are friends and we stick together, and it’s really well structured, and we have an idea every month of what we want to do, and how it needs to be, and that’s what,” Gertz pauses, before going on to add, “Other parties come and go. People start things up, get flaky, it doesn’t do well for a couple of months or a couple of weeks if it’s a weekly, and they just end up fizzling out, like, ‘We’ve hit a couple of low points,’ but then like, ‘No way we’re going to just come back next month bigger and stronger.’”

It’s easy to believe Dark Wave Disco will continue to grow and evolve. It’s also just as conceivable, even as they do, the party will remain just as personable inviting as ever before. Then again, maybe one explains the other.

– Jaime de’Medici