ATSIC S05E11 - First

This episode marks a first for me as I venture into a whole new world of DJing. It’ll be years and decades before I have skills to rival my friend and reigning resident #ATSIC DJ, DJ Dice, but I started on that long journey this week. I got a Hercules DJ controller a few months back but haven’t found a ton of time to practice with it, so it’s been a gradual learning curve as I find the odd night to devote to tutorials and troubleshooting. I didn’t do this mix as one long take; instead, I pieced it together one song at a time into Ableton multitracking. I know it’s my baby's first DJ mix, but mainly I was just happy that I could get the gear all hooked up and recording properly. That’s the first hurdle; now I can chip away and get smoother and more talented with the hand skills. I’m not going to be replacing Dice anytime soon, that’s for sure, but I might end up doing the odd mix myself in this block by block form to take some of the workload off his shoulders or to knock out second weekly mixes featuring theme music I’ve been stacking up separately from the usual vaults I share with Dice.

What I lack in the physical hand skills of DJing, I try to make up for in my constant drive to introduce new music to new listeners. A lot of DJs have zero intention to break new music, whether that’s because they want to concentrate on playing what the people already want to hear or because their skill tree led them down the juggles and scratching paths. Either way, it’s left a lane available for someone to be better than the algorithm and choose music with a specific palette to share with fans looking for a specific niche. I always wished someone did mixtapes featuring all the Canadians on a regular basis, so now I do.

True mixtapes featured exclusive music. Recording songs from the radio was one thing, but the DJs I looked up to were guys who would build relationships with a variety of artists and leverage that into the ability to release unheard music to the masses. ATSIC isn’t exactly that, but it’s certainly exposing new music to a new audience, and when Dice is in charge especially, it’s blending and mixing done by someone with actual talents in that regard too. The part of DJing that I gravitate toward is that exclusive bit. The LA Leakers, “Damn son where’d you get that” drop is the epitome to me, where they’re debuting new music from artists you didn’t know had new music out. DJs dropping music by artists you haven’t heard collab before has always been super dope to me, like “Face Off” with Scarface and Ghostface from the legendary late DJ Kay Slay. The mixtape DJs inspired me more than the DJs at the DMCs did, if I’m being honest. Mad respect to both though; technical skills are amazing as well, it’s just a different thing completely.

I don’t often get to play exclusives, but the more artists that I talk with on Fly in Formation, the more the odds go up. After I spoke to Sayzee, he sent his new collab album with Tona, “Sun is Out,” over for me to listen to, and said I could play whatever I liked, which was pretty much everything on the 8-track album. I picked “Uncle Buck” to play to start the mix because I liked the Chippewa Sioux produced beat, and both emcees had some nice quotes and references throughout.

The other unheard music I had to ring off this week came later in the mix, with The Mighty Rhino & Skizza dropping off the full “northernflavalisticmetropassmuzik” LP for my listening pleasures. I really always enjoy Rhino’s antics and dexterity, and Skizza is always just clever and heartfelt and cerebral, and this 14-track outing was no surprise to me that I enjoyed it front to back. There were some features throughout, and Pacewon joining them on “Show Your Mettle” with its funk soul feel cemented it as my pick to play. More slick references and more nice quotes. That’s what I’m after on this show.

After that, it's a cross-country roundup of dope new shit. My technically inclined DJ homie Baggylean shows up to chop up a track from newfound Calgary/Vancouver duo Ghost Cardridge on a track called “Xzibit” that also features D-sisive, and he appears again later on his fellow Edmontonian Jimmy Burnett’s “UNRAVEL” alongside Nohsur. That one’s from Jimmy’s new album “A Place In This World,” which isn’t something to sleep on; it’s one of the best down-to-earth, no-nonsense projects I’ve heard for a long time.

There’s new ones from a couple other guys I’ve talked to on Fly in Formation before (J.O. Mairs new one “Conflicted” from his album “Joshua” & Tariiiq’s new drop “Pressure”). There’s also new songs from guys who I’m going to talk to soon: with “Organic” from Roshin, who I’ve got scheduled for May 28, or Shark the SOB, who I talk with on May 7. Shark is the founder of a group of emcees and producers called the Sons Of Boombap, and this “Wu Logo” is the first new track under that banner, with Skizza back to represent alongside Shark & B1 the Architect.

New new from Myer Clarity remembering his recently deceased homie Skevious Tips on “Hiatus”; new remixes from Emskee and MiLKCRATE with “All I Got Is This Music,” and from Ultra Magnus and Hamilton-based producer SpitsickBeats on “B-Girlz Ultra”; new new from Ezza of Choom Gang reintroducing himself on “It’s E”; new new from Frost Gamble with a beat hosting New Jersey emcee Tru Trilla, Guilty Simpson & Skyzoo called “Turn That Down”; new new from Toronto’s Jon Kabongo features on a track called “Sacrifices”; and new new from Brampton’s own TOBi with a big feature from Mick Jenkins on “Forgot We Were Seeds” round out the rest of the hour of music. Lots of good shit.

This episode is followed by a Fly in Formation interview with Toronto pad smasher Fresh Kils. He was fresh off tour and ready to head back out for more. We covered a lot of topics: his recent album “Disclaimer”, hiring musicians on the fly to perform as “The Fresh Kils Trio”, his history, his future, his hopes and dreams, and a bunch of other stuff you absolutely should know about. He seemed like a good dude and I’m looking forward to shaking hands at his upcoming show in Lethbridge. That’s also available on YT. Check the FiF playlist for an archive of all the past guests.

Every week, I buy every song I play, unless the artist sent it to me, saving me a buck. I believe in buying music to support independent artists. Making music is time-consuming and expensive. Streaming doesn’t pay much at all, and since streaming has become the way most people consume music, it’s even more important to make sure to buy tickets, buy music (physical or digital), and buy merch from artists you want to hear more from. Streaming pays next to nothing, so if you want artists working on more music instead of working more shifts at their day job, you need to show them love by opening your wallet and giving them financial support.

Season 3 of my interview series Fly in Formation is soaring along smoothly for the time being. The most up to date schedule is posted below. I’m trying to keep the momentum with weekly live stream interviews talking to artists, but sometimes scheduling gets bumped around a bit as we flex to accommodate unexpected hurdles from time to time. Make sure to hit follow on Twitch or subscribe so you don’t have to watch the ad breaks during interviews too. I love seeing the community pop up in chat to say hi during interviews.

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