Tyree Cooper

written by – Jayson Kisterson

SB: Tyree, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.  You are a major piece of 4/4 history, generation one!  What would you say to the kids embracing house music in 2023 who are just getting into doing it?  What would be your advice to excelling at the craft? 

TC: Well, first of all, I’d tell someone getting into this music today to practice.  Practice a whole hell of a lot!  Get your MP3 files or vinyl- whichever way it is- it doesn’t really matter, as long as you have good music.  If you’re talking about being a DJ, as long as you have the music to rock your party, rock your basement, rock your mom’s house or wherever and whatever it is that you do, make sure you have the music that suits you and you’re comfortable with.  And continuously do it.   You’ll have good days, you’ll have bad days, but you gotta just keep doing it. So that’s my advice, that’s what I would say.  

SB: What is Kool Rock Steady doing today?  Take us back to when “Turn Up the Bass” was made. Where were you? How did the track come about?  

TC: Kool Rock Steady passed in 1998, he is no longer with us today.  But he’s always with me, always with me every time I walk down the street or if I’m talking to somebody- my brother is always with me.  That’s forever. 

 

TC: Okay, taking you back to when “Turn Up the Bass” was made, it actually takes you back to the beginning of hip house, right? Just real quick, Fast Eddie had worked on this track called, “Yo Yo Get Funky,” and Benji Espinoza, who was our manager at that time, ran a distribution company within DJ International called Quantum Distribution, where he bought the records from Rocky Jones and then sold them, like a distributor, right?  So Fast Eddie was doing his song, “Yo Yo Get Funky” and Benji knew that I was always in the studio.  I stayed in the studio.  I always say I’m part of the House Funk Brothers of DJ International – Joe Smooth, Peter Black and myself.  I did the drums, Joe Smooth and Peter Black did the keyboards.  And Joe Smooth did a lot of the arrangements on the tracks that were coming out of DJ International Records for a couple of years. 

TC: Anyway, Benji suggested to me that I should make a track like Fast Eddie and, I said, “No, that’s a Fast Eddie thing. I don’t want to do what Fast Eddie’s doing.  Besides, I like rap music, but I’m more into the deeper sounds of house music.  I like the keyboards, I like the pianos, this, that and the other.”  And he said, “Man, you never know, it could be one of your biggest records.” So, I’m like, who would I even think about to get to rap it?  So, I went to one of my brothers- not by blood- he’s just my brother.  His name is JMD.  I went to JMD and said, “Hey J, would you write a rap for me, for my record?”  He says, “Is it House?”  I said, “Yeah,” and he said “No, I’m not gonna do that.” So I went, man, who am I gonna get?  So, I called Lidell Townsell, you know, Lidell Townsell, that made “Get With You” and all the rest of that good stuff, down with Clubhouse Records and everything.  I called Lidell and said, “hey Lidell, do you have Kool Rock Steady’s number?  He’s like, “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I got Kool Rock Steady’s number.” Now, mind you, Kool Rock Steady and I met a few years prior to us recording a record, right?  Matter of fact, we met because we were in a DJ battle together, that’s the funniest shit.  So, when I called him, he just said, “yeah, dude, I’m down with you. Yeah, for sure, I’ll do a record with you.”  I thought he was gonna say no.  

TC: So, I put the track together and drove it over to his house – I had it on cassette. He heard it.  He said he liked it.  Within the next few hours, he had three other verses already written for the track.  He just had to write the other two. The next day, I booked studio time at DJ International, down in the basement in Underground Studios.  And when he spit those verses??  It was… WOW!  Over my house track??!?  Then I fell in love with the whole idea of hip house.  It was never like I didn’t like it.  I always loved it because I always liked hip hop music thanks to JMD.  But to hear somebody rap over one of my house records was fucking amazing to me.  I was like, fuck.  And then he said that line, you know, that, “Tyree Cooper, the producer, awesome supa dupa troopa” you know.  Everybody in the building flipped.  It was like, “Oh, man, that’s the hottest line I’ve ever heard, woo woo woo woo!” So, that’s the story of making “Turn Up the Bass.” The concept- I was listening to Eric B and Rakim that morning.  I was listening to a few hip hop records that morning so a lot of it just gave me the inspiration to even say, “Turn Up the Bass,” right?  So that’s kind of how it went down.  

SB: You have always been pretty consistent in the industry, keeping your presence.  What can we expect to see from you this year?

TC: Well, I always try to stay consistent in the music business because as a shorty, you look at your stars from back in the day, right?  From my youth, we’re talking about anywhere from the Jackson Five to the OJ’s to Diana Ross, The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, you know, Donna Summer, the Tramps- definitely the Tramps.  Most of those 60’s and 70’s groups always stayed pretty consistent in their music.  I mean commercially, people sell millions of records, and some don’t, but we as the consumers, we like our favorite bands.  Well, that’s what it was back then.  You know, Cameo, the Tramps, these type of bands…. Parliament, definitely Parliament Funkadelic, definitely Parliament Funkadelic… But they always stayed consistent.  So, as I got into the business, I said one thing I would try to do is stay consistent and persistent, because those are the two things that will ultimately keep you in the business. You have to be creative as well.  You know, try to be as close to the sign of the times as possible, with your own creativity spun on whatever time period it is, right?  So, if we’re talking about now, there are certain types of house records I do, and some types of house records I don’t do.  So that’s just what it is, but I always try to stay consistent in doing house music, period.  Hip house, deep house, acid house, house house, <laughs>, you know what I’m saying?  

SB: What can we expect to see from you in 2023?  

TC: What you can expect to see more of from me this year?  More house! Shit.  More house, more music, more Tyree – yeah, just more… Stateside and abroad you know, in Europe.  I’m gonna be dj’ing and producing music, I got a big festival coming up in the UK on the 1^st of July called Clockstock 2023. The lineup is just massive. A lot of dignitaries will be there.  I’ll be continuing to live stream on my Twitch channel, www.twitch.tv/tyreecooper.  So, if you want to know more about that and keep up to date with what I am doing, you can follow and subscribe to both my Linktree joints.  One is Tyree Cooper Music https://Linktr.ee/tyreecoopermusic and the other is Chicago Vinyl Records https://Linktr.ee/chicagovinylrecords. Also, I’ll probably be pressing more vinyl in the coming years.  Chicago Vinyl Records is my record label, and we are trying to do big things.  My new hustle is the t-shirts and hoodies, so get yourself a t-shirt and support a brother. I’m just basically building my team too – Super shout out to Sarah Smith at Sarah Smith Creations UK. Supa Dupa shout out to her, and my booking agents NLA Artists, Frequency Artists, Hands on Deck and BlackBarbie, all working to get me bookings all over, so hit them up. Yeah, just doing more, that’s all.  Just doing what I need to do.  Just doing more house music.  You never know- house music, drum ‘n’ bass, hip hop, ghetto house, whatever- you know what I’m saying?

SB: How do you think the pandemic affected the industry?  

TC: Shit, it shut down the world!  Yeah, people were going online doing things, but that was always brand-new frontier, you know.  Like when Facebook was allowing people to DJ or to air out their differences or their quarrels or whatever, yeah, the pandemic affected the entire globe in all facets of society.  I’m not an actor or anything, but I’d imagine all the entertainment were affected the most, I’ll just say it like that.  It affected everything the most.  People couldn’t work. How you gonna earn money if you can’t work? While the pandemic was going on, I started a Twitch show.  It started in March of 2022, so this was close to the ending of the pandemic and I was uncertain about what was going to happen.  “Warehouse Wednesday” was my first show.  I got the name of the show from one of my friends that I went to high school with, Lamont. He suggested the name and it stuck. Then a few months later, I started doing my “Saturday Hot Brunch Mix” show every Saturday.  So just in case you don’t have nothing to do, you can check me out on Twitch- “Warehouse Wednesday” LIVE from my attic, from 5PM- 7PM Pacific Standard Time, or you can hit me up and check me out on Saturdays for the “Saturday Hot brunch Mix,” from 12PM to 4PM Pacific Standard time- we gets it in. So that’s what I’ve been doing since the pre-ending of the pandemic before everything opened up, I’ve done my own Twitch show.  And I added a Monday show to my channel as well. This one is for aspiring DJ’s.  So basically, aspiring DJs and producers can follow me on my socials and send me their demos so I can play them on my show, just to give somebody a chance.  Like, when I started, people kinda gave me a chance, or they didn’t give me a chance.  I just try to give back to the community, that’s all.  

SB: What was the last piece of gear you bought for your studio?  

TC: Um, a 61-key MIDI keyboard.  That’s the last piece of gear that I bought. It’s an M-Audio something, with 61 Keys.  

SB: What DAW do you work in?  Can you give us any secrets to your production?

TC: What DAW system I’m working with?  I’m not gonna tell you.  That’s how we fucked up the first time in Chicago, by telling people what we use.  No, we good right there. I make shit that can make beats and noises.  That’s all I’m gonna say on that subject.

SB: How do you feel about the innovation of technology and the creation of devices that have made DJing and creating music more accessible to thousands all over the world?  

TC: How do I feel about modern technology helping people to become DJ’s and create?  It’s, um, it’s, um, well, <laughs> I got a couple ways I could answer, but I’m gonna give you the clean version… It seemed cool, so it seemed as though everybody should do it.  And when everybody’s doing it, they’re making it seem so easy that anybody can do it.  Now, depending on how long you anticipate doing it, the more arduous or the more difficult it gets.  So, technology made it easier for people who think it’s a hobby, but for some of us, for most of us, like myself, shit- no pun towards my record, but house music is my life, you know, outside of my children. So, it just made it a lot easier for people to do what I’ve done for 30+ years.  That’s all, that’s all it did.  And it’s not a mockery, but it is kind of a mockery for engineers that’ve done it longer than I have, to have young people come in and say, “okay, I’m an engineer now,” you know?  So, I mean it’s not a bad thing, it’s just an ‘is’ thing, that’s all I’m saying at the end of the day.  It is what it is, you know? The other side of it, is that it has enhanced the global reach of house music and myself in particular.  You know, your social pages- before there was IG or FB or Twitter, there was Myspace and Myspace was the beginning of it.  Before that, it was only fucking fax.  You had to fax your information to the record company, or snail mail your promo stuff, or send a letter.  Technology made all these little bitty nuances a lot easier, even for file sharing.  You know, you could hate Napster today, but this guy actually made it a lot easier for us to transfer files.  You see what I’m saying?  For me, as I’m talking on my standalone recorder, I could send you this file because of people like Napster, right? There’s a lot of things that made it innovative for us to be a lot closer as opposed to being further away as we used to.  As they say, the world is getting smaller now.  I mean, it’s just superfluous but the way we communicate, the way technology is today, you can reach out and tap somebody, basically.  

SB: What was the first and last club you played?  

TC: Shit… The first club that I played was called The Fantasy.  It was on 79th in Chicago, Illinois.  79th and Ashland.  That was the first club that I played in. The last club that I played in was here in Las Vegas called Cheap Shot. That was just a little past my birthday.  

SB: Who is your biggest influence in house music, and your influence in music in general?

TC: Shit, everybody! <Laughs> Everybody’s my biggest influence!  I say I have four pillars of house music, like the four pillars you need to build a house.  Farley Jack Master Funk, Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, and Leonard Rroy- not in any particular order, but these were the people I saw.  Steve Hurley is another one.  Marshall Jefferson, Chip E, Mike Dunn, Hugo H, Brian Frazier, DJ Lil Jon, Glenn Underground, K’Alexi Shelby, Hula, both Fingers- Mr. Fingers and K. Fingers, Robert Owens, shit- everybody- anybody that made a house record that’s from Chicago… DJ Sneak, DJ Jess, shit, I could keep going on and on and on – everybody influenced me.  Robert Armani, Eric Martin, Corky TRAXMAN, Jammin Gerald… Fuck man, I can go on and on and on. DJ Funk. Fuck. I could just keep going ON! I mean, it didn’t even matter which genre.  Dion, DJ Milton, Lil’ Louis, you know what I’m saying?  Eric the Wiz and his sister Stacy who’s a hell of a DJ.  My sister Khrisse, my sister Chic, my sister Miyoshi – all three of them made records n shit.  Everybody influenced me, the whole house scene influenced me. And my overall favorite producers that have influenced me? Yeah, you got your Quincy Jones, you got later on, Dr. Dre, Daddy O from Stetsasonic, definitely, definitely, definitely DJ Marley Marl from the Juice Crew and Easy MoBee.  And I can’t mention production without mentioning fuckin Steve Silk Hurley.  Yeah, man, it’s a lot.  It’s a lot.  I’m not even trying to name drop, but these are just the people that I didn’t necessarily emulate, but I definitely took a piece of them, and put it in Tyree, you know?  Gail Scott King, even Gail Scott King from New York- she was dope back in the day.  

SB: Tell us a genre people may be surprised that you like?

TC: Oh, nobody will believe I like drum ‘n’ bass.  I love me some intelligent drum ‘n’ bass; LTJ Bukem, Ed Banger, MC Conrad- my bredren, DJ Krush… But LTJ Bukem is my guy.  Most of the UK MCs, I’m cool with.  Speed garage was my other secret.  That’s my other love because I always feel like most of those cats, being from the diaspora, are like my cousins.  So, I tend to call ’em my cousins, right? I like that- I guess it’s a UK sound.  To a degree, grime was kind of chill for me, but drum ‘n’ bass is probably numero uno and then speed garage.  Or speed garage and then drum ‘n’ bass, it depends.  It depends on how I wake up that morning.  It could be both of ’em or it could be one.  But I fucks with drum ‘n’ bass a lot.  I like drum ‘n’ bass and speed garage. So, you go figure.  

SB: What is the typical day like for you?

TC: Well, I’m thankful every morning that I can open my eyes and see that day.  That’s the first thing.  And shit, everything else is just icing on the cake.  So, it could be going to the store or sitting in my studio (I call it my cubby hole) and just creating, or not creating.  Or sitting there letting the TV watch me while I think about what I’m about to create.  That’s any given day.  And yes, 420 for me is every hour, so pffff, go figure.  No, I’m joking <laughs> I don’t smoke all day, but I do puff- just not all day.  So just a typical day, when I wake up, I start it from there, how about that? The other part of my typical day is literally walking.  I walk at least 45 minutes to an hour every day.  I try to do that most days because one- it clears my head and two, they say it’s kinda good for you.  And I’m kind of into this fitness type of thing, I even go to the gym.  I tell my sister I’m trying to get a porno body <laughs>. I’m trying to get a body that looks like a porno star, and right now I’m just a boulder, so it’s gonna take a lot of chiseling in it to do that. Also, I’m always posting online, posting my Twitch page, you know, www.twitch.tv/tyreecooper where I do “Warehouse Wednesday” and “Saturday Hot Brunch Mix.”  I just thought I’d plug that in there again, just in case you missed it the first time.  Um, yeah, that’s pretty much my typical day.  Not so, so much, but just enough, you know?  Enough to do what I need to do, that’s all.  And yeah, like I said, I’m just happy to wake up.

SB: What is your favorite ice cream?

TC: I don’t really eat ice cream, but if I did eat ice cream, probably pralines & cream would be my favorite.  But I typically don’t eat ice cream.

SB: Anything else you’d like to add?

TC: Yeah, I’d like to mention that I have finished working on a revised version of “Turn Up the Bass.” The 2022 version called, “Turn Up the Bass Reework’d 2022” was released in February 2023, and I’ve got a couple of different mixes coming up next year. I’m still doing hip house. I also have a couple of records out: “Underground or Nuthin’” and “Tired of This B.S.” with my guy Ung-Kel Huud. That one’s a hip house record, so you might wanna check that out as well.  I also released quite a few tracks on Bandcamp recently so check them out.  Support my music, Chicago Vinyl Records.  Search for Tyree Cooper, or Chicago Vinyl Records and purchase, download, stream and share links.  I’m on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, DEEZER, Bandcamp- wherever you get your music from, outside of Traxsource.  Nothing against Traxsource or anything like that.  I’m just not selling my music on Traxsource as of yet. Follow https://Linktr.ee/tyreecoopermusic and https://Linktr.ee/chicagovinylrecords.  If you wanna book Tyree for your event, the booking agent info is there, along with contact forms and links to all my socials.   Yeah, that’s pretty much it for Tyree. Thank you, it was cool.  I had a ball answering your questions. And we’ll see each other again, hopefully. So, Tyree Cooper been doing and always shall do/try to do more than one thing.  I just wanted to add that, that’s all. <laughs> PEACE!

DJ Colette

written by – Fletcher Van Halen

SB – Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions we have, we are super stoked to see you back in action on the global scene. Tell us about the upcoming album you are working on. One thing we have noticed about your history in music is that you re-invent yourself musically and usually have a good pulse on what sound is going to be hot. How do you prepare for each album, can you tell us a little bit about your process? Does it start from the label, or you and a concept with the label being the final shopping and or destination? 

Colette – I just started working on my fifth studio album and I have to say the process has been unique for each one. I’ve completed an album in 9 months and I’ve also taken four years to finish a record. I always go in with a few ideas of what I want the album to be, but the creative process usually takes me on a different journey than what I planned. I try to remain open to where the music takes me. I once turned in a completed album and the label only liked half of the record. We went back into the studio and the new songs we wrote ended up being the best tracks on the album. 

I recently finished recording the fourth track for my new album, so it’s too early to say where this one is going. I’m more focused on enjoying the time in the studio right now and not rushing to complete the project. Hopefully I’ll release this album by the summer of 2023, but ya never know.

Colette – I always like to write to music, even if it’s a simple loop. I usually come up with a melody before I come up with the lyrics. Then I fine-tune the song before I record it.

SB –  How many songwriting journals do you have?

Colette – I used to have a ton of songwriting journals when I started out, but now I write everything on my laptop or random pieces of paper that I transfer later on. I have lots of notes with lyrics on my phone as well.

SB – How did you get involved with SuperJane in the beginning? Congrats on the anniversary BTW! 🙂 

Colette – Thanks! It’s wild that it’s been 25 years since Superjane began. Dayhota and I started djing around the same time and would practice constantly together. Heather had already been djing for years and suggested that we should start playing out at parties. 

We decided to form a collective of women and throw events that would feature women playing the entire night. In 1997 people were still surprised to see a woman on the decks and we wanted to eradicate that. Lady D was a good friend of ours and had also been djing for years, so she quickly became a rotating guest at the Superjane events before she became the official fourth member. We played a ton of shows in Chicago and then did our first big US tour in 2000. Our 25 year anniversary at Smartbar last month was amazing. I’m always grateful for the community that has given love and support to Superjane all these years.

SB –  What part of LA are you now living in, (I know we lived close years ago), are you still in the same spot? What do you love about Los Angeles and do you think you will ever move? If so why? 

Colette – I’ve lived in LA for 22 years now, but the first ten years I split between LA and Chicago. My dad lived in LA when I was a kid so I’d spend my summers there. The weather’s always been easier in LA and I feel like the house scene in both cities has a lot of similarities. After my kids grow up, I might find a way to divide my time equally between the two cities. 

SB – How would you describe your DJ sets these days? 

Colette – I play a little bit of everything in house. I play jackin, deep, some tech. I like to include reworks of classics alongside newer releases so there’s always a taste of house music history in my sound. I sing over about half of my set, as learning to DJ was initially a vehicle for me to perform live. I’ve always sung and deejayed at the same time, I can’t imagine one without the other.

SB –  What is your favorite ice cream and why? 

Colette – I’ve been diggin’ Oatly Mint Chip. My son has food allergies and this brand is super safe for him (and it’s delicious). I also recently tried the vegan Freckled Mint Chocolate Chip from Salt & Straw and it was super tasty.

Whats going down in San Antonio at Southown Vinyl?

written by – Rick Lara

Southtown Vinyl is one of the premiere record shops in San Antonio catering to vinyl lovers. They carry an assortment of turntables, needles and other gear for people to enjoy their purchases on. Recently awarded BEST OF by THE CURRENT magazine, this spot caters to a bit of everything in their collection. Tommy Newman began this venture in 2016, and with the growth already seen, he had to expand to a bigger location within four years of his initial launch. Needless to say this spot is supported by the newcomer and the regular thanks in part to the dedication of their staff; DJ CHACHO, DJ JOSH STONE and LOY.

1. As one of the premiere record shops in South Texas please tell us a little about you and the reason for opening your concept?

Well, after a series of transgressions and years of waiting tables, I decided that I needed something different in my life, and I started thinking about the things that are important to me and the things that I really enjoy. I’ve always been a big reader, so I decided to take a literature class at the local junior college. I went back to school, and I stayed in school until I got BA degrees English and Philosophy. Then I got bored and got an MA in Philosophy. After guest lecturing a couple of times, I decided teaching was not for me. And no one was really beating down the door to hire a “philosopher” …so I went back to looking at what is important and enjoyable to me and found music at the top of the list. 

I got into vinyl when I was around 6 or so. It’s got a special place in my heart, as it does for most people who dig it. A few years later and older, I got into my parents’ record collection and fell in love with music. Then I got into DJ’ing breakbeats and house when I was around 15 or so. I started spinning records in clubs at around 18. By 19, I was running my own night at a local dance club. After a series of misadventures, I fell on hard times in my mid-20’s and had to sell off a great deal of records. I’ve sold more records out of my personal collection than most collector’s own. But I never lost my love of vinyl. So, in 2015 I decided to quit my job and open a record shop and never looked back. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the gist. 

1. What is your vision for Southtown Vinyl in the future…like your 5 year plan? 

I tend to think in terms of what’s going on right now. Any steps I take in the future are based on the terrain I’m walking on right now. I can say that right now our inventory is getting bigger, and our free space is getting smaller. So, logically, I think that at some point within the next 5 years, I’ll have to move the shop again to a bigger space. I’ve been renting this space and the last, and I really hate paying rent. I also don’t like seeing my end-of-lease date coming up and wondering if I’m going to be able to renew without surprises or hassles, so it’s possible that I’d purchase a place that allows the type of growth we’ve been experiencing well into the future and avoids the red tape that having a lease entails. 

But…I feel like Southtown Vinyl is becoming a San Antonio institution. Which really has only ever been my vision. Regardless of whether the shop is growing or shrinking, at the end of the day, all I ever really want is for the shop to be something that adds to my community by nurturing its love of music. 

1. What do you feel sets your record store apart from others in your city and in different parts of the world?

Well, for one, I’d wager that we have the best dance music section in the entire state of Texas. Not a lot of shops, in general, focus on current house, techno or drum and bass music. I love all music, but there’s a special place in my heart for dance music; so, I have an entire room dedicated to it at the shop. We like to call it the “rave cave”.  We regularly have people coming down from Houston and Dallas and Austin and even Mexico City to buy some dance wax because not a lot of shops stock current and/or new release dance titles. And what’s a dance section without a listening station? So, we have those too.

I’d also like to say that we pride ourselves on being friendly and catering to customers’ needs. If you’ve never been to a record shop, or if you’re in from out of town, a lot of times it can be somewhat intimidating. It shouldn’t be, but that’s the case sometimes. So, we try and make everyone feel as welcome as possible. Alternatively, sometimes people like to be left the hell alone to dig through crates, and we accommodate there too. So, whether it’s your first time ever buying records, or you’re a seasoned vet, you’ll have a good experience at my shop.

1. You support a lot of different artists to help showcase the talent around the area within stores and other one-off events. What’s one of the undiscovered talents you think people need to know more about?

I wouldn’t feel great about naming any one person or listing off any number of people because I’d inevitably forget someone and feel bad about it forever. This city has a lot of undiscovered talent. I know people here, musicians, that if they lived in NYC or LA, would be “discovered” very quickly. I know DJs here who could hold their own with any DJ from Chicago or Detroit. But I don’t think those people even know how talented they are. That’s a reflection of the community in which they operate. San Antonio is a tough city to thrive in as a musician. And that’s something that collectively, I feel that people like you and me and many others are working to try and change that. 

1. You’ve been known for hosting events featuring world class talent. Is there anything worth mentioning on the horizon that Southtown Vinyl is planning? 

Yes. In addition to owning the shop, I’m also a board member for the San Antonio Parks Foundation. Southtown Vinyl, in association with the SAPF, will regularly be hosting events featuring live acts and DJs at the Japanese Tea Gardens. The first one is slated for Friday, October 7^th of this year, from 7-10pm, and it’ll feature Sunshine Jones of Dubtribe Sound System performing live. There will be a soundbath experience just prior, from 6-7pm. It’ll be free to the public (with donations to the SAPF appreciated) and as it stands, there should be food and drinks available. Light show is included by the mighty JDS Lasers. The Japanese Tea Garden is such a beautiful venue, and I think this event will really be something people are going to want to experience. People can follow the San Antonio Parks Foundation or Southtown Vinyl on Instagram for more details.

1. As a creator yourself where can people find your releases and what are some things Tommy Newman is getting in to creatively?

Well, in terms of music creation, I’m a hobbyist. It’s fun for me. The moment I start producing stuff for other people to hear is the moment it becomes tedious and annoying for me. I’m never too jazzed about anything I’ve produced for mass consumption, and for whatever reason, I’m self-critical to the point of deconstructing things I’m not even finished with. So, not much on the horizon there for now. That may change at any time, but that’s where I’m at now. But I do have a couple tunes here and there on Spotify that people can dig for.

Earlier this year, I started hosting a radio show called The Runout Groove on 91.7 KRTU that features indie music. I play music I like within the “indie” genre. A lot of post-punk, art rock, indie dance, and more. I love doing it. It’s on every Friday from 11pm-12am. Anyone interested can tune in to 91.7 FM or listen live at https://www.trinity.edu/krtu.

I also started writing for the neighborhood newsletter in Southtown called the LNF Weekly. I write for their music section, and I really enjoy doing it. Mostly musings dealing with the shop. Informational. Anyone interested can check out my articles at https://www.lnfweekly.info/voices/newmantommy

1. What kind of music can collectors expect to find in your shop?

Anything and everything. You can come in looking for Ministry or Wet Leg or Pantera or Kendrick and find what you’re looking for and then see Kerri Chandler’s new release and pick that up too. We’ve got a broad inventory. I stay up to date with all the new releases that release every Friday. The guy’s let me know if there’s anything customers are wanting that we don’t have. The staff are all music enthusiasts. We love music and are always on the hunt for great tunes. Our inventory reflects that. Our weakest area used to be metal, but since bringing Loy on board, I’d venture that we have one of, if not the best selection of metal and harder rock in town. Loy is a rocker thru and thru. He hosts bands at local venues every weekend. Many of those bands have gone on to have huge, successful careers. 

1. You’re sitting on a gold mine of great music and get to peruse collections as well. What’s one of the best pieces you personally have found for your personal collections?

Well, “best” is very subjective and often depends on my mood any given day. The most interesting record I’ve had in the shop (also the most expensive) would be Energy Control Center by The Lightmen Plus One. It’s a great album, but the first time I held it, I had no idea what it was. So, I did a little research, and it turns out they were a funk outfit from Houston who pressed a small run of this record in the early 70’s. Very funky stuff. Killer record. Couldn’t find a reliable price on it though. I found a repress by the Now-Again Records label, so I decided to hit up the owner, Egon (who formerly worked at Stones Throw…too cool) and ask him about it. He was initially doubtful that it was actually an original that I had, since they’re so rare. I sent him a pic of the record and he acquiesced. Told me he thought it would be worth around $800. That is the amount that it did indeed sell for to a man from NYC who already owned a copy, but not one as clean as the one I sold him. 

1. If you could have one album to take with you into space, what would that album be?

Bowie’s Space Oddity seems appropriate for that venue.

Austin’s Kingdom Has Returned

written by – Fletcher Van Halen

It’s 8 p.m. on a warm Saturday evening (August 27th to be exact), the night that Kingdom Nightclub (2.0) reopens its doors in its native city of Austin, Texas! Electronic music—not to be confused with Electronic Dance Music or EDM—is flourishing in a city once dominated by honky tonk, blues, rock, and other band-driven sounds. Even though Austin touts itself as the live music capital of the world it’s well on its way to becoming a dance music capital as well. Dance music has always been alive and well in this city, it just seems that lately there have been a massive amount of predominant figures in the scene that have moved to this whimsical and magical place (so much so, we have a forthcoming article solely based on this issue). 

No doubt, Austin has become the cool place to be in America, especially if you are a promoter, DJ, music producer, or even a fan who loves to participate in its rich culture. With so many clubs, bars, art spaces, and yes underground warehouses, there is something here for everyone. The industry also has plenty of Texas land to sprawl its massive festivals across. Where weekend “camp” based dance debauchery has also seen a rise in frequency.  Dance music festivals (the multi-stage kind)  have always been a “Texas” thing, long before it migrated to other parts of the country.  Most of California’s successful festival companies all have roots in Texas as well.

We’re not through yet though! There’s also plenty of flash underground discos, house, and techno parties, as well as indie dance/wave events in Austin (think live dance bands you would typically find on the now defunct DFA label – home to LCD Soundsystem). There is nothing you can’t find here (Austin) but one thing is for certain, there was a leader for a stretch of time and that was Kingdom Nightclub formerly housed at 103 E 5th Street, the center of the cities brooding night life.  

Garrett Boyd opened the original Kingdom brand back in 2011. Kingdom was designed specifically for dance music. It was not a converted bar, live event venue or the like, but rather it was designed to hold dancers into the wee hours of the morning driven by a beefed-up custom-built sound system… the kind that highly influences a club’s success. The line to get in was always around the block due to the sizable acts booked by its former talent buyers. Combine that with an amazing sound system and high-tech lighting rig, the club had all the elements for success and a success it became. Unfortunately, Kingdom was shut down in 2018 after the World Class Capital Group, the lease holder, purchased the land the club sat on. 

And thus we return to where we started. Garret Boyd invited some of the staff from Secret Beach down to 505 E. 7th St. where Iron Hall sat previously. We got a sneak peak of the next phase of Kingdom. It is clear Garrett learned a lot from his first venture, as he said when we met him, “I spared no costs this time around”. The new establishment holds a couple hundred more people at just over 600 capacity. It also boasts a distinctive back-lit translucent golden brown stone wall that was flown in from the middle east. The wall sits behind the extra-large bar and can be seen glowing from the DJ booth, what feels like a football field away. A full custom sound system was also brought in. We got a taste of it at the grand opening with surprise special headliner Matthew Dear played and holy sh#t what an amazing feeling. 

You can walk off the floor and speak comfortably to people around you and or immerse yourself into long throws of bass directly in the behemoth systems path. There’s also a VIP stage behind the DJ booth with its own bar that sits directly above the talent room. Upstairs you’ll find top-notch rest rooms too. The materials and construction down to the smallest details have been extremely well thought out, even down to the red light above the door. 

Many venues popped up while Kingdom was dormant, but we have a feeling that Kingdom has returned to take the crown as one of the hottest dance destinations in downtown Austin. Oh, and dare we say the drinks are really good!