Lately, weekly and monthly gigs have been a heavily talked about subject with me and my friends. I think with the internet and technology enabling anyone to play music, the odds of throwing a successful event on the regular nowadays is like hitting the lottery. I can only speak from my personal experience - for the two regular events that have done well in my career, I've had A TON of things fail and that's pre-internet & pre-serato. So when I see other long-running events around the country, like the Rub in Brooklyn, Yo Son in Seattle or the Rootdown & Do-Over in LA, it's always renews my faith...

With all that said, I have two events that have been going on in Austin for some time now. My Monday night weekly is at a grungy old bar, near the University of Texas called NASTY'S. I've been doing my thing there (w/ an excellent cast of dj's) since the summer of 1996. Back then, a multi-genre (rooted in Hip Hop) dj event was a rarity in these parts. It took a few months for folks to take to the idea, but by the spring of 1997, it turned into a monster. Since then, we have had our ups and downs, but there's no other place where you can see a diverse crowd (hippies to hipsters to tall tee rap fans) during the week. The crowd is consistent and I think that can be attributed to the level of dj'ing and selection. This is something that I am really proud of...

The other is Rock the Casbah. It's an 80's party that takes place quarterly. I started this in January 2001 and it's been going well ever since. Imagine 450+ in a live music venue - sweating, dancing and singing along to 80's jams. It's all about having fun, getting wasted, falling on your face and getting back up...

Btw, the Clash's video for Rock the Casbah was filmed in Austin. City Coliseum RIP.

Considering the way things are these days, I am very thankful. Word to everyone from coast to coast that's holding it down week to week. Keep keeping on...