Discotechfunkin

In the spring of 1998, or somewhere around there, I started working at the Urban Outfitters on M Street in Washington D.C. I wasn’t ready for college but I loved to hustle, and retail provided cash and a scene. I quickly went from a cashier to lead cashier and then a manager. I met some really good peoples at that time, whom I regretfully no longer see. The best thing about working for Urban Outfitters was that it made it really easy to relocate to Boston when my then-girlfriend went back to Boston University. Once in Boston, I was close enough to Providence where I could see some friends at RISD and Brown. It was those friends who initially introduced me to the rave scene, and it was those same friends who introduced me to the house music of Chicago and San Francisco.

Discotechfunkin was recorded in one take directly to MiniDisc. It was the first time I recorded something digitally, and I thought that was amazing. Bear in mind that I completely skipped CDs as a medium, but there was a certain bit of professionalism I saw in music that was available digitally at that time. There was something exhilarating about mixing live, as each consecutive mix was another opportunity to fuck up your mix. And if you wrecked in the 68th minute, then you had lost an hour of your life. It’s basically Russian roulette… albeit with less dire implications.

I’d love to pull the tracklist for this mix, but most of these records — along with my jump-up and ragga jungle collection — molded after some flooding in my parents’ basement. What I can tell you is this is some tasty, soul- and disco-infused house music. Records from the likes of DJ Sneak, Hipp-E and Halo, Paul Johnson, and Miguel Migs. While I had liked some of the progressive house from the likes of Scott Henry and Sasha, it wasn’t until I found the records on this mix that I felt connected to dance music. It’s probably why I feel like this mix has aged incredibly well.