Mashups, Unicycles, Linux and the Law

First of all, I'm making a special effort to start using my blog as my little diary, at least on some of the social aspects of my life. Not because I think lots of people are going to read it, but because I move in some very interesting, and bizarrely diverse, circles, and I want to record some of the details that will escape me later. And there are also some interesting connections coming full circle.

Tonight, I went to one helluva a fun event -- Bootie, a monthly mashup party put on by Adrian and Mysterious D. But before I tell you about the party, it's worth telling the story of how I wound up there.

I've been DJing in the Bay area for about 15 years -- since back in the day when Bobby and I would rent the Java Hut and throw parties. Over the years I've developed friendships with some of the best DJs in the Bay, especially those who spin Latin, Caribbean, and African music. So, I decided to throw an event at my house to bring them all together. In addition, I invited a couple of people I didn't know but wanted to reach out to, including Matt Hite, a mashup specialist, whose blog I had started to read.

Well, I wound up canceling the shindig because of the passing of my friend Carlos Aceituno. Nevertheless, Matt contacted me and invited me to this month's Bootie. I had just DJed last Sunday an event for EFF.org, and then on Wed. I went to the Creative Commons Salon (www.creativecommons.org). While I was there, I was talking to someone but was distracted by the incredible mashup of music that was playing.

I went over and introduced myself to who turned out to be Eric of the the Kleptones. Eric was in town for Web 2.0 as a speaker as well as the headliner for Bootie on Sat. night. Worlds were colliding :-)

Eric turned out to be a great guy -- very down to earth, a wizard on Ableton Live (music software package), and very knowledgeable about music. Actually, I have found that most good DJs know a lot of music outside of the genre(s) they are known for.

OK, so having met Eric and also having been put on the guest list by Matt, I was planning to go for sure to Bootie. Matt and I had never met, so he asked how he would spot me -- I told him I'd have on one red shoe and one yellow shoe.

Well, I had DJed the night before for the African Caribbean Soccer Club, known as AfriCari. That was a total blast (and I almost won the "best dressed" contest -- which was really a dance contest) -- but I'll have to come back to this. The short version is that I wound up at someone's apartment with some Peruvians and a Garifuna, and was spinning everything from Punta to Soca to Guaguanco and drinking straight Pisco.

So, I woke up with a wicked headache, and drank water all day trying to get back on track. I wasn't feeling very social, and starting playing around with Ubuntu (Linux) on my computer. It burns CDs fine, but still can't get it to print!

Anyway, by the time I left it was a little past 11pm. I drove down my street only to realize I had forgotten the CDs I had burned for Eric and Matt. I returned and picked them up. Also, put my unicycle in my car.

Somehow all the delays and procrastination worked out. I arrived at the vicinity of the DNA which is around 11th and Folsom and teeming with people due to the various clubs in the area. Since I wasn't able to park very close, I rode my unicycle over to the DNA. That made for lots of attention -- all positive. Then, right as I rode up to the DNA, there was Eric, standing alone smoking a cigarette.

We spoke for a few minutes, then he headed in and I headed to see if my name was on the guest list. When I asked the woman if my name was on the list, she told me that two people had just asked for me, and pointed in their direction. I ran up to them, and it was Matt and his wife. Boy did I luck out, because Bootie is a HUGE event, and I never would have found them. Also, I wore one black shoe and one red shoe rather than one red and one yellow -- so they might not have spotted me.

OK, those are the fortuitous circumstances that brought me to the Bootie. Then we went in and it was packed with people of all stripes dancing to strictly mashups/bastard pop, thus the name "Bootie" which is a triple entendre. Mashups are songs created by mixing two or more songs together. The "bootie" label comes from a reference to music "pirates" which is what people who create mashups are considered by the RIAA, and bootie/booty refers to goods acquired by the "criminal" activity of prirates.

And of course, there is a sexual aspect to the term booty -- which was on display in full force during the Pirate contest where many of the scantily clad contestants tore off much of their clothing.

Finally, bootie also relates to the term "bootleg", which is an illegal or unauthorized copy of something. What is hilarious is that the entire club is decked out in Pirate-themed decorations.

It's the new generation's way of saying to the RIAA, and all the other greedy bastards, "Screw you, we want to be creative, and you can't stop us or charge us every time we do!" Note, no one was SELLING music, just giving it away. For all the RIAA rhetoric, at the end of the day, mashups, IMHO opinion, generate revenue for the original artists, more so than if the mashups weren't made. (Again, full circle, Linux is to OSes, what MP3s are to music files).

For more on this, I highly recommend that everyone read Lawrence Lessig's book, Free Culture.

During the evening I met another great mashup artist, DJ John who it turns out uses the same software as I do (Mixmeister - go Aaron!). DJ John gave me one of his CDs and he had some mixes I really really enjoyed.

So, long story short, Eric rocked the house. I think we're cut from the same cloth because when I DJ, I often run out onto the dancefloor because I want to dance! Well, I could tell Eric was having a blast--and if he wasn't suspended 10 feet above the crowd on the DJ platform, I think he would have been in the middle of the crowd as well.

Unfortunately, Matt and his wife had to return home early to relieve the babysitter. Whilst hanging out, I met Adrian, who puts on Bootie. He also provided me with a CD and we talked a little bit about copyright law while the crowd below jumped up to a mashup of Walk This Way and something else.

When I finally headed out, I hopped on my Unicycle and headed to my car. As I approached my car, there was a policeman nearby who looked at me, then drove away. I got the feeling that a cop was unlikely to give me a sobriety test at that point--if I can ride a unicycle, I'm probably OK :-)

BTW, next Bootie is Dec. 9th.