Issuing book's and ASBO's - It's all part of the job

Hey guys,

Hope your summer is well and truly up and running and having a good one. Mine is just about up and running.

Just a quick update on things. After 4 great weeks working at Gassy Jacks I have finished for the summer. I'm a bit gutted as I really enjoy DJ-ing there, the staff are wicked and the punters are good as gold! Fingers crossed I will get the chance to go back in September.

On the up side I am covering at Mbargo for two weeks starting 15th July and I will be covering at the good old Beach Club on Saturdays starting in three weeks!

Sooooo the main reason for my blog....

As you know I have started a full time job (I say started, Ive been there for 6 weeks now!) at Ely library. Now for those of you who don't know the area Ely is what I would describe as 'testing'. Put it this way we get our fair share of trouble in the library, yes thats right the LIBRARY. I hope this already gives you an idea what type of people I'm are talking about. If that doesn't this will will.

During my 6 weeks so far I have witnessed

• Verbal Abuse
• Threats
• Indecent exposure (attempted)
• Vandalism
• Attempted mugging
• Assault

And again this is all in the library. 

Now all of this happening to anybody is shocking in its own right but the most alarming part of this is that all of these incidents involved people who were under the age of 18, in fact I would say the average age our offenders is 15.  

I have two pressing questions. Firstly why are these 'kids' spending their spare time committing crime in an environment that is supposed to be quiet, resourceful and family friendly? And secondly where do they get the balls to do it?

My initial answer to question 1 was they must have nothing to do around these parts but as I've found by PCSO Will (Oh yeah on first name terms with the local copper!) that Ely has had plenty of money pumped into it for kids, with playing areas and youth clubs set up so that they have things to do. 

The 2nd question I still cant answer... When I was young I was petrified of police, truth is I still am!  If I saw one walking down the street I worried I'd get arrested for doing something illegal that I wasn't even aware of. I had total respect for them. This isn't necessarily the case with some of the kids I deal with at the Library. 

As staff we are encouraged to call the Non-emergency number 101 should we have a situation that we cannot control. When I was told this during my first week I shrugged it off thinking "how bad can it get?". Well I have rung that number over 3 times and 999 once since that first week.

Don't get me wrong I know that Kids are kids and they do get a bit loud and leave rubbish lying around which in my eyes is fair enough, we were all young and to a certain extent little shits! But these guys make dennis the menace look like a choir boy!  

 During the attempted mugging that occurred I threatened to call 999 to which they replied "go on then". After leaving me no choice and I did eventually dial 999 and they remarked "Oh look he's calling the police, he thinks were scared!" 

My concern is if they are not scared where are we going wrong? How is it that not even the bloody police can scare these people? 

You usually would expect to see this kind of thing kicking off down some dodgy looking park area or on the streets some where, but a library? seriously!

After speaking to the police on a regular basis they explained their procedures with dealing with troublesome youngsters and it wasn't long before they mentioned what seems to be the buzz word for kids, ASBO. Its almost a trophy to them it seems, a fashion accessory "look at me and my shiny new ASBO!"

 I have since found out that as a part of the council 'umbrella' we can actually hand out our own ASBO referrals which got me thinking... Will there be a day where there will be two queues forming in my library. 

'Queue A - issuing books'  'Queue B - issuing ASBOS'

Just something to ponder....

Tom.

From Book Shelves to Bass Bins - Fiction to Mixing

Hey Guys,

So following my last blog things have gone well and I'm now two weeks into my new job as a library assistant.

The jobs itself is pretty cushty (rather good if you're posh) Its quiet but not too quiet and I don't wake up dreading it. Apart from a few snotty teenagers causing trouble its an alright job!

A curious contrast has developed though between my two places of work...

As you know I DJ at weekends and now its crazy how different it is going from a library to a nightclub swapping book marks for BPM's, Binchy for Tynchy!

I do however like this shift in pace... whether I've been in the silence of the library all day dropping off, craving the ridiculously loud sounds of the Beach Club to kick start me into life or after a set, my ears ringing like the inside of Big Ben wanting the seldom sounds of the library to coat my ear drums!

Its refreshing!

In other news I have managed to sort out a residency at student bar Gassy Jacks for the next 3-5 weeks working Thursdays and Saturdays and also I'm doing my first ever silent disco which I'm really looking forward to!

I'll keep you posted on more news and look out for some 'Loud Noises' related Blogs coming soon!

Peace

Tom

Update: New, New and New!

Hey Guys,

Wow its been ages since my last blog, quite frankly I havent had the time!

Its been a topsy-turvy 2 months its been crazy! So thought its about time I update you on every thing thats happened/happening.

First off I have a new job, I am now.... drumroll....... a library assistant. I know what your thinking- exciting! To be honest its not my dream job but it at the risk of sounding clique "it pays the bills" and allows me to save up, pay people back and ultimately do the things I really want to do.

That a-side Dj work has started to pick up with recent cover gigs at Gassy Jacks ( a small sutdent bar) and Mbargo on St mary's street. Both great places to DJ and the staff there are awesome. I'm hoping to continue to cover people until I can get a residency of my own for September.

The Beach club has been very quiet recently and I'm slightly worried for the summer so I'm planning on promoting a night to reinvent Friday nights to appeal to full timer's as it has a bit of a stigmatism of being a student haunt attached to it.

I have a new show on a local radio station called 'Loud Noises' so I have kept my self busy with that and it's great to just get back on air playing music I love. Its on Friday nights at 1am and I play anything from House, electro, hip hop, disco moombahton and Dubstep.

And in other news I have a brand spanking new radio demo to send off to Stations across the land. I'm quite pleased with the over all look and sound of it and I'm eager to get it out there. Fingers crossed someone out there will share my view!

So a lot of new things happening in my life at the moment. It's been a very hard couple of months but now things seem to be looking up so I will hopefully have more good news (blogs) to share with you!

Take it easy!

Tom

Update

Hey guys,

I haven't blogged for a while but I have a reason...

It's been a hectic 3 weeks with it's ups and definitely it's downs..

Firstly I think it's safe to say I had the most eventful new years eve in history with power cuts, family illness and A&E all in one night!

My poor girlfriend has now got her arm in a cast and I'm trying my best to look after her (even though it's usually the other way round)

The Beach Club (where I work) has been quiet since the new year so my hours have been reduced but on a positive note, the nights I do work now have got much busier so I enjoy the banter a lot more!

Never-the-less it's left me needing money so I'm currently searching for work. With a few Potential dj jobs in the pipeline, things could be looking up but right now it's about getting some dosh in my pocket sharpish.

So that's a brief update for you guys. I will blog again soon with hopefully some quite exciting news happening in the summer!

Peace

Tom

Big In 2011

Hey,


So as 2010 draws to a close I thought I'd bring you a guide to 2011. A prediction of a few artists that I think will be big next year. 


So here it goes.....

Yasmin - First up is 21 year old Yasmin. She is a  DJ and singer-songwriter from London who started her music career aged 19 as a hip-hop DJ. Yasmin runs her own club night, called Bad Intentions, in the captital and is signed to Ministry of Sound. 
Her first single ‘On My Own’ will be released on 31 January 2011, with her debut album, as yet untitled, to follow later in 2011. Check out the link below to hear the title track.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsNBQJEofQM



Afrojack - This guy has been around for quite a while. This is dutch producer Afrojack, real name Nick van de Wall. 
 From age 11 Afrojack has been producing songs and finally gained recognition in 2006 with 'in your face' which got to no.3 in the dutch dance charts. He boasts a famous group of mates with the likes of Laidback luke, Sindey samson and Fedde Le Grand championing his music for a few years now. He has recently had a song in the charts with Eva Simons called 'take over control' and after being the person behind the now masive 'the time' by the Black Eyed Peas, he is sure to continue this success in the charts perhaps working with other big names. 


New track Replica: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgVmZTv95Ao


Afojack the Dj - Set @ WMC Miami: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpqjrMnVrKI


Jakwob - This is a very exciting Dubstep producer Jakwob who like Afrojack, started making music from an early age. He began as a multi-instrumentalist and has been involved in many groups from his teenage years onwards, beginning in jazz but moving on to death metal and folk. Both his original work and remixes combine elements of dub step, electro, ghetto-tech and break-beat. In 2009, he shot to fame after appreciation in the blog world for his bootleg of Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed'. 

Jakwob released his debut single 'Here With Me' on his own label, Boom Ting Recordings in September this year. On November 8th, 2010 Jakwob signed to Mercury Records and is due to release his first album in 2011. Check out 'here with me' below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3bE0pOyG3g


Jessie J - Do it like a dude remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_FvP8YnO_k

Wretch 32 - I was almost going to leave this guy out as everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon with naming this artist in their 'artists to watch' lists. The truth is he has been around for a while and worked with the likes of Doneo so it seems slightly strange to say he is brand new. But never the less his new song 'traktor' is going to be huge. Taking inspiration from Major Lazer's 'Hold the line', traktor is a sure fire floor filler for the new year. Incorporating a big bass-line with a catchy chorus, Wretch 32 could find himself being dubbed the Tinie Tempah of 2011. 
 I do think however that it is a grower it doesn't have that instant impact on the dancefloor which I have found at the moment when I play it. Other Dj's have said similar so give it a chance. Here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpf6CWqQXx8

So there is just a few people I think could be hitting new heights in 2011. I hope you like the following artists and you investigate more and grab a few tracks for your music collection.

Look out for a new Mix coming from me and some hopefully good news involving work in 2011.

Have a great xmas and new year!!!

Tom

'Its still pop, it's just the BPM'S have sped up and the baselines are dirty'

 Its amazing how the charts have changed in the past 6 months, especially with what's happened to so called 'pop' music.

Growing up I was always under the impression that pop music was easy to distinguish. It was your Take Thats, Steps and Spice Girls that were considered the bread and butter of pop music and it was fair to say they dominated the charts.
 They were played all over the Radio, music stores were seeing the CD albums fly of the shelves and they were the songs you eagerly anticipated to come on at the school disco.....

It seems now that the stereotypical pop star is a thing of the past....

Don't get me wrong there are still boy bands and love songs with cheesy lyrics but if you take a look at the top 10 you'll see it is influenced by genres that were considered 'underground' and only a handful of the population liked a few years ago.

Here is the current top 10 from Sundays chart....

1. JLS - Love you more
2. Ellie Goulding - Your Song
3. Rihanna - Only Girl (in the world)
4. Katy Perry - Firework
5. Far East Movement - Like A G6
6. The Black Eyed Peas - The Time (the dirty bit)
7. Alexis Jordan - Happiness
8. McFly - Shine A Light
9. West Life - Safe
10. Bruno Mars - Just the way your are (amazing)

So yeah there are a handful of these songs that you would expect to see from various boy bands but half of the top ten in the country are considered 'dance' tracks, all of which are very popular in the clubs too. 

Again you could argue that dance music has influenced the charts for over a decade now and especially in the 90's with the likes of Robin S, Faithless and N Trance gracing our ears that the charts haven't changed that much. But consider now that Drum n Bass, Grime, Dance hall and more recently Dub Step have featured in the top 10. 

 This is proof that as music consumers, we are much more open to new sounds and cross genres

I don't think you can sum-up pop music by defining it as boy/girl bands  that only sing about love stories any more. Pop music means 'popular music' and we have to accept that it has evolved. 

What I personally like about the chart is how unpredictable it is. I hear a lot of new music and I can never fully predict which song is going to be popular.

  I never thought what is a guaranteed floor-filler in clubland would reach the top spot of the charts when the only lyric on it features some bloke saying the name of famous American Diva?

 Also I didn't think in a million years that Katy B - On A Mission (or Benga - Man On A Mission for those who can't get over the fact it is now considered commercial!) was and still is such a popular tune considering I have been told in the past that Dubstep was just noise!

Im excited what the charts will bring in the next months and hope its a case of - more of the same please!!

Tom.

I'm in Manchester bitch!

Hi all,

I havnt managed to blog for a while but it's been a bit of a crazy week!
So firstly it was my birthday and this year I celebrated it in style!
Myself, my girlfriend, my brother and his girlfriend all went up to Manchester for something called the warehouse project. For those of you that aren't familiar with this, it is quite self explanatory. Basically it's a big warehouse with some big speakers, about 2 thousand ravers and some of the worlds best dj's and yes it was as amazing as it sounds. The line up included French house producer and dj who's recent release was 'I was drunk' Riva Starr, the don of dance music Pete Tong and Dutch dj and producer chuckie who is most famous for being behind the massive floorfiller 'let the bass kick'.

For me I thought Tongy was a little bit of a disappointment, I get that he is famous for his steely exterior when he djs but he actually looked tired and did not connect with his tracks he was playing as much as I thought. The big surprise of the night was how good chuckie was. Yes he used a lot of sfx and he looks as if he should be in a rap video, but he was insane! I will be posting a video up which sees him drop a classic daft punk beat. I would highly recommend that if you get the chance that you check him out.