A seemingly unlikely friendship forms between local Punk, Metal, Hip-Hop, and Band kidz resulting in an "in your face" EDM DJ crew with a knack for badassery, and akick-ass message of Love in their music.
FEATURING:
Palais Royale(Rocksol!d HQ, Southside Valley, B'ham, AL)
Takin' It Back!!!(The Cueball, B'ham, AL)
Calling All Headz(5 Points Music Hall, B'ham, AL)
Maiden Voyage (Barnstormers,Huntsville, AL)
Faded (Mindgames, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
Transcend (Sloss Furnaces, B'ham, AL)
The Never Ending "After-"Party (LowKey, Sloss Furnaces/The Warehouse, B'ham, AL)
Re-Birthday I (Sakura Japanese, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
The Harmony Network Events(Assagio's, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
The Eargasm 2.0 (High Note/Rockin' Horse, B'ham, AL)
The Blue House(Southside Valley, B'ham, AL)
Love N' War: A Drum N' Bass DJ Battle(Assagio's, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
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NEW FACES: Mason "Jenova" Harris, Steven "DJ Rodamus Pr!me" Smith, MJ "OPX/Seraph!M" Simmons, and Chris "Art!ficial" Strickland
After a horrible breakup and life reset that landed me living back at my parents's home for a season, I was able to rebound and got a job at a music store, and a third floor walk-up apartment a few blocks from each other.
While I worked as a DJ/Electronic equipment Sales/Specialist, I would end up befriending several musicians, and budding DJ customers looking to explore new forms of musicality.
Eventually, a few of these guys would come around so frequently, that they also got to meet each other, and even started to hang out in small crews, myself included.
What became our crew: Mason, the "metalhead", Steven the babyfaced "fly-boy", and Chris the "punk" to my "dred/rudeboy" vibe.
We formed a rockin' Tu-tone Drum 'n Bass DJ crew, representing the S.H.A.R.P. philosophy of "Work hard, play hard".
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The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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NOTE: Some of the people in this album are not introduced in exact chronological order, and some long-running event serials have been blended together to benefit the flow of this media album.
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PALAIS ROYALE (Rocksol!d HQ, Southside Valley, B'ham, AL)
Steven and Chris decided to move in together, being young college-agers, and had by now, been bitten by the "home studio" bug.
With my help on equipment deals whenever I could to get them started, we now lived only a mile or so from each other, and were always practicing and setting up for the next phase in our creative evolution.
NEW FACES: Sherry Strickland, the "True" First Lady of Rocksolid.
NEW FACES: Kiran, Chris and Sherry's son, and crew mascot.
NEW FACES: "Mike B" Hester of Hambone, and Deanna, Chris's girlfriend
Deanna, the First Lady of Rocksol!d (2000-2002)
NEW FACES: Nicole Hoover, Southern Ink Tattoo heiress, model, First Lady Of ANOM!LE (2000-2001).
After a several months of workshopping and networking, we began to host a bevy of new players, regularly orbiting between my place, which was more of a music production studio, to Chris and Steven's, which was more of a DJ practice pad.
NOTE: Some of the people in this album are not introduced in exact chronological order, and some long-running event serials have been blended together to benefit the flow of this media album.
NEW FACES: MJ's girlfriend, Pam "DJ Renaissance" Johnson, First Lady of ANOM!LE (2001-2002)
NEW FACES: Shane ""Swanny" Swann
NEW FACES: Jason "Sin-C" Uline
NEW FACES: Darius Blue, Yankee Hip-Hopper, producer at UAB Blazerradio
NEW FACES: Darius and girlfriend, Sarah.
NEW FACES: Gerald "DJ Drunken Master" Banks, Brian "Q-tip" Neil, MJ, and Robert DePalmierre.
NEW FACES: Drew
NEW FACES: Jason "The Red"
NEW FACES: gal-pal, "Holly C" Clifton, artist/artisan
NEW FACES: David "DJ Daywalker" Jean, spinning Breaks and Top 40 remixes
NEW FACES: Patrick "DJ MPF!VE" Jackson, spinning Drum n' Bass
NEW FACES: Mitch Strickland, crew sponsor, co-owner of Alice's White Rabbit, Southside B'ham, AL
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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TAKIN' IT BACK!!!(The Cueball, B'ham, AL)
Our crew now occupied 5 or 6 spots in Southside, from the music store, and the tattoo shop a couple of doors down, to DJing at other spots in 5 Points South district like the various restaurant/bars, clothing stores, and private jams.
So we soon decided to produce our own events, using some of the new connections we'd made.
Ben "Pez" Muniz of BMW Breaker crew
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DANCE SERIES: CALLING ALL HEADZ(5 Points Music Hall, B'ham, AL)
NEW FACES: Dot, birthday girl and hubby, DJ Ry-T, deploying the following Monday
NEW FACES: Rocksolid emcee, MC Dave freestyles to Drum n' Bass, wearing Armani suit.
NEW FACES: DJ Fitzpatrick spins Techno and Trance
NEW FACES: DJ "The Dream" Quan Loc
NEW FACES: Paul "DJ Gadget" Keith of Majik City Junglists (white shirt)
MC Anatove from Canada
DJ Drunken Master hypes the crowd.
NEW FACES: Chevonne "Chevy" Moprasit hits town from Huntsville, and bursts into the party, dancing
NEW FACES: Kathy Pham (Jenova's girlfriend), and DJ Spinja
NEW FACES: Seruj, 'the playboy'
DJ Anatove, and girlfriend
YET UNNAMED: They came to almost ALL of our events; thank you, ladies!
DJ Ry-T spins.
NEW FACES: DJ Steve-O, and wife, fundraiser, ANN "O" Smith
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YET UNNAMED: They also came to most of our events; thank you ladies!
Holly dazzles the camera.
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Bboy Zack/Revolve arrives with his BMW crew!
Bboy Zack/Revolve
Bboy Zack/Revolve
NEW FACES: DJ Austin Ward
NEW FACES: Kris and ummm, THIS guy, who always just shows up out of nowhere, like "Bruh Man" from Martin Lawrence show
NEW FACES: Martin (DJ NDcysive)
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NEW FACES: Felipe' "DJ Phlip/Adeejaycalledphlip" Santiago-Ayers (House)
Cilabuz slides through to see what we're all up to.
Swanny
Mason/Jenova
Mike B of Hambone supports, and NEW FACES: Lee "DJ Lee J" Jeffries is baffled by MJ's techniques.
DJ Fitzpatrick
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Jenova programs Drum n' Bass, and plays right from the board.
NEW FACES: (in background) DJ Tim Foster, London
DJ Rodamus Prime (Steven Smith) and girlfriend, DJ Eris (Nori McCutchen)
Crewmate, DJ Lee J spins Breakbeats
Sin-c spins.
NEW FACES: Rebecca Mackie, MJ, and Lee J
BEFORE COSPLAY WAS COOL: Chef from South Park shows up!
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The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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MAIDEN VOYAGE (Barnstormers,Huntsville, AL)
Fellow raver and event producer, Davy Hay puts on a jam that helped to strengthen the bond between Birmingham and Huntsville ravers in a lasting way.
He extended us an invitation to play, and we just couldn't resist the chance to go have a good time with this new like-minded tribe!
MJ spins, Ralph Lindstrom does tech support.
Crewmates, Sin-C and Swanny (Shane Swann) abide.
NEW FACES: Nori McCutchen, a.k.a. DJ Eris spinning Drum n' Bass WELL.
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BASS-FAM: Erica Malone and child, Holly Clifton and mother, Steven "Rodamus Pr!me" Smith and Nori "DJ Eris" McCutchen, Chris "Art!ficial" Strickland, and Pam "Sonic Warfare" Johnson
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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ANOM!LE HQ
Nori/DJ Eris comes to skirmish with the crew after her unbelievable performance at Maiden Voyage with us, the night before.
MJ and Nori (DJ Eris) talk technique and influences.
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Mj drives, Pam trains, NEW FACES: vocalist, O'Brien Jones
NEW FACES: Aurora Gordon and Diana Baker resurface from Southsider's past
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FADED (Mindgames, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
NEW FACES: Robbie Harris (producer of Dead Cell Factor), rawkus Ashley, and MJ
NEW FACES: Paul "DJ Swytch", and "Sunshine Black" Marchant
NEW FACES: Knick of Knick & Gigantor, spinning Hardcore Drum n' Bass
NEW FACES: Mike "Gigantor" DiAsio of Knick & Gigantor, spinning Hardcore Drum n' Bass
Poltageist, O'Brien, and MJ
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OTHER EVENTS WE EITHER PRODUCED OR PERFORMED AT:
Alice's White Rabbit
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TRANSCEND (Sloss Furnaces, B'ham, AL)
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The Never Ending "After-"Party (B'ham, AL)
NEW FACES: Melissa "Fox" Gough, scenestress
Ddot and J-Me spin.
NEW FACES: DJ 6-5
NEW FACES: "Supa"Greg "DJ Grape Ape" Gardner spins House
MJ spins Jazzy and atmospheric Drum n' Bass.
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DJ RENAISSANCE TRAINS WITH THE CREW
Pam "DJ Renaissance/Sonic Warfare" Johnson, First Lady of ANOM!LE
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Re-Birthday I (Sakura Japanese, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
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NOTE: Some of the people in this album are not introduced in exact chronological order, and some long-running event serials have been blended together to benefit the flow of this media album.
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The Harmony Network Events(Assagio's, 5 Points South B'ham, AL)
The "Fairy Godparents" of the Alabama DJ scene, Ralph Lindstrom and Karen Day throws a party series, inviting the city's favorite new DJs to be properly introduced.
NEW FACES: Al, the venue owner
NEW FACES: Jescah Phillipe, French/Kenyan Exchange student
NEW FACES: Doctor K, raver extraordinaire
Non-ravers stick around to dance.
MJ and Jescah dance.
NEW FACES: House scenestress, Aisha (pronounced "EYE-shah") Harris
NEW FACES: Shirin Safavi and Aurora Gordon, city scenestresses
NEW FACES: DJ Slade Prisoc and DJ Debbie D (Breakbeats/Florida Breaks)
NEW FACES: DJ Phlip/Adeejaycalledphlip and Sarah, scenestress
NEW FACES: Heather/DJ Sezy (House) and friend
NEW FACES: Jacob Schwartz and Lisa Burton
Melissa/Fox and "Chef"
NEW FACES: DJ Doc Roc (yellow shirt), Noodles hypes the crowd.
NEW FACES: Matt "DJ Oscill8or" and wife, Hilary "Kaotik Grace" McKinney of Kaotik/Nerveagent Recordings
NEW FACES: Alexandria (sticking out tongue) and friend
NEW FACES: Lisa, scenestress
NEW FACES: Stephanie, scenestress
NEW FACES: Steven's girlfriend, Brittney "Juggs" White, and Jennifer Stroud, scenestress
DJ Gadget of Majik City Junglists and Jacob Schwartz
NEW FACES: Scenestresses, Nicole Cardwell and Shelly Simmons with DJ Pollywog (from the movie "Groove")
NEW FACES: Stack9, and Lee J
NEW FACES: DJ Joe-E, MJ,Jack!e Bubblez, yet unnamed 3 in center, DJ Droopy, DJ 6-5, DJ Slade, and DJ Ralph Lindstrom
Photo by Karen Day of The Harmony Network
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NEW FACES: Kerry "DJ 9.5" Johnson (R.I.P.) and wife, Sabrina Patterson-Johnson
NEW FACES: MJ and DJ "Victor/Victoria" Foster, backstage at Time Bomb III, c2002
NEW FACES: Robert Head, media production
NEW FACES: Lisa, photographer, scenestress
Chris and Robert chop it up.
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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NOTE: Some of the people in this album are not introduced in exact chronological order, and some long-running event serials have been blended together to benefit the flow of this media album.
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THE EARGASM 2.0 (B'ham, AL)
The crew now felt they were ready to bring their Drum n' Bass/Hip-Hop DJ fusion skills to present to the city's Hip-Hop audience at The Eargasm.
Supreme green-lights an EDM-friendly "Phase 2", which included the gang's skillsets, and challenged rappers to adapt to a whole new type of beat to rhyme to.
NEW FACES: DJ Heron cuts as Poltageist co-hosts and emcees.
Abstract Chemistry rips
D-Ryan of Abstract Chemistry/Nerves Baddington
NEW FACES: DJ Illanoiz cuts and beatboxes WELL.
Sin-C freestyles
MJ/OPX grabs the mic.
NEW FACES: Eargasmatics emcee, Thabiti "Biti" abides as MJ begins.
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
NEW FACES: Teko "Pitbull TKO/DJ Master Dub" and Mason/Jenova, Scott "DJ Tech Support" abides.
NEW FACES: Longtime friend, Matt Triola (cargo pants) pops in, as the girls bop.
NEW FACES: Paige Randolph, scenestress, and friend (yet unnamed, R.I.P.)
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The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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MONTGOMERY JAMS
We had to party like rebels in Montgomery, AL, in a hotel room under the radar, but we had a blast once again with our raver 'cousins' out of town!
Local authorities already crack down hard on parties in general, but rave beats got special attention; this was no exception, as it was eventually shut down by the police!
NEW FACES: Montgomery producer, Sherman "Chibosa" Williams (holding cup)
NEW FACES: MJ's girlfriend, Jennifer Barash, yogi
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THE BLUE HOUSE (ANOM!LE/Rocksol!d HQ)
It was finally time to slide into the next phase of development and MJ having recently left the music store, and getting a job as a subcontractor afforded both he and Chris to move in together in one of the duplexes owned by the management company we both now worked for.
I lived downstairs and Chris, above; the turntables were the first thing through the door.
Downstairs at my place...
Upstairs, at Chris's...
MJ breakdances with the BMX breakdance crew on one of their Thursday night dance (open) sessions at 5 Points South
NEW FACES: MJ and gal-pal, Chevonne, hostess/scenestress extraordinaire, and Brittany (at bottom)
NEW FACES: Chris's girlfriend, Loren Kelly, hostess, scenestress
NEW FACES: Jamie Mann, scenestress
MJ, photo by Holly Clifton
Model, Kathy Pham and NEW FACES: Amber MJ's tattoo girl (side panel), Don "Signal Statik" Campbell (bottom)
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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LOVE N' WAR: A DRUM N' BASS DJ BATTLE
Everything was coming full circle with the crew, and eventually the rave scene had gotten saturated with so-called DJ "battles" that were really just tag-teams with no competitive vibe to them.
Still keeping good ties with our rave fam, Majik City Junglists, we put a plan into play for a more riveting DJ battle, involving promotional buzz beforehand, judges, tricks, theatrics, and tons of drama!
NEW FACES: Paul "MC 2Cent" Dexheimer emcees for MCJ
NEW FACES: Shane (wearing the skull cap) of Spacemen judges
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SQUAD (The Usual Suspects)
The ANOMILE/Rocksolid Alliance (Part 1 of 2)
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OUR CREW FLIES FOR FUN
As Steven prepares to get his pilot's license, he offers to take me and my son flying "just for kicks" as he accumulates hours.
NEW FACES: Issa, MJ's son, media artist, ANOM!LE/STARSHIP heir
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