BABY.
My wife and I are expecting our first child and that will have a direct impact on the level of my activities here, as it should.
My time will be much more limited, my projects less focused, my gigs less prevalent.
I have been DJing dance parties less and less over the last few years, for a few reasons. A big part of that is getting older and less and less of my friends being able to come out and party until 2am.
And another part of it is my disillusionment with the scene in general. I realize that DJing is 50% fashion, and I just don't care about fashion.
Being a woman, when I held residencies I would get one or more random dudes come up to me on any given night and make creepy and/or sexual comments to me.
And being a larger woman immediately makes one less viable as a DJ. Female DJs are always required to have sexy glossy shots for advertisements. And if you can rock that look, less people care if you're that good. I've read bios on female DJs that even state they only started last year, but oh they're already booking tours. Oh look, a photo gallery!
I have no animosity towards other DJs that have clothing sponsorships and model on the side or can rock the queerio hipster couture, but yes it is hugely important to recognize that it is 50% fashion.
Fashion is fine! It's just not my scene. I care about sound.
And family.
I will most likely continue to work in the area of dreamer beats and ambient music and experimental production. Those were, after all, my first loves. The slogan has always been: Bedroom music for bedroom people.
Dance music drifts in utility for me if I am not being hired to play it any more. I will still do the occasional party. I am still available for events and weddings. But I won't be playing 4 times/month any more.
I will probably maintain the MP3 blog, as it occurs more organically.
After Djing a birthday party for a 2-year-old this weekend I will officially be taking a leave of absence from DJing and art projects until the end of the summer, where I already have 2 major private parties booked. After that point, I'll just play it by ear.
I am going to be training 2 proteges in 2 different cities, but details on that later. It might be a terrible disaster, you never know. :)
With the gigs I will still be doing, I probably will not be taking any further gigs in places that do not recognize gay marriage. There are many states in the USA where my wife and I would have no rights as a married couple if something were to go wrong. We could be legally denied access to each other, and to our child.
And this is not a hypothetical, these kinds of horrible things happen far too frequently to gay families across your country. (my stats counter says most of you are located in USA...)
THIS IS SERIOUS BUSINESS, PEOPLE.
I want to make my request absolutely clear: please do whatever you can to elect officials who will work enact full equality for LGBT people and families. Marriage rights is only one of many complex issues, but it's a big one, and the most symbolic.
Gay families are everywhere, and if your government or state does not recognize and support them, they are hurting families and children.
That's it for now. I will continue using the small snippets of free time I find to do what I love. And when love is involved, who knows what can happen.
Caitlyn / CPI.
