Sometimes, You've Got To Let Your Ego Aside.....

While I've remained very active with music pretty much from the time I was 14 years old, I wrapped up regular gigging as a DJ around the year 2005. I had a lot of fun over the 11 years I spun records, and I was fortunate to cap it off with a fun residency at a North Denver bar. Musically speaking, I came back to right where I had first started in 1994 - spinning soul and funk records, mixed with hip hop and dashes of new wave here and there, for party people who loved diverse grooves. Life is funny that way... It was really a great gig for a variety of reasons, but let me set the stage for you first. The bar was about 10 years ahead of its time - it had everything going for it - a great vibe, a great interior, a storied history, a great staff and a great owner. But all of these things could not overcome the location - it was smack dead center in a pretty bad neighborhood, and the target crowd just wasn't willing to come out that far. It was probably 16 blocks from the nearest entertainment row. This was compounded by the stiff drink prices, even thought the drinks were stiff. Had it been a different time, had the neighborhood changed, hell I might still be spinning there. Aside from the ghost stories, and that the building had been a brothel back in the 1880s, it had a giant gunshot hole in the bar which I assumed had happened during the old wild west days. It wasn't until someone told me it had happened in 1999 that I really got that the neighborhood wasn't effing around. I started DJ'ing there as a lark, the owner needed somebody for a weekend party and someone there who knew me mentinoned my name. By chance, I happened to be at the bar which had fast become my boozing local, and I was able to rap with the owner right on the spot. This chance meeting started a year and half of pretty much steady weekend gigs, where for the first time, I finally had a true residency. I opened at 9 PM, I closed at 4 or 5 AM, and in between I got to play music I loved to a very adventuresome crowd, all who were in the mood to party. Sometimes I packed it out, sometimes it was 10 people - it didn't really matter, the vibe was thick and I was having a blast. The bar owner would lock the front door at 2 AM (bar closing hours in this town), and you could drink as long as you wanted to, but if you left via the back door, there was no getting back in. The spot was so dope, even on nights I wasn't playing, we'd be out with a crew of friends and call at 1:50 AM just to see if they'd be open - the answer was always yes, if we were coming to drink. Good times. As I got more into the regular gig, I wound up closing my sets each time with the Theme from Shaft. The bartenders would set the bar on fire with liquor, and ladies would get up and dance on top of it. Good times again. The thing was, the owner, as cool as he was, was stubborn as a mule. He resisted every effort I had made to help increase business. The primary problems he had were that ladies didn't feel safe showing up and walking from their cars inside (it was that kind of hood)  he wouldn't budge on drink prices. I explained to him numerous times that I had a crew of party people, all who would bring their crews of party people, to jam in this crazy dope bar. They loved the music, they loved the bar... but $5 a PBR in 2004 was a long shot by any defininition of the word. Plus a drive to a dangerous hood, which was always crawling with cops? The man would not budge - the bar was his dream, and he was standing behind his original concept. A few months later, I showed up to play to find the doors padlocked. I guess he missed one too many mortgage payments or whatever. Sometimes, you've got to let your ego aside, even if you are the boss.....and just listen. City of Bass: blogging daily about the electro music scene. Follow along via twitter or the RSS feed