MyGen
Profile GeneratorI know many clubbers in the capital have been going mad to his sets for a while now, but he's new to me, so I have to post this blog!!
I was at the Egg yesterday morning, for it's inimitable sunday afterparty 'Breakfast at Egg', and I was lucky enough to catch a 3-hour set from London-based DJ/Producer Johnny Mikes (one third of the mighty Ninja Cowboys, regulars at Fervor/Fervormore and all the cooler parties across the city).
Johnny just stepped up and delivered the most enormous energy shot to the dancefloor, three hours of the most perfect for the moment, amazing music, bomb after bomb after bomb, most of his set was stuff I'd never even heard before - (and I listen to new music for hours each day so that was refreshing!) - and he played with such confidence and guts & verve as if it was effortless, with really infectious excitement, whistling and shouting & dancing like he was down on the floor with us rather than on the decks! His disregard for all the sub-genre nonsense delighted me; he treated us to a full spectrum of tracks laced with electro, techno, minimal, acid, housier stuff.. His music bounced, grinded, glittered; one moment funky as fuck and the next mesmerisingly rolling and pared down, he whipped the dancefloor into a sweaty mass where everyone was dancing with everyone else, the polar opposite of that self-conscious dancefloor vibe you get at some clubs!
Lots of his own material got an airing to a wicked response, deadly weapons like 'Sunglasses in the Rain' and the ridiculously good 'Raa Raa Kitten' and re-edits that he's done.. His tracks have that magic quality where the energy seems to rise and rise so that you wonder where on earth it can go after the break, but each time the tracks slammed back in they somehow went to an absolute next level - my pulse is racing just thinking about them! I think some of his stuff is awaiting release, (make it soon, come on!!) and labels should sit up and take notice, cos these are blinding productions.
There was a moment during the last hour when he was playing something quite dark and heads-down, and then, taking us all by surprise.. out of the depths of the speakers came a whirling rush of sound which exploded into Michael Jackson's 'Wanna Be Starting Something' and everyone's hands shot into the air, it was the perfect thing to play at that moment, like throwing a lit match onto a petrol soaked dancefloor! In the final hour we got Cameos' Word Up and the seminal New Order anthem Blue Monday, in between his bang up to date underground stuff, it was just wicked to hear gems like those fused so expertly & creatively into today's tracks, side by side like they were made to merge together. The way he mixed was really exciting, we never knew what the hell to expect next!! I was totally enthralled by his whole set, for any other DJs in the crowd it was the kind of set that makes you desperate to be that good and to have that effect on a room! It was so inspiring.
Like all of you who are devoted to this music and its clubs, I've seen so many DJs over the last decade, (some regarded as the absolute best and others unfortunately utter shite) ... The upper echelon of the very best djs have the power to make you feel breathless with amazement at what they can create with 2 hands, a bag of music and a few hours of your time; you leave the club tingling with euphoria from the joy their set gave you and for the following weeks/months/(sometimes years!) you remember their set and feel the same excitement.
It happens rarely, but chasing those experiences is the reason I go clubbing and am obsessed with this music, and when I hear a dj who manages to make me feel like that, I have to tell all my mates and get them to hear it for themselves! There are many, many good djs out there who I have a great time hearing, but once in a while you get to witness one of those golden sets that reminds you why you fell in love with the music in the first place. When you know that given the chance, you could hear that person play for 12 hours with nothing but water and adrenalin to keep you going, & that you wouldn't be able to tear yourself away from the dancefloor for one second.
Johnny Mikes: awesome DJ and producer - and most likely a future massive star of the scene. Go and hear him!!!!
Write Up by Sian Blake from Toolroom Records
Discography
OUT NOW
Johnny Mikes - Raa Raa Kitten RED RECORDINGS
Johnny Mikes - Raa Raa Kitten (Ed Kane & Ninja Cowboys Remix) RED RECORDINGS
Cozzy D - Cheese Dreams (Ed Kane vs. Ninja Cowboys Remix) BERWICK STREET
Overnoise - Ghatto (Goldie Mikes Remix) SALACIOUS
Johnny Mikes:
Sunglasses In The Rain DIRTBAG TBC
Raa Raa Kitten RED RECORDINGS NOVEMBER 2007 2007
Ninja Cowboys:
Johnny Mikes - Raa Raa Kitten (Ninja Cowboys & Ed Kane Remix)RED RECORDINGS NOVEMBER 2007
Cozzy D - Cheese Dreams (Ninja Cowboys & Ed Kane Remix) FORTHCOMING BERWICK STREET
Bedtime
Ed Kane - Gutterball (Ninja Cowboys Remix)
You Know You Know
8 Bar Edit
Goldie-Mikes:
Overnoise - Ghatto (Goldie-Mikes Remix) SALACIOUS November 13th 2006
Kanio + Johnny Mikes:
Beat That Bitch
