$pencelove

http://digitalove-lincoln.blogspot.com/
http://digitalove-lincoln.blogspot.com/
http://digitalove-lincoln.blogspot.com/
http://digitalove-lincoln.blogspot.com/
http://digitalove-lincoln.blogspot.com/
WE NEED MORE LINCOLN JUICE IN THE WAFFLE BATTER.......
I make nothing and spend it all on records. Music makes my day though, so thats ok. I can't put a finger on what types of music, just when it's good. I run a little record shop in downtown lincoln on 14th inbetween o and p. Stop in and say whats up sometime.
The beats pulsed from the back of the darkened room, hazy with cigarette smoke, the volume of the music heightened by the chatter of the dancers and people watchers alike. It was half past 1 a.m. and Lincoln's downtown clubs were closed for the night, but the party raged on, in what has become a custom as of late, with a community of DJs and lovers of dance music coming together to create a fusion that thrives on the later hours of the evening. Nevermind it was a Sunday night. Almost daily I walk a route from my apartment to campus, or to work downtown, and I see many of the same people doing the same things. After dark, the faces might change, but the normalcy doesn't cease. The washboard guy holds court in front of Bodega's Alley, creating noise for the inebriated to jive to, pretending a rhythm is present. Vendors sell hot dogs on street corners, attracting customers with a splendid aroma that extends around the block. And most every night of the week, people longing for music with a beat they can move their feet to, in rhythm no less, can find Spencer Munson, known to club-goers as DJ Spence, at one of a number of downtown hot spots, pleasing the masses with his ever-increasing knowledge of what sounds good to the human ear. Even nights that he doesn't have a scheduled shift at the Bricktop, Box Awesome, The Q or Dillingers, those in the know still might find a text in their inbox with word of an impromptu afterhours, DJ included. Growing up in the small village of Harrison (last census counted 279 inhabitants), Munson was lucky to have parents with what he calls "good taste in music." "I worked summers on a tractor, so I'd make mixed tapes of my dad's records and listen to them while I worked," he said. High school meant access to the Internet, where he gleaned a collection of classic funk and Frank Zappa while DJing smaller parties with his parent's living room speakers. Attending college at Nebraska Wesleyan University is where the art of spinning became an obsession for Munson, as he spent his student loan check one semester on two turntables and began approaching local club owners for possible gigs. Four years later and now graduated, Munson owns a record shop downtown - Spindle Records, 122, N. 14th St. - but recognizes that the day job isn't likely to pay all the bills. Therein lies the motivation for sometimes spinning seven days a week for a daily changing clientele. The partiers at Dillingers on Saturday night are keen on their top 40 hits. The Q crowd wants something a little more unrecognizeable but soon to be in fashion. The late-night crowd is usually hoping for anything that hasn't been ruined yet by the overhead speakers at Abercrombie and Fitch. "The thing I like about Spence is how no matter what the time, he keeps the energy of a place at a constant high," said Tommy van den Berg, an undeclared junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "He just has this charismatic character that even if it's 4 a.m., people aren't ready to go home." Whether it's before the bars close or after the last drunk has dialed 475-RIDE, Munson said it's been his goal to bring together the Lincoln community of DJs, music fans and musicians from across the genre rainbow into the same sphere of influence. "I think it's important to help people get their foot in the door and have different bands and fans come together," he said. Each week on Wednesday for "Digital Love with DJ Spence" at the Bricktop, Munson invites a guest DJ to join him on stage. Their influences are all over the board from soul to Parisian techno to indie-rock to electro-raunch. DJ Blac, known during daylight hours as Travis Villanueva, said it's been a treat to witness a rebirth of the dance scene in Lincoln. He's spent a few of his Wednesday's and many afterhours juggling the DJ booth alongside Munson. "Spence really knows how to get people of different walks of life involved," he said. "He's always willing to share his spotlight on other artists, and I've been lucky to be able to share in that." [email protected]
MIGHT LEARN A THING OR TWO....