It wasn’t until about three months ago that I seriously started to consider taking my music from the studio to the stage in the form of a live performance. Until January, I didn’t start collecting the gear I would need for it. Here’s my number one issue, despite having owned a slick pioneer DJ setup for years, I never had the time or the burning desire to practice and therefore it left me as anything but a DJ. Given that and the fact that I did not own a laptop and all of my music was built from softsynths, I basically decided to write any form of performance out of my life. Then, Oneel and Fitzpatrick approached me about doing a podcast on BTUlive.com. All of the sudden, I felt as though everything had changed.

Once again I found myself surrounded by blazing lights, pulsating beats, and a super-hyper atmosphere known as the Dance Barn. Only this time it was not my hands carefully crafting the ambiance of the room. I was not a performer; I was an attendee. 

Cornerstone 2007... ahh the memories.  I really had a great time.  Actually if I try to explain in this journal how good of a time I had I certainly will do injustice to the amount of fun I had.  Overall I would have to give it an A+.

It feels like only yesterday I was cramped up and smushed into the back seat of a Jeep Liberty, pulling out of the driveway of my good friends' house in Birmingham, Alabama.  We were all jacked up on Mountain Dew and ready for the long trip ahead.  One quick stop at a McDonald's and we were off. 

I just wanted to go into showing everybody what it took to make an event like “After Hours – The Cornerstone Dance Barn” happen.  Dave and I started talking about the possibility of taking over the Dance Barn back in December.  After getting the blessing from the previous management we got started planning the week’s events.

Well, this is it. You are now, finally, reading the annual Cornerstone Music Festival issue where we collectively recount what happened at this year’s EDM stage in that lovely place known as Bushnell, Il. This year was extremely different though since I was in charge, well… me and the BTU Posse and well… just about everyone who had a connection to Tastyfresh. Kevin and I did the bulk of the planning, Fitzpatrick and I handled the graphics, Jeremy Kadinger handled the generator stage to a level other stages only dreamed of and the list of workers goes on. I need to give a special thanks to Andy Turner of Deeplife Records who literally saved our generator stage when we lost our subwoofer during our first official set on the first day. 

Well… it’s been a busy two months over here. So busy that in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m almost two weeks late getting this issue of the zine out to you. For that, I apologize. A large amount of the delay was definitely caused by me having to deal with some of the logistical needs of Cornerstone this year. One of the things we are doing in addition to just booking the talent is setting up a secondary generator stage. Beyond that, I’ve been working on rebranding the venue and working with the Flickerings group who uses the Barn as an ultra-cool movie house during the day to create a new sign and group of logos for our events. Now that all of that is out of the way, I just need to place some phone calls and emails and the event will be all set. Thanks for being patient with me.

I hate talk radio.  Actually, I like radio news and interview shows.  What I hate are call-in shows where people get on the air and rant on subjects they don't really know about.  Sometimes it seems like all of AM radio exists to provide a public forum for the uninformed and their ill-considered opinions.

What does this have to do with sample loops?  I'm getting there.  Stick with me.

It was dark and raining harder by the minute. I was in the center lane of the freeway in a car that wasn’t mine. Usually I don’t mind freeway driving, but on this particular night the rain, the mist from a hundred tires and the glare from the streetlights were making it nearly impossible to see the lines on the road. This may not have been a big deal if the highway was a straight shot, but this road was curving around the edge of the city and had numerous sweeping turns to navigate. In short, driving conditions were dangerous and I was driving an unfamiliar vehicle. 

Ever heard of a man named Andrew Carnegie?  He was an industrialist back in the 1800’s who founded a company called Carnegie Steel, which later was bought by J.P. Morgan and because US Steel.  He came from humble beginnings as a Scottish immigrant, to becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world.  He achieved this through hard work, dedication to a task, and having good people around him.  Carnegie is one of the people I try to model myself after because of his work ethic, but also because of a little philosophy he had called the “Gospel of Wealth.”