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Listen "Ben Annand Live in LA at Subtract/Sublevel Open Air with Doc Martin - July 31, 2021"
Episode Synopsis
One of my most emotional mixes, this set was recorded Live at Subtract open Air party just outside of LA (Valley) in an absolutely chaotic time for me. Two days after my only lover of 16 years and wife of 12 told me she didn’t love me anymore and I went to LA with my daughter to process it. It was also my first time back in LA since moving from there in 2019, and first time seeing/staying with my family since the pandemic. Unsurprisingly I had trouble keeping myself together in these circumstances.
So suffice to say there are a lot of feelings in this set. It would have actually been yet moodier but there was a hiccup on start time at this party that changed my set (2nd in order and rt before Doc Martin) from early-ish to peak. But it is still an emotional journey, at least for me :)
It's my break-up set, and those can be powerful. I'll never forget DJ Heather's at Tropical 2-Year Anniversary in LA in 2000. It was raw and full of feels and one of my favorites, but I didn't get approval to release, I think it was too personal.
I like to play with the mix of dark and light generally - being a positive person and eternal optimist I overall lean towards light. This set of course a unique moment in time for me. It starts more moody and breaks through into the light, also reflecting a transition from more techy opener Bellhop to housier Doc Martin, and a balance of hosts Subtract and Sublevel. Yeah, I think about all these things :)
It felt so good to be in LA at the party, seeing friends I hadn’t seen in years, feeling supported and loved! In a euphoric moment towards the end I actually caught air behind the decks - not too often my feet leave the ground back there the way I mix, but Armando Kroma thankfully caught this on camera. It was the hopeful part of summer 2021 for events and everyone was feeling it - soon after Delta variant kinda wiped things out again.
So why didn’t I release this set earlier? I actually tried. I had it mastered by Brian Saitzyk, but tbh for about 10 minutes in the middle my attention to my levels was poor in all the emotion and excitement and I pushed the pioneer mixer a bit so there’s a bit of crunchiness that can’t really be mastered out.
So then I re-recorded it. I don’t like to do this, I like the way I mix live better, as well as for the live set really to be the live set. But sound quality is a factor so I did the re-record. But then never released it. I also was planning to push the set so the Delta V perhaps another reason I paused on set release...
Maybe too much time just went by. Maybe it was too emotional for me as turmoil in my life continued. Things worsened in my marriage, poly definitely did not work, dating after 15 years and a pandemic neither easy nor the focus I really wanted. I made a lot of progress getting my groove back and enjoying my life in 2022 until my mom became ill very suddenly June 2022 and passed in September.
Anyway here we are, I am releasing things, moving on in my life and starting to feel my fire again.
As such I am releasing this set! This is the original live version lightly mastered for overall levels by Brian Saitzyk. If the audio quality is compromised some for emotion that’s an accurate reflection of my state anyway, and it’s really just a little fuzzy in a small part of the set anyway. So, live and raw it is!
Big thanks to Anton for bringing me, Brian Saitzyk for mastering, Mikey B for commiserating with me, Doc Martin and Andrew Bellhop for playing great sets before and after me, and all my friends for uplifting me (literally this time!), and Armando for catching that moment I broke through into pure joy
So suffice to say there are a lot of feelings in this set. It would have actually been yet moodier but there was a hiccup on start time at this party that changed my set (2nd in order and rt before Doc Martin) from early-ish to peak. But it is still an emotional journey, at least for me :)
It's my break-up set, and those can be powerful. I'll never forget DJ Heather's at Tropical 2-Year Anniversary in LA in 2000. It was raw and full of feels and one of my favorites, but I didn't get approval to release, I think it was too personal.
I like to play with the mix of dark and light generally - being a positive person and eternal optimist I overall lean towards light. This set of course a unique moment in time for me. It starts more moody and breaks through into the light, also reflecting a transition from more techy opener Bellhop to housier Doc Martin, and a balance of hosts Subtract and Sublevel. Yeah, I think about all these things :)
It felt so good to be in LA at the party, seeing friends I hadn’t seen in years, feeling supported and loved! In a euphoric moment towards the end I actually caught air behind the decks - not too often my feet leave the ground back there the way I mix, but Armando Kroma thankfully caught this on camera. It was the hopeful part of summer 2021 for events and everyone was feeling it - soon after Delta variant kinda wiped things out again.
So why didn’t I release this set earlier? I actually tried. I had it mastered by Brian Saitzyk, but tbh for about 10 minutes in the middle my attention to my levels was poor in all the emotion and excitement and I pushed the pioneer mixer a bit so there’s a bit of crunchiness that can’t really be mastered out.
So then I re-recorded it. I don’t like to do this, I like the way I mix live better, as well as for the live set really to be the live set. But sound quality is a factor so I did the re-record. But then never released it. I also was planning to push the set so the Delta V perhaps another reason I paused on set release...
Maybe too much time just went by. Maybe it was too emotional for me as turmoil in my life continued. Things worsened in my marriage, poly definitely did not work, dating after 15 years and a pandemic neither easy nor the focus I really wanted. I made a lot of progress getting my groove back and enjoying my life in 2022 until my mom became ill very suddenly June 2022 and passed in September.
Anyway here we are, I am releasing things, moving on in my life and starting to feel my fire again.
As such I am releasing this set! This is the original live version lightly mastered for overall levels by Brian Saitzyk. If the audio quality is compromised some for emotion that’s an accurate reflection of my state anyway, and it’s really just a little fuzzy in a small part of the set anyway. So, live and raw it is!
Big thanks to Anton for bringing me, Brian Saitzyk for mastering, Mikey B for commiserating with me, Doc Martin and Andrew Bellhop for playing great sets before and after me, and all my friends for uplifting me (literally this time!), and Armando for catching that moment I broke through into pure joy
In God we trust