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Last Updated:
Mar 19th, 2008 - 07:43:02 |
On Friday, March 17, electronic music pioneer Carl Craig and partner
Gamall will host the first Detroit appearance of a club night they
titled Demon Days at the techno-sushi bar Oslo in Detroit. Demon Days
was a concept night the two started in September of 2005 as an outlet
into a forward way of thinking in regards to electronic music, and a
place that people can have fun and let loose the stresses of life. The
event already has a pair of successful nights at the Smart Bar in
Chicago and APT in New York, bringing a brand of electronic music on
much more of a futuristic tip.
The idea behind Demon Days took root out in New York with the Rude
Movements night that Gamall was promoting. The night featured a
higher-level showcase of hip-hop, soul and house with the likes of
Detroit’s Waajeed, Benji B (UK’s BBC Radio 1xtra) and super-producers
Sa-Ra Creative Partners.
While Gamall and Carl Craig have known each other for more than 15
years now, it was a feeling Gamall had during Carl Craig’s appearances
at Rude Movements gigs that set the stage for the creation of Demon
Days.
As Gamall describes about Carl Craig: “When seeing him play overseas,
and when playing at Rude Movements, I seen a little vibe going on where
we opened up a little space for him to be a bit freer than I’ve seen
him be and that was crucial. That was the basis of us starting [Demon
Days] and it’s developed from there into a stronger thing. He was only
popping through New York once a year and it just didn’t seem like
enough.”
From there, Demon Days started to take shape. As Carl Craig says of the
concept behind Demon Days: “It’s about being able to get music from all
around the world and present it here in America. Of course there are
great things coming from Detroit, New York and LA, and stuff, but it’s
only a small percentage of music that's happening around the world,
especially with electronic music. The idea with Demon Days is that it’s
music to set the tone of how life is these days. Unfortunately, in a
political sense, it seems quite dark. The politics here in America
transcends all over the world.”
Whether it was at the previous parties at the Smart Bar or APT, or the
upcoming show at Oslo, a certain tone is set for the Demon Days nights.
Rather than a typical, happy-go-lucky techno environment, expect a much
deeper mood that is still fun at its core.
As Craig explains: “Expect a dark aural assault. Energy one can expect
from me but hopefully it’ll be an advanced energy. Of course, not only
from my traveling experiences and making the remixes and productions
that I have had recently and being influenced by guys like Theo
[Parrish] and Kenny Dixon Jr. along with my own experiences makes it
kind of like a mixture of dark and lovely. It’s definitely an
experience for people that starts small and expands. I like it that
way: small and tight-knit. It’s easier to be able to translate to the
people, instead of it being like everybody and their momma coming. It’s
difficult to appease that many people.”
The future of Demon Days looks to expand into successful runs every
three months in major cities such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles,
Detroit and Atlanta — and stay consistent in bringing more expressive
ways of showcasing electronic music from all points of the globe.
Demon Days hits Detroit on March 17 at Oslo located at 1456 Woodward
Ave., and will feature a special opening set from DJ S2 of Los
Hermanos. For more information go to demon-days.com. | RDW
Breakin' Records showcases Detroit urban music in a global context. To email your tour guide, write to Real's music editor keith@realdetroitweekly.com
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