House music history, a tale of two cities.

The popularity of one of the most recognisable forms of dance music was unmistakable on Friday night, April 12th at The Heart Ballroom at 37-39 Bloomfield Av, Newark NJ. Photos and video at the foot of this article.

Just a few short blocks away from the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the unassuming building exterior gave no hint as to the magnitude of what was occurring inside. Exiting my Uber, there were clues: a small group of people in a line to enter the building and the audible, unmistakable sounds of a serious sound system at work.

The excitement was high: one of the organisers of this event were none other than the team behind the Infamous Coffee Cave, formerly on Halsey Street in downtown Newark. While this venue closed before my arrival in Newark, I relished hearing the tales of regular late nights and early mornings hosting globally acclaimed DJs and producers: this particular night was to be no different, hosting the Grammy Award winning House DJ/Producer, Louie Vega, Anané (Louie’s wife!), and Newark DJ/Producer/Promoter Jihad Muhammad (Bang The Drum & Movement Soul Recordings).

I was first introduced to John Murray (Coffee Cave) at his regular haunt: BLK Box NWK, located inside the Gant-Gilbert Arts Collective at 505 Clinton Ave - I was there to support Grounded Music Education, a collective of DJ’s and producers who (amongst other things), lead DJ education classes, building community and supporting up and coming DJ’s. It was immediately clear that John had a fervour and passion for music and event production that few have.

Jihad Muhammed and I crossed paths at the summer time “Soul Music Project” parties, known as “After Work Wednesday’s” held in Military Park. I was honoured that Vernon Freeland of Random Access Entertainment asked me to be the opening DJ for the night Jihad was headlining - we had connected after I kept showing up to his events to both dance and take photos. It was there he learned of my music background:

I grew up across the Atlantic in Manchester. Famous for our soccer team(s) (there was only one team in Manchester during my childhood in the 90’s - no clues needed which team) rainy weather and a rich musical tapestry of our own: once known as “Madchester”, the city emerged as a bastian of independent music, born out of rave culture combining rock, house, dance, electronic and psychedelic music. Bands like Happy Mondays, Joy Division The Stone Roses, New Order, 808 State helped push creative boundaries.

Legendary (& infamous) clubs like the Hacienda (opened in 1982-1997) had similar trajectories to Newark club Zanzibar (1979-2007) - meteoric rise, only to eventually be closed and replaced by new development. However in Manchesters case this enabled the opening of another legendary (now closed) venue:

Sankeys, a former soap factory warehouse, was home to one of the only sound systems from the same team behind Zanzibar, Studio 54, and Paradise Garage (Richard Long, Larry Levin, Steve Dash) in Europe. During my clubbing years in Manchester it was named The #1 Night Club in the world, 2 years running by DJ Mag - I was fortunate to spend many long nights both on the dance floor and behind the decks in the bar, “Bassment” main room and “Spektrum” upstairs.

I can vividly remember my first night there: Roger Sanchez, playing on the mighty, earthshaking 4 point sound system: similar to what I know was waiting at the Heart Ballroom!

Waiting on the kerb my heart rate was already elevated in anticipation for the night ahead: first order of business, earplugs in. I was lucky to have been advised early in my music journey that once tinnitus starts, it may never go away. Knowing the raw power of the sound system that waited inside (I could feel it outside), I knew my ears would thank me, especially with my love of being in close proximity to the speakers!

Seeing me with my tripod and heavy backpack filled with camera equipment I was ushered inside: “he’s with us right?” - some head nods and I was into the ballroom: YES.

Jihad had the crowd on their feet. The dance floor already 3/4 full at ~9.15pm. I was as impressed seeing him spin as the first time: House grooves, gospel influenced tracks, classics, some harder sounds: the crowd twirling, feet stepping, hands in the air - I barely had time to get my camera gear out and snap some shots before his set came to a glorious conclusion. Had I not been so busy I would have Shazammed a number of tracks!

The photos (and Video) below tell a story of his set and tell it better I can possibly attempt in words - in short, it was awesome.

11PM: Anané came on on play: WOW. My first time seeing her spin, and I can say she had the dance floor eating out of the palm of her hand. The dance floor was full - but i’m happy to share that it was never too crowded or uncomfortable (take a read about this). Her set was full of variety and her energy was infectious (see her dance moves better in the video!). The time flew by: I saw a number of friends had arrived and were enjoying the show. I was making lots of friends too: having a camera in your hand helps!

1AM: Louie’s first track was a classic, lightening the mood and bringing a totally different energy - a well timed change up and very well received! His set was impeccable as always (I have seen him a few times), his custom isolator setup was being worked hard in addition to the Pioneer DJ (now Alpha Theta), DJM V10 - he brought the energy up, down, and showed his mastery of his craft.

My lower back and feet starting to burn - lifting a cinema camera above your head for extended periods is not ideal, but im happy I did! The footage from the Nikon Z9 & Nikon Z8 was unreal: this was the first time I went all out. Both cameras are capable of an “oversampled” 4K image, essentially taking the 8K resolution it’s capable of, and making a really good 4K image. I filmed everything in ProRes RAW in a LOG profile: technical jargon for, more worked to do later, but a better quality image, with the the maximum dynamic range possible (you want that). Filming using these format is ~12 gigabytes per MINUTE of record time. When I checked later I had <650 gigabytes of data from the night!!!

I encourage you to watch the video on a large (hopefully 4k) TV to really appreciate what it looks like!

To conclude: I have travelled far and wide to both perform as a DJ and appreciate the performance of others. The Newark club and music scene I have experienced has been amazing. I can highly recommend it as welcoming, authentic, and effortless: too many clubs these days are about being seen, not dancing. 

Jersey is having a resurgence, the global success of “Jersey Club” showing that the club music is popular with a new generation of club goers - its an exciting time to live in the city that has such rich musical history and is continuing to push boundaries. I have a few collaborations planned of my mine to do exactly that! (watch this space).

You can find me this summer: it’s easy. Listen for the loud music and you will spot me either right on the dance floor, or with a camera in hand, or if you are lucky: both!

@elevatewelcomereimagine.com on instagram