Avenue Red Podcast #037 - Force Placement

The 37th Avenue Red Podcast comes from Force Placement (real name Jason James) from the West side of Los Angeles in California, USA. Jason has been DJ'ing regularly around his massive metropolitan hometown since his late teens over a decade ago. He sent us this mix and we liked the selection and felt it added something unique to the series, a vinyl-only mix fusing House & Techno that is deep, rhythmic and strange with lots of spacey melodic tracks scattered throughout.

We took out some time to have a brief Q & A with Jason about the mix, how's tricks and what's been happening in the music world over in Los Angeles!

Q. Hi Jason! What is the music scene like in LA for Electronica/House/Techno at the moment? It's a massive city so you'd imagine there to be a lot going on?
A. The scene is pretty vibrant right now, lots of great underground events and solid bookings every weekend. Recent events that come to mind have had Bok Bok, Jacques Renault, Untold, Max Graef, Gerry Read etc. For a while it was mostly illicit warehouse parties but the cops started busting them more so it's died down a bit in that respect, but still lots of great events at bars/clubs to check out.

Q. I read that in LA, the clubs closed at 2am which gave rise to a culture of illegal warehouse parties. Is that what you are referring to that "died down"?
A. Yea clubs close at 2. It's state law in California so people threw illegal parties but the LAPD started cracking down on them hard. Resident Advisor did an article about it (http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=25170). They talk about the Omar-S party that got busted, I was there! There were like 20 cop cars and helicopters flying around, shit was crazy!

Q. So, have you played at any gigs that got busted?
A. Never. But it would be seriously frustrating! I know that it can be pretty devastating for the promoters here too. However, we have a deal worked out with the venue for our Black Lodge parties so we can go past 2.

Q. So does this early closure time encourage an after-party culture that spills out into house parties? Does this help relatively unknown DJ's get noticed at after-parties where DJ's/promoters end up after a 2am close?
A. Yeah definitely, there is a massive after-hours culture! I suppose it can actually help DJ's to get that initial exposure, more visibility/recognition in the underground scene.

Q. Could you say a couple of words about your Black Lodge party you mentioned and how it started? What's the format and music policy?
A. Black Lodge was my buddy Vikas Malhotra's (aka Kosmik) concept and he asked me to help out. He's a good friend of mine from when I lived in Santa Barbara. The music format is primarily underground house/techno music. We try to emphasize playing vinyl there too. The venue is a very unique one-of-a-kind space, it looks like a haunted library or something! It can only fit like 50 people max, a very intimate space ideal for what we are trying to do.

Q. To you personally, is the vinyl format important? Do you think that vinyl DJ'ing is getting more popular in LA like it certainly is over here in Europe, or is it in decline maybe?
A. I enjoy the challenge of playing vinyl, but the format isn't important. The selection is more important than what you use in my view. There are some cool record stores here but I'm not sure if I'd say it's getting more popular. Sadly a few established stores have closed here in recent years but a few new ones have emerged too, however few of them specialize in dance music.

Q. I noticed that you play regularly at that venue called Complex in LA and have a gig there tonight, right?
A. Yea I've been getting some cool gigs there recently! I'm opening for Ital (Planet Mu) and Aurora Halal (Mutual Dreaming) tonight. I'm also playing a party at Complex on 30th April for an event called "That's Deck", opening for Stefan Ringer (NDATL, CGI Recordings), Cromie (Peach) and An Expresso (L2S Recordings) (info on that here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=28935). April's shaped up to be a busy month for sure!

Q. Have you ventured into production works at all?
A. Sure have, I have been experimenting with making music since I was 16 but only recently started taking it more seriously. I have just put a track out called Neopolitan on this LP that is available to download here: https://la909.bandcamp.com/album/l-a-909-friends-vol-1

Q. Thanks for the mix, the track (which is ace!) and the chat, hope tonight goes well bro! Any final words about the mix?
A. Thanks! Right now I've got my decks set up in my kitchen and I recorded this mix while sipping tea and baking some tilapia. Vinyl-only. Please enjoy, thanks! Jason James, April 2015

@forceplacement

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Full tracklist for this mix coming soon, but do feel free to ask for track ID's in the comments in the meantime.