Before I start, here’s the important info:

I’m DJing this Friday (13th January 2012) from 9pm for Get.Tronic with Normski at City Arts & Music Project (CAMP) on City road by Old st station.  Before that the whole team will be at Electricity Showrooms on Hoxton Square from 6pm for Hoxton Live with The Preshaah.  Both will be broadcast live on Hoxton FM and repeated the following week.  You are welcome to listen or come along.

Tune in to Hoxton.FM and get involved if you want.  Don’t be afraid, we don’t bite….well, not hard enough to break the skin anyway

I write this blog at 6:25am having been up all night working on Hoxton.FM shows, edits, servers, scheduling, website front-end and more. It’s all mind numbing and not exciting stuff to be doing, there is a lot more of this that goes on than I would like to admit.  I didn’t get to work on my remix for Deep London Records despite it being due a week ago. The team has been amazing, but if I don’t start delegating more soon I think something inside me will break (insert bent already joke here).

The station is doing amazingly.  We have well over 900 unique listeners in under 4 months, a growing family of talented presenters and DJ’s including the likes of Normski (who I grew up watching on TV and now try to keep up with when partying), offers from advertising agencies for exclusive sponsorship deals with their clients, broadcasts from a plethora of bars, clubs, cinemas, shops, shopping malls and studios.  I even interviewed Dizzee Rascal, a Hackney councillor and a lingerie model in under 20 minutes…I could (and often do) go on.

Video – Dizzee Rascal Gets the Hoxton FM Treatment

The thing is (and I am most certainly not moaning).  I don’t have enough time to do everything and yet I am the one sacrificing everything whilst (quite rightly) everyone else is holding down their 9 to 5 employment, paying bills and dedicating all of their free time to this project.  I’d rather be penniless and pursuing my ambitions than earning good money in a depressingly death enhancingly soul crushing job….i’ve already done it.

Something is going to change very soon and I have a good feeling it’s the opening of revenue streams that will secure our foundations for the future.  We all deserve to keep making this happen.  I say “this”. We are essentially acting as a force to make creativity, talent and passion within music, art, fashion and culture a meritocracy.  By that I mean we really do allow the cream to float to the top.  The blaggers have come and dropped names, figures, forecasts and all sorts of other made up stuff at our feet.  The team together act as a very good barometer.  Whether it’s a sponsor or a venue, a record label or DJ/Presenter, the four of us never all get sucked in.  If one member does we challenge them and then drag them back out, dust them down and refocus on working with good, honest, genuinely creative and exciting people.  You know the ones who you meet and wonder why they never made it?  It was because some prick who appropriated other people’s ideas (often botching them in the process) went around shouting about how their suede MacBook covers and corduroy mud guards are already taking over the east end and soon the world.

Essentially we act as a counter balance to the Dunning-Kruger effect.  We find genuinely innovative and creative people, or (as is increasingly happening) they find us. We nurture them into our broadcasts to showcase their talents.  It doesn’t always work and we don’t expect it to.  Our diverse experience enables us to help in a powerful combination of ways that have a greater impact than one person working alone.  We don’t do everything for people, far from it.  We enable them to do things for themselves with the station.  We are a megaphone to publicise fresh talent and innovation but we have to be held the right way round and spoken into at the right end (and in the right way).  I actually hate the word talent because the road to “success” is often interpreted by those observing as being an effortless journey.

Perhaps that is why i’m writing this.  Sharing the fact that I am dedicating my life to something that I love, that I believe in, that I think is a good thing and will help generate a lot of positive things for all those who contribute.  It gives me an excuse to engage with incredible people, each dedicating themselves to their own creative journeys and expressing something that is within them.

I know what you’re thinking as you read this. Your thinking “What a whiny bitch he is.  I bet he’s out every night with girls getting wasted”. Well, that’s only Fridays and perhaps Saturdays and Tuesdays actually.  The girls are great, except the one that has been stalking me for 3 months (online, phone, house, events, everywhere and now the love has turned to hate…remember the end of Layer Cake?) and the ones that realise i’m always skint (“You ride a bicycle? Why?”) or stereotype DJ’s or get jealous when I talk to anyone else or don’t understand how much it takes to truly pursue your passion.  The nice ones are too nice and lack any dynamism, whilst the ambitious ones are actually so focussed you realise your 3 minute window already expired.  In a capital city it takes money to be accepted, or so the idiots seem to think.

A good time consists of good people, good music and good surroundings, in that order.  Hoxton FM is providing that aurally and soon visually.  This is not just a radio station, it’s megaphone for every format in every format.

And it’s 7:37am, time for bed!

If you do one thing when reading this blog then please check Hoxton.FM, tune in and follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook. 

OUT OF THE OLD – So it’s been a while since I blogged.  It seemed wrong to comment on what has ben happening until now. It still seems wrong to look back, so i’ll just look forward to our new (ad)venture and share an amusing photo of the best urinal in London at my latest residency.   This venue’s music policy is special in that they genuinely want to play deep underground music in a mainstream area of the capital.  Want to know more?  Message me…but before you ask the obvious questions, yes the ice melts and yes this was snapped mid-relief.

MASSIVE CHANGES – In a nutshell I went and set up Hoxton.FM with some incredibly talented people because we all shared the same vision. To quote our press release we are:

“Broadcasting music, art, fashion and culture with a focus on diversity and high quality.
This is a station dedicated to becoming the hub for creativity in Hoxton, Shoreditch and Dalston.  It showcases the latest talent in London 24/7 with live guerilla broadcasts morning noon and night from a variety of venues.  The innovative audio exchanges (already fostered with East Village radio in New York) will be expanding rapidly with station links in major global cities.”

ALREADY – We are already delivering high quality, diverse content 24 hours a day.  With so many talented new shows and presenters joining the schedule I had to curtail my devotion to beat digging, djing and hosting my own shows.  But now I am back with a breakfast show starting next week, my Chicago town (deep house) show on Fridays and some other surprises in store.  With a brilliant core team covering production, engineering and media we know the future holds a lot of fun and excitement.

FUTURE – We are all putting in a  lot of hard work to build a highly professional station that will act as a breeding ground for talent to flourish and take-off in to the mainstream.  Not that we want to be in the mainstream, we just want to play our part in adding some quality to it.

TALENT – We’ve got weekly shows coming from the best party DJ’s in London The Loose Cannons, Ronnie Joice (1 of 1000 & The Hoxton Pony), Deanne Oliver-Evans (Blonde Ambition), Mike Rhino (Crash Rhino), The Preshaah (Hoxton Live / Sky News), DJ Stan-ley (Deep London Recordings) and so many more that it would be flagrant name dropping to continue.

Wow!  What a fantastic evening at McQueen!  It was great to have DJ Stan-ley (Deep London Records) and Chris Lawes play for the show.  So much fun speaking to the clientèle and Roy Rovelli really took the night up a notch after 7pm for Nostalgia.

Once the technical gremlins had been banished we were up and rolling with some great music, company and surroundings.  The Preshaah was (as always) on form and kept things jovial.  We will be back once a month to broadcast live from McQueen and next week we are looking at The Hoxton Pony.

Listen to the recording of the show

You don’t know me? Get to know about what I want you to know about now on my website DanFormless.com

So I got caught up in the thick of it on Monday night.  To be honest I don’t even want to go on about the whole London riot situation.  I got some dodgy video footage and rushed back to the studio to put together a report for Shoreditch radio.  Overall I refuse to live in fear and believe that if the community come on to the street and continue as normal it will not get worse and will subside.

Shoreditch Radio Riot Report

So apparently my new t-shirt is offensive.  I thought my last show was more to the bone, but everyone loved that.  The universal tuttfest that was endured all Saturday night was only intermittently sprinkled with high fives from guys that admired “the balls it takes to go out wearing a t-shirt that guarantees you go home alone”.  Well, you know what?  It had been that sort of week.  The sort of week when you wonder how the hell you are going to appear cheery and funny on the radio.  You know you have to do it, but with family health issues, a supposedly passionate connection that just goes AWOL without a trace and a serious case of financial turmoil you wonder how to fake it on the air.

I found the answer.  Don’t fake it.  You don’t embrace it either.  You just push on through.  Spend time with the sparks in your life that make you funny.  Share the pain and then move past it.  Everyone feels pain at some time in their lives.  Those that claim not to are deluded or fakers or both.  I managed to recount some funny tales from the weekend on air without dwelling on the further negatives, the rejection, the despondency and the loneliness.  I bet half of you reading now want to know more, but you know what?  You only get the good bits, the highlights, the funny stuff.  Why?  Because this isn’t a fucking soap it’s entertainment on the airwaves.  Wallowing in pity is for the pigs of sorrow.  I’ll admit to watching almost two entire series of Dexter this week, but after that I pulled myself together and (rather than become a serial killer) I went out and booked the first broadcast venue for my live show on Shoreditch radio.

Next Friday 12th August you need to tune in for a two hour live broadcast from McQueen in Shoreditch.  Hell, why not bunk off work early and get your asses down to toast and tease your work colleagues live on the air.  That’s right, i’m going to let you on the air to shout out your friends and tell the world something deep and meaningful.

Last night (Thursday) The Preshaah and I checked out Secret McQueen with Fabio and William from (you guessed it) McQueen and were pleasantly surprised by the standard of the performers and the vibrant atmosphere.

I’m not a massive fan of pole dancing, but the girl who flexed the shoulder muscles of a world’s strongest man competitor has swayed me (and the pole) by doing things I did not know were possible.  Perhaps it was the attitude or the way she ignored The Preshaah, but I just liked her.

Having also been there on Saturday night I dig the deep music they play and the quality ladies that frequent the bar, restaurant and club.   I’m looking forward to kicking off their weekend next Friday….BIG TIME!  You need to tune in, turn up and/or cop off with whatever you feel meets your standards at McQueen.  Why not tell your friends and while you’re at it check out my new show.

Play Formless Show 3 on Shoreditch Radio

Some links to stuff I jabbered about on this week’s show:
* Legendary Moodymann interview at the Red Bull Music Academy
* Alpha-Ville Festival – International Festival of Post-Digital Culture
London, 22-25 September | Creativity, Innovation and Forward Thinking.

You don’t know me? Get to know about what I want you to know about now on my website DanFormless.com

Off the back of a solid start I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my second show. Express myself more and make more jokes.

I had sworn to go all out to be more entertaining, flamboyant and (above all else) funny.  I find this comes naturally when I have the right people around me and I don’t plan/script it.  Then management asked me to script up, look sharp and get in and out of the studio quicker than last time (which apparently is money…still).

I turned up early to meet with my cousin Tamin (adopted local Hackney lad and awesome photographer on the rise) and indulge in a drink whilst anxiously pouring over my script (with meticulous times noted to sync with the music).  I was confessing to him that what I had written the night before no longer seemed as hilarious as at 4am.  I could tell he didn’t know what to say.  He (like everyone else in my family and group of friends) thinks I am blessed with an abundance of confidence that never flags.

We downed our drinks, waltzed into the studio, bustled through the outgoing (day) session and set up in the vocal booth.  There was already a backlog of presenters for subsequent shows loitering in the studio.  As they milled around and peered through the perspex screen (iPhones recording video footage of the strange new guy) it dawned on me.  I had to just go balls out (as the mantra of Shoreditch radio states) and “Make it happen”.

Tamin clicked away at opportune moments to get some shots of me in full flow.  I wished I had downed something stronger than a pear Rekorderlig, but there was no time to wish.  The mix was super tight (even better than the last one) and I could see heads nodding and a few laughs at the right times.  In a flash it was over.  I couldn’t decide if it had sunk, stunk or offended.  Possibly it had done all three.  I would have to wait until broadcast time.

The energy was definitely there.  The jokes had been dropped heavily and it was definitely an improvement on the previous show…once I heard it back I realised i’m on to something here.  Tell me what you think.

Play Formless Show 2 on Shoreditch Radio

You don’t know me? Get to know about what I want you to know about now on my website DanFormless.com

So after almost 3 months doing a weekly 2 hour music based show for Chicago station Global1FM I thought stepping in to do a 1 hour show for Shoreditch radio would be easy….wrong!

Firstly I had decided that my live, off the cuff, roll with the punches style (that had served me so well) was going to go down great. But I wasn’t broadcasting from my studio any more. Now I was in a proper vocal booth and there were strangers looking at me through the perspex. The other shows I had witnessed before me were brilliant. The presenters (many professional comedians) were so sharp, witty and incisive whilst always confident in their style of delivery. Now they were sipping on beers and ready to judge me. I was in the bigger boys sandpit with a little spade.

Being funny had seemed so effortless back in my studio when responding to chats, texts and calls. Now I felt trapped in a sterile one dimensional environment. Even my ally The Preshaah (host of The Killing Moon show and the person who got me on to Shoreditch radio) was far away in front of the mixing desk.

I knew my musical selection and mixing was tight, but now this was all about the words being the icing on top. Whilst there were some amusing parts (notably when I referred to being sent out in the rain to get beers, lad mags and prescription drugs) I felt I played the show way too safe. Afterwards I vowed to take far more risks, talk more and make more jokes next week. Everyone said the show was good and couldn’t believe it was my first for the station, but I knew I had better in me. Much better.

Let me know what you think.

Play first Formless Show on Shoreditch Radio

A blog too? Turning my hand to too many things?  Definitely….but that’s pretty formless right?

DJing, producing, remixing, radio jockeying, throwing unforgettable parties, creating evil animations, writing and filming comedy…it still doesn’t seem enough….perhaps i’ll reinstate The Show London and do a video diary each week on music, art, fashion and stuff….perhaps….sleep is for the week right?

Anyway, i’m loving this whole radio jockeying thing. A real opportunity to share the underground sounds i’m feeling whilst laughing at the world, you lot and myself.

I have two shows a week now (Global1FM & Shoreditch Radio) and the live broadcasts are getting a lot of interest. Basically i’m broadcasting my live DJ sets at parties, bars and clubs with the audience invited to get on the mic and shout out their friends. The documentary maker who filmed me about DJing for a Channel 4 pilot liked it so much she wants to come down to the next gig….let’s see how it goes.

So which venues should I broadcast from? What should I call this new type of show? It’s sort of innovating on the originator of DJing, Jimmy….perhaps Savilling? Nahhhh!!!!

You don’t know me?  Get to know about what I want you to know about now on my website DanFormless.com