D. Ramirez USA Blog // Part I // Aug 2009
D. Ramirez // Los Angeles Observatory
Earlier in the year after visiting LA (and loving it) i decided it would be really cool if me and my other half could stay here for a while and get to know the place with a view of even moving here permanently. After speaking to my DJ agent in America and mentioning this we decided to do it over the month of August which is when i stay in LA and travel around the States doing a tour using LA as my exotic base. This is the documentary of my time here -
Monday 03.08
On our way to LA there’s a problem with our seat booking on the flight which means that we end up getting an upgrade to Business Class on the top deck of the 747 – result! Kir Royale all the way baby! This also means i don’t get any of the work i had scheduled to do done.
Arrive in LA at 7 pm – absolutely beautiful weather as you’d expect and we head off over to Los Feliz where we are staying. We’re staying in Adam Freelands house for the month of August while he is away doing a tour of the UK and Europe. He has an absolutely beautiful place with three bedrooms, a studio and an amazing Japanese style zen garden with windchimes gently chiming away from a huge tree outside – beautiful (another result). He’s also left us his car to use while he’s away which I’m quite nervous about. Having never driven on the other side of the road and having only ever briefly driven an automatic understandably I’m quite scared.
Tuesday 04.08
We decide to take a walk to get a feel for the place. Being English I refuse to put on sunscreen, wanting to get as much sun as I possibly can. I underestimate how hot it is and also the walking distance between things in LA. We start to walk the sea of concrete. Walking and walking and walking until eventually we come to Hollywood Boulevard which is miles away. At that point i realise that A – I’m very sunburnt B – I didn’t notice any cabs on the streets to get us back – Dam! Eventually we get back home and at that point I’ve got a burnt on imprint of the vest i was wearing and I’m in pain.
Wednesday 05.08
D. Ramirez & Snopp Dog // Los Angeles
Today I decide im going driving! I tentatively reverse the Audi out of the tight garage onto the street. At this point I’ve gained confidence so i set off driving – on the different side of the road in an automatic! It doesn’t sound hard but my left foot keeps going for the brake as it would in a stick driven car which means we keep screeching to a halt! I then realise that to drive an automatic you need to use one foot for both the accelerator and the brake and keep the other foot out of the way – somebody could have told me. I seem to have got it, but old habits die hard and I keep wanting to turn into the lane I know – into on coming traffic.
Some strange driving rules to get used to – like you can go right even though the traffic light is on red as long as the coast is clear – hmm. LA is a really big place and I now understand the phrase “Nobody walks in LA”. The more im driving the more confidence im getting. I feel stupid cause as I have had a real phobia for years of driving on the opposite side of the road, but its actually dead easy. I take a mental note to ‘face my fears’ head on from now on. As my beautiful girlfriend always reminds me – ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’
Thursday 06.08 (Sound in Motion Minneapolis)
I’m getting ready to go to the airport for the first of my gigs this weekend. LA is eight hours behind the UK and I’m still firmly stuck in the UK time zone and keep waking up at a ridiculously early time in the morning. This morning is no different and im up at 5 am, which is not good seeing as I’ve got to be up until 5 am the next morning and I’m not likely to be able to catch any sleep for the next 3 days!
I’m off to Minneapolis for my first gig at a club called Karma run by the Sound In Motion crew. It’s my first time there and as i get on the flight I’m quite excited. The club is kind of quiet as i arrive but i find out typically everyone is outside smoking. The DJ before me is a guy called Dan who was one half of the Hamptons (until they split) who had an awesome track on Azuli earlier in the year. The place is getting a little bit busier, people are mulling around and i start to think that maybe tonight’s not going to be the best night.
I get my Serato set out and start to put it together on stage, it’s always quite tricky at this point as sometimes i can’t access the things i need but now I’m fine. I go on and as i stick on my opening acapella the place just suddenly fills up from out of nowhere! People are screaming and shouting and the atmosphere is rocking. I notice some girls down the front beckoning me with wrist bands which they proceed to cover my arms with. I’m off into the flow, rocking. All night people are smiling and dancing and generally having a proper rave – success! I play my usual mixture of groovy house into some tech house then into the bigger bits at the end and it works a treat!
My new mix of Max Linen’s ‘The Soulshaker’ takes the roof off and when i play Mark Knight and D.Ramirez vs. Underworld ‘Downpipe’ i get people running up to ask me when it’s released (only three people have it so far) At the end of my set i enjoy some well deserved drinks at the hotel with some of the crew. I get to bed at 7am and have to be up and out of the hotel at 10 am!
So night one = great success and massive hangover! Thanks to all who came along and hope to see you all again soon.
