[The Audiofiles] Required Listening for HARD Summer, Day 1

July 29, 2013September 26, 2013Leave a comment

This morning I woke up, looked at my calendar and almost freaked out because this is the last week of July; I’m sure I’ve said this a few times already this year but where the hell has the time gone?! Granted, I’m far busier than I’ve ever been: last November I started volunteering at an organization called the Kitty Bungalow: Charm School for Wayward Cats and was quickly named the Board Liaison for the organization. During my time there, I lost track of a few very important mantras – like love yourself first, be cognizant of the way people treat those who are inconsequential to their lives and that with great power comes great responsibility. Thank goodness I have an amazing boyfriend, support system and family to keep me in check – I was losing perspective, soul and my positive perspective; there was something sucking at my soul and I needed to breathe and figure out why. Ultimately, I realized what was going on in that pretty little mind of mine – I was placing my dreams on the back-burner so I could go and chase someone else’s, and it was causing me the most strange kind of anxiety: that my dreams weren’t _____ enough to chase. And just fill in the blank with whatever you will: good, valid, amazing, wonderful, solid, proactive, achievable, doable. After a few weeks of minor anxiety attacks and frustrations, I realized that what I was forgetting/neglecting/ignoring was the most important part about these dreams: they’re mine.

I took a deep breath to re-evaluate my life’s trajectory and then I made a move: I left the organization. I love cats, I love people and I love making lives better – but it’s difficult to remain affable and altruistic when at the end of the day I’m unable to help myself. Beyond my dreams being deferred, the kicker was that owner of this amazing foundation built on the idea of saving feral cats couldn’t figure out how to treat people. I took a moment and mediated on an adage from an old friend – you can’t win’em all, but you can surely throw the game; so, after toying around with e-mail drafts for two weeks I finally took the plunge and sent in my resignation letter.

It hasn’t even been a month since I’ve sent it – twenty days to be exact – but in my adult life, I can tell you one thing for sure: my soul feels free again. I’ve had the chance to experience, embrace and cultivate so many new and exciting feelings within my heart, soul and head. Each day, I fall more in love with my soulmate – the term ‘boyfriend’ doesn’t do it justice and the English language lacks the capabilities to aptly describe the way I feel inside. He’s my biggest cheerleader, a shoulder to cry on and the best support system – and friend – a girl could ask for. We’ve been able to spend more time together – and productive time at that: laying down the groundwork of our goals and converting them into possible realities. He makes me believe – not just in myself, but in my dreams and the time I’ve invested into them; it’s surreal and I can only hope everyone finds this type of counterpart in their life.

What’s even better is that my dad came into town this weekend and I got to introduce my favorite men to each other – it was so much fun! We ate – oh, we ate – well, had wonderful conversation and I even got to introduce my father to Danny’s mom – best relaxing weekend I’ve had in a while! On Friday we headed over to the Farmer’s Market at the Grove to have some Brazilian BBQ and Pinkberry; on Saturday we got our Eggs Benedict on at an amazing place called Tres at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. They had feta foam on top of the eggs; just process that for a second and try not to drool on your keyboard. During the day, we had an adventure to Universal Citywalk to catch Despicable Me 2 in 3D – if you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out. One of the cutest movies I’ve seen in a long time and probably the best sequel ever. Finally, we ended the day with some stellar Sushi and conversation. Sunday morning was for the parents meeting – and that went phenomenally. We all took a walk down to the Farmer’s Market and got some crepes – both sweet and savory – and the Waffles Versaille. I was tres full! Last but not lease we rounded out the weekend with some Abbey Road on vinyl – because why not!

Speaking of being a perpetual five year old trapped in the body of a 28 year old, there are certain things that will simply put never ever lose their meaning to me. There are little bits and pieces of my reality that I covet and keep close to my soul; n no particular order: bubbles, cotton candy, sprinklers that create rainbows, tanlines, live music, miniature bottles of liquor, costumes and fabulous people. There’s something uniquely special about each one of them to me, but if you throw them all together and put a little magic in it – you essentially get a music festival. And speaking of, we’re currently gearing up for one in LA right now! HARD Fest is proud to present HARD Summer – coming up at LA’s State Historic Park. Last year’s event was absolutely ridiculous and this year’s shouldn’t be any different! I’ve compiled a playlist of the Day 1 artists to get down to and I’ll hit y’all with a Day 2 playlist later this week =) enjoy!

Knife Party – Internet Friends
Duck Sauce – Barbra Streisand
Dog Blood – Next Order
DJ Fresh – Gold Dust (Flux Pavilion Remix)
Flying Lotus – Until the Quiet Comes
Major Lazer – Bubble Butt f. 2 Chainz
SBTRKT – Wildfire
Disclosure ft AlunaGeorge – White Noise
TNGHT – Acrylics
Tommy Trash – Monkey In Love
Kill the Noise – My World
RL Grime – Pockets
Alvin Risk – SKYCLAD
Destructo – Higher
Oliver – Night is On My Mind
Duke Dumont – The Giver
Will Sparks – Ah Yeah (TJR Edit)
Alex Metric ft Oliver – Motion Study
Keys n Krates – Dreamyness

Doing It Right: HARD Presents – Day of the Dead

November 8, 2012August 14, 2013Leave a comment

I think I’m finally on the verge of recovery from last weekend’s shenanigans – in typical Bouncy Kitty fashion, I more than enjoyed myself at the Music Festival last Saturday. Sure, there were lines and there was pushing, it took forever to get in and then there were a clusterfuck of people – but that all comes with the territory of festival dwelling and was more or less expected. Between the chaos and the camaraderie, I had such an amazing night with some of my closest friends – here are some of the highlights:

First of all, not to toot our costume horn but beepm’f’in’beep, my friends! The other weekend a zany, but plausible idea popped into my head in the middle of a brainstorming sesh: My friends and I were discussing our habitual Halloween “fall back” costumes, and a few of us admitted it was actually our “Plan A” every year and mine just happens to be a kitty cat (shocker…). Well, because we were going to ‘Day of the Dead‘ I thought it’d be fun to incorporate some morbidity into our costumes – so, obviously, I opted for “Dead Cat”…which turned into “Dead Animals”…which somehow turned into “Hey, guys! Let’s be ROADKILL!” I knew I loved my friends before, but I adore them 150% more because they went along with my ridiculously awesome idea.

Sexy Pieces of Dead Ass

The next highlight of the evening was getting a chance to finally see Miss Maya Jane Coles in action – as much as this was a personal highlight, it doesn’t begin to tell you how effing excited all my friends were. She was the sole reason they bought their tickets and fended off the damn bike fences – hands down, one of the best deep house sets I’ve heard all year and according to my friends it was 110% completely worth it.

One thing I love about using LA State Historic Park as a venue is the ample stage space for ostentatious set-ups. The Earstorm Stage where Knife Party ripped the festival a new one was no exception – it was huge, fabulous and stocked to the brim with more lights and lasers than I could count.

EARStorm Stage: Knife Party, Kill the Noise, Tommy Trash, Zane Lowe….

Last – but certainly far from least – I FINALLY SAW KNIFE PARTY! When Knife Party came into the scene last year I didn’t know how to feel or what to expect from their evolution as a group – but the more I listen to them, the more enthralled I am by what they produce: this melodic dissonance that I simply can’t get enough of.

Knife Party – Save the World

Knife Party – Internet Friends

The Audiofiles: Required Listening for HARD’s Day of the Dead

October 29, 2012August 14, 2013Leave a comment

Halloween is a magical time of year for most people but once you’ve been to Santa Barbara to celebrate the holiday Gaucho style, there’s really no turning back. Instead of just one day of tricks, treats and costumes you can spend the better half of the month in costume. Now that I’m a little older and a tad more mature, I don’t feel the need to party the way I did for it in college. I still have a hard time saying no to fun, but I’d like to think that I pick and choose my battles a little more wisely at this point.

Like I always rave about LA, there are so many – almost too many options when it comes to getting down with your bad self. I tend to be swayed by the social factors – like which of my friends will be there and who would be down for group costumes; but it also comes down to taste in music, how far you’re willing to travel and preferred venue – house party, festival or club. And since I’ve moved to LA, I’ve basically covered all of the bases. My first year, I went to Monster Massive, Hard Haunted and spent the week in Santa Barbara; in 2009, I stayed in to study for the GRE and hang out with my kitties; in 2010 I went to Avalon for Dirty South and last year it was a combination of a great house party in Newport thrown by close friends and seeing Nero slay it at the Music Box. And finally this year I’m going back to my festival roots and hitting up HARD Presents Day of the Dead.

I have somewhat of a lovehate relationship with festivals – they’re crowded, the lines are terrible, lots of pushing and sound systems failing, the beer cups are small, the drinking area is in an undesirable location and lets not even get started on the bathroom situation. But then, there’s this glorious flip side: magical experiences with new friends and old, ridiculous people watching, amazing costumes, incredible performances, surprise guests and celebrity sightings. Over the past few years I’ve been known to say the phrase “Never, ever again…” while leaving but I just keep coming back for more. I went to HARD summer and had a fabulous time so I figured why not give it another whirl – the Metro is free to ride and runs until 3am, perfect for us nocturnal kittens who thrive on the freaks coming out at night.

To better prepare myself for next Saturday’s mayhem, I’ve made a little playlist of the artists I want to see next weekend. Let the countdown to Day of the Dead begin!