Gigs and Mixes, 2024

Dec 13, 2024 — LoveBite 5 — Club and Techno

A closing set to close out the year, I brought things back to more familiar club and techno beats to finish out the night. A few early bobbles make this set one not worthy of posting, but nobody on the dance floor seemed to notice.

Nov 3, 2024 — Furpocalypse — Hyperpop Dead Dog Set

My best set of 2024 almost didn’t happen.

A “Dead Dog Party” is traditionally an unofficial and sometimes unsanctioned DJ party that takes place after the con has officially closed and the main stage has been taken down. Some cons, like ANE and Furpoc, create space for an official Dead Dog, usually in a secondary room, often with minimal gear. I caught the dead dog at ANE this year and it was a wild, explosive set of experimental weirdness that was the most electric set I saw at the entire con. The energy of the music was amplified by the smaller space and enthusiasm of the crowd, and that is the energy I wanted to capture in my own set at Furpocalypse.

This is another example of a set in a genre I don’t usually play – hyperpop. The BPMs are fast, the transitions are difficult, and the whole thing is in danger of falling apart at any minute. As a result this set is more curated than most I play, with a lot of specific pairings of tracks worked out in advance. It’s still well short of executing a playlist and I don’t think it feels overly programmed.

The week leading up to my Furpoc set I was battling some extremely unpleasant intestinal distress. Abdominal pain kept me in my room for a good half of the convention, and while I was feeling better by Sunday I made a very conscious effort to manage my activity that evening so I’d be ready to perform. I distinctly remember carrying my gear downstairs to the venue and thinking, “why do I put myself through this?” and even entertained the thought of taking a break from DJing.

It only took about five minutes of playing and watching the crowd get into the music to wipe away any such doubts.

Aug 31, 2024 — LoveBite 3

LoveBite is one of the new furry club nights on the block. It’s become a running joke now that any furry-related word is a club night somewhere – Prowl, Bark, Nuzzle, etc. If you had told me 5 years ago we’d be drowning in excellent furry dj nights I wouldn’t have believed it, but here we are! This night takes place at the venerable Union Tavern, fka PA’s Lounge. It’s a classic dive bar with one room for drinks and one room for dancing. As is tradition, the sound system is not exactly Berlin-quality but at least they employ a sound tech to get it sounding as good as possible. It’s hot, sweaty, and sexy, with VHS-corrupted gay furry porn loops projected on the wall. It’s a blast to play.

Jul 4, 2024 — “Reptile House” @ Howl, Firefly — Amapiano Set

This was my third year doing a slow-and-sexy set for Howl Camp at Firefly. This year I kept it solidly locked at 113bpm and played an hour of Amapiano, the genre out of South Africa that exploded in the US consciousness two years ago. With the proliferation of amapiano-style tracks made by white producers, I made an extra effort to seek out South African creators and highlight the music they invented. I did include just a few silly pop remixes to keep the crowd engaged, though I’m not sure they noticed the Kendrick remix ☺.

Jul 3, 2024 — Diode, Firefly

Firefly is my annual opportunity to fursuit for people who do not really see furries otherwise. Diode is the biggest stage at Firefly and I love to bring the more techno side of my sound to that great soundsystem.

Jun 8, 2024 — Carnal Fibers

Carnal Fibers was my second bar gig, this time at the venerable Breezeway (also in Manch-Vegas). This was a long gig with a tiny DJ booth, so I chose not to perform in suit – a rarity these days. Over 2+ hours I tried to build the little dance floor gradually while my friend Word, who had carpooled with me, agreed on a whim to run the lights.

Jun 1, 2024 — Open Ground Memorial Tribute

Open Ground Memorial Tribute

Melodic Techno

In 2023, my good friend Dennis passed away. One of his many, many projects was a techno alias called Open Ground, which was a hybrid VJ/DJ project featuring minimal, late-night melodic techno. His friends had a Memorial around the beginning of June and put out a call for other DJs to play sets in his honor. I put together a Tribute mix to Dennis, featuring the kind of techno he liked. I am not a VJ so this was only half a proper set, really, but it felt good to channel his energy in this small way.

May 4, 2024 — Prowl 13

In most years I’d have a long gap between Furcationland and Firefly, but 2024 is the year Huxley(fur) started to appear in the real world. Building on my Fascination appearance, I’ve started performing at the local New England furry nights. First up was Prowl, the long-running night in Manchester, NH (“Manch-Vegas!”). The production value at Prowl is top-notch, with a huge venue and gigantic sound system in The Jewel, a green room, tons of space, huge bar, and plenty of seating too! I had not made it to Prowl as an attendee before and I quickly learned what I’d been missing.

Apr 12, 2024 — Furcationland

I have already said everything I can say about Furcationland, but being given the Friday night 11pm slot is probably the highest compliment they could pay me in return. You can’t ask for more than the peak-time crowd, and I tried to respond in kind. I occasionally get the feedback that my sets aren’t quite hard enough for the biggest nights, and I get that. If I’m going to play big I need to do it my way, without falling back on tired dubstep wubs or hardstyle, genres I just don’t vibe with. I pulled the hard stuff from my Fascination crate and mixed in some new extras. This was my first gig to include a track from the incredible CloudCore label/ARG, a sound I have been really digging this year.

Apr 11, 2024 — Furcationland Arcadia Pre-con Party

How do you get more furries to show up on the first night of a con? Throw a party in a barcade! Furcationland set up shop in Arcadia in Portland and invited Lykos and I to spend background music for the gamers. I had a great time, though it was difficult to tear myself away from the pinball machines.

Jan 18, 2024 — Anthro New England

Given my headlining set at Fascination, I chose not to submit a mix for Anthro New England this year. It didn’t seem fair to take up yet another slot at a con I’ve played at plenty of times now.

But then, at around 3pm on the first night of the con, I get a text from Hawk, the head of Programming: “hey……” Turns out a DJ’s flight was delayed and the con needed a last-minute fill-in for the 9pm con opening slot. I looked at my unpacked suitcase, heavy evening traffic, and a totally unprepared DJ crate, and said I’d take the gig.

I was able to reuse most of my Fascination crate, leaning on the lower-energy tracks I had not needed on Monday. I’m so greatful for the opportunity to ride to the rescue and help smooth out some of the wrinkles.

Jan 15, 2024 — ANE × Fascination

I’ve been going to the Fascination parties for a little over a year, and they have become a center of my queer community’s social calendar. Red lights, loud beats, strong drinks, and an ever-increasing wide spectrum of queerness and gender expression. I know the resident DJ Colby Drasher from earlier Cambridge clubbing days, and one night we chatted between his sets about the need to build strong local community from the ground up. I pitched him on my DJing Fascination and maybe doing some sort of Furry takeover event in the vein of their Pup and Rope takeover events. The Fascination crew came back to me and said, well Anthro New England is the same week as our January party, why don’t we do a collaboration between Fascination and Anthro New England?

Thus was kickstarted a very busy several weeks of coordination and planning, spearheaded by ANE Charity lead and dear friend Floebean. He took my vague dreams (“ears for sale! demos! a cooling-off area!”) and turned them into a fully-produced party with vendors, fursuit gogo dancers, live rope tie-ups, and an incredibly warm and loving atmosphere. I just had to show up and play music.

I played two blocks, 10-11 and 12-1, switching off with Colby. I kept the first block a little slower and smoother, saving the harder/faster stuff for the 12am block. There’s not much to add except that it was the gig of a lifetime. For me it was a bit of a blur – it’s hard to be at the party when you’re playing the party! Everything went off without a hitch and I have heard more than once that it was the best Fascination party ever. There’s already a lot of buzzing that we want to do something like this again, and soon. I can’t wait!