In 1996 I was a college student and DJ of underground electronic dance music based in Boston, USA. Though I had at that point achieved some success as a DJ in my short career of 2-3 years, having performed around the country for crowds of thousands, I was feeling that the meaningful experiences the rave scene had provided were coming far less frequently than they had before, and that a more superficial, less music-oriented attitude had become common place amongst promoters and patrons of those events. I yearned for an opportunity to play for crowds who appreciated the music as much as I did.

In late Fall of that year a good friend from school suggested I bring records to a house party he would be attending. I did and the other djs kindly gave me the chance to play. I remember having a great time, turned out a good set for a small but enthusiastic crowd, and afterward was introduced to a gentleman named Kevin Treanor.

Kevin said that he enjoyed the music I played and that I should come by a bar he owned called The Phoenix Landing. He told me that on Sunday nights DJs played proper dance music and I might be invited for a guest spot at the party if I played an opening audition set and the residents liked it. At that time I had been attending dance music events multiple times per week for four years and never heard of the bar or the event. I was quite curious so I thanked Mr. Treanor and told him I’d be psyched to take him up on his offer.

I believe it was late November, 1996, when I showed up for my audition at The Phoenix Landing. Several close friends came with me that night. The Phoenix is a charming pub with a nice open feel for its size. It has a long bar on the left and a bench all along the right wall which wraps around a large booth at the back. Carpeted wooden panels have been built to span the benches in this booth, forming a small stage. Throughout the bar are tables and chairs where lunch and dinner is served; these are cleared out by 10pm, turning the bar into a music venue.

I played a set of house music I felt would be appropriate to get a party started and by the end of my set around 11pm a decent crowd had gathered and folks were grooving. I turned the decks over to the resident DJs, Peter Bailey and Foxy John, and stuck around to check out the scene. What I witnessed inspired me in a way I hadn’t been in some time. It was exactly what I had been looking for.

Sunday Service, as it was called, was an epic party every week flying under the radar of the Boston rave/club underground establishment. It was a completely different crowd made up of mostly Irish nationals, older on average than the American club/rave crowd, and these folks knew how to party like it seemed no one did anymore at the parties I was going to. These were experienced house music fans, having come up in the golden era of the late 80′s and early 90′s at legendary European venues such as Sir Henry’s in Cork (a club Laurent Garnier has cited as his favorite place to play in the world). They packed The Phoenix on Sundays and danced on the benches, on the tables, and even on the bar, punching in the air and grinning from ear to ear. They cheered and screamed for every good track; every good mix. The vibe was electric. I felt like Indiana Jones discovering the Ark of the Covenant.

Peter and John invited me back to play their party during peak hour several times that winter. Those nights were mad, raucous, and ecstatic. It seemed like the crowd could eat up as much as I could dish out and feed it back tenfold. It was a joyous release to share my passion with such an enthusiastic and welcoming audience.

Several months after I first auditioned, Kevin Treanor asked me if I’d like to do a weekly party of my own at The Phoenix Landing and offered me my pick of a weeknight. At that time there was a popular party at a big nightclub on Thursdays so I chose Wednesdays. My close friend and music partner, Chuck Caseroc, was living and rocking dancefloors in Denver then and I called to invite him to share the residency with me if he could move back to Boston. He agreed and Wednesdays @ The Phoenix Landing opened on March 7th, 1997.

What transpired over the next seven and a half years is a topic for another post. Suffice to say the experience was a defining chapter in my life I hope to never forget, and I will be forever grateful to the owners, management, staff, and patrons of The Phoenix Landing for welcoming me into their family and for the support I was given to share the music I love.

The Phoenix Landing has now been the hub of underground electronic dance music in Boston for 15 years. Every year the venue has organized a dance party on a cruise ship in the harbor with music provided by current resident DJs. For the 15th Anniversary, five past residents were brought together for a very special edition of the event: Peter Bailey and Foxy John from Sunday Service, Caseroc, myself, and Randy Deshais. I’ve been looking forward to this event for months.

Adriene and I had a soul-crushing, 15-hour journey from San Francisco overnight; finally arriving in Boston around two hours before the ship was set to sail. Many times we thought there was no chance we would make it and even if we did I was nervous I would be too exhausted to enjoy it, much less turn out a good set. But we finally made it, and with time to spare for dinner. It was raining but the boat was still on schedule to leave and with food in my belly my spirits were lifted.

Things could not have turned out better. The event was completely sold out. The weather cleared and we watched the sunset over the city. Later we saw fireworks from the shoreline in every direction. The breeze was warm. The sound system was kicking. People came out of the woodwork I hadn’t seen since the Sunday Service days. So many old friends and friendly faces. All DJs played brilliantly and the flow of the music through the night was perfect; a graceful arc from grooving to ecstatic and back to grooving.

Trainspotter tidbit: In his closing set Randy Deshais rocked the now classic DJ Gregory remix of Cheek’s “Venus”. It so happens I played this track in my audition at The Phoenix Landing in 1996. It also appears on my 1996 demo mix Shannon Shalako – The Freaks Come Out At Night. Love that track.

Below you’ll find links for streaming, download, and a tracklist for my set from the night.

Updated 7/30/2011: I’ve also added Youtube videos taken by Mike Wilkins and Deepstate as well as a gallery of photos taken by Evan Smith and others.

Shalako – Live in Boston 2011

I have also posted the continuous recording of the boat party in its entirety, including sets from Peter Bailey, Chuck Caseroc, myself, and Randy Deshais.

Tracklist

	Artist	Title	Label
00:00	Lovebirds	Want You In My Soul	Winding Road
06:11	Burnski	Sometimes Takes Longer	Dessous Recordings
11:29	Humate	Love Stimulation (Vincenzo Remix)	Grand Casino Recordings
15:33	Mr. Statik	Ganymedes	Bpitch Control
20:34	Royal Sapien	Do It Now (Opencloud's I Don't Know Mix)	Proton Music
27:17	Steven Peters	Acid Sunset	Wolfskuil Records
32:11	Joris Voorn	Blank	Green
37:14	Blade	Talkin' About The Power (Super Diva Dub)	Amoco
42:16	Kevin Knapp	Like This (Audiojack Remix)	Leftroom Limited

Gallery

On the day the weather couldn’t have been better but toward show time the sky looked like rain. A good crowd showed up regardless and I was really happy to see so many old friends (wish we all could have hung out more!). Toward the middle of the evening it started to sprinkle and I thought we were done for. How awesome that the sound crew just threw garbage bags over the speakers and we kept on rocking. The crowd didn’t think much and shortly after we were all rewarded when the clouds broke, the rain stopped, and a marvelous sunset lit up the walls of the mansion in a warm golden glow.

I only have the last thirty minutes of the party as the application I was using stopped recording not long after the beginning of the party and I didn’t notice until the end. Since then I’ve figured out a more reliable method and am looking forward to recording sets with the laptop with more ease.

Many thanks to my dear old friends Chuck and Sonny Kim, who both played impeccably (I was humbled) and to whom I’m grateful for the opportunity. Shouts out to the rest of my peoples: Mike, Eliza, Rena, Addy, Benny, Redboy, Elissa, Keith, Brant, and Sean! So awesome you could make it.

This gig was the debut of my latest turntable-less mobile setup: Macbook Pro running Traktor 2, a single Denon DN-SC2000 USB controller for control of two decks, a Native Instruments Audio 2 interface, and whatever external mixer is provided.

Enjoy!

Shannon Shalako – Live in NYC 2011

Tracklist

	Artist	Title	Label
00:00	Mic Newman	The Fidelity	Freerange Records
03:50	Ruca & Jonski	Groove One Another	New Breed
07:55	Rhythm & Sound	Free For All (Soundstream Remix)	Burial Mix
12:47	Sacha	I Can't Pretend (Joe Dipadova & Shea Marshall Remix)	Shines Records
17:54	Relation	Your Tiny Mind (Lifelike Remix)	Urban Torque
24:17	Statedlife	Sunset Dayz (Other Side of the Beach Mix)	Selekta Recordings
27:30	Eurythmics	Love is a Stranger (Coldcut)	BMG
33:24	Underworld	M.E.	Junior Boy's Own

After a couple of uptempo mixes at the beginning of the year I wanted to make a slower, sultry workout. It’s dark and melodic, atmospheric and thumping; late night material built around some of my favorite tracks of late-2008 / early-2009, namely Carl Craig’s masterful remix of Martin Buttrich’s “Stoned Autopilot,” a record which perfectly embodies the vibe I’ve most enjoyed playing over 15 years of djing. The overall envelope of intensity for the mix is smooth, restrained, building subtly from deep to pumping and then coming down easy to a groovy landing. I’m proud of the result; I hope you enjoy it.

Dedicated to Addy, for whom I’m grateful and whose support and encouragement is in part responsible for this mix coming to fruition.

Mixed on two Technics 1200 MKII using Serato Scratch Live running on a Powerbook G4 and recorded through a Rane MP/XP 2016 into Peak Pro 5 running on a Mac Pro.

Shannon Shalako – Back To Work

Tracklist

	Artist	Title	Label
00:00	Shed	ITHAW	Ostgut Tontrager
06:08	Ben Klock	OK	Ostgut Tontrager
09:37	Pascal FEOS	Like It Hot	Level Non Zero Recordings
13:37	Sam Ball	Grey Matter (Paul Woolford Remix)	Forensic Records
21:03	Shin	Folger (Robert Babicz Feeling Good Remix)	Yellow Tail
24:35	Echonomist	Hidden Treasure	Time Has Changed Records
29:20	Paul Mac	Need You (Jonny Whites Relaxed Remix)	Restructured Recordings
34:27	Martin Buttrich	Stoned Autopilot (C2 Version)	Planet E Communications
41:08	Tokyo Black Star	Game Over (Loco Dice 5am At The Tsukiji Market Rmx)	Innervisions
44:52	Pablo Bolivar	Chiyoda Line	Justified Cause Recordings
49:08	Minilogue, Decoy, IMPS	Almost Live But Definitely Plugged	mule electronic
53:23	Cosmic Rocker	Glocen	Black Bridge
56:51	Linkwood	RIP	Prime Numbers

This mix begins with a lovely deep hypnotic tune by Pezzner then quickly builds through a couple of big tribal tracks into some pumping tech house. After reaching a peak it drops down through a few retro-sounding deep techno tracks that remind me of the early 90′s (the pads in “Tuesday Paranoia” and “Rond” are gorgeous) and eases into a landing with a couple of funky house jams; closing with a really sweet MyMy remix that sounds like a deeper version of “Knights of the Jaguar.”

Here’s wishing you all a fist pumping, booty swinging Valen-slime’s day. Lots of love to my lady Addy.

Shannon Shalako – El Tintero 003

Tracklist

	Artist	Title	Label
00:00	Pezzner	Almost Here (Part 3)	Freerange Records
06:14	Matthias Meyer & Patiac	Skipper	Liebe Detail Spezial
13:02	UES	Muendeke	Resopal Schallware
17:27	Andomat 3000	BND2	Four:Twenty Recordings
22:23	Outmode	Funky Music (Buick Project Remix)	Rebirth
27:35	Gorge	Kassiande (Marc Romboy Remix)	Freerange Records
32:31	Kerri Chandler	Pong (Ben Klock’s Bones & Strings Rework)	Deeply Rooted House
37:40	D. Diggler	Negotiator	Liga Elektronika
41:01	Matt Nordstrom	Lucky Drawls (Mark Brooms No Rave Stab Remix)	Saved Records
43:59	Guy Gerber	Timing	Cocoon Recordings
51:09	Shonky & Jennifer Cardini	Tuesday Paranoia (Dub Mix)	Crosstown Rebels
55:21	Steve Rachmad	Rond	Delsin
59:32	Class 71	Alba Adriatica (Move D Vox Remix)	Four:Twenty Recordings
1:03:29	Nick Curly	White	Amused Records
1:07:26	Trus’Me	Shakea Body	Fat City Records
1:10:23	Freedarich & Stiggsen	Redlights (MyMy Remix)	Buena Onda Records

You can expect a new mix roughly every other week. Strictly underground, deep electronic dance music; house, tech-house, techno, minimal, and more.

Shannon Shalako – El Tintero 001

Tracklist

	Artist	Title	Label
00:00	Dubshape	Project No. 5	8Bit
5:09	Justus Kohncke	Yacht (Robert Babicz Mix)	Kompakt
10:03	Loco Dice	How Do I Know?	Desolat
14:13	Peace Division	BU4T (Jamie Jones East River Mix)	Tsuba
19:37	Stimming & H.O.S.H.	Radar	Diynamic
23:32	Silky Sunday	Friend (Ripperton & Alex Attias Instrumental Mix)	Rebirth
27:07	Reclick & Nick Curly	If U Like	Murmur
30:26	Johnny D	If You Read My Mind	Deep Vibes
35:34	Pezzner	Other Lover	Freerange
38:31	Einzelkind & Meat	Balea	Get Physical
42:25	Solomun & Stimming	Eiszauber (Motorcitysoul Remix)	Diynamic
48:38	Polder	Topdrop	100% Pure
51:05	Laid feat. Kev La	Mercy (Shur I Kan Dub)	Physical Graffitti