By this point in July, it almost feels stupid to talk about how hot it is. Brains are practically melted, and the heat has just become this all oppressing force, destroying day-off plans and any semblance of ambition of doing anything outside.
Anything besides lounging by the pool and drinking beer, that is. The summer pool party season kicked off a little late this year, but we can't complain, seeing as how industrious promoters could likely host a splash bash mid-October and get away with it.
DJ Raccoon, also known by the less polite sounding Mr. Coon, is set to soundtrack the festivities at SPLASH at the Lexington Hotel, spinning before and between Gospel Claws, What Laura Says, & Mondegreen. Up on the Sun caught up with the masked bandit to chat about his duo Beat Mass, playing poolside and staying away from Top 40 tracks.
Name: Jake Brennan
AK.A.: Raccoon
Regular Gigs: Raccoon is a temporary side project for me from Beat Mass. I have played the local scene for a while though with Party Foul, Sticky Fingers, Faux Show and some Night Thieves events.
Genres spun: A bit of everything, from indie, house, dub, electro, dance, hip-hop, funk, disco, underground, etc. I stray far, far away from Top 40.
Musical background: I've been playing music for 10 years now and immediately felt a connection with it when I first picked up a guitar. I've always been into production with Reason, but I feel as if I truly got into DJing and producing over the past two and a half years now.
Beat Mass was my first DJ project in Arizona with my partner in crime Mike Dwyre from Astronomica. We still work on things with Beat Mass and I assure you it will be back in full force shortly out of L.A. along with a music blog that is temporarily being worked on.
BigTitti Disco Edit by BEAT MASS
I just got back from a two month trip to Europe and I used a sampler throughout my whole adventure, which has given birth to this side project of mine. Intertwining samples from Europe with organic percussion and keys is blossoming into something fresh, and I plan on playing a few of my new originals at the party and once the project is finished I will be giving the album away for free via the Internet.
What are you listening to these days?: Star Slinger, Flying Lotus, Teebs, Animal Collective, Shabazz Palaces, Casiokids, Onetalk, Gold Panda, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Strangeloop, James Blake, Bibio, Broken Social Scene, Battles, Vetiver, Fleet Foxes, Ras G, TOKIMONSTA, Raphael Saadiq, Alf Alpha, War Paint, Mount Kimbie... I truly find myself attracted to all styles of music.
Animal Collective - My Girls (BeatMass Remix) by BEAT MASS
Do you have a special approach in mind for the pool party?: Doors are at 7 p.m., so I will be playing the first hour of the night by the pool. In between bands until 11 p.m. and then afterwards. I will be playing quite a few of my new own original tracks along with some past remixes from Beat Mass and plenty of my new favorites. I plan on bringing a bit of an experimental and weird vibe which makes playing with What Laura, Gospel Claws, and Mondegreen exactly where I wanna be this Saturday night.
