First, let me start my saying that the Arizona Republic did an overall excellent job with its list of "The Valley's 25 Most Intriguing People." I was especially impressed with the inclusion of Joe Johnston, a Gilbert restaurateur who's always working on something awesome, and Dear and the Headlights, which I named the "most important band in Arizona" some months ago.
It's also nice to see the Rep make an effort to reach out with the inclusion of Z-Trip, one of the country's best DJs.
One problem: Z-Trip doesn't live here anymore. At all. The DJ who won an "America's Best DJ" contest back in August moved from the Valley in 2002.
Yeah, that was like eight years ago. Is this Amateur Hour or what?
I'm not sure if the Republic's offices have access to the interwebs, but if they do, perhaps the editors should take a gander at Z-Trip's web site, where his mailing address is given as Glendale.
Glendale, California. Totally different state.
Perhaps I'm the idiot here, however, since Glendale, California is in the San Fernando Valley. True, the Republic did not specify which Valley "The Valley's 25 Most Intriguing People" were culled from. Maybe Sheriff Joe, who is also on the list, has another place out in Suburban LA? Who knows. Maybe "any" Valley counts? Again, who knows. One thing's for sure, though, Z-Trip has not lived in this particular Valley since his big break at Coachella 2002.
I mean, what level of incompetence is at work here? The Republic could have pulled up Z's Facebook page or his Twitter profile, which list his "Hometown" and "Location" as Los Angeles.
If they really, really wanted to be proactive, someone at the Republic could do what I did, which is e-mail Z's excellent publicist, who returned my e-mail within 15 minutes (at midnight on a Thursday evening, if you can believe it). They could have saved themselves a lot of embarrassment by typing about 25 words.
Hey Tim,
Quick question: Does Z-Trip currently reside in Arizona? I was under the impression he was based out of LA now.
Hey Martin,
Z currently lives in LA. Why do you ask? Writing about him? Let me know if you need anything else.
So, there you have it. The Republic is ridiculously out of touch with anything and everything related to local music, which has happened in at least the last eight years. To me, this is more sad than funny or validating. Bag on me about my anti-house show thing if you want, or print up some "Downtown is Ovah" shirts to criticize my column, but at least I know who lives here.
I mean, seriously, what the hell?
