Chris Gray Mechanics of Me
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chris gray mechanics of me a mind massage book published by chris gray/mind massage [email protected] chrisgraydeep.com chicago il, usa first printing, january 2006 second edition, june 2008 third edition, september 2008 copyright © chris gray 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 printed in the united states of america design - chris gray technical advisor - don harder, jr. photography credits: robert barrett, scott braithwaite, chris gray, demetrius gray, don harder, jr., paul mac, malcolm moore, essex reed, josh taaffe, michael urban while not limiting the rights under copyright reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, by any means (electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner/publisher of this book. table of contents it’s all downhill once you start 8 and the keeper is jack 11 tracy’s mixtapes 15 blueprint of an emerging studio musician 20 a visitor’s gift 26 overcoming racism in the name of house 29 i was there to learn, but house stole my heart! 31 we hunted for that jazzy, east coast house 42 taking time for the little people 46 small town’s david, major record label’s goliath 48 a greyhound bus, $20, used military bag 52 deep south + south side + west loop=mixes! 58 the disjointed nations of chicago 65 summer of ‘93 and b96 amnesia 69 a nu era of chicago house takes form 73 the importance of lil john coleman… 76 hector lopez, mummy bar and liberation 84 sangki yuh: freetown, subwoofer records… 88 billboard dance music summit ‘96 93 winter music conference ‘97 101 dr. heard, ron trent’s pharmacy… 114 fish and luvconfushun 117 billboard phase 2… 119 my first trip to generator felt like… 124 who needs the yellow brick road? 126 top or bottom, you’re a record label whore! 134 deep4life is my dna 144 the importance of oscar mcmillan 154 with the boys in the band… 160 i danced under the stars! 162 comfort food affection 166 more than one way to skin a cat, feel a good beat 177 these are my children (discography) 181 home sweet home, house sweet jack 191 from the heart THANK YOU NOTES have been removed from my music projects because I don’t want to forget anyone . However, I’d like to make a special exception here in mechanics of me. Please accept a very warm thanks to all of the inspiring individuals in my life. And because of my imperfections, forgive me if your name does not appear below. Dedication of this effort is due to God for putting up with all of our shortcomings. And despite them, I was blessed with a loving and understanding mother (R.I.P.) who is beyond praise, my father (R.I.P.) of whom I’m the spitting image, my big sister Linda and brothers Jeffery and Anthony for taking care of me; the Gray and Henry families; Tracy White for sharing house music and Aunt Emma Jean and her brother Hank (R.I.P.) for helping me move to Chicago. This is also devoted to Antwan J. Henry for taking me under his wing once I made the Windy City home and to Shante Bullock for being a comforter in some of my greatest moments of need. Thanks. I appreciate Larry Heard for having God’s strong presence in his music, Marshall Jefferson for day- dreaming in his songs with big sexy bass lines and dreamy pads, Wayne Gardiner for carrying the torch and showing the way, Ron Trent for his obvious love of our culture and people; my friends George White, Jr. for giving undoubted luv when we were still new on this earth, James Terryl Thomas and James Bailey for embarking upon on missions of the mind and heart during elementary school. Nikita Keys Quarles and Gloria Jordan-Garrett are gems for understanding the importance of a good laugh during painful times, Janetta Goodwin for thinking too highly of me and James Trammell for sharing knowledge and putting me back on the Apple/Mac track. Darand Land’s compassion for the spirituality of life through music is touching; my little brothers Malcolm Moore for being just as mentally ill and making it so hilari- ous, and Don Harder, Jr. for the expeditions and allowing me to watch him blossom. Andrew Wong for showing me that pleasant excep- tions to the rule really exist; my former teachers—Mr. Russell Baxter, Mrs. Deloise Swims (R.I.P.) and Mrs. Inez Raines, all of Amanda Elzy High School—who have ventured beyond the curriculum and understand the im- portance of shaping great human beings; James Johnson (R.I.P.), Carl Lewis (R.I.P.), O’Dell Simmons and Peggy Otis for embracing joy and being there for me as teens. Herman Anderson, Rhea Edwards and the WSWG, WKXG, WYMX gang for giving a new jack like me a chance to act out his issues through radio; Ruther Ray Johnson for saying yes (then following through), Phillip Trotter for sharing his love of great music, Andre Smith for putting up with my insecurities as a roommate and giving me rides in his car, Allen Kennedy for leading by example, Billy Jack Williams for sharing and treating everyone with respect and Kevin Elliott for helping in his best way. Lil John Coleman is a shepherd; Oscar McMillan for being the classy voice of reason with a wicked sense of humor and taste in music; Angel for exposing me to the music of Wamdue; Walter Chiu for his sense of humor and love of deephouse, Hau Tran for the love, LW3 for indulg- ing sometimes, Sangki Yuh (R.I.P.) for his passion, being picky and taking chances, Sarah HB for enduring and nav- igating the madness, Robert Barrett for being a gent who constantly strives to do the right thing, Scott Braithwaite for patience, comradeship and faith, Brett Dancer for being the warrior and a big thanks to Gladys Pizarro for all the love in mothering us and this music. Jon Ciafone and Lem Springsteen’s sparkling efforts raised the bar, Kerri Chandler’s passion and endurance, Pal Joey’s expanded horizons, Todd Terry, Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzales are masters, Aaron Smith pours his heart when it likely seemed no one was listening, Jeff Peacock for our sessions on making sense of it all, Dave May for smiling when it’s easier to scowl, Adam Doi for sharing and interest, Chuck Lauer and Fawn Lopez. Mike Urban, Roberto Leung, Gio Del Rivero, Sidney Koh, Chris Romer and Craig Steadman for drunken laugh- ter, Mark “Sire” Neilsen for helping with deep4life’s look, Ben Stinga for defending passionate, beautiful music, Kelli Brown for the laughs during luv purgatory, Gary Filzen, Eric Dillworth, Carlos “Dragon Slayer” Butler, Christo- pher Wilson, Christopher Howard, Kim Ward and Duane Kellogg for also helping me land in Chicago right side up. Michael Marsh is a gentleman and expert with the plume, Marcelle Hon for feeling the journey and Francis Abac for patience, appreciation, sense of humor and comfort. Mechanics of Me 9 ◊ It’s all downhill once you start TIME IS PRECIOUS, so thank you for taking some of yours to read my story. This project started as humbly a personal effort to cap- ture the crispness of select events before fading from my memory. But after jotting a few random notes, I decided to better organize, then share the experiences as my first book. And instead of boring you to death by droning on about each hour of the day, I’ve decided to keep it short by concentrating on the powerful impact that house music has had on my life. Judging from history, an author or screenwriter who’s capable of telling a good story usually receives accolades. And while the primary motive here isn’t to receive literary praise, my mission is to share specific segments of my life as succinctly as possible. But at the same time, I’d like to keep the overall presentation somewhat laid back and con- versational. So please try to get beyond any grammatical errors, poor sentence structure and slang to focus on the essence of the journey. 8 Mechanics of Me 9 And another thing… I’m forced to shamefully admit that I own a few good books that I’ve not finished yet. So regardless of how much or how little you choose to read here, I hope that you’ll be enriched regardless. Here’s a question. Do you think it’s possible that one’s love of music could drastically change the direction of their life? Yes is the answer in my case and it happened because of my interest in house music. And if you’re wondering what house music is and why it’s had such a dramatic effect on me, I’ll try to explain it during this book’s journey. Now my intent isn’t to explore and examine nearly three decades of house music history. But it should at least be said that it’s a wonderful evolution of dance music—more specifically, an offspring of disco and funk. It’s been said that the term “house music” was coined to describe the unique music played at Chicago’s legendary Warehouse club back in the late 1970’s. Some club-goers would say, “Hey, let’s go down to the Warehouse to hear some of that house music!” Does that make sense now? The segment of society visiting the Warehouse and similar venues was mainly Black and gay, and wasn’t al- ways welcomed by mainstream nightclubs.