Mix Series #7 - Greg Teves

When did you start DJ'ing and what inspired you to keep at it?

Well, Jason, I guess you could say I started djing about 7 years ago with Ben from the Elder Brothers? We used to live together and he got me going with the basics of mixing vinyl. I had been listening to various forms of dance music for a few years at that point, so it was cool to get a better, physical sense of how it was done. Truthfully, though, that was a super limited experience.

I really started about 2.5 or 3 years ago with Chris (aka C of C&G). We were friends and we'd been talking about doing something musical together for a few months. He wanted to start a band, but I was kind of over being in bands at that point. We went to this one house party and saw a half decent DJ and we were both like, "we should do this!" I had already thrown a whole bunch of dance parties with Ben and I missed the excitement of going to a great party and dancing and getting sweaty, so it seemed like the thing to do.

So it was really Ben and Chris that got you going?

Yeah, and now it's kind of come full circle because we all have a night together at the Enormous Room called Recreation. It's actually happening this week on the 24th. It's always the last Wednesday of the month. It's been getting a lot of momentum so far and it's been pretty great. We play really drummy house music all night long, and it's just fun to play with all those guys. I mean, we get to hang out and listen to music together. It's the kind of vibe that got me into music in the first place - just being able to get your friends together and geek out about all the cool stuff that you're listening to. And I guess that's what's kept me going with this whole thing too. I'm pretty busy so every time I DJ it's a good excuse to get together with people that I like and just take it easy. That and not being a hack. I knew I had to keep it going to the point where somebody who heard me would at least say, "yeah, that Greg kid is pretty decent." Just as long as it seems like I'm supposed to be there and I didn't just stumble in off the streets - that's all I want.

How was the mix put together?

Greg: I ran Traktor off my laptop into a midlevel Numark mixer. It's Chris' old mixer, and its probably been about a year since I last used it. It's in rough shape - It got us through our first year of playing house parties, and it's definitely worse for the wear. So much beer has been spilled on it that one of the faders is completely gone and another one is really, really finicky.

Yeah, all those Deathstar parties that me and Andy played were madness. Sweat dripping from the pipes, people bumping the table, half-empty beer cans all over the place.

Greg: Exactly. So you can hear on the mix that the volume will go up and down a little bit every now and again. I mean, so much for not being a hack, right? It was this big X-factor for the mix. Like, "how much juice with this fader actually give me when i turn it up?" Some fader problems really came at a bad time in the mix once or twice, but it's almost like you can't take the house party out of the mixer. It's just a part of it's history and it won't let go. It's really true. On top of that I was running the laptop into the mixer at a hot level to make up for it, and then when I was recording it in Garageband, it was hot there, too.The top end is really grainy and the kicks are really slappy and compressed, but it makes for a fun time. Just like the good old days when we used to make everyone deaf at the Hollywood Nights parties. 

What are some tracks or albums that you've been really into lately? Any artists or DJs to keep an eye out for (either locally or national/international)?

Greg: I've been listening to a lot of Kraftwerk recently. I really like their sounds and the sparseness. They have this less-is-more aspect that is really enveloping. The last half of Trans-Europe Express is awesome.

Yeah, I love that album.

Greg: I know, right? And then on the local level there are tons of folks to keep an eye on. There's the Elder Brothers? of course. Those dudes are top notch. Not a lot of people know about them, but they're legit. They have a lot of fun when they play and they're fun to see for that reason. And Matt will inevitably be a little rowdy for one reason or another and by the end of the night he's going wild to the tracks they play. So much fun.

James Gerard is another guy to watch out for. He's arguably the best DJ in this city, but again his rep is smaller than it should be. He plays really really soulful stuff and has old-school written all over him. Pretty much on fire from the first record to the last. I've only seen him play one or two sets that were anything less than straight-up-spectacular. Awesome all the time. Chris and I do a night with him at the Middlesex on the first Monday of every month. I'm not gonna speak for Chris, but it's basically Jim shining and me being like, "I don't own a single song that's as good as what you're playing."

One of these months I'll get to it, but I always have my Cloud City thing going on at the Savant on Mondays.

Well, you should tell Andy to drive this week. This upcoming monday we're playing with The Juan Maclean from DFA, so you should really come to that one. Plus, he owes you: he was in the San Diego sun for months, making the big bucks, and you were holding it down all by your lonesome. And commuting to Gloucester in the cold. Call in a favor.

I think I will.

And while we're on the subject, you guys have been killing too. Watch out for Deathstar.

Hahaha.

Greg: No, Totally. You guys were among the first DJs in our little universe that we could actually stomach. Another person to be on the lookout for is Damien Paul from So Dope.

Yeah, we've got a night together now at the Alchemist with Mikey Lee.

Yeah, Middleschool Dance? That's gonna be good. Anyways, me and Damien have been on the same bill about 20 times, but I never really heard him play until about 2 weeks ago. He was great. He plays this sort of big room, progressive, slightly tribal house sound that you don't really hear coming from people in the more "underground" Boston scene. It's a nice change of pace. We'll be playing with him this Friday, actually, at the Savant for our Live Forever party.

How's that going?

It's going well, but it hasn't really changed since the first one you played. We just show up and try to play music that we're feeling at that point. Not really genre specific. We used to play more pop and hip-hop and party music, but lately we've been playing more minimal techno stuff. We had Baldur join us last month and it was amazing. He is somebody to know, too, although he's obviously got a following. I gotta add one more, too.

Go for it.

Mystery Roar has really been crushing it lately, too. I've hopefully got a project in the works with their singer. It's gonna be good.

What's your favorite thing about Boston?

I hate to say it, but it's probably all the college kids. It's so hard to live in this city that nobody else has the same kind of time, energy, or money to devote to stupid or interesting, yet fun things that may or may not fall flat on their face. Parts of the city are really beautiful too, and it's all walkable. I guess, those have been perennial favorites for me.

How about your least favorite thing about Boston?

There's the basics, like the train closing early and the expense, but there's also this infuriating failure to acknowledge that Boston IS a CITY. When you hear about people in the Back Bay who are up in arms about the presence of newspaper boxes sullying their neighborhood, or the city cracking down on the number of students that can lease a house together, it's really disheartening. I'm not saying cities shouldn't be livable, but there needs to be a certain amount of friction happening. If you don't like the rough-around-the-edges-ness that comes with city life, or if you can't take noise, traffic, and everything that comes with living in a non-planned community, then you should probably just leave. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen and we get luxury condos and high-end chain stores everywhere as a result.

Well, this has been both exciting and informative.

It was my pleasure.

www.facebook.com/chrisandgregdj

www.facebook.com/petrolfullserv