The Sad Tale Of 80's Night

80's night was a total dud. 

The turnout was dismal despite my advertising efforts.  There were a few moments when no one was in the room except for me.  I kept thinking "People are coming, they just haven't arrived yet."  I thought that the whole night.  At one point, I put on the song "I Think We're Alone Now" and it was way too appropriate.

And here I was hoping to pay my rent off of the money from the door charge.  I ended up making enough to buy either two small lattes or an over-priced sandwich.   

On the bright side, it made me realize once again that I have some really wonderful friends.  The sort of friends that will spend three hours dancing in an empty room in order to make me feel less stupid.  Naturally, these friends were The Fonz, The Poet, and The Fallen Nun (who isn't really a nun).  The lady that lives across the hall from me came down for a bit too (wearing an elaborate Madonna costume).  I was extremely thankful for the moral support, even if I did end up yelling at The Fonz at one point because he tried to sneak into the DJ booth to get rid of the song "Square Biz" (all was well again when I played "Nasty Girl" by Vanity 6 and announced into the microphone that it was his theme song). 

So I had fun, but it was the sort of fun that I could have with three friends in my own apartment.  I don't think I'll be trying 80's night in that particular venue again any time soon. 

I don't even know if the booking agent thing is going to work out.  I'm not giving up on it yet, but everything is proving to be more trouble than it's worth.  I need to shift my focus to getting my own musical career off of the ground. 


Note to self:  Figure out how to get musical career off of the ground. 

Is It Just Me, Or Can You Hear Crickets Over Here???

Lauren in her natural habitat

Oy.  This blog has been a bit of a dead zone lately and I apologize.  I've let real life get in the way of my standard blogging routine and I'm beginning to hear crickets because of it.  I think I owe you guys a legitimate update. 

After all, I just spent two hours of my life watching "America's Next Top Model," so I think I have time to give you guys the 411 on who drop-kicked who. 

Here's the low-down:  I've been out of comission for a couple of days due to a digusting cold/sinus infection.  Probably made myself sick from stressing too much, honestly.  A couple of weeks ago, I cooked up a deal with the guy that owns the restaurant/venue downstairs.  As a result, I've turned into a booking agent of sorts and have been frantically trying to fill this month's calender with shows and events. 

It's all very exciting but totally nerve-wracking.  One minute, I feel like I'm totally capable of providing the neighborhood with quality entertainment (and making a killing off of it).  Then I'll check my email only to discover that one of my headlining bands has to attend a funeral instead of playing a show (people need to stop dying, it really messes things up).  I'll get this gnawing feeling of dread (a feeling I'm all too familiar with) and I'll suddenly remember that I've never done anything like this before.  And then I'll have to convince myself yet again that life is a learning curve, I am totally capable of this, etc. 

This weekend is my "debut" of sorts and I'm terrified.  The monthly art open house is on Friday night and I only managed to book two musical acts:  a guy that plays the banjo and some dude who makes techno with a macbook.  I had a third band lined up but they fell through.  So now I just have the weirdest line-up of all time.

And yes, I've been scrambling to find a third band.  It's gotten to the point where I've started sending Facebook messages that look like this:


I haven't talked to you in a million years, but I'm currently booking acts for a new venue in town and am scrambling to fill the calender for May. I don't even know if you are in a band, but you are playing a musical instrument in your profile picture, so you are getting a message. Anyway, ARE you in a band?

That approach was unsuccessful.  Surprise surprise.  Looks like Friday is going to be techno-folk night.  And it might end at 9pm.

In addition to good ole techno-folk night, I've got an 80's night planned for Saturday.  Naturally, I'm the DJ.  This shouldn't be scary, but it is.  I haven't even tested the sound system yet.  It's going to be held in a space that was once the chapel of an old folk's home.  The pews are still perfectly in tact and I'm not sure how to move them!  Once I get my laptop plugged in and get people dancing, it will be great.  But until then, I'll probably be one high-strung kid. 

Maybe I'm in over my head.  Or maybe I'm onto something really cool.  Maybe I can keep this up all summer and avoid getting an obnoxious minimum wage job.

In other news, the recording process is still going really well.  The Studio Musician recently emailed me his latest cut of the new track.  I think it's just about done!  Hopefully I'll have it up here in a couple of days so you guys can listen to it.  It's so exciting because it sounds like an entire band.  In reality, it's just me and a guy I hired to play a bunch of random instruments.  Shh, don't tell anyone. 

Anyway, those are the most significant things I have to report.  Well, other than the fact that people still refuse to stay in the categories I think they belong in (I know, I said I was going to stop putting people in boxes, but sometimes I do it without thinking).  And the awkward moments in my daily life are getting so professional that they sometimes announce themselves (i.e:  "Would you like to have an awkward moment, Lauren?"  I said "no," but the moment was awkward anyway...). 

But I will save all that for another post.  I should probably go to bed.  It's not even midnight yet, but I need to kick this sinus bug by the weekend.  There is nothing hot about a DJ with a stuffed-up nose and a plugged-up ear. 

Peace out, amigos.  This is DJ Lauren, signing off.