Afro Monk

It hasn’t been a secret on here that I’ve relocated back to my hometown Miami. Truth is I haven’t really made it a point to tell anyone except my close friends. The music community is so vastly different here and knew I was giving up a lot moving back to this market. It’s not meant to be taken in a negative sense. Unfortunately the music I’ve been playing/pushing doesn’t really have much presence here. We all know the meccas are Colorado & California.

I was lucky enough to discover a market in Texas that allowed me to do what I’ve always wanted to do… Play glitch-hop. I became extremely involved in Texas and turned my life focus on music for the most part. I’d go out every night and actually network/talk to people. I’ve always been shy and moved to Texas only knowing my roommate. Texas was a scary move but once I got there it took me for one of the best rides of my life. I was only in Texas for a year but it feels like I was there for over five years. The amount of talented artist is overwhelming! The festival crowd is full force and plenty of homegrown events.

Now that I’m back in Miami I’ve started an entirely new lifestyle. I know that bass music popularity has reached a new height but it has also left me much to be desired. I don’t want to become that bitter old man complaining non-stop. I’ve decided to put this mix out there to target the Miami audience and nightlife but at the same time tip my hat goodbye to this sort of style. It’s fun, party, dance, and rave out music but truth is I’m burnt out and have been for some time now I’m sure. If you follow me on FB and Twitter you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m a mid range bass hater. Yes, I admit it.

It’s time to focus on a positive new attitude and something different that will brighten my spirits. 2012 will be the start of many new things. As I said my lifestyle is quite different now. I don’t go out anymore and I’m going back to my anti-social recluse ways. My nights consist of me laying around my dream apartment on the beach listening to chill out lounge music and playing video games. My roots are in trip-hop/downtempo/lounge. I’ve decided to focus on that for 2012 and create a sister site that will built around that vibe. Expect a soft beta launch around Feb 2012.

This doesn’t mean this site will be executed!!! Ed and Tara have been doing an incredible job and I’ll still be writing post but come to understand I won’t be as active. It’s time to expand the market. I’ll still be around at all the events but keep in mind Miami doesn’t offer acts that I’ve been spoiled with while living in Texas. The bass scene is very alive here but it’s very brostep/moombah oriented which truthfully I can’t vibe with. Along with the sister site launch there will be a new weekly event that will be created to support the new movement here. I’m super excited to see how this pans out.

Now about this mix. It was designed on the fly to get you moving and sing along. There are times where I need to get motivated to go out to the club or bar and these tunes get me all hyped. They are mostly top 40 remixes with me giving them an extra umphhh to them and adding my glitches live. It’s been over a month since I’ve played or even mixed since I’ve been so busy with the move. Not to mention like I said I’ve kept myself isolated in Miami so not looking actively to play out. It was fun to rock out in my new studio to this. Anxious to see what the reception of this mix will be.

I hope you enjoy and have a happy new year!!!

-Afro

(eye) <3 Glitch Dubstep is a new mix that I did LIVE on Glitch.fm. The first 45minutes didn’t record nor stream and had all sorts of issues. This mix starts from that mark and decided to keep going for a full two hour session.

This mix was done completely freestyle and not planned out. My intention was to go through as many tracks that I’d consider “Luvstep”. It was Valentines Day and figure I’d give my interpretation of luvstep after so many people ask me what I consider sexy or luvstep when mention it in conversation. I also stayed away from all the tracks most people would use. I’m tired of hearing Von D or Skream tunes being called that when their is so much more out there than the usual tracks we can all name off the top of our heads. I dug a bit deep and hope you all enjoy.

I made this one downloadable so you can all enjoy at anytime. It’s two hours so figure it’d be best for this one. Don’t expect a tracklist to appear because it’d take me forever. I have so many songs in front of me while I play and just go with the flow.

Also wanted to mention to please keep me in your prayers. My eye was hurting me throughout the day and when got home started on this mix after a nap. I should of taken my contact out but didn’t till I finished the 3hr set. I woke up the next day with my eye completely red and praying it’ll be fine. I goto the doctor tomorrow. The things we do for the things and people we Love.

Please share this. I wish music like this would be pushed more. This was put together as a response to all those filth mixes put together. That’s why I went 2 hours to show that there’s plenty of stuff that isn’t heavy.

Much Love to you all <3

(eye) <3 Glitchy Luvstep by AfroMonk

- JM

Decided that last nights live mix should be online. There are some issues here and there since was hijacking my audio stream and sending it out to glitch.fm server but ohh well it’s all about sharing music with you. I had a real good time recording this mix. It showcases more of what I’ve been doing in live sets. There is more of a chill feel to this one but that’s sorta the mood I was in last night. Lately my live sets at clubs have been way more hype but this is the sorta stuff I’ve been listening to on my free time when just hanging out.

Expect anything when I’m playing out live though. The middle of the mix I just wasn’t feeling to progressive build I had started and brought it back down to how I was feeling. All I play really depends on how I’m feeling in the moment. I have no problem forcing drastic bpm changes. It’s always going to be about where I want to go.

Hope you enjoy!

Live recording of my return to Glitch.fm radioshow! Tons of hiccups since it’s been awhile since streamed LIVE. Hope you enjoy! If you do enjoy please share with others! Also I’ll be looking for booking coming 2011 so be sure to let me know if you’d be interested in having me out. We can negotiate something real reasonable =)

Keep it fresh!

Special Thanks to:
Ooah, ill-esha, Samples, Elfkowitz, Stephan Jacobs, ionik, Mongoose, white noise, MartyParty, Mimosa, Omega, Wolfeus, Gladkill, Turnsteak, Protohype, Eskmo, Minnesota, NastyNasty, Nit Grit, Bil Bless, Mochipet, Chris B, Frequent-C, Chase Marz, Bil Bless, Modified Noise, Bassmectar, Graintable, S.P.E.C.T.R.E, Kastle, Lorn, Billy Blacklight, & to any person I forgot to mention.

I’m back! Recently celebrated my 25th birthday in Vegas! I got to play at Defcon 18 and rage! The blog was upgraded to WordPress 3 and has big issues in the process. It’s not that there wasn’t news or new post for past two weeks, it’s that the site was broken. Just for the record if you use 1and1 and upgrade to 3.0 you need to increase the memory allocated to 20mb or else it crashes with 500 error.

Now that it’s back the redesign will be possible. I’m doing a mini tour over summer but hope to get it all sorted out to a new look.

Tonight I open up for Lazer Sword in Miami for monthly event, Get Low!

I’m looking for gigs in October! email me to arrange something!
Just recently recorded a summer promo mix!

Expect some new post and info to start back up on regular basis as before! Much love to all the fans and readers!

Last Monday I had my debut show on Glitch.fm!!!
I can’t tell you how excited I am to announce this.
I’ve been working real hard the past couple of months and I have a show now!
Every Monday from 11pm-1am EST I’ll be broadcasting on http://glitch.fm.
It’s an honor to have a show and not to mention share a part of my music to listeners.
I still consider myself a rookie and still even have some big mess ups but I’m practicing all the time now and want to be perfect. I’m quite disappointed in this mix but really happy about the feedback I’ve received and know I’ll be a LOT more prepared for next week.

Thank you all who believe in me and support me.
Never did I imagine this would actually happen.

This mix shows off a lot of what I’m really into when it comes to music. Majority is glitch music with some touch of glitch hop, dubstep, and even some trip-hop. I hope to bring this vibe every week and keep tunes fresh every week. I’m most likely not going to allow myself to play the same tune more than twice a month and if I do even do that, the track is just that worthy. Hope you enjoy! Be sure to tune in and feel free to join in the chat located at http://glitch.fm/irc

Here is the link to the mix:
Afro Monk’s Debut Show on Glitch.fm 1/25/2010

Alright I’ve been quite busy planning a WMC Event for Miami Glitch with some help from Glitch.fm.

I hadn’t worked on APC for awhile and decided I needed some practice. I ended up getting my own stream the other night and did a 2hr set live. It went extremely well except I didn’t record it. It was my best yet also =(

Decided that I needed something to show a tad bit of what I’ve been doing it. It’s been almost a month since my last mix. Wanted to do something very similar to go back and see if progress has been made. Unfortunately my 30 day trial of Ableton just ran out so I couldn’t use CUE and was doing this mix solely off Master. I’m not entirely too proud of this but know it’s better than my first attempt. Like others said, only way is up from here.

Now that I have Ableton sorted out I can add all my new music and have CUE setup. I’m extremely excited to start my radio show. It will give me tons of practice plus keep me on my toes.

Feedback is welcomed. Have lots to learn still but it’s starting to come together. Making a lot less mistakes and trying to get use to doing this under the influence considering if I ever play out. Got to be ready for anything at any time.

Son of a Glitch!