Working with the Sonic and now EXPOSED teams has introduced me to an entire part of the scene that I had never experienced before… like the Addy phenomenon. I must admit the techy, tribal sound is not really my style. It’s a little too full on for this old cat, but I have come to appreciate the incredibly positive vibe that Addy has created using these types of beats as one - but not his only - weapon for fun.

On this night, Addy brought two of his crew to spin alongside. DJ Guinea and Neno jump started the party with a bumpy tech house that had the floor in a nice shuffle early on. I think it’s a great idea that Addy brings on some local talent to be EXPOSED at The Mod Club. I really look forward to hearing more up and comers from Addy’s stable; because after all we have to live up to our name on all nights, not just the international guest events.

Addy came on at peak time and went off like only he can. A steady pace of tribal, tech and even some Latin beats kept the crowd smiling and kickin’ it right till the lights came on. What I’m most impressed by is Addy’s attitude in the club. Not only is he having a great time - all the time, but he makes a conscious effort to connect with his crew from inside and out of the booth.

Addy is always on the floor supporting his openers, he’s constantly checking the sound levels from all angles and he has an overall care for the night that many DJs simply ignore. It’s been great to see this guy at work over the past few months.

One of the key figures of the entire EXPOSED project celebrated his birthday at this event and in pure Will T style, he shared his special day with all the Libras and Scorpios in the house. Will’s a wicked dude who’s really worked hard to make sure the facility is ready to go for us week in and week out. He sorts the cash, a job I always dart from, and he’s an overall force when it comes to efficiency. Happy birthday homeboy, hope you had a great time… we sure did!!

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There are so many factors that come into play when attempting to organize the perfect club event. One of the first decisions you have to make is the day to which you want to throw your party. I personally like Fridays for underground scene. It’s by far the less mainstream of the weekend options and it gives you that extra day to recover before the mundane Monday morning.

However, as a promoter, Fridays can be a nightmare when it comes to your talent arriving on time and feeling up and ready to let loose. Fridays are often the first leg of a flight share so the DJ has usually traveled quite a distance to make it to Toronto. Plus, Fridays are still a day of business travel, so delays are a regular routine. This night was one of those Fridays.

Getting word that Lexicon Avenue had a terrible trip in from Europe and were hoping to keep it rolling and get on the decks as soon as possible, Simon Jain was asked to shorten his opening set a bit. But boy did he make the most of the time he was up there.

This was the smoothest and most complete set I’ve heard Simon play. One dude came up to me and was convinced that it was still Trentemoller on the stage, as he had drilled the dance floor pre EXPOSED and really the space hadn’t missed a beat since Simon had taken over. That’s a pretty sweet complement imo.

Immediately as soon as Mark and Scott walked into The Mod Club they knew they were going to have a great night. Scott walked through the door and commented, “Wow this place is great!” Four vodka cokes and the boys had forgotten their long and frustrating day and were up dropping signature Lexicon Avenue bombs.

Their selections were more aggressive than their Sonic performance in January, but the vibe remained light hearted, with tons of energy throughout the room. The Mod Club is much like Shindig, their club in the UK so the boys felt right at home and totally enjoyed the trip. These EDM legends are a total class act so it was great to host another great night for them; can’t wait to have them back.

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I can’t believe it’s been five years since we first put bringthebeats online. The btb concept has always been from a “dance floor” perspective; even our parties have remained relatively small, more intimate affairs. Until now… until EXPOSED.

I also can’t believe we’ve finally found a Toronto DJ that likes it as deep and funky as we do. Jeff Button is a serious breath of fresh air for us new school House lovers. To be able to walk into the room and not be immediately blown back on our heels by big banging beats is a dream for our crew. J Butts keeps it smooth and groovy and that’s exactly what we ordered for this very special night for bringthebeats.

The absolute bliss that came over all of us when Jeff handed the decks over to Ricky Ryan is almost indescribable. It’s not only about the beautiful music and high level skill that this South American wonder-boy possesses; it’s his purest of attitudes that makes him such a special person. He embraces all aspects of the scene and cherishes every moment he’s a part of it. In our opinion, he’s most definitely a cut above the rest and we were completely overjoyed to finally have him in a proper club atmosphere in Toronto.

I’ll steal a description of Ricky’s EXPOSED appearance from Andy Reid of NocturnalMagazine.net, because his 11 plus years in the biz and skills as a DJ / producer hold a whole hell of a lot of credibility.

“EXPOSED continues it’s reign as the king of fresh and rising global talent as this week none other Ricky Ryan aka Can Costa touched down all the way from Argentina for his Toronto debut. This much anticipated appearance didn’t disappoint as Ricky drove through his trademark funky progressive sounds with dashes of dark tribal and crunchy tech-house thrown in for good measure…”

Really I couldn’t have said it any better, so I won’t. I’ll simply mention that this is surely not the last we’ll hear of this amazing talent in Toronto and expect even more from Ricky when he touches down on Canadian soil once again.

Brad Copeland closed out the night and totally put together the perfect set following Ricky. He started off on a funky tip, but with a noticeable increase in pace for the late night floor dwellers. It quickly became super clubby and the hardcores totally ate it up.

I totally became overwhelmed by his versatility, as Brad transitioned into gritty Progressive and back to more melodic House. Maybe it was the harmony of the entire event that brought on such feelings, as I’ve always known Brad is a DJ that can play it all. But on this night there was something different, what he was doing up there seemed absolutely extraordinary to me.

We’ve yet to give Brad his full due at EXPOSED. With so many sounds and so many DJs lined up to play for the night, we haven’t had the chance to get Brad in the headline spotlight. But when we do, in January, expect some real floor filling stuff.

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With the dust settled from the Toronto Film Festival, this was a huge weekend in the Toronto nightlife scene. You could say it was the official opening of the fall clubbing season and to kick it off for EXPOSED we returned after a week off with our first Tribal sessions. DJ Addy stepped up to The Mod Club decks for the first time since his monumental EXPOSED Grand Opening appearance with a typical ‘great vibes’ performance. The energy on the floor when he’s playing never ceases to amaze me; this dude really knows how to play to the crowd and he does it really well.

Richie Santana came on and took the party to the next level with the driving punch that sets all Tribal lovers a blaze. However, it’s his little shuffle and groove that catches my attention and probably makes Richie my favorite Tribal talent out there. He combines the march that makes this genre what it is, with funky elements that reach out to House heads like me. He really is very impressive.

For as great as the crowd and music were for this event, we seemed to struggle with the sound most of the night. The transition between concert venue and nightclub, within an hour, is something we’re still getting used to.

Combine that with the various medians the DJs are using and the complications that surround their installations, and we still have some kinks to work out. We’ll get there and very soon I’m sure. In the meantime we thank everyone for their patience and for the overwhelming support we’ve received so far. EXPOSED is just getting read to roll.

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Luke Morrison, who resides in Edmonton, has been virtually running shit out west and in the process has developed a sound that he can truly call his own. I learned tonight that not only is he only 25 years of age, but he’s also knee deep in his academics… law school at that. Apparently him and Brad Copeland have had some pretty insane nights together both in Alberta and Ontario, and tonight held true to that trend.I was slotted to play the opening role and I couldn’t have been happier. There’s nothing more rewarding than to lay down a set and have the headliner thank me for setting the table for him/her to do their thing. I had picked up a lot of nice groovy tech gems, and just wanted to set a constant pace to build some momentum for Luke and Brad to take over and deliver the goods. At around 12:30, I dropped my last track, and the boys took over to unleash a solid back to back session.

Brad started things out as he usually does - steady, pumping Progressive, that instantly got the crowd moving. No longer than two tracks in, Luke plugs in his headphones and drops two of his own. This continued for a good hour or so, just constantly feeding off of each others tracks while maintaining a constant flow throughout. They had the crowd drooling the entire time.

The thing I liked best about the chemistry between these two was the fact that they played the crowd to a tee. When it seemed the crowd was slowing down, a melodic track would be dropped. When the crowd was ready for something a bit more pumping - one of them would answer the call. This back to back set was the most consistent display of tag team DJing I have ever seen live… seriously.

As the place thinned out towards the end of the night it left a really wicked group of ‘heads’ to rip up the floor. Luke played a beautiful encore and the crowd responded with a warm, sincere applause of approval.

A lot of people said it reminded them of Sonic. There were also quite a few people who said it reminded them of System. It reminded me that there is still a large demand for the Progressive genre in the city, and that this will be the type of quality night people will come to expect at The Mod Club on Fridays.

Download - Jeff Button - EXPOSED.live - September 7, 2007

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Labour Day weekend is by far the year’s busiest time for clubbing in Toronto. With so many events - all featuring recognizable international talent - going down throughout the city, the pressure was on EXPOSED to put something together memorable.

Our experienced promo team of NocturnalMagazine.net and Till the AM came through in fine style by booking one of the hottest, young producers / DJs in the game, the UK’s James Talk.

Andy Reid opened the night showcasing his versatility with a wicked dirty House and Electro set. To me Andy is one of the purest House DJs in the city. His slick adaptation of the classic sounds of NYC and the soulfulness of the originators of that scene is what I’ve always known him for, but tonight he really got filthy with some bumpy, groovy beats. He totally got the super hot dance floor prepared for the madness of James Talk.

James took over and proceeded to set his own tone. He started off with some down tempo (definitely not minimal) tech-house to build tension. It was a contrast to what Andy had been playing, but at the same time the transition was perfect.

I bailed outside for a quick breath of fresh air just as the pace was picking up and by the time I returned the space was locked in another dimension. Pryda like bombs were being unleashed from the booth at a furious rate; however, instead of retreating, the crowd was hovering over the front of the stage in an absolute frenzy.

This was a prime example of a DJ taking over the room with tight mixing, programming and stellar track selection. The intensity was next level but it wasn’t exhausting. Actually, it was the most exhilarating dance floor experience I’ve had in Toronto this year. Huge props to James Talk.

Simon Jain had the unenviable task of following up the Talk barrage and had no problem picking up on the vibe. He dropped big room stuff right from the beginning and had The Mod Club hardcores jumping for the rest of the night; great stuff from a really great EXPOSED asset.

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This was an excellent way to start off our guest appearances for EXPOSED. Despite some untimely bad weather The Mod Club dance floor was busy all night and the vibe was really fresh and full of energy.Jeff Button played a fantastic deep Progressive opener. He’s not afraid to play the warm-up role and properly set the tone for the headliners to come. We all really appreciate this patience and love hearing this dude’s overall DJ skills develop.

Brad Copeland stepped up earlier than intended and was forced to jump right off a plane and directly into the booth, something that’s never easy to do. Brad pulled it off like a complete professional and totally got the floor moving. All summer long he’s been blazing dance floors and this night was absolutely no different.

Our headliners NYC’s HOLOSOUND (Alex Fish and Noah Becker) had one hell of a trip to get Toronto. A three hour delay inside JFK and almost another two on the runway waiting to take off had the duo a little on edge as they made their way into the city. However, as soon as they walked into The Mod Club and took in the very comfortable EXPOSED atmosphere, they settled in and proceeded to drop the trademark ‘Illectro’ we’ve waited two years to hear live.

The set was a hybrid of all things House, Electro and Progressive; there were even some melodic Trance-like segments. It was definitely a much different composition than we’ve been hearing in Toronto clubs in recent months. I love the confidence they have in their selections; Alex and Noah’s enthusiasm behind the decks is proof to how comfortable they are when rocking the big room. We couldn’t have asked for a better premiere guest appearance.

Download - HOLOSOUND - EXPOSED.live - August 24, 2007

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Ever since Sonic Nightclub closed down in March, most people I know in the scene felt there was just something missing. Even though the after hours may not have been what Toronto was looking for, the cutting edge music that was once brought to that venue on a weekly basis was greatly missed.With every loss, comes a new opportunity – and this came in the form of EXPOSED, our new weekly at the incredible Mod Club Theatre on College. Some of the key players from Sonic teamed up with other positive contributors to the Toronto scene to form this collective. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when I was asked to be a resident DJ for these highly anticipated nights.

The Grand Opening featured one of Toronto’s most popular characters behind the decks, DJ Addy alongside his personal choice to warm the room, DJ Neno. By 11pm, the line-up had grown to be quite massive, leading all the way onto the streets of College. There was an excitement in the air that I hadn’t felt in sometime, and the people were eager to get inside to get things started.

Neno set up a nice groove, without ‘killing it.’ He got the dance floor moving early and often. What I really liked was the fact that I barely recognized any of his tracks, something I always appreciate when hearing a DJ for the first time. I personally had never caught him in action before this night, but was pleased to hear how well he started things off – the perfect warm up set for Addy no doubt.

Addy then took to the stage in typical form. There’s something about this guy that just drives the crowd nuts. There was an instant vibe injected into the club the second he dropped his first tune. Relentless beat from start to finish.

I was a little hesitant at the thought of him switching to Ableton Live as his means for spinning, but he showed us all that he knows how to bring it, no matter what he uses. Layering acapellas of classic tunes, with current hard hitting tribal infused beats – he had the place in a complete frenzy. Add the amazing lighting production and sound of The Mod Club, and you had a recipe for a stellar experience.

The place was packed with up for it punters and positive vibes all night. By the time the night dwindled down to the last few moments, everyone in attendance that night knew this was just the beginning of great things to come.

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