ON DECKS
Notes from the 2006 Winter Music Conference in South Beach Miami
Text by Charles Donelan - Photos by Tamer El-Shakhs
The Santa Barbara Independent
April 4, 2006
In the 21 years since Winter Music Conference began, contemporary dance music has changed and spread more rapidly than any other form of music in history. As the record industry faces profound challenges to its fundamental business models, the juggernaut that is dance music consistently outpaces all other genres in its appetite for innovation, not only in terms of content, but also in the ways in which it is created, listened to, disseminated, bought, and sold. The WMC, held annually in South Beach Miami, is where all the players in the grand international web of dance music come together to do what they care about most, which is get down and share music. We arrived on Sunday, too late for many of the biggest events like Ultra, but right on time for what we came for, which were the dozens of small-venue parties that dot the clubs and lounges of South Beach from Thursday until Tuesday. After checking in to our wonderful beachfront oasis, the excellent Beacon Hotel on Ocean between 7th and 8th, we wandered one and a half blocks to 8th and Collins where the United Divas were gathered in the 808 Lounge of the Whitelaw Hotel for their 808 Diaries party. Featuring DRC (SF), Michele Bass (LA), and organized by Lady Jay (Jan Tompkins), this was our favorite event, and really made the whole trip worthwhile—not bad for the first party you walk into. United Divas is a loosely organized coalition of women artists. Most are in the music industry, and many are DJs and producers. All of the United Divas subscribe to a collective philosophy of dignity, empowerment, and community for women in the arts. The 808 Diaries party lived up to its name, bringing out the spirit in dance music’s favorite drum machine through various innovative, funky, and sometimes delirious tracks served up to a tight and appreciative group of friends and dancers. While DJing remains among the world’s most male of professions, the percentage of women taking to the decks and appearing at WMC rises every year. The United Divas party was truly great, a perfect introduction to WMC’s loose, ever-changing, and blatantly utopian mindset. The hottest sets were by Michele Bass and DRC. Michele dropped some old looped hip hop vocals onto a bed of break beats that resulted in a surprisingly fresh and friendly sound, nothing like the lame hip house of the late 80s and early 90s. DRC drove the dancers wild with a blend of trance, techno, drum and bass, and break beat, all delivered with a playful sense of humor and incredible skills on the decks. The most amazing thing about United Divas is the way that they take their art making and community building beyond the music while keeping things active on the dance floor. This party succeeded completely on the bottom-line level, as it had dancers fully engaged with the music and each other. Everyone left with huge smiles on their faces.
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