[M&W Radio] Episode 22 - Tommy Bones (NYC)

Subscribe with iTunes for free and receive this and future episodes of our podcast directly into your iPod, iPhone, or computer in CD quality. I first met Tommy Bones in New York City in 2005 at the Undaground Archives Choice Awards (the Oscars of the House Music industry) where I was invited to present the award for Best DJ International (the award that year went to Montreal's own Jojo Flores for the fourth time). Tommy that year accepted the Best Emerging Talent award (an award received by Julius the Mad Thinker the previous year).  I got to meet him and he handed me his latest mix on CD.  Ever since, I have been listening to his epic sets available on his website and we've remained in touch.  Tommy has also developed into a respected producer putting out some really sublime tracks you may have heard me play at M&W.  This week, we proudly feature Tommy's Winter Music Conference 2010 Mix recorded a few months ago.   Here's also an insightful article on Tommy Bones featured in Chicago's 5 Magazine and written by Czarina Mirani: "I used to see Tommy Bones at the many New York clubs I visited in the last 5 or 6 years.  He was that unmistakable white kid with the huge back pack, big smile, and always made you wonder if he was old enough to be at the spot.  I then started hearing his name from my dance teacher, who always made sure she rocked one of his mix CDs for her House classes.      Growing up and immersing himself in the underground party scene both in his hometown in Connecticut and in nearby New York, Tommy would often be the only white kid in a scene dominated by blacks and hispanics.  By the time he learned how to spin at the age of 14, he was heavy into the culture as both a DJ and a dancer. Explaining why he is known as "the dancer's DJ," he explains that "the dancers in New York are the ones that support me the most."  His mixes have been transported by them to other countries via the classes they taught.  That's why by the time he played a gig in Japan in 2004 "every dancer there knew my name!" Tommy has a very old-school do-it-yourself self promotion ethic that is refreshing at a time when everyone now relies on the internet.  Guaranteed if you've gone to any NYC clubs in the past decade, there has to have been a point when Tommy handed you one of his mixes.  "DJs and producers within my scene might look at me like I'm crazy!  What they're not realizing is not only does it make me happy to hand someone a CD and hear that they love it, but I'm reaching out to more people than they are!  For one CD, there might be 5 people listening to it at the same time.  Or it might end up in a restaurant, or a clothing store...  The Ralph Lauren store on South Beach has my whole collection and that's all they play there!" By 2003, music production was inevitable, and his material can be found on record labels Kingstreet, Wave, Ransom Note, Lionimusic, Real Tone, Nufaze, and Defected.  He also just finished two remixes "Mahwuelele" for Mzee and "Keep it Rockin" for vocalist Wunmi.      His positive energy is infectious and when asked what to expect from his upcoming set, he says "when I'm feeling the music I'll leave the DJ booth and go out in the middle of the floor and dance!  I want to feel the crowd's energy.  I want to be in the middle of the dancefloor so I can shake people's hands.  My goal is to get out there and make you smile." If you'd like more info on DJ Tommy Bones including mixes to download, check out djtommybones.com and myspace.com/djtommybones And now... the beats :)