Venue: Eleven50
Presented by: Eleven50

Strange nights are manufactured by strange people, especially when you leave your fate to Felix and Tommie. I found myself on the corner of Shady Lane and Easy St. on this particular evening—just waiting for something to happen. I wasn't standing at the bus stop for long. Kai Alce was in the house, literally, setting things up by dropping hot numbers by Ron Trent, Gene Dupay, and 3 Kings just to name a few. It is always a treat when I get to hear Kai play, especially since I don't get out enough to do so. His knowledge of house is extremely evident when he steps up to the decks. He is one of Atlanta's best, and if you can't tell just by listening to him, then you can just take notice of the crowd. The crowd never lies. Speaking of those that were rocking it, I walked down the block to Acqua to see what Kevin O. and the rest of the Deephouse.com crew were doing. After shooting the breeze with Kevin for a few minutes, I turned to see who was producing these smooth, tight mixes that kept me tapping my toes. I asked Kevin who he had behind the tables, since I had never seen, or more importantly, heard this DJ before. He told me the young lady's name was Nicole Pickens. I need to start getting out more... apparently I have been missing a lot. There is no reason Nicole shouldn't either a) have a night to herself somewhere or b) be in the main room with the rest of the big names.

Reluctantly, I had to leave Nicole's sweet mixes to venture up to the DJ booth to get a close look at how Felix manipulates the vinyl. I managed to weasel my way into the booth where I found Cherish, my photographer, had already made buddies with everyone. I got there just in time to see Felix throw down his first piece of wax. He quickly grabbed the crowd's attention by dropping oldies by Prince, Sheila E., and Depeche Mode. The crowd loved it, and so did everyone else that was in the booth. Felix would look back at us from time to time and say things like, "You're going to like this one." He was taking the role of the entertainer to a new level. After playing for about an hour, he let Tommie take his turn. As Tommie approached the tables, he turned to us and said, "I'm about to get stupid." No doubt. Tommie dropped tracks from AC/DC, as well as other assorted 80's tunes. I wasn't particularly digging it, but a few cheers came from the crowd... to each their own.

During the stupidity, I got a chance to sit down with Felix and ask him about what was on his plate. First off, he is going to drop the Housecat from his name for the simple reason that he does not want to be pigeon-holed into one genre of music. Secondly, he told me to be on the lookout for a new girl band that he is putting together called "Glamarama." The band is going to have an electro-punk feel to it, with it roots coming from those of the legendary Prince (sorry, Microsoft doesn't have his symbol in their drop-down boxes). After that, I stopped taking notes and just listened to Felix tell funny stories. He is a character. Before he left to reeducate the crowd, Felix did leave me with a great piece of advice that he wanted to share with Lunar readers. I asked him what advice he would give budding DJs, and he told me this: "You have to play your own sound. Clear the floor. Just leave one person standing. Eventually, that one person will turn into two thousand." I guess Felix had shared that advice with Tommie earlier in the night.

Strange night...good times.

Excursions
Mixed by Felix da Housecat
Track Listing:

1. He Took Her To A Movie - Ladytron
2. Now That The Love Has Gone (Les Rhythmes) - We In Music
3. Champu - Daniel Diamond
4. Missy Queens Gonna Die - Tok Tok Vs Softy O
5. Treat Me Better - Northern Line
6. Substance (Felix Da Housecat Mix) - Dot Allison
7. Take A Walk (Youngsters Bass Remix) - Bolz Bolz
8. Silver Screen Shower Scene (Phunk Remix) - Felix Da Housecat
9. Gas - Kiki
10. Dirty Breaks Federation - User
11. Over The Hill (Original Mix) - Tim Taylor Vs Thor 54
12. Ticket To Thrillville - Jeff Mills
13. Flexability - Miss Kitten And The Hacker
14. Three Underground Made Me Do It - Aphrohead
15. What Does It Feel Like - Felix Da Housecat