DAY 1 - MAY 31st

Today I started my long day of packing, partying, and pursuit by going to pick up Comso Vitelli, international producer/dj legend from Paris, France. Its always a relief when the booking of an artist is done and the rewards from dealing with a booking agent (who was actually quite nice this time around) or flight schedules or outrageous European DJ price negotiations start to pay off.


If your intuition is in check, you can always get a feeling from an artists music, demeanor, presentation, and style whether you are going to get along or you are just going to want to throw them in a motel. I could tell me and Benjamin would get along when he told me he didn't have a cell phone for his trip and that he would just meet me at the airport. Not only did I know he was a go with the flow style guy but It gave me the opportunity to be my crazy hot mess self and not play by the rules either.

So, I decided to have some fun and I printed up a poster that said I'm A Cliche (the name of Comso Vitelli's Record Label) in big black letters on a piece of honey yellow paper. I threw on a bad first impression attitude outfit and hit the tarmac. It was a good ice breaker. Something I have learned from meeting/booking out of town strangers in the nightclub/live music business
is that if they got as far as to land in your laps, they are usually a work-a-holic, a bit overstressed, completely brilliant, can talk there way into/out of any situation, and know how to party until the late evening. Cosmo had all this energy and the punk rock, laid back mood that you would expect from his music.

As I took WAY TOO LONG to figure out how to get us out of the Oakland Airport parking lot we talked about international travel and the trials and tribulations of going through Customs without a work visa. As I am writing to you right now, on the red-eye plane to London's Heathrow airport, I am still figuring out what I am going to say in regards to my record bag full of dj gear and vinyl.

Cosmo told me some horror stories of DJs getting to customs and then them looking up a dj's name, finding his alias, and then finding all his gigs online, deporting them and giving them a 5 year suspension to come back! He had some suggestions of things to say. Given my jewish
paranoia, I had to pry other places. Last night, Muffin aka CLAWS told me that on one of his trips to Germany a customs officer asked him why he was visiting the country and he answered: "Techno."


I think I am going to take a lighter approach.


Jim from Horsemeat emailed me and told me that I should never travel with records in a record bag. I got this email about 30 minutes before my flight and there was no way I was going to find another bag to use. So, as it stands my trip starts with some well deserved dramatic tension. Will I pass customs? Or will I be crying on Leo Herreras shoulder tommorow at work.

Cutoms officer: "Mr. Sperber, Why are you visiting London?"
Me: "Blue Balls"



(c) Homochic 2008