DJ Rob Riggs at his smoothest

​Somehow between resident gigs at Vagabond, Playwright, and the Ritz-Carlton plus being head instructor at Miami's Scratch DJ Academy, longtime FTLien turntablist Rob Riggs finds time to compile mixes of music he can't play at any of his gigs. True to its name, Don't Disturb This Smooth serves up 80 uninterrupted minutes of "experimental-down-tempo-hip-hop-electro-soul-beats" with a heavy emphasis on smooth throughout. With notable attention to detail evident in the solid blends and numerous custom edits, Riggs offers precision as well as style and keeps the lineup eclectic without sacrificing theme. Even the customary, annoying voice-over actor DJ drops are kept to a minimum and at a reasonable volume. More >>

Broward County dance aficionados will be familiar with the gyrating work of Broward-based DJ crew On Til Dawn. These three beatsmiths, Anthony Mazzeo, Mike Romero, and Eric Dupri, have been on the grind the past few years; beginning with raves out in the swampy Everglades just a few years back these mix-masters have grown up and are currently heading up three successful dance parties in South Florida. Some would argue that the On Til Dawn crew practically reinvigorating Fort Lauderdale Beach's infamous scantily-clad debauch spring break vibe of 80s with its two successful bikini laden parties --Mas Carne and Second Sunday. More >>

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​Back in January we announced the launch of the local Musical Missionary label with a debut record release by Austin-based producer Darren DuVall. The label has since continued to expand with a growing lineup of forward-thinking EDM artists.

Musical Missionary itself continues to cultivate an unprecedented philanthropistic approach to music business. The label actually serves as a nonprofit charity dedicated to providing music and arts education to underprivileged youth, and donates all proceeds of its record sales and events to the cause. As such, it stands as a bastion of virtue and good faith in a city and music scene more often than not dominated by big egos and commercial interests.
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Nick Morrison and Supersede, AKA the Miami Ski Team.

​At 26-years-old, Andrew Beckwith, AKA DJ Supersede, has a career most local DJs would be envious of. He spins at some of South Florida's most popular nightclubs; he was selected by you, the reader, as Best Club DJ for last year's Best of Miami; and he just just launched a new label called Lincoln Road Records together with his production partner Nick Morrison -- also known as the Miami Ski Team.

Under Lincoln Road Records, Beckwith has already released two EPs including Living It Up by Supersede & Morrison, and The Light by Shawn Rudnick -- both which are available for download via iTunes.

We talked to Beckwith for a hot minute about what exactly is the concept behind his record label, his dual role as a DJ and record exec, and about his favorite local dance clubs.

New Times: What's the purpose of Lincoln Road Records? Who else is involved with it? Do you have a roster of artists signed?

Andrew Beckwith: Lincoln Road Records was formed to release the original productions of our two production groups, Supersede & Nick Morrison and the Miami Ski Team. Being so involved in the Miami, electronic music scene, has given us the opportunity to meet handfuls of talented producers who do not have the venue for having their music distributed to the world. So why not kill two birds with one stone, and introduce everyone to the music that we feel is "good" electronic music?
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​The best DJs dig deep into the sounds they're spinning. And that doesn't mean just the the components of a given track - the structure of the beat, the motion of a melody, the drive of a bassline, and so on. No, the best want to know where a song comes from, be it who did what and why, or the wherewithal that made it all possible in the first place. To do so, these DJs get into the minutiae of the music, the facts that most figure in a track. This way when they let loose with the spin, they know just what makes it so dizzy.

Just such a DJ is the cat called Sire Esq. He named himself in homage to his U.K. birthplace (Sire is a British honorific, and Esquire "just sounded good next to it"). This beat-obsessed Miami-based head-spinner is as much aware of a song's history as he is of what it will do to a dancefloor.

Much of that can be attributed to the fact that Sire Esq. moonlights as a music critic, and his byline can be found everywhere from Vibe and New Times (for whom he still occasionally contributes) to hip hop sites such as Mass Appeal, Elemental and Wax Poetic (for whom his first piece -- on DJ Le Spam -- is set to run this summer).
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​Dividing time between the Big Apple and the Magic City, Team Rojas have a knack for taking each city's nightlife characteristics and meshing them into dancefloor gold -- New York's foward-thinking mentality with Miami's raw grittiness. Compromised by EDG4R (Edgar Rojas) and Stravinsky (Erick Rojas) -- they are surprisingly not related -- the duo comes together to make people dance, simple as that.

For the Wake Up mix they've create for Percussion Lab, old school funk and disco come gets mixed with progressive house. The combination is stellar and thoroughly enjoyable. Click here to download the mix.

We aren't always sure when the duo is in town, but they spun at Vagabond last week for the Of Montreal afterparty, so perhaps there is another guest set coming soon.

After the jump, a video bonus with an interview the duo did for 'Sup Magazine.
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​If you've partied on South Beach, you've heard of Johnny the Boy or at least have heard him spin. The man is everywhere: Rokbar, Shore Club, Florida Room, Mokai -- really we could go on forever. He got his start in Miami's underground dance scene at parties like Revolver and Damaged (remember those?)

Well, if you want to give the Boy a listen, he's got two mixes up, I Love Johnny the Boy and I Hate Johnny the Boy. He mentions that the Love side is for "fashionistas" and the Hate side is for the "clubbers." In reality, we feel each side shows the musical dichotomy a lot of South Beach DJs find themselves in -- they got to make a living but they don't always love everything they are required to play.

His Love side is more progressive, something you'd hear in the downtown clubs, while his Hate side is the top-40 stuff you expect to hear on South Beach -- guess which side we can't stop listening to?

You can also catch Johnny Saturday, April 10 at Coco De Ville (2377 Collins Ave., Miami Beach) when he celebrates the release of the double-sided mix.

MP3: I Love Johnny the Boy
MP3: I Hate Johnny the Boy

​For those of you tragically not in attendance that night, legendary UK DJ Greg Wilson made his highly anticipated WMC debut (in fact his Miami debut altogether) at Electric Pickle on Wednesday, March 24, schooling us all on the authentic disc jockey artform. Beyond simply reinstating the definition of what a true vinyl-spinning beat-juggling DJ does, he epitomized a return to form that seems to have marked the breakthrough trend across the board at WMC this year. There's no denying that disco-house is majorly back, and not just as a style of EDM, but as an old school DJ discipline -- the art of the DJ re-edit, a trick of the trade which used to be par for the course with post-disco DJ pioneers like Larry Levan.

"Many DJs began to place mixing ahead of programming in terms of priority, selecting what they played not because it was the best record, but because it mixed out of the previous record seamlessly," said Wilson in our WMC Q&A, lamenting the sub-par M.O. of so many contemporary DJs. "This was putting the cart before the horse as far as I'm concerned. I'm all for mixing, but programming is the most important skill a DJ possesses and, in comparison to the DJs of the past, I think that this was an area that suffered."
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Click to view tracklisting.

​We somehow survived the onslaught of Winter Music Conference events last week, and we look forward not having to party six days straight for a while. Right now we are taking a daily vitamin regiment in order to avoid the dreaded post-WMC flu, which considering the amount of unhealthy substances we put into our bodies last week, it seems almost certain.

But leave it to Poplife/Fridays at Vagabond DJ Mike Deuce to leave us feeling a bit nostalgic for last week. Deuce has released a mix, called Sticks & Stones, via Poplife's site that sort of sums up the WMC experience perfectly. The mix features tracks by local acts Craze and DiscoTech, along with tracks by Miike Snow, Pase Rock, Kill the Noise, Tiga, and more. Enjoy!

MP3: Mike Deuce - Sticks & Stones