A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of making a long overdue return to Chicago for a night of playing musical selections at the Jazz-Funk Party at Podlasie Club alongside resident DJ’s Lejahazer and DJ Yukiko as well as spend a weekend meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones of plenty of record store hopping (thanks Torn Light Records) and good food tastings across the city. During my time there, connecting with DJ Bluefunk for the first time made for great conversations over amazing records, bowls of ramen and of course beers while diving into nostalgia over simpler times.
Chicago never disappoints and this particular trip really brought new inspiration my way via meeting new people within the scene who actually care about the music and presentation of it to the audience. One particular person who I had only known through Instagram was Van Paugam, a DJ who I highly regard as one of the most authentic playing the now popular genre of City Pop here in the states. The conversations of music and Japanese culture really made me feel like I was back in my second home of Japan which is a rarity but he definitely gets get it. Stay tuned for special feature on him and a few others making it’s way to Nostalgia King in the upcoming weeks.
Although always a too short of a trip, I will definitely back sooner than later to play alongside some of the best DJ’s in the Windy City.