What happens when you mix 26th Street, B-96 and our favorite 90’s TV show, Full House? We get DJ Tanner, whose guilty pleasure includes spinning Pakas de a Kilo by Los Tigres Del Norte. And yes, his name was inspired by Stephanie and Michelle Tanner’s older sister DJ. Where’s Uncle Joey?
Name: Edgar Baca
Age: 28
Roots: I grew up in Little Village, my parents had a family business on 26th and Karlov
Where do you live now: Berwyn
Day job: I’m a CNA at a hospital.
Where were you and what were you doing 5 years ago? Throwing illegal house parties on 26th St.
Current obsessions/addictions: I’m really into 70’s Brazillian soul/funk, especially as the weather starts to get warmer.
Last book you read: Camera Lucida
When did you start doing DJ-ing? I grew up listening to the old B96 mixes late nights back in the days when Julian Jumpin Perez was still mixing, plus I got turned on to Chicago house music through mixtapes that DJ’s would put out.
How do you define your sound? I’m pretty comfortable playing a variety of styles, it really depends on the crowd, I can play everything from house, Chicago house, early Detroit electro, disco, boogie, italo. Currently i’m really into late 70’s, early 80’s disco funk/boogie. I’m always drawn to the rhythm, and house and disco is essentially a very polyrhythmic music. Plus, I like playing with the different extremes of rhythm, at times liking lots of layers of sound and at others taking pleasure in the simplicity of just a kick drum and a strong clap. I’m also into early electronic dance music, especially since it has this slightly off-quality that gives it more organic feel vs. today’s sampled and super sequenced sounds.
What constitutes a bad or good listening audience? A bad audience has a very narrow mindset to what they think is good music, and there’s so much great music out there but if you think reggaeton is the only definition of good dance music, then that just limits your listening pleasure to a very small amount of music.
Where do you hang out when not DJing? Occasionally Smart Bar, the world music Wednesdays at the Old Town School of Folk Music are great, the Hideout, etc.,Sonotheque
2009 music predictions: There’s a lot of quality electronic music starting to come up from Latin America. After Nortec and Nopal Collective came onto the scene, there’s been a lot of interesting electronic musicians producing a wide range of soundz from minimal techno, idm, house, electro, etc. and plus now they’re even starting up strong independent labels as well. Also there’s a really great series of quality labels putting out some amazing compilations of rare and obscure 70’s music from everywhere from Nigeria, Latin America, even European countries as well.
Song that gets people dancing every time: If it’s house, undoubtedly the Peculator still does the trick.
Guilty pleasure: I’ve always had a little place for “Pacas de a Kilo” de Los Tigres del Norte, it has that crazy animal farm sounds in the intro and then it explodes into this driving corrido.
Laptop djs vs. vinyl? I’ll admit vinyl still beats the sound over mp3s but the bottom line is still the DJ’s ear for a unique sound/style/genre or the ability to be creative with whatever do as long as it doesn’t get cheap and mainstream.
Where do you buy your music? Online used, reckless, dusty groove, the old school records, anywhere…even Viva la Musica.
How they discover new music? I research the net, one track by an artist will lead me to a producer or remixer, and will lead to me another, and hopefully to labels that support a certain sound, vision, or quality.
Plans for the future? Play more, dig for more good music, and travel and play in another city.
What makes someone a “cosmopolatino”? I’d say someone who is an urban citizen with a strong urge to actively explore and participate in all of the cities diverse activities.