:::: Nitevibe :::: WMC 2005

Miami: The IM Version

By Jessica Perri & Milena Mepris

NYC Rock Singer and conference virgin Milena Mepris joined Nitevibe Editor and conference veteran Jessica Perri in Miami this year. An excerpt from their IM conversation is below. Be prepared for some gossip, smack-talking and insider tips on how to survive the extravagant nightlife adventure with your best friend.

9:24 PM
J: Your comment on MS is so hilarious!!!! I'm dying!

M: do yourself a favor and look at my page

J: Didn’t I take that photo in the press room at Monty’s DJ gig at M3 Sessions? Speaking of Miami—I haven’t really talked to you since we got back. Your first time. My 4th time. What did you think? The best, the worst, the ugly? the drunk?

M: ummm....the best. Two words : Jamie Liddell.

9:50 PM
J: He's hot. Plus he told me he makes his own music software. When we met him we acted liked crazed fans. How does he do those effects?

M: He stole the whole M3 in like 20 minutes. Sounds like young otis redding but the best thing is that he tracks it with loads of sound manipulation devices and delays so he harmonizes with himself and then comes up to the edge of the stage BAREFOOT and sings right to you over this wall of sound....seriously he's my future husband

J: agreed. what else?

M: Lady Sovereign. she was so cute and sassy and tough and her flow was the best I've ever heard from a girl.

J: Yeah LS was dope and she had mad personality. She gets props for flava. Or should that go to Jamie? The M3 session parties were generally super fun due to the free Absolut.

J: Remember that night? We went to the World Club Awards. Here I thought it was awards for DJs and then all of a sudden it’s like “BEST AWARDS FOR LIGHTING GOES TO NOCTURNAL in MIAMI.”

M: The World Club Awards were cool cuz because Junior hooked us up with bottle service and free sneakers. What did he present? Oh yeah. “Best DJ Product”. I think Abelton Live won (no contest!).
10:00 PM
J: Plus it's cool that he was presenting with Collette and since she is a singer and you are a singer. Did you get to bond?

M: We traded CDs

J: Even though the thing was not what we expected i.e. "BEST VIDEO SYSTEM" it was still cool. Francois K picked up his award for best Resident DJ. Danny Tenaglia presented. Oh and as a non-clubbing New Yorker you may not care but our own SF Club-- Ruby Skye won for “BEST SOUND SYSTEM” actually JK SOUND won. Then there was the Revolver thing.

M: The Revolver Party was fun because of all the different rooms in the Pawn Shop.

J: Pawn Shop? Is that what it was called?

M:You had your choice of all these different settings in the multi-room venue and you could go outside except I banged my head in Hot Chip's trailer and that really hurt…

J: What did you think of Hot Chip? I liked them.

M: Me too- reminded me of Depeche Mode

J: What the heck did they have on stage? What were they playing?

10:05 PM
M: they had like 4 keyboards and then one of the dudes doubled up on guitar

J: 3 guys?

M: 4 guys

M: i think 5 officially
M: but 4 were there

J: i wish i remembered more of their set

M: I remember dancing with Mike Z though while they were playing. That was
nice - he wins the best dancer award in my book

J: Ha ha! Does he dance behind the merch booth at Bloc Party shows? He should.

M: No....he drove them on their 1st US tour and then briefly did merch

J: So Monty and I were thizzin’ and you and I were making up crazy new dance moves but who else played?

J: Did we hear Peaches?

M: we didn’t but she was there

M: we heard craig from VHS or Beta and Rory Philips from Trash and Dave Pianka in the bigger room

J: Did we see your friends Juan Maclean? I remember them from M3 sessions. I liked their sound but at the end they got kinda trancey which I wasn't down for...

J: By the way do you still have a bump?

M: bump?

M: like as in coke?

J: no! on your head from Hot Chip's trailer.

M: or like a Katie Holmes strap on bump?

J: exactly!

M: shhhhh she's pregnant

M: suuuuuuuuuuuuuuure she is

M: no my bumb went away

J: Junior and Josh skipped out on our ride home but it was nice you got to meet Andrew from XLR8R and eat a really large piece of lasagna.

M: yeah....i have to say I wasn’t all that impressed w the cuisine in Miami, except that joint at our hotel. Andrew was really cool and Roy. That was his name right?

J: Yeah we can't print that cuz Andrew will get a big head. ha ha ha! Yeah Roy. Eating at 4am was like a nice ending to the evening. Mojitos= awesome.

J: But another highlight of our trip...um “don't stop believing maybe?” Tommie Sunshine's karaoke B-day party? Your thoughts? We sucked on Living on a Prayer.

M: Definitely Tommie's party a highlight.
Yeah but we slayed Don't Stop Believing and Since You've Been Gone!

M: Nitevibe’s Bugz in the Attic was also amazingly good because they were one of the only DJ acts where the vocalists did all the vox live. The chick singers were all dressed up in sequins- it was a proper show.

J: BUGZ Vs. Jazzanova rocked!

M: and DJ Afronaught is awesome.

J: Now that is a show that I thought Milena Mepris would not dig but you always surprise me woman! ha ha!

M: Didn’t I take a photo with you and Afronaught outside the Marlin at theAfrobeat party the next day?

J: Yeah. Thanks. I can preserve the memory forever.

M: Thursday was a wash cuz of lightning...we wanted to go see Alic e Smith but the show was rained out.

J: But we saw Jboogie earlier that day (in the rain) and then went to a Tweekin Records party that night at the Marlin. We saw Kimi there and that was a huge dancefloor moment. Galen, M3, Monty Luke and SF crew was in the house!

M: The first misshapes party was lame - Steve Aoki and Junior had to entertain a whole pool party of spring break yuppies at the Shore Club.

J: It was sort of a mix of yuppies and Indie rock Djs

M: and apparently Lady Sovereign got in a fist fight there!
Josh Madden and Spencer Product DJed in the redroom and the Killers and Hot Hot Heat were there too. There was lots of attitude.

J: You and Linda Ho got some BS from the bouncer!

M: yeah...we went out to the bathroom and they wouldn’t let us back in the party

J: That French singer Uffie sang with her DJ boyfriend. Duo. Were you there for that?

M: i was there for a few songs, but then i wanted out of there

J: I tried to go check out Stretch Armstrong at some club around the way but I think your friend was mad at me for putting my shit behind The DJ booth (get over it Josh) and so I left. Was that the night Monty came back to the room at like 10am?

M: yeah

J: the next day we went to the beach. I feel like all I ate the whole trip was those deli Danish things.

M: no- that was the Revolver night…
yeah and sunburn. I got burnt really bad...it affected my walking.

J: you were walking funny. you looked like you had an EXTRA good night. That's what i kept telling everyone. Oh Milena she got lucky...real lucky!

M: been there, done that

J: You ended up at some house in Miami right? That's when I had my nervous breakdown and was like I NEED SOME HOUSE MUSIC!!
So I went to this Chicago party at the Whitelaw Hotel and danced for like 3 hours.
There were live drummers and horn players and Chicago jack-the-body house! Then since our hotel was in East Bumblefuck, Linda and Omar rescued me and let me chill in their room.

M: Yeah...i wasn’t so down...i needed to sleep. How was this year different than others?

J: It was diff cuz I was with you. So I went to waaaay different stuff. Plus I slept more than usual.

M: yeah. I need my sleep.

J: I usually roll with my Detroit and SF peeps. We mostly do the deep house and tech stuff, brokenbeat and Afrobeat. But since you were a conference virgin I stuck with you and It was fun to go check out different stuff. We hit up Misshapes, Revolver, DJ Hell, Hot Chip, Juan Maclean, Princess Superstar and a lot of NY parties. I always hit up a few events in that scene but not as many as this year. Did you see me sing “We are the world” at Karaoke? I i really put my heart into it.

M: yeah and your citron and soda

J: You got that right. You know what else was fun? The rooftop Giant Step party. Were you there? Gilles Peterson was DJing. Small place. great vibe. Everyone was dancing. Went with the OM peeps. Mark Farina was hangin’ too.

M: no...i went to the hotel to get your jacket

J: That’s right. So if we got our other NY girlfriends to come next year like Christi and Linz. What would you warn them about Miami?

M: ummm...sunscreen on the BACK of your legs...serious, earplugs, band-aids,
comfortable shoes.

J: Your white mod boots weren’t cutting it huh? Did you like my tip about writing down the parties you want to hit in a planner as to never be without a party plan?

M: yeah...that was helpful. Hit the free bars as much as possible because the drink prices are insane!

J: drink prices were retarded.

M: at the pawn shop a bottle of water 12 oz. was 7$

J: that's why they call it the pawn shop!

10:40 PM
M: the beach is a MUST...just dont get sunburned

J: Did you make good connections. Was it worth it?

M: ummm....i got mentioned in the Village Voice... that was cool.
i think it would be better if i had had some sort of gig there, but i met some cool people

J: like Jamie Liddell? He's playing in San Francisco in 2 days and guess who's going?

M: i want to go in NYC. i hope you can help me get on the list

J: NYC is after SF so he and I could well be married by then. Sure we'll put you on the list j/k

J: He looked cuter in the photos with you anyway...you can have him.

M: i love him!

J: I always pledge my undying love to DJ Rich Medina anyway. Everyone knows that. Remember the Afrobeat party where we talked to Afronaught and everyone was dancing in the streets? That's Rich Medina's party!

M:yeah. you love him?

J: Well he got my award for “DJ I would most like to make my boyfriend” a couple years back.

M: Maybe you should present the unofficial award this year…

J: THE PERFORMER THAT MILENA MEPRIS MOST WANTS TO MAKE HER BF IS....

M: Jamie Lidell! a shocker

J: Never would have guessed! Ok lets get off IM and go out. Last night in NY.
Before I spend a whole month in SF. ya ready?

M: let’s do it…

By Jessica Perri & Milena Mepris