The HullaBoard - View Single Post - Thank you (aka silver1's retirement post)

reposted from anabolic-frolic.com:

Quote:

Silver1 is retiring from DJing
- Jun 06, 2005 11:15:06
Next month at the last Hullabaloo, a good friend of mine - Tommy, better know as DJ Silver1, will be hanging up his headphones for the last time. I thought I might reflect on our friendship here.

I'm not sure when we first met but he, like a lot of DJs, started out as a raver like anyone else. This is the origin of his name. He and another friend used to wear these silver suits to every party they attended. He was Silver1, his friend Adrian was Silver2. He wore that sweaty uniform to every event till one day it disintegrated.

There's a story he told me about meeting me in the washroom of Hullabaloo's "Rush Hour" in 1998 where he offered to shake my hand but I didn't accept it, pointing out the fact that we were in the toilets. He then made a request of me for my set, "Get into Love" from Anti-Social to which I responded "I don't think I brought that one" to which he later traslated to mean "That track is ancient news dude, but this is my nice way of telling you that".

Another time he crossed my path was at the Hullabaloo "Big Top" event in 1999. Apparently he was dancing on some speaker stacks and fell off onto a lighting board, knocking out the lighting system for our huge 4500 person event. I was near the front entrance when security and a lighting tech escorted him over to me to discuss the situation. The lighting tech was furious, saying Tommy was on the hook for $1500. They wanted some ID off of him, but I told the guys "It's ok, I know who he is" because he had become such a familiar face at the parties. Turned out everything was ok, the lighting board simply was reset and the party went on without further incident. Regardless, I can remember a dejected Tommy leaving the party that morning, his head down, offering me a "sorry for ruining your party" before he left.

Because he was such a familiar face I began to chat with him more at various events. This was also during the scene's biggest days of 1999 when there were huge events every weekend. During this time he also began to DJ and I can remember listening to a demo tape of his September of 1999 outside a party once while I waited for people to come out so I could begin flyering for the next Hulla. One of the tracks on his demo caught my ear at the time, "Mirror of Love", which subsequently was chosen for Happy2bHardcore Chapter 4 which was compiled a month later. I probably didn't tell him this at the time cause I'm supposed to be the big shot DJ, not getting track ideas from wannabe djs ;-).

We continued to cross paths at various social gatherings, breakfasts at 24 hour restaurants the morning after any given rave and of course at every Hullabaloo.

When it came time to put together the DJ lineup for our February 2000 Hulla, "Ooh Crikey... wot a Scorcher!", I felt it was time to let Silver1 on Hulla's revered stage. However, I chose not to tell him or even ask if he was available, instead to just put his name on the flyer and surprise him. It also happened to be his birthday weekend during that night. Come the day of the flyer release I can remember his response being "Chris, you glorious bastard!". Later I found out he made many frantic calls shaking with the excitement and disbelief of his first Hullabaloo booking. After all, this is the stage most hardcore DJs dream of one day playing and there was his name on the flyer.

Our friendship continued to blossom over the year of 2000. He became a regular fixture on the Hullabaloo stage becoming one of the new breakout DJ stars of the scene. Later in 2000 I was offered to host a new hardcore radio show for 1groove.com, at the time the most listened to dance radio station on the net. It was never even a consideration to not have Tommy be part of that, and thus our great on-air relationship began as well while we launched "Happy Hour". It would become the most listened show on the most listened to radio station on the net. It also turned into the longest running hardcore program in history and one that was heavily imitated afterwards.

We shared another watershed experience together later that year. In November 2000 Slammin Vinyl in the UK was hosting their return to the Sanctuary venue. A return for hardcore after a few really bad years in the UK. MC Storm told me if there was one party to check out that should be the one. I had been longing to have that one hardcore raver experience I never got to have since basically there were no hardcore raves in North America before I started promoting them. I just wanted to be an anonymous partier in the crowd one time. So Tommy and I flew over for the weekend to go to Slammin. Early in the night while we were catching DJ Vibes in the oldschool room I can remember him turning to me and saying "Flight to the UK - $700. Other out of pocket expeneses - $300. Partying with Anabolic Frolic - priceless". It was a lot of money and trouble to go through that trip but 5 years later I still look back on it and smile. It was worth it.

Over the years we became exceptionally good friends and hardly a day goes by that we don't speak to one another. I knew the day was coming when he was going to hang up those headphones. It's fitting that for someone like himself who's entire rave and DJ career revolved around Hulla end with it. And really, when you've been a resident for the same company that every hardcore DJ on the continent dreams of one day playing where do you go from there. So, Silver1 will be missed when he drops that last track next month, making an emotional night even that much moreso. But at least I know I'll still have Tommy.