DJ VADER

20/12/2023

I'm about 8 hours away from being on vacation for the next 3 weeks.

And all that's on my mind is finishing the track list for this one.

13/12/2023

Let's do it again, eh?

This Friday, December 15th. 6 PM CST on twitch.tv/von_vdr.

Tell your buddies.

29/11/2023

Ok. Been a sec. Let's see if I remember how everything works.

New streaming rig, new turntables, new music, same ol' VADER.

See you this Friday, December 1st @ 6 PM on twitch.tv/von_vdr. Tell your buddies.

22/11/2023

Some signs of life for your feed from this side of Endor.

In-action shots from a wonderful time with the Univ. of Chicago Dance Department, BraveSoul Movement, and one of the best views I've EVER HAD while spinning records.

20/09/2023

...is it time for another VADER & FRIENDS?

24/08/2023

Alright. Some busy days ahead, so here's where you can spot me.

Tonight, I'll be at Penny Whistle Tavern for TRIBE, sharing a back-to-back with the forever homie King GNS.

Tomorrow, we'll be at Body House Dance Summit 2023, which is gonna be a BEEG DEAL.

Next week, we'll be in Detroit for a series of events: WHO GOT THE PROPS? on Sept. 2nd, Break Fluid on Sept. 3rd, and a Labor Day party on Sept. 4th.

And inbetween that, WE WILL BE TRYING TO SLEEP.

Hope to see you at a few of those. Bring me coffee.

14/08/2023

A massive thanks to the organizers and all the talent on the bill at My House Music Festival 2023. Hot damn, that was a lot of fun.

Next up: Body House Dance Summit 2023. Y'ALL BETTER BE THERE.

10/08/2023

THREE DAYS AWAY.
THREE DAYS AWAY.
THREE DAYS AWAY.

“Ay, you got a discount code?”

Sure do. Use the code IKNOWTHEDJ to get discounted prices for your tickets.

“What time you play?”

Sunday, August 13th, 7 PM.

NO EXCUSES. Go get your tickets for My House Music Festival today. TRUST ME.

Looking for MY HOUSE MUSIC FEST 2023 at the Harrison Park Aug 12, 2023 - Aug 13,2023. Presented by Tribu Presents with DJ Gonzo, DJ Salem, and Janesita

20/07/2023

Alright. Time to freak out on the humble tip juuuuuust a little bit.

We're about a month out from playing some tunes for y'all at the My House Music Festival on August 13th. My set is at 7 PM, but you should just roll thru for the whole weekend. Trust me.

I cannot tell y'all how bad I been about records at the crib JUST FOR THIS SET. About to act a whole-ass fool.

Go cop your tickets at https://www.myhousemusicfest.com/

COME HAVE A DANCE, YEAH?

As Ever, Yours, THE BARON VON VADER.

MY HOUSE MUSIC FEST 2023 LINEUP BUY TICKETS LOCAL FOOD, MERCH VENDORS, ART & MORE! SATURDAY 8/12 - SUNDAY 8/13 1PM - 10 PM   TWO DAYS OF NONSTOP HOUSE MUSIC SATURDAY 8/12 - SUNDAY 8/13 1PM - 10 PM TICKETS Supporting My House Music Festival 2023: 2023 SPONSORS   Presenting Sponsor: RE/MAX Loyalty

18/07/2023

Rest well, DJ Deeon. Thank you.

07/07/2023

We are (finally) back.
Tonight. 6 PM Central.

twitch.tv/von_vdr

04/07/2023

Ok, cool.

Finally not traveling or gigging for a while. So let’s let some joy in the room.

Meet me at the usual spot — twitch.tv/von_vdr — on Friday @ 6 PM CST.

✌🏿

THE BARON VON VADER // AMS. the nerd king. // THAT VOICE AT THE JAM // mixcloud.com/vaderwins

01/06/2023

TONIGHT!

27/05/2023

Almost that time again.

Yours truly + SBU + T-Swift + King GNS + DJ Salem.

You already know it's gonna be proper. See you on Thursday.

Lovingly yours, LORD VADER.

12/05/2023

Absolutely wonderful news I can now share...AND ON MY BIRTHDAY NO LESS:

Looking forward to seeing you at My House Music Festival in August.

04/05/2023

Happy May the 4th.

The Jedi have betrayed you long ago.

Come; witness the true power of the force.

18/04/2023

Me: *notices "Dig on Bandcamp" inbox at 479 emails*

Also Me: *gets "Dig on Bandcamp" inbox to 0 by spending $200 on records + digital releases*

Me: "Ok...I think that should tide me over for a while."

The Internet: "Nah...go get this. You know the sample within the first 16 bars. It's got Piano, and it's MOODY. You love that s**t."

Me: "Nah; Yeah, you right."

My wallet: "PLEASE MAKE THE HURT STOP"

🏄‍♂️ Connect with Fidde:https://fidde.bandcamp.com/track/fidde-if-theres-a-heaven-i-wanna-see-it --- Link to purchasehttps://soundcloud.com/fiddestigssonhtt...

20/03/2023

So. I ain't one for asking folks to blow up "crowd poll" statuses.

But I got an eye on this one. Especially considering it's in my backyard (shouts and love to Cicero from your next door neighbor, Berwyn).

Do me a favor, folks -- help me + Tre Daniels get to this stage to play some tunes for the kind folks of Undaground Element Events. Hop onto that post below, tag our pages.

We've both been SURE SHOT for a good while, and we don't miss.

11/03/2023

Last night felt like something special.

A million thanks to DJ KingGNS and DJ Salem for sliding thru, and playing HEAT for 3 hours. And just as many thanks to everyone that tuned in, reposted, and brought folks along for the stream.

Got some rather big plans for VADER & FRIENDS! in the next few months. As well as for VADERcast. overall.

Hope to see some of y'all in Detroit for 313 DAY. ✌🏿

08/03/2023

AND CERTAINLY NOT TO BE OUTDONE OR FORGOTTEN:

See you in Detroit this weekend?

The homies at Motor City Street Dance Academy, and the kind folks at SNIPES USA are having me out as one of your DJs for 313 DAY.

Gonna be a hell of a time. Hope to see you there.

06/03/2023

DO ME A QUICK FAVOR YEAH:

Keep Friday, March 10th open for me. Tell your friends to do the same.

Thanks.

05/03/2023

Hey, folks. Been busy times. But very cool and heartfelt moments have resulted.

For the last month, I've been a guest in residence at Univ. of Chicago for their FIRST dance department production. In the entire history of the department. THE FIRST. A wild milestone.

Over and over again, I'm humbled by folks that "see me," and bring me along as part of relating the journey and joy within music. 15 bright eyed folks invited me into a project that was dedicated to showcasing an immense amount of talent and bravery within representing Chicago-centric dance movements. In my case, House.

DJing, even as a "hobby" in all of the musical stuff I do, has taken me on some of the most expensive and encompassing journeys. And now, for the second time, and with a look toward the future, it appears to be bringing me back into the fold of academia.

I owe a massive bid of thanks to Kelsa Robinson and Brave Monk for having me along yet again for an experience like this. And the experience is always beautiful and heartfelt. And a huge thanks to the students for having me as part of their explorations in a lane of music that I have grown to love so much.

Goodness me, what a strange and wonderful life this is.

Off to Detroit next week.

01/02/2023

Mixing over mashing.

Actual blends over "oops, better slam this fader over."

Effort over image.

It ain't hard.

13/01/2023

Alright, everyone. Here we go.

First, the summary:

VADER WINS, vol. 14.5: LABBIN' is now out. You can find it in 2 places -- for sale on our new webstore (!!!!), and streaming on MixCloud.

Stream on MixCloud: https://tinyurl.com/vonvaderlabbin
Buy it at THE BARON'S WARES & GOODS: https://tinyurl.com/vaderstore

Read on for more details.

THE BAD:

Mixcloud has recently cut some of the better features of their free accounts. Whereas before, DJs could post an unlimited amount of mixes for free, they have now limited it to 10 mixes for their free-tier accounts. It's a sudden change, and we've had to make some tough decisions due to it.

THE SAD:

Starting today, vols. 1-8 of the VADER WINS series will no longer be available for streaming on MixCloud. While this is a tough decision, we still want to make mixes available for folks to get a hold of. So, some decisions had to get made, and I think we found a good middle ground...

THE RAD:

The whole VADER WINS mix series is now available on our webstore -- https://www.dropbox.com/shop/s/vaderwins. Took us a couple days to get everything lined up, but now we're READY TO GO. Tried to be a bit clever with pricing as well, so that we're not taxing for "old s**t." Goes like this: most mixes are $2, mixes over two hours in length are $4, and the last 4 volumes of VADER WINS will be $5. Once new mixes come out, PRICES GO DOWN. Easy. Which leads us to our last announcement...

THE GLAD:

VADER WINS, vol. 14.5: LABBIN' is out TODAY. A 1-hour journey through Deep House, House, Disco, and even a bit of Lo-Fi. This one was immensely fun to make, because it spawned from a practice session with friends. DJ Belly was kind enough to do a bit of *fancy mastering* for us (I TOOK NOTES), and it sounds lush. Again, it'll be available for streaming on MixCloud and for purchase on the store.

Happy Friday, all. Thanks again so much for your love and support across 16 volumes (!!!!) of this mix series. Ain't stopping anytime soon.

As always, yours,

THE BARON VON VADER.

10/01/2023

Three things right fast:

One -- shouts to the forever homie DJ Belly for the assist on mastering the new mix. Every project is a chance to learn something new, and I gained a ton. Appreciate you.

Two -- VADER WINS, vol. 14.5: LABBIN' will be out on Friday, January 13th @ 12 PM Central time. Set your calendars.

Three -- OH MAN DO WE HAVE SOME SURPRISES IN STORE. NO, LIKE A LITERAL STORE. NOT LIKE A PHYSICAL ONE, BUT YOU GET ME.

See you on Friday.

07/01/2023

New mix is done.

Mastering tomorrow.

More on release date soon.

Only took 10 takes. 🙃

06/01/2023

Greetings, all.

Happy New Year.

May we all find the time, space, and grace for art to find and change us for the better.

And to that end: see you in 2 weeks for one of our "inbetween volumes" tapes. You're gonna love this one.

31/12/2022

I'm very fortunate to know a lot of great DJs across genres. Even more so to be able to call a good deal of them close friends.

The forever homie DJ Belly has been one of those folks for a LONG TIME, and has been doing the Midwest proud on that front. He's been the genuine article as far as the art in DJing goes for as long as I've known him.

And here's a slice for you to listen to that'll illustrate the point.

Three cheers, fam. This is an astounding tape.

12-28-22 with 2 hour DJ Belly End-O-Year Guest Mix Twice monthly radio show on WEFT 90.1 Champaign community radio. Two hours of live and/or pre-recorded dj mixed house & electronic music. Guest mixes are featured in the 2nd hour of most shows. Listen live on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month...

29/11/2022

So, some fun news just came down.

See you on Thursday for TRIBE at Penny Whistle Tavern .

20/11/2022

Goodness, last night was fun.

A few thanks to pass out right quick:

Thank you, and best wishes for getting well to Koizumi Yukiko AKA DJ Legitimate Groove. I'd first heard you play in Detroit years ago, and was thrilled when I heard you'd moved to Chicago. I hope you're feeling better soon, and we'll have a chance to play some records together in the VERY near future, I hope.

Shouts to House Nation Music for having me out to play. It's always a pleasure to be able to share some music I love with an audience, and this was no exception to that rule.

A million thanks to IMG Music Group and Shon Roka for loaning me their expertise (and their studio). Doing stream shows at home is one thing, but having friends with a well-run, well-maintained, and well-spec'ed studio DEDICATED to events like these makes them that much easier.

And lastly, thanks to everyone that attended. I always listen to my sets the next day, just to see where my head was when I was actually playing the tunes. Even with my usual want for criticism, everything sounded pretty damn good. This is, of course bolstered by having some of my closest friends in the chat room + gaining some new fans while I was at it.

A wonderful start to my vacation. Thanks so much for being a part of it. ✨

-- THE BARON VON VADER.

19/11/2022

Alright, y'all. Finalized the set this morning over my second cup of coffee. Nervous (and over-caffeinated), but READY.

Come witness the fitness. Yours truly for House Nation Music.

5 PM Central TONIGHT on twitch.tv/house_nation_music.

DJ ZION - HNM live

17/11/2022

Ok. Kinda excited for this one. More than usual.

Yukiko (aka DJ Legitimate Groove) was someone I was hearing a ton about in Detroit before we ever met. And now, having the chance to share a show with her is a huge honor.

In lieu of VADERcast. this week, this is the BEEG TINGS on the House Music front for this week. Shouts to House Nation Music for having us. I promise you - you DO NOT want to miss this show.

Saturday, Nov. 19th @ 5 PM CST, live on twitch.tv/house_nation_music.

Don't sleep on this. Tell EVERYONE.

13/11/2022

So, there's something real exciting taking shape for this coming weekend.

Keep November 19th open for me, yeah?

More news tomorrow.