The last time I drank Red Bull, my friends and I filled up the bathroom sink in our hotel room with ice and cans of it and pounded them like shots of whiskey from nice, glass tumblers provided by the hotel (which we ultimately ended up stealing). I was 17, and it was a Spring Quarter field trip to the Chicago Art Museum, hosted by our high school. We were so jacked on it that, at 2 AM, our art teacher came knocking at the door about noise complaints we had received over the past three hours while trying to film a Vietnam War reenactment in our room using clothes hangers for guns and my friend’s camera set to night-vision mode to make everything look green and, therefore, as much like a jungle as any hotel room possibly can.
Years later, I’m bartending at a dive in downtown Portland, pouring vodka drinks mixed with Red Bull to idiot college kids looking to rage all night, long after the bars close at 2 AM, following an entire week of college courses and homework, paying rent with student loans, and having nothing better to do on weekends than make mistakes collectively, as a generalized demographic proving its own… well, generalization.
Last February, Pacific Northwest beaters DJAO, Running in the Fog, and Natasha Kmeto were invited to attend the San Francisco Red Bull Music Academy, providing the attendees educational opportunities and creative freedom to practice their craft, collaborate, and drink infinite Red Bull, etc. Some combination of all of those things led to a whirlwind 12-hour session of recording, mixing, and editing, ending sometime around 2 AM and resulting in this collaboration. It came naturally. Instinctually. It was meant to be.
No, this is not an advertisement for Red Bull. You should have already received that on your way into Tiny Mix Tapes today. But there is something to be said about getting unnaturally energized at 2 AM and getting shit done, worthwhile or not. And this track, featuring DJAO, Running in the Fog, and guest vocals from Natasha Kmeto, thumps. Like some storm off in the distance shaking the windows and glassware. And those vocal cuts just float so nicely on top.
Check it out:
• DJAO: https://soundcloud.com/d-j-a-o
• Running in the Fog: http://www.facebook.com/runninginthefog
• Natasha Kmeto: http://www.natashakmeto.com
• Red Bull Music Academy: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com
More about: DJAO
