The Bag Messenger BlogBag Design and Urban Living

Here's another interview from the vaults. 

If you live in Philadelphia and follow the music scene; than chances are you ether know about the Ill Vibe Collective, or have been to one of their events. The crew has been doing work in the city for a solid ten years, no slow in pace, and with no end in site. They are a true asset to the city, and frankly more useful than that damn cracked bell everyone comes to see. An integral piece of this music machine is David Adams, AKA Lil Dave. I will say Lil Dave is a complex man, and that he is also a genuinely really nice guy. This could strike you as odd. Usually when you meet a "lil" they are either humongous, or a rapper with an airbrushed t-shirt and rhinestone encrusted teeth. Neither is the case with Lil Dave. Upon meeting him, you realize he got the name sincerely because of his lack of bigness, and that unlike most guys he shares a nickname with, he has impeccable taste and no visible tattoos. What makes the man tick? Why does he like robots so much?  Read on good reader...your answers lie ahead.

-THE BAG MESSENGER

The Bag Messenger: Name, Age, Where are you from? 

lil'dave: I go by Lil Dave. I'm Thirty one and from Philadelphia.

The Bag Messenger: What do you do?

lil'dave: I dj and promote various events around Philadelphia with my crew Illvibe Collective.  I make music (hiphop, future soul, house, broken beats, soul, etc) and I have a bunch of releases floating around. I've been been on the radio giving people cutting edge music since '96.   My current show is Eavesdrop Radio.  I also dabble in graphic design and technology.

The Bag Messenger: What exactly is ILL Vibe Collective? Who is involved?

lil'dave: Illvibe Collective is my musical family.  We are basically a group of five djs -  Phillee Blunt, Skipmode, Panek, Mr. Sonny James and myself.  Everybody has lots of different talents and resources that make us a force to be reckoned with.  We can produce, engineer, design, organize, film, edit, build and destroy.   Over the past ten years members of our crew have released countless mixtapes, toured the world, recorded with some legendary artists, dropped some great records, designed our own line of clothing, hosted a bunch of radio shows and podcast, etc etc etc.

The Bag Messenger: What is Eavesdrop Radio?

lil'dave: Eavesdrop Radio is a show that DJ Junior of Record Breakin Music and I have been doing for the past few years.  Musically we play all sorts of stuff from japanese jazz to future soul to wonky hiphop beats to latin house.  The common denominator between everything we play is that it all has soul.  We are broadcasting out of a small college station in West Philly, but thanks to the internet we have grown a giant international following that just keeps getting bigger.  You can catch us live every Friday 6pm-9pm EST on WKDU 91.7 FM in Philadelphia or http://www.wkdu.org worldwide.  We also have a podcast at http://eavesdropradio.podomatic.com.

The Bag Messenger: How did you first get into music and when did DJing come into the picture?

lil'dave: My parents were big music lovers.  My moms vinyl collection has some sick records in it.  They got me hip to all the soul, funk, and jazz stuff.  When I got older I was a radio fiend.  I got tapes of all the old mixes from Vibes & Vapors, Radioactive, and other shows.  I started buying lots of vinyl and I made a dj setup out of some old audio equipment around the house.  When I got to college, I immediately joined the radio station and started my first radio show, The B-Side (which eventually got changed to The Down Lo Mix Show).  That lead to a bunch of opportunities and experiences that lead me to being the DJ I am today.



The Bag Messenger: What brought you to design? We're you always into visual art?

lil'dave: Way before I was into music, I was into art.  I used to illustrate my own comic books and do all sorts of art projects as a kid.  The design I do these days comes out of necessity.  There is always a need for a flyer, web graphics, and artwork for a music project.  It's all worked out pretty organically because making art and making music are very similiar processes.

The Bag Messenger: Where do you find inspiration in your work (design wise, music wise, production wise)

lil'dave: Dope color schemes, ethnic foods, robots, percussion instruments, indie movies, video games, jazz, new technology, textures, old records, analog synthesizers, and my family.

The Bag Messenger: What are the tools of your trade? (whats in the bag; gig wise, design wise, work wise)

lil'dave: I pride myself on having some crazy records.  I use Serato to dj most gigs, but if you see me pull some vinyl out of my bag, hold your head.  I have a full arsenal of rare and timeless dancefloor rockers in all sorts of genres.  On the production end, I mainly use Reason to make beats, but I'll make use of anything I can get my hands on.  Design wise, I'm with the industry standard... Photoshop.


The Bag Messenger: Any projects we should be on the look out for from you? What's Ill Vibe up to in 2010? 

lil'dave: We are currently putting the finishing touches on our first Illvibe Collective album.  It's a producer album with lots of different singers, MCs, and musicians performing over our tracks.  The musical styles are really all over the place.  Hopefully it will be in stores by the summer.

Check out this mix done by Mr. Sonny James of Ill Vibe. It's all crew exclusives, free, and blazing hot. 

Use a computer? Need to get off the couch before you loose your mind? Hark! The Laptop Backpack is clamoring to help you with your transportation needs! Heed its beckoning call. 

DJ Spinna is back at it again with the latest installment of "Strange Games and Things". Volume 5 has yet to drop, but you can enjoy the stream in the mean time. Check BBE for the release!

The Strange Games… series which began in the summer of 1997, represents
the blueprint for modern R&B and rap music. It joins the dots between 70s soul,
80s rare groove and 90s mass market hip hop. This compilation contains a wide
variety of styles of tracks, from classic dance-floor fillers as well as lesser known
delights. A more accessible diggers delight if you wish with an emphasis on quality
track and not just songs worth having for a 2 second sample.
Featuring a much more worldly selection than its predecessors - tracks by the
multi platinum selling War to Sylvia ( Founder of Sugarhill Records) sit side by
side with world music underground icons like C.K. Mann and Francisco Aguabella.
This volume is the 5th in a series of compilations that appears to have the widest
appeal of all BBEs compilations and proves to be even better by the fact that there
is a bonus mixed CD by the one and only Dj Spinna!

Strange Games and Funky Things 5 - Mix by DJ Spinna by MemeMagazine

Tracklisting:

01. Ned Doheny - Get It Up for Love 
02. Sylvia - Sweet Stuff 
03. The Ambassadors - I Ain't Got The Love (Of One Girl On My Mind) 
04. Richard Evans feat. Linda Williams - Capricorn Rising 
05. Starvue - Body Fusion 
06. Sylvia St James - Motherland 
07. The Soul Searchers - Ashley's Roachclip 
08. Willie Hale - Groove On 
09. Eddy Senay - Cameo 
10. SSO - Faded Lady 
11. Cal Tjader - Morning 
12. Francisco Aguabella - Ramon's Desire 
13. The Philly Armada Orchestra - For The Love Of Money 
14. Family Tree feat. Sharon Brown - Family Tree 
15. The Perfect Circle - The Hands Of Time 
16. WAR - War Is Coming, War Is Coming 
17. Hiroshi Fukumura - Hunt Up Wind 
18. Wood Brass And Steel - Always There 
19. C.K. Mann & His Carousel 7 - Asafo Beesuon / Obaa Yaa Aye Me Bone (Medley) Edit 
2! 0. Merry Clayton - Gimme Shelter 
21. Bill Summers - Bra! zilian S kies

A Jewish new Year mainstay recipe

Once more the calendar turns toward Fall, and for us members of the tribe the Jewish New Year is upon us.  The event not only reminds one to make amends for the human failings of the past year but like so many Jewish holidays gives a great opportunity to eat a fine meal, and drink a little wine.  The following recipe for Brisket can be used whenever the urge strikes for some comfort food and can be rolled out for any holiday (Jewish or not). Enjoy!

-David

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 (4 pound) beef brisket

2 onions, thickly sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet or pot over medium-high heat.

Season the brisket generously with black pepper.

Place in the pan and cook until the surface is a rich brown color, not burnt, but dark.

Lift the roast and scatter the onions in the pan.

Place the uncooked side of the roast down onto the onions.

Repeat the browning process.

Add the garlic to the pan, and fill with enough water to almost cover the roast.

Bring to a simmer.

Reduce heat to low and cover with a lid or tight-fitting aluminum foil.

Simmer for 4 hours, turning the roast over once halfway through. (The roast should be fork tender.)

Remove the brisket to a serving platter.

Bring the broth in the pan to a simmer, scraping the bottom to loosen any browned bits.

Cook until reduced to a thin gravy.

 Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. 

Traveling In Nicaragua 

When you mention to most people that you are going on a trip to Nicaragua they tend to be confused. It just isn't a place you hear about these days. Why would you somewhere that recently ended a civil war and is run by a political machine? I'll tell you why. Nicaragua is a tropical paradise. Sandwiched in between Honduras and Costa Rica, in Nicaragua you can pick coconuts right off the tree, teeter around volcano craters while smoking Cuban Cigars, surf, lay on the beach, drink rum all day in hammocks, and buy more Cumbia CD's for a quarter than you can cram in your luggage. Thats right. Paradise, and it isn't that dangerous if you know what to look out for. I wrote this not as a guide to the country, or even a real review of where to go. Instead look at this as a snapshot of some of the places I visited, and a short list of things to avoid. Even paradise has its pitfalls, and be very aware, some of the pitfalls in Nicaragua are very deep (see volcano below). - Case

The Volcano Concepcion

Managua

The countries capital is Managua, a city that sprawls in the view of active volcano's, and lies along a major fault line. Declared capital in 1852 and essentially destroyed in an 1931 earthquake, Managua has had its share of natural disasters in a relatively brief period. In the 1970's after a large earthquake hit and flattened the city center, everyone relocated and rebuild further from the fault line. The resulting "new city" was laid out in a way that is so confusing it only makes sence to natives. In Managua, pot holed streets wind through crowded neighborhoods, and all is done seemingly without organization. There are no street names or addresses in Nicaragua (Managua included). None. In Managua everything is identified through a coordinate system that uses "towards the lake", "away from the lake", the direction the sun rises East aka "up", and the direction it sets West aka "down" as indicators. Your hotel may lie one and a half blocks down and two blocks towards the lake. This whole system raises another issue. Managuans use landmarks instead of addresses to identify places, and often times these landmarks are no longer around. Your hotel may be by "the big tree", or down the street from a particular business that closed years ago. As long as it is (or was) a commonly recognized place, it may potentially enter the directional lexicon. Needless to say getting around Managua requires a keen sence of adventure, a compass, and a guide.   

Driving 

Driving in Nicaragua is an extreme sport. The roads are in varying degrees of bad, two lanes width, and covered in obstacles. Passing a vehicle in Nicaragua means heading into opposing traffic and praying you live. My cousin once almost killed someone trying to pass another car by making simple mistake, he forgot to look behind him before he veered into oncoming traffic, and simultaneously pushed a car trying to pass him from the rear off the road. The other driver, regained his bearings and followed their car in hot pursuit hurling bottles at them for the next few miles. Lesson learned. Be careful. Did I mention goats? Or horse drawn carts? You'll figure it out.    

The Chicken Bus

If you don't feel like driving, and trust me you won't, aside from taking Taxi's your only option is public transportation. The bus, aka the Chicken Bus, can get you near any destination and costs about what you would expect a bus that carries livestock to cost. Its cheap, crowded, and may be the most exciting bus ride of your life. Let me set the scene for you. Most of these buses in Nicaragua are old United States school buses that have been reappropriated to carry three times the normal load, decorated with religious symbols and ribbons (for protection), and a large roof top platform for luggage. On the bus vendors walk the isles selling drinks in bags or little snacks, and they hop on and off constantly. The driver has assistants that take fare, open the door for passengers, and climb on to the roof of the speeding bus to dangle items off for exiting persons. That's right, the bus doesn't stop. It just pauses while you jump off and run along side to retrieve your bike from the roof, or transfer to another bus in the middle of the street. Who wants to read the news when you could be living it?

Riding the bus.

San Juan Del Sur

A beautiful coastal city on the Pacific ocean San Juan Del Sur is in the South West side of Nicaragua a short distance from the border with Costa Rica. The city, I'm stretching the term here, is set in a bay and surrounded by beautiful green hills. Originally a small fishing town, these days folks come to the area to surf the area beaches. The culture in town is laid back and feels worldly. You can eat really cheap at the market, get a good cup of fresh roasted coffee at El Gato Negro ( a local book store and coffee shop), and take a bumpy bus ride to Maderas to surf. I really don't have much to say about San Juan Del Sur other than you really can't go wrong in a place so beautiful. 

Every photo i took in San Juan Del Sur looks this good.

View of the bay from the hills

Transportation

Look at this view. It speaks for itself.

Granada 

Granada is the countries third largest city, was established in 1524, and is located on the coast of Lake Nicaragua. The streets are well laid out and lined with cool old buildings. Wandering around the city center is a great way to spend some time, and if you tire of it you can hang out in a garden cafe or check out the lake. There are also tons of tours where you can do yoga in the jungle and get in touch with your inner self (if your into that kind of thing). There is an open air market in the center of town, and a bunch of vendors on the street selling all sorts of stuff. As far as I can tell the city is devoid of records. I went everywhere looking to buy "grandes discos" with no luck. All I got were some bootleg Cumbia CDs and a few odd looks.  If you have any luck finding records in Granada..or Nicaragua in general please drop me a line. 

One of many local churches

A Garden Cafe with hammocks.

Lake Nicaragua 

Lake Nicaragua is huge, about 3,000 square miles. Really really large. The largest source of fresh water in Central America. It is so large in fact that it is home to one of the only species of fresh water sharks known to man, a chain of 365 islands (Las Isletas), and Concepcion a huge active volcano plopped in the center on the island of Ometepe. If your in Granada you can charter a boat and take a tour of these islands for a small fee. The islands are pretty small, and have mostly been bought up so that the uber rich could build mansions on them (what's more plush than owning your own island?). There is even an island with monkeys on it.

Check this house out. What is grocery shopping like?

There is a bar on this island, just in case you've got to catch a boat, and have time to kill.

I'm pretty sure these monkeys will starve if tourists stop visiting with treats. Come prepared.

You can take a ferry to the island of Ometepe from Porte San Jorge near Rivas, or just hang with monkeys 

Ometepe in the distance. 

If you are looking at taking a tropical vacation, consider Nicaragua. The country is beautiful, the people are friendly, and traveling on the cheap is easy. If you do make it down there ,please drop us a line and let us know how the trip went, and if this helped out in any way. You can check out the rest of my photos here