Rock The Bike: BLOG
Check out this bicycle sound system I found on a midnightridazz thread..
…have you ever seen anything this intense on a bike?
http://www.midnightridazz.com/forums.php?topicId=4143&pgnum=1
read moreTandem Action
Last nights configuration.
A little green under the deck to make the spinning rear wheel stand out. It doesn’t show so great in pics, but it was pretty cool. I’m ditching the serfas taillights for a dual red tube of dlg. Talk about a killer taillight – check that swath of light
I have the blue lights angled a little more toward the garage here(which would be the car side of the bike).
read moreRock the Bike’s “The Choprical Fish and the Urban Mobile DJ” debuts at the Bicycle Film Festival in SF
Photo: DustinJ. Please check out the piece below.
Joel Elrod, LiveOnBike drummer, and an explanation of the LiveOnBike Mundo
Skip ahead to 00:24:
This video gives a taste of the LiveOnBike performances we’ve been doing on SF Cruiser rides this summer. Joel Elrod, who had just finished playing a gig with Pleasuremaker, is drumming on a SPDS electronic drum machine. The signal from the SPDS is carried from the back of the Mundo to the front where it enters a DIT Head Unit containing a Rolls MX56c 4-Channel mixer and Shure Wireless body pack microphone, and DoubleWide Down Low Glow battery that powers the SPDS and a dual tube DLG system for 5 hours.
Skip ahead to 1:15.
The LiveOnBike rig also has a microphone seen in this video of Janaysa performing at the Bicycle Music Festival, but it takes longer to set up, so we haven’t been using it with Joel. The signal of the Shure body pack on the LiveOnBike rig is caught by the receiver on the backrest of the Choprical Fish. I select the tracks from an iPod on the control panel of the Fish. When I pick a new track, Joel listens for a few moments and then picks up the beat and improvises on the playing-card-sized rubber pads of the SPDS.
Both Adam (pilot of the LiveOnBike Mundo) and I have the ability raise and lower the volume level of the SPDS. When I was piloting the bike for Janaysa, I was able to set her vocals and keyboard levels independently using Channel 1 and Channel 2 of the MX56c. We were experiencing a very short range with our wireless transmitter that night, as you can hear in the first moments of the videos.
The DIT Head Unit uses the excellent 1-button KlickFix handlebar mounting system, and the wiring harness simply Velcros to the bike, so we can convert the Mundo from Town Hauler to Rock Star in only 5 minutes, and that includes mounting the SPDS and aTractor seat. I know that’s lot of names for you, but well, that’s how we did it.
read moreFirst Ever Southbay Bicycle Music Festival – An intimate musical bicycle cruising night round the campfire
We couldn’t have picked a better day to celebrate the first ever Southbay Bicycle Music Festival, July 19th, 2008. On a warm sunny afternoon we met at Hermosa Pier, sang happy birthday to Cruiser of the week “Tony’, then we headed off towards the Esplanade cruisin’ to the Beatles ‘Magical Mystery Tour’. (What can I say, it felt like we were heading off to Woodstock so the mix was leaning a little towards the ’60′s for this ride)We had a few newbies and some returning youngsters like 2 year old Lola Martin and her 3 1/2 year old sister Sophia, who came with their dad Roger. (Sophia and Lola are former Southbay Cruisers of the Week’ as well.)
As we made our way to Valley Park we were greeted by Makena, one of our featured artists, all set and ready to perform for us thanks to help from ‘Amy ‘The Wonder Woman’ who missed the ride so that she could decorate the park with posters and banners and help the musicians set up. She was also helped by Mary Caldera-who along with Shawnee made two awesome posters just for this occasion. (See pics on www.southbaycruiser.com)
After settling down to a barbecue, Makena kicked off the evening’s performances which included some classic and orignal hawaiian music which inspired us to get up and dance. All the way from Hilo, Hawaii, Makena was awesome, feeding our souls with island tunes like ‘Ulupalakua’ and ‘Waikiki Hula’ It was sure nice to finish a ride in a park and be greeted by Hawaiian music. This duo has performed on MTV and around the world and it was awesome to have them kick things off! They even taught us a little about Hawaiian culture between sets.
As the evening set in we lit our bonfire and were mesmerized by Manhattan Beach’s Delfina. Although only 18 years old, and with only one year of guitar/singing behind her, you’d think she’d been playing since the day she was born. Filling up our souls with stirring original tunes like ‘April Eyes’, and ‘Ritmo Porteno’, this Argentian born rising star had us all on the edges of our rocks around the bonfire. Were it not for the fear that our shared battery powered amps might run dry, she could have performed for us all night long.
Next came The 3 Heads. Acoustic rock legends in their hometown of Eureka,CA, these four took our makeshift stage around the bonfire, and picked up on what Makena and Delfina had started. Belting out original tunes ‘Undertow’, ‘Holiday’, and their anthem ‘World Was Ours’, these guys really helped set an intimate mood around the campfire with their acoustic guitars, bass, and cajon. Their jokes between songs were even more entertaining. At one point they broke into a spur of the moment spontaneous ‘Southbay’ rap song at the end. We were even entertained to one encore performance although, we would have loved to heard them play a few more.
We finished off the night with some karaoke performances including a few from Victor and his son singing some classic Doors. It’s hard to follow up to acts like Makena, Delfina, and The 3 Heads, but we had to try, and we had fun doing it too.
Last but certainly not least, we helped benefit ‘A Window Between Worlds’, (www.awbw.com) a local Venice,CA based group that helps abused women and children get a second chance on life by providing then with safe housing and an art healing program. We brought them canned foods, art supplies, clothing, and $20 in cash donations.
We are looking forward to the next Southbay Bicycle Music Festival. A year seems a little long to wait, so we might have this become a semi annual or possibly even quarterly event.
read moreJoey Mac, bicycle customizer.
Joey leads the Rochester Cruiser Ride, and is developing a fleet of ‘Spaceliners’ he restores and customizes.
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Bike to local music at Dolores Park with Mucca Pazzi, Fossil Fool, Jazz Mafia (was Bicycle Film Festival street party)
Mucca Pazzi performing at Tour de Fat. Photo: Dustin Jensen.
Tomorrow night happens to be Dolores Park movie night, starting at 8PM with live music from Mucca Pazza . This means there will be plenty of people around coming into Dolores for the movie, trying to secure a good blanket spot for the movie, and they’ll be up for live music. The movie is the Breakfast Club, and I think the kind of people who’d come out for that would probably really like what we’re doing.
Joel and Laura hanging out in Dolores Park at the Bicycle Music Festival. Photo: Adam Aufdencamp
The musicians are down to play, and the location is now Dolores Park! Come to the uphill, Mission-side region. We’ll be setting up around 5PM and playing til 8PM.
So here’s how it’s shaping up…
5 PM we roll in, start setting up, enjoying the sunshine, play a new DJ mix from DJ Sergio.
6PM SHAKEYOURPEACE!
6:30PM Fossil Fool, the Bike Rapper. I’ll start by doing some written raps with Joel, Zori, and Mafi backing me up on drums, conga, and maracca. Depending on the power situation
7PM Then we’ll open it up to the freestylists. DJ Seneca will arrive with his MPC and add sampled beats to the percussion chorus. Dublin, Seneca, and Enzyme Dynamite pass the mike.
8PM Mucca Pazza
8:30 PM Movie starts: the Breakfast Club
At this point, we can either stay and watch the movie (I am bringing 1-2 blankets) or go street perform in front of the Bicycle Film Festival. I’m going to try it tonight, so I’ll be able to judge whether it will be cool on Saturday.
Also don’t miss the debut of our piece “The Choprical Fish and the UMDJ,” in the Friday Night 9:00PM screening of ‘Fun Bike Shorts.’
Here’s the official event page for BFF: http://bicyclefilmfestival.com/2008_site/sf/
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