So you think you can dance, Milwaukee?
Codebreaker's Steven Hawley says you can, and he should know; he's been watching from his DJ perch at Moct during his monthly dance party, Fitness.
Laying out tracks like Jimmy Ross's "First True Love Affair" and Komiko's "Feel Alright," Hawley and his guest DJs -- the likes of Straka Khan from Love Sounds and BT Magnum of the San Francisco-based blog "Beat Electric" -- spin a full night of rare (and not so rare) disco, boogie and "cosmic funk" sounds that give you more than enough reason to skip the gym.
There's no way you're not breaking a sweat.
Hawley says he's organized these first Friday Fitness dance fests to encourage Milwaukeeans to let loose and celebrate diversity, expressiveness, flamboyance and free-spirited fun when the work week is through.
He launched the party this past October and has watched his turnout increase as the months roll on.
"Let's be honest, (there's) a high chatch factor we're up against," he says, noting a distinct disconnect between the city's hearty party hubs. "Whether it's the indie dance scene, funk, electro / minimal house stuff or disco ... all these scenes here should really keep supporting each other more and more to add to a viable counterbalance and (provide) alternatives for the city's nightlife."
The next Fitness goes down Friday, Dec. 5 and Hawley has his hopes on securing guest DJ Mike Simonetti from the eclectic, clubby mash-up Italians Do It Better to help him provide the beats that make you shake your thang, including previously unreleased material from Codebreaker (the electro disco duo Hawley heads with bandmate Sage Schwarm).
Codebreaker's been getting critics excited with recent singles "Fire," a collaboration with London disco diva Kathy Diamond, and its '80s-influenced funky B-side "R.I.M.L," released via Disco Demolition Records, the small record label Hawley launched in 2007.
What else is new on the Codebreaker front?
"Oh man, I don't where to start!" says Hawley. "A new single collaboration with French pop legend Marc Gauvin, another new single with Nomi from Hercules & Love Affair, a new track for the "Rewind 2" compilation out of Barcelona, doing vocals for a new track from Will Eastman, a remix for this fantastic boy / girl duo from Toronto called Electric Youth and a new music video."
That should keep them occupied and our bodies moving until the next Fitness party rolls into town to help us keep our New Year's resolutions in early 2009.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
