Love, On The Beat! That's the alluring name of the new DJ night launched by Codebreaker mastermind Steven Hawley at the Hi-Hat Garage. The spin takes place every Wednesday and Hawley jacks up everything, including, in his words, "Electro, nu Italo, disco, house pop, future pop, punk funk, new wave, micro, space funk, electro funk!"
Hawley says that the time is right for a musical mix like this.
"Love, On The Beat! is right on time with any cutting edge subcultural dance night in Paris or Berlin," he says, "but it's done from a very natural, non-pretentious, party -up Milwaukeean perspective."
Hawley says that the club scene in Milwaukee has grown stale and needs a dose of something new and that's exactly what he's hoping to do with Love, On The Beat!
"There have been so many new developments in the last couple of years regarding night life in Milwaukee. (But) basically, there are a lot of new places to hear the same old trance, top 40, or kitsch pub sing-a-longs. There has been a lot of really fantastic modern dance oriented music coming out, with many feels, that needs to be heard."
But with the nightlife in Milwaukee and a fair selection of clubs around, why aren't we already hearing some of this music? Hawley says it's due to a follow the leader attitude at Milwaukee's clubs.
"One of the night life growing pains with a town like Milwaukee, is a lot of the club scene is really concerned with trying to come off like we're in L.A. or what they think NYC is like," he says.
"They are trying to imitate are people whose cultural references don't run any further than MTV, or obnoxious tourists. I'm tired of walking into clubs where everyone looks and dances exactly the same. I've met a decent amount of people I hadn't before in the last few years here who feel the same way. It's time."
Time for Hawley to attempt to breathe some fresh air into what he sees as a stagnant scene. So, how will he accomplish that from his control tower?
"My sets aren't linear all night," he says. "I have a great respect for that, but that's just not me. My style is sometimes I beat match and other times just good cuts to the next track. I like the night to keep moving with a lot of variety and quirk, while doing the crowd reading."
As for the music, Hawley says his playlists will be diverse, eclectic and wide-ranging.
"The stuff I'm playing runs the gamut of great new artists that a lot of people want to hear here when they are out, but don't, like Cut Copy, M.I.A., Annie, Goldfrapp, Freeform Five, Playgroup, etc.. Also a lot of great artists that get totally overlooked in the States, like Planet Funk, Isolee, Uffie and so on.
"I also mix classic disco, electro, punk funk, and new wave from the '70s and '80s. Hell, even a bit of cheesy house pop, if the hook and groove grabs me. I'm a populist at heart."
Despite the fact that it's brand new, Hawley has high expectations for the Love! On The Beat.
"There already seems to be a lot of excitation about it," he says. "The music, the location, the timing seems all spot on."
The Love, On The Beat! Web site is myspace.com/loveonthebeat.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
