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kerwritesthings · 4 years

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The Start of Our Love Story

Summary: Before there was a me and you, there was me and there was you

Word Count: just a hair over 7k (buckle up y’all)

Warning: fluff and feels, a little bit of angsty longing, a little bit of messy, a bunch of sweet

Author Notes: So this is another one of those that festered from a tiny germ of an idea after something @fallinallincurls said and it kind of became, well this. It’s how it all started for these two. A look at their backstory. I kind of really love this. For me, I always want to make things I write feel real, that it’s not too much of the storybook, easy cliché. I want it to feel like this could actually be a thing that happens. This one feels more like that than anything I think I’ve written. I’m quite proud of it.

As always, this falls in my yet to be named verse. The rest of my works can be found here at my newly cleaned up and shareable masterlist. This honestly, if you’re just starting to read my pieces now, would be the first to read, then follow the rest as I’ve got them down on the master. However, it can be read as a solitary one shot. Much love to @whenidance for listening to me whine constantly at stupid o’clock that I’m writing more fic yet again and to @fallinallincurls for being the kickstart to this and for being the best damn cheerleader.

Toronto was never in your plans. Work wise, you were grinding away, working like crazy to make a name for yourself. That’s what mattered. Nothing else outside of work, your tiny apartment on the Upper West Side, brunches at Sarabeth and Jacobs Pickles and abusing Class Pass studios with your best friend Didi made it on your radar. But when the SVP of Charitable Corporate Giving came to you to chat about the expansion of their presence through the other international offices outside the US, more so growing and figuring out new ways to introduce corporations with their donations and their CSR programs with new charitable efforts; specifically an opportunity that would have you sitting possibly between New York and Toronto for a few months, eventually leading to full time position in Toronto, you sat up to listen. She immediately sets up time for you to head to Toronto along with a dossier of meetings with key folks there.

Didi came with you the first time you went up to Toronto for the exploratory conversations. The both of you came to love your time traipsing through Canada, Toronto and Montreal specifically. Plus, you both have friends scattered between the two. “This also means we can go harass the shit out of Hirashan, who we have not seen nearly enough of,” she trills off gleefully. “Plus, you know he throws killer parties, if we both visit you know he’ll do something fun.”

She was right. As soon as Hirashan found out you were coming into town, aside from the key smash that you may be in town for more than a brief trip if all works out well, a calendar invite for dinner shoots through immediately, then with a quick follow of ‘my friend Tristan is already having a few friends over for drinks that Friday night, we’re crashing’ which had you and Didi rethinking your packing knowing how Hirashan rolls.

After a day full of productive, thought provoking meetings that have you questioning everything back in New York, dinner with Hirashan, his boyfriend Miguel and Didi was exactly what you need to put the heavy thoughts in your head back a bit, at least for now.

“Tristian’s place is like Architecture Digest worthy,” Miguel raves, arm in arm with you as you head into the building. “The views of downtown and the CN are ridic. I’d say splurge if they want to drag you here and give you budget, but I’d much rather have you closer to us.”

“There is no way I’d be able to afford this building, let alone this neighborhood,” you quip, heels clicking on the tiles as you head up past the front desk to the elevators. Tristian’s ‘few friends over’ was tamer than you had expected, a solid number of people are scattering through the condo, but enough room to still feel like you could breathe.

Hirashan introduces you around like a proud parent, it’s sweet and not nearly as embarrassing as you thought he would be. There’s no way that you’ll remember everyone, your brain already feeling at max capacity after the day you had. However, luckily for you after the first full round of the room, you fall into an easy conversation with Tristian. He’s down to earth, a transplant from Georgia, and someone you could easily see becoming friends with if this move becomes an actual thing

“I have to introduce to my friend S,” Tristian says his thick southern twang bleeding through, craning his head around looking for him. “Normally, you can’t miss him he’s so dang tall. Whenever he gets here though, I must make the intro. I think y’all would get along well. He’s my neighbor, well not directly, but he lives in the building too.”

Didi and Miguel pull at you, passing around shots, and passing you around to meet and talk with other people. Your head is spinning, less from the whiskey you’ve been plied with through the night, more with the sheer fact that this night is making you see that Toronto may have to become a thing; and you’re smiling.

“Wait, here she is,” you hear Tristian first, before you feel him tug at your elbow before you go stumbling forward before tipping sideways. Another pair of hands come to steady you at your waist.

“Easy Tris, don’t break the girl before I can meet her,” the voice belonging to the hands at your sides retorts. He helps right you on your feet and you’re met with a pair of the prettiest eyes you’ve seen in awhile.

“As promised my dear,” Tristian grins, throwing his arms around the both of you. “This is Shawn.”

He looks oddly familiar, but you can’t place it or him. He’s quite stunning though, gorgeous really. And unlike some of the others around the apartment, he’s dressed for the occasion. A well put together man is a weakness for you. Let alone one with eyes like this, a swath of riotous dark curls and a bright smile.

You fall into talking easily, not even noticing when Tristian leaves. This Shawn of his is well spoken, funny and it feels like you’ve known him for much longer the way the two of you chat. You wander into the kitchen at some point to grab another round of drinks, a glass of white for you, a beer for him, continuing the conversation of why you were up in Toronto this week in the first place.

“Sorry man, I need to borrow this one for a few if you don’t mind?” Tristian calls from over the breakfast bar. “Couple more folks I need to introduce her to before they head out.”

“It was really lovely talking to you Shawn,” you say, smiling. “I’ll find you before I leave.”

A few minutes turns into an hour, Tristian and Hirashan passing you around through a new group of people that just arrived. Next thing you know, it’s almost 1:30 am and the boys are starting to fade. You’ve lost track of Tristian, as well as his friend Shawn. You were hoping to see them both before leaving.

“Can I steal you for a minute before you go?” Shawn inquires, as you’re grabbing your coat from Didi’s outstretched hand. Miguel just smiles, elbowing Hirashan and pushing Didi towards to the door.

“We’ll go down and wait for the Uber,” Miguel says, nudging you forward.

You slide into your coat as he walks you around the perimeter of the living room, out the French doors to the balcony.

“I didn’t want to ask in front of everyone, especially your friends,” he gets bashful, a light pink flushes his cheeks. “But I really liked talking with you tonight, getting to know you. Can we stay in touch? Even if Toronto isn’t in the cards for you, I’d still like for us to talk more. Become friends even.”

You nod, smiling softly. “Yeah, I’d like that. Here’s my card. Everything is on there. Cell, email.”

“I’ll text you in the morning, so you have mine,” he replies, squeezing your hand after sliding the card from it. “Let me walk you to the elevator.”

He loops your arm through his, guiding you back through the groups of people in the apartment, down the hallway and to wait for the elevator to pop back up.

“You don’t have to wait with me,” you say softly, hands in your pockets so you don’t do something like reach out to grab a hold of his.

“Yeah I do,” he smiles, and it seems like he shifts closer to you. You get a whiff of his cologne, and you hope in lingers in your nose for the rest of the evening.

The elevator doors slide open. “Thanks for the lovely night, Shawn.”

“We’ll talk soon,” he responses with a smile and a cute little wave before the doors close in front of you.

“Good night?” Didi asks flopping down onto the bed in your hotel room. “I saw that look on your face a few times, this is gonna be a thing now isn’t it? I should warm up the Star Alliance frequent flyer number soon, eh? Figure out the best flights from LaGuardia up here.”

“It’s feeling good, I want to really think on it though once all the big brass talk everything over,” you start, changing quickly, the day finally catching up to you. “And more so what they’re thinking with transition plans and comp package.”

“You do realize though you were all chatty flirting tonight with Shawn Mendes, right?” Didi fights through a yawn once they’re in bed. “Major thing to throw in the plus column for this. He looked all smitten kitten too, especially when he came over before we left. Get it girl.”

You’re suddenly not as sleepy as before. “What the fuck, no way Dee.”

“Mmhmm, why do you think the three of us let you guys be for as long as we did. Tristian mentioned him coming by. Thought right off the bat you two would get along after you and Tristian got to chatting. Tris was right and I’m glad he made that happen,” Didi mutters, face smushing against the pillow. “Plus, he’s so your type. One of us needs to tap that, and I think Tomas would be beyond pissed if I did, so it’s your mission now. And you must share all the details once you get dicked down by that hot piece of man candy.”

You throw the smaller decorative pillow on the bed over at her face. “I didn’t, I mean. We were just talking Dee. He looked familiar, but. Oh god, Didi,” you grab the other pillow and place it over your face to scream.

You try to put it out of your mind, especially with everything else going on around the Toronto whirlwind. Even more so when a few days go by and you don’t hear from him. He flat out asked for your number, you slid him your card which had your cell and your email address. He said he was going to text you, so you had his number, and he wanted to stay in touch. You thought he was being sincere. You try not to let it get you down. Thinking of it now after everything, he’s a massive pop star, what would he want to do with someone like you? He was probably just being polite. You’re about to pop into the meeting with the SVP of Charitable Corporate Giving, when a text pops up from a number you don’t have in your phone.

Hi it’s Tris! Found your card in my guest room, must have slipped out your bag at some point when you were here last week. Let me know when you make your decision. Welcome to crash here until you find a place if the decision is a YES!

The only card you gave out that night was to Shawn. Did he lose it? Did he leave it there? Too many questions, you had an important meeting to get to.

Your apartment is almost completely packed up, the movers coming in a few days to take everything. It was a no brainer to say yes, though it meant less time of a transition and more of an immediacy in Toronto. You decided to spend your last full Sunday in the city at some of your favorite places. Breakfast at BEC, a facial from Facehaus, a wander through Strand Book Shop and an afternoon at Té Company. You manage to snag your favorite table: a half-padded booth in the back corner next to the window. A pot of tea and a book that has nothing to do with work and you’re ready to take a deep breath or three.

“That young man asked me to bring you over a fresh pot of whatever you were having,” the server gestures, swapping the steaming pot in her hands with the cooling one you have on the table. “Shall I bring over another cup?”

You look up from your book, and from her, to see him. Your breath catches for a moment. He’s got a shy smile, looking straight at you. Beat up black boots, dark jeans, cozy grey sweater, a vintage black leather bomber. Curls a windswept mess and eyes bright. He looks like he belongs here, in your perfect Sunday afternoon in New York City. You don’t know how you feel about the fact you’re thinking that way, especially after everything. Damn your subconscious. You’re too polite to ignore him or flip him off, so you nod and wave him over.

“Of all the gin joints, Shawn…” you sigh out softly.

“This is so crazy, that you’re here. Hi. So, I owe you an apology,” he explains carefully, sitting down across from you despite wanting to slide onto the bench next to you. “Because the nervous asshole I am, I totally put your number in my phone wrong. I tried texting you a few times, and nothing. I figured when they weren’t going through as iMessage I got it wrong and then I realized I lost your card, so I had absolutely no way to check or get in touch. I also didn’t want to look desperate or completely pathetic tracking down your friends through Tristian to hound them for your number when I had already asked for it myself, especially the way I did, or stalk you on social that would have been worse.”

He’s adorable when he’s flustered. “Take a breath, Shawn,” you smile softly. “Tris has it. He texted me the following week that he found it in his guest room.”

“I went in there after I walked you out,” he runs his hand through his hair, messing his curls about even more than they are already. “Needed a minute cause the pretty girl I talked with all night actually wanted to keep in touch too. I sat on the bed and put your number, or what I thought was your number, in my phone. I thought I slid it back into my pocket, it must have jostled out.”

“I thought, well, honestly I didn’t know what to think,” you begin. “I didn’t realize you were, well you until after I was back at the hotel with Didi. I thought you looked familiar, but I just couldn’t place it. Then when you didn’t reach out, I was like what would this guy, this Rockstar, want to do with me?”

He shakes his head at first. Then, he slides his phone out of his coat pocket, flipping through a few things before sliding it across the table to you. “Go ‘head,” he nudges it closer to you.

There were four or five green text bubbles in the open message window, an 8 in the place where the 0 should be in your number.

I know I said I would wait until tomorrow, but I just wanted to say how nice it was to talk with you tonight. It’s Shawn btw :)

I know you’re probably crazed with just getting back but wanted to see how decisions were shaking out? I’m bias but I’d be happy to talk up Toronto some more.

Let me know when you’re back in town? Would be great to see you.

I may be in New York soon, would love to see you in your element. Can we grab a drink if you’re around?

Chat soon?

“He was kind of taken with you right away. Because that night? He got to just be just this guy Shawn talking to the prettiest girl in the room, who also happened to be so easy to talk to and laugh with,” he says honestly.

“It’s happening by the way,” you respond, pouring him a cup of tea despite your shaky hands. “Toronto. Next week. It’s my last full Sunday in New York, I’ve been hitting some of my favorite spots today as a last hurrah, including here. Movers come Tuesday; I fly out Thursday.”

“I found this place on my first solo trip to New York, and have been coming here ever since,” he sips at the mug that looks awfully small in his hands. “How many times do you think we crossed paths here and didn’t even know it?”

“We did on the time it really matters though didn’t we?” you smile over your mug.

You’re there for hours without even realizing it. Talking about whatever comes to mind. Everything from Toronto to New York to music to hockey, life and everything in between. After the second pot of tea, he moves to sit next to you on the banquette. By the third, he’s turning to face you straight on, head resting on his left hand with his knee pressing warmly into your thigh. Not once did anyone come to interrupt or bother the two of you, no wonder he’s gravitated to this place. By your fourth, you’re mirroring him, turning towards him. It’s comfortable, he’s comfortable. It’s easy, too easy actually. There are no awkward silences, no weird blips in conversation. It scares you. You’re already on the precipice of something majorly life-altering. You’re not sure you can take up another major change. And you believe him and his rambling explanation before. You do. But there’s a part of you that’s scared. Maybe you were just meant to have these pockets of time together, these brief beautiful moments. Nothing more. Your head is a swimming mess of emotions.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but we’re getting ready to close,” the older gentleman you’ve come to know as one of the managers explains.

“Holy shit, it’s almost 8,” you stretch, popping your shoulders. “I didn’t realize it was that late.”

“What time did you get here?” he asks.

“Only 20 minutes before you did,” you say, timidly, resting your hand over his that’s resting on his knee. “But this was a really good way to spend my last Sunday in New York. Honestly.”

He flushes brightly, “I’m really glad I came in here today.”

“Now, may I please see your phone?” he questions, a sly little grin creeping up one corner of his mouth.

You nod, reaching for it out of your bag and unlocking it.

Shawn takes the most ridiculous selfie, you can’t help but fight giggling, then flipping back to poke at the screen before handing it back to you.

“You’ve got mine and I sent a text to make sure I’ve got your right number this time,” he expresses, his finger tracing over the knuckles on your hand. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate and it’s all going to be crazy for a good while for you, but I’d like to keep whatever this may be going.”

You duck your head, threading your hair behind your ear, nerves suddenly rearing their ugly head. Your stomach flips at his touch.

“I don’t want to lie to you Shawn, or lead you on,” you exhale, voice shaky. “This is all a lot. The new job, the move, this, you. I’m pretty fucking terrified as it is. But then add this in? Especially cause you’re you and… This isn’t a no, but it’s not a yes. It’s a not right now and I know that’s a lousy answer and the last thing I expect is for you to wait, because why would you. I’d like to text, when I can, at least for now.”

You know that answer wasn’t what he was expecting. Honestly, it wasn’t what you thought you would say to him either. You want but you also know you to listen to what your gut is telling you, despite your head and your heart fighting to have a say in this too. You’re afraid to look up, to meet his eyes, as you fear it could be the last time you see them up close and in person like this.

“Hey,” he replies softly, nudging your chin up with his pointer finger knuckle. “You’re turning your entire life and everything you’ve known upside down. I get it. It also means a hell of lot to me that you’re being honest. It also means you’re not placating me, which I’m appreciative of. It’s actually really refreshing and kind of a turn on. I’ll be here and I’d really like it if you still texted, call if you want even. I promise you I’ll answer, anytime ok?”

You nod, trying to fight back the fog shifting across your eyes, a small sniff breaking through though. “I’m going to just…” you say gesturing to the ladies room.

“I won’t leave,” he states.

You quickly splash water on your face, blow your nose, grateful you had your facial before, so you don’t have a mess of makeup to clean up. Taking a few more deep breaths, you head back out. He’s got your bag in hand, your coat over his arm. He’s making this whole not now thing hard to stick to, but you know truly know that if it’s meant to fall into place, despite everything, it will.

“What about the…” you start, looking around the table for the billfold the owner left.

“Taken care of,” he cuts in before you could finish, holding out your coat to help you into it. You itch to hold his hand as you head out and down the steps, but you don’t want to go back on everything you just said. Instead, you set to order an Uber. You peek over, and it seems that he’s doing the same, looking at you out of the corner of his eye as well.

The nip in the early spring air is out, now that the sun has set, and you snuggle further into your coat. He shifts closer, rubbing his hands lightly over your arms. You’re coming to realize how much touch is a part of his language.

“I won’t let you say goodbye, because it’s not that. I won’t let it be that,” he murmurs. “It’s a see you later, ok? And, I’d like, if you’re comfortable with it, to give you a good luck I’m here for you hug before you go.”

You nod, thankful it’s dark so he can’t see you blushing. He takes you in his arms easily and holds you close. He’s warm and solid, he smells like fresh laundry, boy and springtime wrapped together and it feels like you fit just so. He leans his head down to rest on top of yours, squeezing his arms around you tighter. “I mean it,” he whispers. “I’m here ok? However you need me to be, whenever you need.”

He keeps you in his hold until a car pulls up, and of course it’s yours that comes first; the driver calling your name through the open window.

You pull away slowly, reaching for his hands and squeezing them in yours. “We’ll talk, I can promise you that, Shawn. Just bear with me?”

He nods, squeezing your hands in return, “Travel save and go be awesome.”

Your resolve lasts a whole four days, texting him simply a photo through the plane window of the approach into Toronto.

She’s looking all pretty for your arrival – welcome to your new home! he texts back with a Canadian flag emoji and a red heart.

It’s not easy, you knew it wouldn’t be. Your new apartment is lovely but it’s still not feeling comfortable and like your home yet. You’re thankful that you have friends that have taken time to wait for the cable guy, accept furniture deliveries and your moving truck because you don’t have the time. Not with work. Work is hard, harder than it was in New York. They throw you right into the fire immediately. It’s new office politics, it’s a new role, new everything. Even the fact you don’t have your favorite Starbucks baristas nearby anymore to supply you with your afternoon pick me up the way you like it when things are crazy irks you. You look back through your texts, hovering over the chain you’ve got with Shawn. You haven’t texted him since that flight photo. You want to, but it would just add more to an already full plate.

Bringing you dinner and a surprise! LMK what you’re jonesing for comes through from Tristian late Friday afternoon after your second full week in the new office.

A gigantic bottle of white? you text back with the side eye tongue out emoji. He’ll think you’re kidding. You’re not.

I’m bringing a few bottles and Japanese. I’ll use the spare I need to drop back off. See you in a bit!

The surprise, you come to find, once you’re both on the couch with chopsticks in hand, is even a mystery to Tristian.

“I couldn’t say no,” he fights out around a mouthful of shrimp teriyaki, pointing at the package on your coffee table with his chopsticks. It’s carefully wrapped in butcher paper with a pretty silver ribbon. It’s a box, thin and flat, nothing too large with a white notecard underneath the ribbon. “I’m not going to butt in on what’s going on with y’all, but we had drinks after he got back from New York. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that besotted, but all he’d tell me was that he’s playing off your lead. He’s not pushed or anything. So, when he asked me to help get this to you, I had to. At least I didn’t give him your address, girly.”

“It’s complicated,” is all you can really give to Tristian to explain or encompass it. Because that’s exactly what it is. You slide everything off your lap to exchange it for the box. Carefully, you unwind the ribbon, it’s too pretty and something you’ll want to keep to use in another way. It’s two notecards under it, and they fall out into your lap. They’re handwritten in deep blue scrawl, to match the border of the card. You pull the shorter of the two notes out first.

I’m really hoping this isn’t too much or crossing any lines. I saw this and thought of you immediately. It’s just a little something as you’re conquering the world. – Shawn

The little something is a gorgeous journal, soft deep midnight blue leather covered in silver embossed vintage maps with a silver pen slipped in the loop.

“Damn,” you mumble, fingers tracing carefully over the leather for a moment before snagging the other notecard.

I know you’re probably still figuring everything out and exploring. I’m giving you a list of some of my favorite places in the city, so don’t go spilling my secrets ok? :) If you go to the link at the bottom, it’s a Google Maps planner so you can save it to your phone.

“This boy,” you sigh, leaning your head back on the couch. It’s sweet and thoughtful and just on the right side of tugging at your gut. Damn him.

“Tell me why y’all aren’t knockin’ boots yet?” Tristian quips, leaning over you to grab a Spider roll.

“Because I still don’t know my head from my ass up here yet and he’s Shawn fucking Mendes, Tris,” you take a large sip of your wine. “And I’m just some girl.”

“By the looks of it, you’re not just some girl. Just saying,” he says, nudging your shoulder.

Well after a few bottles of wine are polished off and Tristian on his way back home, you’re finally in bed. You’re still not used to the sounds of this city and you’re fidgeting, tossing your phone back and forth between your hands. It’s late, too late to call. So, you do something completely out of character, you record a voice memo to send to Shawn.

“I wanted to call, but it’s too late and I’ve had a little bit of wine that would make my resolve even weaker if we actually talked on the phone and I heard your voice. But your delivery boy came by this evening,” you speak quietly and carefully. “Thank you, Shawn. It’s perfect and so beautiful. I’m going to start using it on Monday. Then that list, with that Google link? That’s the absolute sweetest. I know I haven’t reached out and I’m sorry, really, I am. This is a lot harder than I thought. I miss home, this doesn’t feel like home yet. I know it will, but it’s not right now. Work is kicking my ass, and I’m grateful they trust me and for the challenge, but it’s so different than New York. It’ll all come together, but right now it’s just a fucking lot. I think though that this weekend, I’m going to try some of your list and I’ll try to share my adventures along the way. I promise you though Shawn, I am thinking of you and I want to get through this and feel like I’m good to talk more to you, with you. Thank you again, sweet dreams.”

You can’t bear to listen back, so you just save it and quickly shoot it off in a text to him with an old school t9 heart. You wait a solid 20 minutes before setting your phone on do not disturb, plugging it into charge and flipping over to try to get some sleep.

The next morning, your phone is scattered with different alerts: a missed FaceTime call and a handful of text messages, some with attachments, from Shawn. You press play on the memo first.

“So, please forgive me for trying to FaceTime, especially at like 1am, but you sounded so defeated in your message and it just killed me. Then I realized what time it really was and hoped you were already asleep, or your phone was off, and I didn’t wake you. I was in the studio head down working on something when you sent that, I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you right away especially after I told you to reach out at any time,” he rambles before taking a breath. “First off, you’re welcome. I spotted it and knew it belonged with you. Please do let me know what you think of these places, I’d offer to come with you especially since you’re having such a hard time, but I’m going to respect your wishes. Just know, if you do need company, I’m good for it. I’m sending you a couple things to read and to listen to, too. Things that have helped when I’m on the road and just feeling overwhelmed or scrambled. I hope they help some. I’m here, remember that ok?”

You send him a video of your mug of tea next to the journal on your coffee table, steam swirling from the mug with his latest album playing in the background.

Step one – making this journal about me and for me, not about work, with my favorite tea at the ready and I may or may not be listening to something special today to get me started.

You do something you haven’t in a long time, you write. You journal, and you let yourself feel and get everything out. Including about this darling boy who keeps making his way into the forefront of your mind.

I feel honored – need to know what your fav is, you know for reasons ;) I’m hoping it gives you a bit of a breather that you’re needing.

You spend the day concentrating on you, hitting two spots off his list: the tea shop and the record store, purchasing way more than you need at both. Once you make it back home, you feel lighter, more at ease. You spend time setting up the new record player, immediately sliding the first item you searched for onto the turntable and snapping a quick picture.

You sound better on vinyl btw – please don’t make me pick a favorite, I kind of love this whole entire album.

From there, you keep randomly texting, haphazard things, no rhyme or reason. Just talking and photos and whatever comes to mind, and it goes both ways for the both of you and you keep that up for a few weeks. It’s easy, it’s fun, neither of you putting pressure on the other for what’s next or what’s to come.

A touch over a month after you sent him the vinyl photo, he texts you a Dropbox link one afternoon.

A little something since you liked the album so much. Hope you enjoy.

That little something? It’s the whole album, acoustic, just him and his guitar stripped down. It’s soft and intimate and absolutely amazing.

Shawn, are you kidding? This is stunning. How come I haven’t heard any of these before?

It’s only late that night when you’re about to fall asleep that you think you hear your phone chime. You don’t pick up, waiting to look at the message the next morning. There as plain as day is his very simple response.

Because I worked on it for you.

You want to call to really talk to him, hear his voice, you want to see him, something, anything. But you can’t. You’ve got an important meeting at 9 am sharp that you cannot be late for, a jam-packed schedule the whole day and an event that night with one of the new clients, a charity benefit showcase at Horseshoe Tavern they asked you to go with them to. You don’t want this to be a brief tete-a-tete either with him. You quickly send off a string of every heart colored emoji there is because right now that’s what it feels like, your heart is exploding in its feelings.

The club is filled to the brim that night, your clients are overjoyed and your new boss keeps texting how she’s pleased the clients are happy. However, you’re frowning at your phone. Nothing from him, not a peep all day. You normally wouldn’t be concerned, but after yesterday, you’ve got a little bit of worry niggling at your stomach. You can try him after you’re out the doors of the club later, but for now, you need to put on a smile and make sure the rest of the night goes smoothly. The talent wrangler for the evening is dragging you backstage with your clients. A surprise guest is coming to perform and the CEO wants them to all meet before this person heads up to the stage for the last songs of the night, a thank you to your clients for their support of the charity. Backstage is a shit show to say the least, you’re jostled around trying to make your way back to the green room before being slammed by one of the sound guys and his massive rig bag.

“Watch it,” you call out, rubbing at your hip as you try to catch up to the rest of the group ahead of you.

“Damn, are you ok? It was a hell of a hip check if I ever saw one,” you hear from behind you.

You know that voice. “Shawn?” you ask, turning around to face the voice.

His eyes grow wide, his smile even wider.

“Oh, I see you’ve met our special guest,” the wrangler says, nudging Shawn forward. “Shawn, you can head back with this group if you don’t mind? I need to find a few other folks for this meet and greet.”

He agrees easily, shifting closer to you as you head back to the green room. “Fancy seeing you here. An unexpected surprise for sure. The best one really.”

You nod, biting your lip, the corners of your lips quirking up. “It is. Let’s get the business stuff out of the way first. Then maybe, after everything, and the show’s done tonight, we can talk?”

“I’d like that,” he snags your hands, squeezing them in his before he lets you go to you knock on the door.

The green room is small given the venue, but it’s a loud cacophony of sounds and people, and you’re both pulled in opposite directions immediately. You can’t help but catch sight of him here and there, he’s one of the tallest in the room so it’s not difficult. He looks good. His hair’s a little longer, curlier. You can’t help but smile, for a few reasons now, but at this moment you hear his laugh from across the room and it’s bright, infectious. It simmers in within you, but you can deal with that after the event’s over. The rest of the evening flies smoothly. You manage to sneak a drink from the bar in time to catch Shawn taking to the stage. You stay out of sight, tucked in the corner, wanting to observe him in his element. Him performing is nothing like you’ve seen before, especially in such a small venue. This could easily become something very addictive. Just as the show wraps, you shoot him a quick text.

Need to get my clients out the door then I’m free, maybe take me 10 more min. Somewhere around here good for a drink of some kind? Quiet?

His answer is quick, quicker than you expect, in two rapid texts.

Yes, Suite 114: https://www.suite114.ca/

It’s a 20 min walk from here, about 2km not bad - but I saw your heels so there’s none of that tonight. Uber over? I’ll meet you there as soon as I’m done with packing up and I have to say goodbye to the club owners. Promise I won’t be long.

Once you’re wrapped, an Uber comes quickly, surprising for a Friday night. It’s a quick hop over and the bar is cozy, dimly lit and decadent. A modern-day speakeasy vibe. He’s right though, it’s quiet, not overly full and there’s a couch you can claim towards the back of the room. You order something simple, a champagne cocktail with grapefruit and St. Germain, to sip on as you wait for him. Something light and celebratory. It was a good day all around.

“Am I allowed to say you look beautiful tonight?” you look up to hear him say, your cocktail and a rocks glass in hand with a few fingers of something dark in it.

“Only if I can wax poetic about seeing you perform live tonight,” you reply, fingertips brushing his hand as you slip the glass from his grasp. You may have done it purposely.

He blushes, settling down close to you with his arm stretching across the back of the couch. “I just might have switched songs at the last minute, after seeing you. Wasn’t supposed to do Lost tonight, but it just felt right.”

“Special in a room like that, like that small and intimate yeah? It felt that way at least, from watching it. You’re something else up there, Shawn,” you muse, twirling the flute carefully between your fingers, eyes catching his.

“Had a pretty girl I needed to impress tonight, so,” he drawls, looking down at the drink in his hands. “It was the best thing seeing you there tonight.”

“I wanted to call you this morning,” you begin, sliding your free hand to his forearm on the back of the couch. “But I didn’t want to rush the conversation. I had meetings, this tonight. I just. I had to send something, so I exploded all those hearts in that text. I needed to make sure I had the time I wanted, that, after your text with what you said, and that Dropbox. Shit, Shawn you’re making me all jumbled and to be perfectly honest? After seeing that text when I woke up? All I wanted to do was to hear your voice, talk, laugh, spend time with you, hug you tightly. I didn’t expect any of that. Whatsoever. It’s thrown me for a loop. A good loop, but still a loop.”

He places his glass on the table next to you, slides yours out of your hand to take a hold of it. “The last thing I want to do is scare you or overwhelm you. But. Is it okay if I say I feel the same? After Tris’ thing, then even more so after New York, I knew I needed to have you around, whatever way you’d let me. Your call and your speed. I was drawn to you in a way that I hadn’t been to anyone before, and I didn’t want to give that up. I was so glad to hear from you, after Tris got you that package. Your voice I mean. And then, the last couple weeks, not going to lie here. I’d look forward to your texts, those random little photos you’d share of those looks of how your life was settling in here. When you went to Sonic and it was my album you got and started listening to, it just hit me and I went into my studio at the condo to start laying those tracks down for you. That was, it meant a lot to me, so I wanted to just do something for you just as special.”

You lean your head on your hand, the one that’s still laying on him, now closer to his wrist and take a deep breath. “Honesty continuing? I’m scared. This whole being here is still such a rollercoaster, and then add in what this could be, especially… You’re you, Shawn. Shit, I don’t want to sound like that but it’s there. There’s a lot that goes with it, you get that right? I don’t think…”

“Take a breath,” he murmurs, slipping a piece of hair that’s fallen across your cheek behind your ear and trailing his finger down your cheek ever so lightly before tanging his fingers with yours. “I understand. I do. I’d like to, if you’re game, see where this goes. No pressure, nothing but the two of us. Only the two of us. Can I take you out on a proper date? I’d love to, please?”

This boy, this sweet, kindhearted adorable boy, this ridiculously famous pop star, really wants to take his time and spend it with you. This time, you listen to what both your head and your heart are telling you. Take the jump.

“I’d really like that, Shawn.”

TAG LIST: @whenidance, @parkerdavis, @sinplisticshawn, @hollandraul, @fallinallincurls, @itrocksmysocks, @rainbowshawn, @lasingphomustra, @illumecherry

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes oneshot #shawn mendes story #shawn mendes fluff

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abiroach · 3 years

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Found this best ever Rave flyer SUBB 1995 !!! If u were there, u were there Fire alarms at Latvian house 4am parade of E’d up club kids to catch 22 🤣🤣🤣 (at Toronto, Ontario) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJmJB-3BOlN/?igshid=5v4csorummx3

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frankiebones · 6 years

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25 years ago tonight was the very last Storm Rave. I almost got stuck in Toronto after a gig the night before because it started snowing and all the airports closed. The east coast got 1-2 feet of snow. I somehow snuck onto an out-of-service Amtrak train, got back to NYC and showed up for my set with 25 minutes to spare. There were 2500 people at that warehouse in Staten Island. It’s crazy because I somehow predicted the snowstorm when I made the flyer in October. And 25 years later on the same Saturday it snows all day in NYC.

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mystkmixtape · 4 years

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Visits to the malls were a regular thing as a teen growing up in Brampton. It was a way to go out, hang out in the arcades or at the billiards, flirt, buy the newest sneakers and fresh gear, kill time, sit by the fountains, or eat at the foodcourt. One day my dad and I were shopping at Bramalea City Center (so flirting wasnt an option this occasion) and on the top deck, i remember being drawn in to what I thought I heard was someone playing jungle aloud on a boombox. There were a few cart vendors on the top deck near one of the escalators. I got pulled in like a magnet. Low and behold....the sickest culture cart of the burbs; seling dope hats, cool shirts, rave tickets, stickers, and a small wall of cassettes. A brother by the name of Ken was peddling hard! I said to myself holy shit!, theres too many tapes here for me to buy, so he let me listen to a bunch of them and this was the very first cassette I ever purchased from Word Up. It was magical. And say what you want about Ken slinging bootlegs, but the fact of the matter is, he was pushing culture and trying to make a living out of it. Even if the deejays didnt get paid directly through their mixtape sale (as these were dubbed by him on premise), the promotional value to get you to go to parties with the that DJ name on the flyer of an event has to go for something. I mean, at the end of the day, even the producers weren’t getting any royalty from the records being played on a packaged and sold mixtape; and its largely still like that to this day. So, yah. I supported Ken and he became my dealer for many years. As for Mystical Influence himself (Patrick), as many of us know, he was yet another pivotal Pioneer in our scene who operated the legendary Toronto division of UK’s Eastern Bloc Records at 224 Adelaide St. West. That outfit served our rave community here in Toronto for many years. His style was just that....Mystical. It was always a heavy journey; as if you were being guided by Mystics through the pyramids of Egypt somewhere deep in the futuristic lands of time. (if anyone can tell me what cassette volume this is, I’d love to update the description)

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enchantedrhythms · 7 years

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Interview with Mark “Turbo” Turner

Former Eastern Bloc records employee and resident DJ at the legendary northern techno club The Orbit has kindly taken the time to answer some questions and provide a mix for Enchanted Rhythms. Read the interview below and check out the mix on our Soundcloud.

So let’s start at the beginning of your musical quest, what was your entry into deejaying and music?

Breakdancing was my entry into music. In the 80s when breakdancing kicked off I was a popper and had a little crew. You’d hear the music whenever you went out, whenever you’d go out meeting other crews someone would have a mixtape. Hearing this music you’d be like, “Oh my god. This is amazing”, and you’d be like, “where do you buy this shit?” People go, “you can just buy it in like Virgin or HMV,” so I’d get my pocket money and get on the bus or train and go to Leeds.

Where were you based then?

Featherstone which is in West Yorkshire, just some little mining village. Like I say I’d get my pocket money, get on the bus or train, get to Leeds and I’d have enough money to buy a record.

What were the tunes you were dancing to?

Stuff like Egyptian Lover, people like Knights of the Turntables, loads of stuff on a label called Vintertainment, then GrandMixer D.ST, Celluloid, which was more arty New York-style stuff, always interwoven with people like Keith Le Blanc who did more of the big beaty dub stuff in the early days. Tackhead, people like that from the UK...just really industrial sounding drum shit with early repeat style sampling stuff. You could tell they’ve just got a sampler and are hitting the key going “ah-ah-ah-ah-ah”. Early roots shit like that, rough, not quantized. In that period it didn’t mean shit, it sounded like future music anyway. Labels like Music Specialist, Pretty Tony, the roots of electro, obviously things like Cybertron’s Clear. We were more into the West Coast stuff like I say, Egyptian Lover, all the Crew Cuts records, World Class Wreckin’ Cru which is obviously Dr Dre’s possy before NWA. All the Crew Cuts was fucking badass, stuff like Clientele Yella. In Straight Outta Compton (the movie) they don’t even touch on that vibe.

So how old were you then?

A teenager. I think I got a set of decks when I was about 14. I’m 46 now, so a long time ago. My first turntables were two identical belt driven Pioneer hi-fi turntables with no pitch and some crap Tandy mixer from Radioshack. What I would do is get Jocks magazine, which was a forerunner to DJ Mag, where they used to review records and include the BPM. I’d roll into a record shop like Crash Records in Leeds and give them a random list of things that were similar in BPM. The style didn’t really matter, just because I knew I could mix them on my set-up. After a while I got some Technics rip-off Soundlab decks, and after those it was just a matter of saving up and buying the real thing. After having belt-driven Soundlab turntables getting a pair of Technics is one of the highlights of your life. These solid pieces of kit where you can actually mix records night and day.

How did you get into House music?

My friends were getting into the early Chicago stuff and one of them had been buying all the old Trax Records and had started a little night in Wakefield. I went to this night and after starting hearing that I was like “what is this shit?”, Chicago, this 4x4 shit, this is the next phase. I mean there was a period where you’re like “I’m not into that”. It can be like you’re a little tunnel blind to what you’re into, no matter what it is. I had that thing where it had to be electro or hip hop, everything else was shit. But then going out and hearing one of my mates playing me this stuff I was like, this is even better than what I’m already into. From there on it was just house shit and hip-hop/electro on the back-burner.

From that things progressed, and the rave period came. We used to go to illegal parties, loads of little raves in warehouses. Discovered gear, speed, acid, party fuel. This music sounds wicked but with this shit it sounds even better. The whole rave period of the early 90’s, we did illegal parties. I got busted at one in Leeds at this big Guilderson Rave (The Love Decade) in 1990. I think it was the biggest mass arrest ever in the UK with like 800 and something people arrested. I was locked up for 9 hours totally wired in a police cell with some mad scouse guy in the cell next door banging on the wall going ‘Hey, Macca, where are you Macca’. After getting out the cell I had to get on the bus and go back to my Mum’s house and she is like “where you been”, and I’m like “err, nowhere”.

At this party were you playing or just raving?

Nah, it was a guy called Rob Tissera who was playing and he actually got a 6 month prison sentence. He wasn’t the organiser of the party but as the DJ everything got put on his shoulders. Those little parties were the intro to the Criminal Justice Act. After that party they really booted in strong with that but we did another under a motorway bridge in Wakefield called Finger In A Matchbox. It was just two parts under the M1. We got a rig under there, played one record and all of a sudden the wires were cut and the police were there with a roadblock.

So they were waiting for you?

Yes, this was before social media but the word had got out. What we had done was created a escape route. On a lot of motorway bridges there is a route from one side to another, like a hatch, and we had all these candles down there. When the police came we banged the turntables into these bags and legged it down this tunnel where we laid low for 4 or 5 hours, whilst everyone else on the other side of the bridge were getting arrested. When everybody left we got back down to the car and then fucked off.

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The aftermath of Finger In A Matchbox.

How did The Orbit start?

There weren’t any raves in West Yorkshire, you always had to travel. There were the Guilderson parties but everything was really was elsewhere, Blackburn, down south, Stoke, or Liverpool’s Quadrant Park, places like that. When the Orbit came along it was like there is a club where you can listen to all your favourite music and it’s 10 miles away. First night going there, I think it was Grooverider and Evil Eddie Richards. It was wicked, there were all the people you went out with everywhere else all over the country but you could just go to this party and go back to peoples houses afterwards. With the illegal raves it was just service stations afterwards, wired with a little bag with a change of clothes because you had sweated that much and you would stay there till about 11am. People were getting flats around the Orbit around this time, so we could go to the Orbit and then afterwards go to someone's flat.

Sounds better than service stations.

Well the thing with service stations is everyone got banned once they started getting wise to where all these people were coming from. At the service station they would have a roof that came all the way down to floor level and people would climb up on them and start dancing like crazy fools. They started closing the stations so you could get some petrol but you couldn’t go in.

How did you get involved playing at the Orbit?

The Orbit got so popular that they opened another club, so they had Osset and they opened After Dark in Morley. Some of my mates knew the guys that were running the Orbit so I gave them a mixtape and they let me have a set. I can’t remember who else was playing, DJ Sy or something, it was the hardcore period with Grooverider, Fabio, etc, people dressing up mental with Persil boxes on their head. We didn’t know but in After Dark there were loads of these little rooms and me and my friend Nidge, who I had hooked up with wandered up into one on a Saturday night and there was a DJ playing in there. We were like, what’s this? Nobody's ever told us about this. So we told Sean who ran the club that we would like to DJ in the backroom instead. So they chucked out the guy who was in there and I would bring two massive speakers and amp from a friend and some decks and we started doing the back room at the Orbit. It was hardcore and techno in the main room and we would play house shit in the backroom. As the backroom started getting popular we moved up into another room at the top of the club. That is where we started playing the more purist techno sound, it wasn’t really a chillout room. Downstairs, you would be getting the hardcore shit and upstairs we were smashing out early techno like Underground Resistance and all the Belgian stuff.

After a period Sean had gotten unhappy with all the happy hardcore clientele. So he approached a few people, for example Dave Angel, saying they want to take the club in a more techno orientated field. They asked for a list of names from someone already on the scene. Dave gave them loads of names like Sven Vath, all the Harthouse guys, Jeff Mills, Tanith, IQ, Westbam, Marco Zaffarano, we’d start getting the American guys like Mike Dearborn, DJ Skull all the Toronto boys, like Hawtin would be on a Plus 8 night, John Acquaviva, Mark Gauge as Vapourspace. With the UK lot, we had Sims, Oliver Ho, Ruskin, Surgeon, British Murder Boys, Mills played there loads of times, Laurent Garnier, everybody who's still on the techno scene today. We also started doing Reflex stuff, so we had Aphex Twin playing live and even on his Soundcloud page there is a track he did for the Orbit. It was wicked, but not everyone got it...some crazy long haired ginger guy lying down on an Amiga computer with a TV screen, smashing out Didgeridoo and shit like that.

Orbit flyer from 1995.

We had Wishmountain (Matthew Herbert), who used get dressed up in a suit and mime along to his tracks. He’d get on top of the speakers and get a trumpet out of his suitcase and do a crazy live set with shitty harmonicas. He did one thing with radios where he just sampled little bits of radio recordings and make tracks with it, it was wicked but not everybody got it. A lot of people were quite straight with what they want; repetitiveness, kick drums. We had a full Reflex night once with DMX crew, Cylob, and Aphex Twin deejaying. That night turned into a riot with the crowd throwing shit at DMX, we switched off the music and he was shouting back offering out the crowd. The crowd thought it’s gonna be Aphex Twin, it’s gonna be the shit. When he came on at the end he was playing Drum n Bass + 8 style, and people were going crazy, booing. I talked to DMX about it later on and he was like man, that night, one of the worst nights ever. It’s a night that always sticks out, not that it was shit music, just that the crowd weren’t ready for it.

What was the vibe like in there?

Atmosphere wise I’ve never been to a club anywhere like Quadrant Park in Liverpool in the early 90’s. It’s totally electric, hairs up on the back of your arms, everyone just dancing with their hands in the air all night long. It was the same with the Orbit, I think it might have just been a Northern thing. The more north you get the more people party hard. If you ever went to the Arches in Scotland, more north, more nutty, more hardcore, more up for it, more party! I’ve always found London more subdued, not pretentious but just always a bit tame, the North's always had it for me.

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Liverpools Quadrant Park.

How often were you playing there?

Every week we had the back room which was originally the foyer where you came into the club. There were a lot of nights where I missed the big guests because I loved playing in the back so much. We’d just turn up and be like let's have a hip hop night and play hip hop all night or be like let's have a electro night and just play electro all night. There was no control in that room, you could play whatever. You’d get your friends to come along and get them deejaying. It got to the point where people just wanted to come to play the backroom. You’d get people who played the back room and you’d see next to their name on flyers “The Orbit”,and they should have put in brackets “The Backroom”. A lot of close friends say it was always about the backroom for them as well. We used to come in there, all night sitting in the corner smoking reefers, listening to you play whatever basic channel till whenever. We did book people in the back room as well, we had the Orb, Fat Cat and we used to get these guys if Sven (Vaeth) did a night called Aural Float, really good electronic artists who did stuff on his label. The backroom was my Nirvana.

Did you ever play in the mainroom?

I didn’t really, although when one of the guys Nigel left, they asked me to play in there. Thing is I didn’t buy that much techno, I’d buy UR and Mills stuff and that but obviously working in the shop (Eastern Bloc) I had a massive run on promos. I got a name for being the guy getting asked what I’m playing and it’s some white label promo that I can’t even remember the name of. The main room was mad. It opened at 8pm because it finished at 2am. So you’d start the night with some electro, some dubby Basic Channel shit and then it would just fill up so at 21.00 and you’d have techno skinheads on the dancefloor going “Come on, Come on”. I’d be like fuck it, and stick something on with a kick drum and they’d all be like “Yeaaaaaaa”. You couldn’t really take it as a warm up, you couldn’t really progress. You could do a hour of what you wanted but then all of a sudden it would change gear because you had such a short period of going out. Nowadays you can go out for days but at that period in time you only had till 2am so people just wanted to go out and have it. That’s where I got my name, but it was never my thing. I was into it but what I was playing wasn’t my true love, if you know what I mean. The backroom was me, the backroom was about how I expressed myself in what I played, in the electro shit or the house shit. I love techno but I’ll always go back to house and if you came and saw my records it would be mostly house or old electro shit. I’ve got techno but a lot of the techno from the period of the Orbit I found it a bit throw-away. So when the Orbit finished I saw those records as just tools to pay the man and got rid of alot of them. I’ve had a few deejay jobs where I’ve just bought things, you do, you buy shit and years later I look at it like what is that shit and I’m sure there are records that I’ve got rid of and I’m thinking shit, that is £100, £200. It’s not the fact that I still like it, just that I sold that for 1p or job lots for 100 records for £100.

What sort of size were the rooms?

1200 capacity in the main room and on a busy night that would be full. The backroom was about 100. One of the problems with my room was that we didn’t even have proper speakers. I used to bring some little speakers every week in the back of the car, proper DIY style. I had to plead with the club to get some big speakers and when they finally got them, they just gave me a stack of gear and were like, there you go. I had to wire everything up and figure out crossovers myself. When I installed them it was the best thing ever. The club didn’t see the backroom as a financial thing until a bit later. Unfortunately the speakers didn’t last long, we rinsed them out and blew them up!

What happened to the Orbit?

It wound down because the minimal thing came along and people got into different things. The clientele were shrinking and the new audience weren’t going for the 135-140 BPM techno stuff. So in 2003 the Orbit closed. The last night we had Ruskin and Surgeon. We didn’t even announce it was going to close we just had the last night and it just ended, and that was it.

Tell me about Player.

When the Orbit was still going it had a studio upstairs and Sean who ran the club was thinking about starting a label and asked us if we wanted to get involved. It was me, Jon Nuccle and Mike Humphries who put stuff out on a techno label called Red Seal, and another guy called Ignition Technician. It was just a little collective. We named each release Player 1,2,3 and so on, it was never about who had made each one. That was a hard thing to push because it had no identity, it was just a label. We just had some fun making tunes, cut and paste shit, sample whatever, just put it out. That mentality, just fun, no seriousness to it, we just wanted to do something different. We styled Player on UR 003 and just that UR way of doing things. We didn’t wear masks because we didn’t have press shots but the records were just a track, no info, maybe just a email address on it and that was the way if anybody would get in touch with us for licensing etc. A lot of people liked the Player stuff at the time. I think it was because it was different and we didn’t push the fact who we were. We were invited down to Radio 1 to do a mix by DJ Fergie. The thing with the Player stuff is it was fast but it still had that cheeky house vibe to it. One of the best ones was Ignition Technician did Player 3 that starts with the Jeru The Damaja bit from Playing Yourself. The first two releases had been kinda back-burners but when that came out, that just smashed the label into another level.

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We did Player 8 called Zilcho which is one of my favourite Player records because it’s just a house cut-up of Rick James’ Give It To Me Baby, it’s a Beltram remix. We asked Joey to do a remix of Player 8 and he said you know what I’ve just done a version of that track (Give It To Me Baby) without even hearing yours, so he sent that back and we put it out. It was a lot of money, about £3000 for this remix but at the time the label was paying for itself and we all thought Joey Beltram was a god. Joey Beltram putting out a release on our label, you can’t get better than some stuff.

We did a remix for Billy Nasty but he never put it out, one of Gaetek old tracks. We did quite a few things that never got released. What happened was people heard certain tracks of ours and they wanted us to recreate it for their remix, but then we’d do a remix and it would be like this hip-hop, cut-up, pumped-up, big shearing 909 thing, and they’d be like we don’t really want that. They’d email back saying ‘we don’t like that’. Well, we’re not going to do another. We’ve just spent days doing that, that’s it. We’d just put it out ourselves, what you gonna do about it? We’re from Yorkshire and you’re from Italy or whatever. I think we fell out with some people. There were some stories going around that it was going to kick off if they came to play the Orbit. Not sure where it all came from but we had this backstory going on that we were all bad boys and that it would all kick off if you messed with the Player squad. Well it wasn’t true, we were just pussycats just putting out records.

What Happened To Player?

We had 28 releases as well as remix EPs, so about 35 releases in total. We were distributed through Intergroove, who were a massive distributor. As well as Beltram we had Adam Beyer, Mark Broom, Ben Sims all doing remixes for us and people like Derrick May and everybody playing it. The label for a while was massive, but it was that period you could sell shit, loads of records. People now press 300 records, back then we’d sell out of 1200-1500 copies in a week. Thing was with all these distribution companies everybody had these P+D deals, you never had pay any money out. You sent them your new tracks, they pressed it for you and then they recouped the costs back from your sales. But what happened was all these companies were taking on so many labels that they couldn’t recoup the costs back and then all these distros started going bankrupt. We started moving the label from distro to distro but they kept going bankrupt. We’d put a record out with one, it’d go bankrupt and we wouldn’t see any money, move to another, same thing. So we thought, we’re not putting anymore records out. The label finished in 2003 when the club shut.

Check out the Player Bandcamp where you can find vinyl, digital and merch.

Eastern Bloc Records former location on Oldham Street.

How did you end up working at Eastern Bloc?

Eastern Bloc opened a shop in Leeds in 1995. This guy Pete Waterman wanted to make a little entity to rival HMV and he bought-out a lot of underground shops. He bought Flying, Scott and Scooby’s shop, Shindig up in Newcastle, Unity Records in Liverpool and he bought Eastern Bloc Records. I was originally just buying records. I used to visit Eastern Bloc in Manchester from the early 90s, once a month, wazin a full month’s wage and be skint until the next month. I’d say to Jon Berry who still runs Eastern Bloc now, “If you ever have a job going, I’ll pack my job in and I’ll come and do it any time” and so when the Leeds shop opened I was in there doing the House buying. Nidge who DJ’d at the Orbit did the techno buying.

That was the period when Relief had just kicked off, Ron Trent's Prescription records, all that shit, so musically wise it was amazing time. When deliveries would turn up it would be like ‘Have you heard this fucking Paul Johnson shit?’ or this new Chez Damier shit or this new thing on Strictly Rhythm, you would just be buzzin’. Now everything has been invented, and it’s a case of re-inventing things, just changing it, say slightly changing the production style of it, then there were still things to come, so when things turned up I’d be like, I’ve not heard this shit before, this is the future shit. Obviously the Dance Mania shit and some of the UK stuff like early Pepe Braddock coming out, people like Motorbass and the good French stuff, obviously Daft Punk coming out, when the Daft Punk Homework album came out I’d be like fuck me, I’d play the album in the backroom of the Orbit all night. Same with a lot of shit like Basement Jaxx, when they first dropped they were totally different to anything. It wasn’t ghetto but that Atlantic Jaxx shit they used to do with a dub influences with big wobbly sub bases. Man, I’ve got a crazy Bassment Jaxx collection, so big. Never got rid of them because I love that vibe. They're not very good these days, same with Daft Punk... but back in the day.

Mark in Eastern Bloc, Manchester December 2016.

UK garage also started arriving in the late 90’s. With UK garage there was a lot of shit and there was a lot of good shit. I used to be a quiet lover of it, just take the odd ones like all the Ice Cream stuff and Social Circles. Most people that worked in the shop hated it, but I think they hated it because of the clientele. There wasn’t really a garage scene in Manchester, that was always about London, so you’d have Garage Nation, Sun City, all these nights down there. You’d get countless bad boys rolling into the shop as we’d stock all the tape packs and do tickets for the events. Some were cool as fuck but a lot of bad people used to roll through the shop. It was one of the most hardcore environments to work in for a while, in a good way but also it could be in a bad way. We used to get a lot of garage nicked. You’d give piles to people on a busy saturday and you’d be like where has that pile gone! We also had threats of violence, threats of getting shot up. There was this time where some guy asked us to save some tickets for Garage Nation but they had accidently been sold. This guy is coming in going “do you know who I am, I’m gonna come back and shoot this place up, I’m gonna get my knife.” So he’s there threatening one of my mates in the shop whilst I’m on the phone to one of the promoters from Garage Nation asking if they can sort out some guest lists for the guy. I’m like to the guy chill I’ve got the guy from Garage Nation on the phone here you can have a word with him. We evaded some kick-off moments but it could have become quite hairy in the shop.

You can be a bit of a nobhead working in a record shop and I’m sure a lot of people thought that I was a nobhead working in a record shop. Thing is, working in a record shop it’s got a persona sometimes and when people come into the shop they know there is a persona so they act with a persona as well. It’s gets to that point where it’s just people trying to outsmart each other, “have you got this”, “have you got that”, “have you heard this shit”. Just because you work in a record shop doesn’t mean you hear everything. Someone will roll up and be like have you heard that, and you go no, then they would be like what do you mean you haven’t heard that. I ain’t heard but I’ll look into it. I could just say I’ve got 1000 records down there that you haven’t heard. In the record shop it’s like a mates thing, you become like this little gang, and you have private jokes with each other. You try not to get the customers wowed up but sometimes it used to happen. I’m not saying we were nasty, not nasty, but funny nasty, just banter. We had cheeky slogans and little one liners like “Have you had a taste bypass?” or “Did you leave your taste at home today?”. It was always banter, just tongue in cheek. Thing is after working in a record shop I really don’t like going in record shops anymore, just because I can’t handle that me being there. Phonica is one of the worst ones, I just want to go in and look at the records behind the counter and the guy in there is going “what you into mate” and I’m like “I’m just having a look mate”, I’ll say, “I’ll have that, that, that and that” and then he’s like “Are you sure you don’t want me to play you some more stuff?”. Even though they might be doing their job, pulling shit out for people and turning me onto something new. That is a good thing about working in a record shop, you always wanted to turn somebody on to something that you loved in the shop. Sometimes everybody in the shop would love something and then this guy would go “oh I don’t like it”, everyone would be like “what you talking about mate, it’s fucking brilliant, what's your problem.”

What is your show on KMAH?

It’s called WERD. With the show, KMAH were after different genres to cover and someone put my name forward for electro. I really like that kind of outlet, because it’s not about mixing records it’s about playing records. On some of my shows the flow works perfectly and the tracks aren’t even mixed together. I don’t even like talking on the radio, sometimes I’ll say hello. I usually get people writing me asking me the name of the records so I just put some voice overs telling people what they are. The show has been really good, like I say, it’s been a outlet for something that I don’t really get chance to play. As we were discussing before, electro is like the new techno, people over the last year have got more into the show than when it first started. When I was living in Berlin for a bit I was in the Record Loft and some guy overheard me talking to Ben Williams who used to work in there about KMAH and he came over and went “oh yeah KMAH that’s a fucking wicked radio have you heard that Mark Turner guy he plays some wicked electro”. I was like “oh yeah man it’s a good show”. I didn’t say like, that’s me. It was nice to hear some random guy who was into it. You know it’s not a massively listened to show compared to some others on the station but that doesn’t matter to me, so long as people appreciate it. Same with my soundcloud page. I don’t advertise the fact that I do mixes and shit. My friend Will (Arnaldo) will be like I’m going to share that mix for you. Obviously because he has a big following that opens it up and it gets some more people listening to it. With the DJ thing I’ve never really seen it as a career. I’m sure with the Orbit I could have pushed it and took it as proper career but I never did it for that reason. You know you meet people who are so focused on becoming this DJ and deejaying here and there. It puzzles me sometimes how much these people want to go down that path. I mean I’ve done it, I’ve travelled places and deejayed in other countries. I liked playing in the club but you’re basically by yourself, you’re not with your friends, you’ll be in a hotel room by yourself usually waiting another day for the plane to come and I was like I’m not into this shit. I’d rather work in a record shop and go to the club on weekend to play some tunes, just do that. I’d get people coming in the shop who you can see in their eyes the hunger was there, and I’d watch them develop into these career hungry deejays, but that were never my thing. People say I could have taken it that way, but it never interested me whatsoever. I’d rather just have a chilled life on the back-burner, just buying records and doing the odd mix here and there.

How big is your collection?

Thousands, thousands, thousands, thousands and thousands. I ain’t counted them. 10,000? 8,000? I don’t know. The thing is with record collections it doesn’t matter how big they are. Anyone can have a big collection, it’s about having the quality within that collection. You can buy a job lot of 10,000 records but it’s only gonna look good on your shelf. As soon as you start pulling things out and playing people shit it’s going to be 15 rachmaninoff albums. The records that I have kept I don’t have in any sort of order. People go “why don’t you have them in sections”, and I don’t, I just like doing it where you pull a record out and think “that’s a tune, I’ll just put that on”. When you pull it out maybe it’s not going to go physically, it’s not the correct BPM or anything, but that is me and that is my record collection. Maybe one day I will put it in order but, but maybe just favourite labels, that way i’ll know where to go to get them for example Dance Mania. That is one of those labels that I absolutely just adore. I’ve got a lot of Dance Mania records I have a thing where I buy one a week and if I miss a week then I have to buy two, and so on. If I went a month I’d have to buy 5.

Is that just dance mania?

Yes I’ve always got to buy a Dance Mania record a week.

How many do you have then?

Couple of hundred. I’m getting close but I don’t think I want all of them because some of them are forgettable. The crazy thing is the really expensive ones are not the best ones. It’s one of them labels, I know because I buy them, that it’s so overpriced for what it is. I like the fact they reissue them. It doesn’t piss me off if something gets reissued that I have already got because it’s another copy, I’ll buy the reissues because they are 7 quid. Some of them aren’t very good pressings, some of them are good pressing but just pulled off the original vinyl, which isn’t such a good pressing. That is the beauty of Dance Mania when you play it out, it’s raw shit. There is going to be a crackle, there might be a jump in the background there might be a “schrich-schrich-schrich” sound but that doesn’t really bother me. I just love Dance Mania. Same with Relief and all that Chicago vibe. I just like the ghetto vibe. I don’t know what it is, maybe it ties in with a working class background. I wont say I was under deprived but where I grew up it was a bit ghetto. I find it the same with garage and bassline, it’s music from the suburbs, it’s working class shit. You listen to that Chicago shit and you know it’s just kids of the street on their little tape decks and their cheap little 909. DJ funk and all them kinda guys, from the hoods or wherever. I just love the rawness. It’s not done on a Neve desk it’s done on a fucking Tascam 4 track tape recorder. I just love the raw shit but I also love the really expensive sounding Dance Mania, the older ones that sound more classy. Obviously it changed from being a hip house kinda label, Chicago house, nice vocal shit, then merged into this wo-down ghetto sound with Slugo and D-man. From the old classic shit to the newer stuff, I love it. I’d love to own them all but I won’t cry if I can’t get some overpriced anthems. Well it’s not even anthems, the crazy priced ones seem to be ones that they didn’t sell fuck all of so they probably just destroyed them and they are really bad pressed.

You mentioned before you’re working on some production stuff, run us through that.

I’ve been working on some stuff over the last few years, it’s only recently started taking shape. The style is just like my record collection. When I make music I don’t just switch the computer on and be like this is going to be a 4x4 track at 120 BPM. I’ll start with something, maybe a drum pattern and decide it’s not 120 so turn that into 110 BPM, so whatever comes from that. I’ve been working with a guy called Heinz Kammler in Rotterdam who’s originally from Greece. Hopefully something will come out in the next year but we’re in no rush to put stuff out. What we have been doing is timeless so if it comes out in 2 years time it’s still gonna sound fresh. When I play it to people they say, that’s different, people say it’s garagey but it’s, I dunno, you can’t blow trumpets about your own music. I make music and I think it’s ok but I’ll play it to someone and they think it’s brilliant. That’s the thing a lot of people when they make music they think it’s alright, then they send it to someone and that person things, wow this is the shit.

I’ve got a little ambient project as well called Ecodintun that’s more kinda soundtracky. I can’t really say what sort of style it is, it’s over processed, moody stuff. There is a track already out on soundcloud. It’s like a big 10 minute epic. One of my friends grandma died and he was really depressed, I did this music and was thinking this is really depressing but I sent it him anyway and he was like “oh man, that just uplifted me and made me feel loads better”, so I just put it out there. I’m just plodding away taking things easy. Music is my love number 1 but I’m not a producer. I’m a DJ / record collector or record collector / guy who plays records. I’ve never considered myself a DJ. I’m a guy who buys records and plays records to people. If 1 person appreciates something that I’ve played on a night then I’m happy. If the full crowd is appreciative then that’s even better. If I’ve changed someone's way about thinking about things musically or if I’ve turned them onto something new that is great. Miles out of Hate, he said to me once he came into the backroom of the Orbit and someone was mixing Basic Channel’s Phylyps Trak II with Kraftwerk’s Tour De France and he said from that night onward my music taste just changed. He asked if that was that Jon playing that and I was like, nah that was me. Just that little thing can change someone. It’s not boasting, but if you can steer someone towards something musical through your influence or turn them onto another route and then they have then taken that on to a career that it’s a very nice thing to think that you have influenced people, even if no one said thank you. If you were to die tomorrow it’s nice to think that you have influenced people and given something to the world, a bit philosophical but you know I don’t go out there for me to make money or be this trademark DJ, I just go out to play good music to people. I’m a music appreciator and I hope that people I play music to are appreciators. Sometimes you go to a night and people are there just to get smashed but there is a group of people there for the love of the music. A lot of people go out, it’s just a part of growing up. Might be at uni going out in a collective, or into this for so long it’s just a thing. Some people are like I’m into Dubstep then 2 years later you talk to them and they're into guitars or whatever, that was just a fad. You see with a lot of people, music is just a fad for them. There’s a lot of people as soon as they discover music that is it for the rest of their life. Which is nice when you meet younger people and you talk to them and they have that same vibe what you had, 20 or what years ago. Buzzing about things or buzzing about old things coming up to you going like “aw man have you heard this shit by whatever” or old electro shit by Egyptian Lover, or anything like that and I’m like “yeah I’ve got it mate”, and they're like “brilliant”. There is nothing better than that.

To accompany the interview Mark has also mixed the latest Fruitcast, listen below.

More from Mark:

WERD Show on KMAH

Soundcloud

Mixcloud

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junker-town · 7 years

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2017 NHL mock draft: The trade deadline shakes things up in our 2nd simulation

New needs and no consensus make this draft interesting.

It’s nice to have a NHL entry draft with no clear “best prospect.”

The 2017 NHL draft doesn’t have a Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or Aaron Ekblad. It doesn’t even have a consensus best 30 players. The top of the draft is as arguable as the late first-round picks following it.

So no wonder our second mock NHL draft looks different from the first. This time, we didn’t use lottery simulators. We just went down the list, but kept the trade deadline movements in mind. Needs have changed!

1. Colorado Avalanche - Timothy Liljegren, D, Rogle (Sweden)

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I’m starting to come around to Mile High Hockey’s argument that the Avalanche can’t afford to pass up the best defenseman in the draft. The consensus Best Three™ in the 2017 draft are Nolan Patrick, Nico Hischier, and Liljegren. Two centers and a defenseman. When Tyson Jost joins Nathan MacKinnon in Colorado next season, they’ll be set down the middle for years.

Might as well stock the defense with a prime puck-mover like Liljegren.

2. Arizona Coyotes - Nolan Patrick, C, Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)

Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Getty Images

Coyotes fans would hate being left with Patrick or Hischier. Not that they’re not good, but the Coyotes need young defensemen as much as the Avalanche.

In this scenario, though, I tend to think GM John Chayka takes Nolan Patrick. Arizona is blessed with forward talent, but few of them have the skill and size Patrick brings.

3. Vegas Golden Knights - Nico Hischier, C, Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)

Best player available. Hischier is skilled, flashy and as good at setting up teammates as he is putting the biscuit in the basket. Vegas would be thrilled to take him.

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4. New Jersey Devils - Casey Mittelstadt, C, Eden Prairie High School (Minnesota)

It sure seems like the Devils might stick with Pavel Zacha on the wing. In that case, expect them to go for a center here if Liljegren isn’t available (he won’t be).

Scouts rave about Mittelstadt’s compete level all over the ice, something that the Devils will no doubt covet. He’s also supremely gifted offensively, making him a talent the Devils can’t pass up. He’ll play for the University of Minnesota next season.

5. Vancouver Canucks - Gabriel Vilardi, C, Windsor (OHL)

Vilardi has all the tools to become a No. 1 center someday: size (6’3), skill (scouts love his effortlessness while making plays), and finishing ability (about to eclipse 30 goals with Windsor this year). By drafting Olli Juolevi and trading for Jonathan Dahlen, the Canucks have added high-end talent on the wings and blue line in the last year.

Taking Vilardi fifth overall would help round out their system.

6. Dallas Stars - Eeli Tolvanen, LW/RW, Sioux City (USHL)

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If there’s one thing the Stars are guilty of in recent drafts, it’s not taking forwards with high-end skills. Size and hockey I.Q. are great, but you also need players with game-breaking abilities.

Tolvanen fits that mold. A pure scorer, the USHL star can score at will in so many ways: off the rush with his heavy shot, off a deke, with a slap-shot ... you name it. He’ll play with Boston College next season and could reach the NHL sooner than a lot of the players in this draft.

7. Detroit Red Wings - Cale Makar, D, Brooks (AJHL)

We still like the idea of Makar joining the Red Wings. The crafty right-handed defenseman is rising quickly up draft boards after a 24-goal, 75-point season with the Bandits. Detroit can start their rebuild with the draft’s best power play quarterback.

Makar will head to UMass-Amherst next season.

8. Buffalo Sabres - Owen Tippett, RW, Mississauga (OHL)

With Liljegren and Makar off the board and no defensemen worth reaching for at this spot, Buffalo is left in “best player available” mode.

That’s Tippett, the best scoring winger in the draft not named Eeli Tolvanen. A pure sniper, Tippett is fifth in the OHL with 44 goals this year. With Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Cliff Pu, and Tippett in the system, the Sabres’ wings will be the envy of the Eastern Conference.

9. Winnipeg Jets - Nick Suzuki, C, Owen Sound (OHL)

Photo by Dennis Pajot/Getty Images

Suzuki is a rare gem: an uber-talented penalty killer who can score in bunches. His defensive prowess was well-known before this season, but he erupted into one of the OHL’s best scoring threats with 45 goals and 96 points in 65 games. Winnipeg’s leaky penalty kill would love to have Suzuki join them.

10. Florida Panthers - Klim Kostin, W, Balashikha (KHL)

Two things are going against Kostin right now. First, a shoulder injury ended his season early. Second, he reminds people of Stars winger Valeri Nichushkin: a big, Russian winger with obvious skill but a tendency to pass instead of shoot. And since Nichushkin bolted for Russia last offseason, you’d imagine that might affect his draft status.

But Florida might go against the grain here and take him anyway. With Jaromir Jagr and Jussi Jokinen on the decline, the Panthers could use a bullishly skilled winger in their prospect pool, even if Kostin stays in the KHL to develop for a few years.

11. Philadelphia Flyers - Cody Glass, C/RW, Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Another late-bloomer like Makar who rocketed up draft rankings this year. Glass is a talented, all-around forward: capable of dishing the puck, finishing plays and responsible up and down the ice. Philadelphia could use him in a number of ways.

12. Carolina Hurricanes - Elias Pettersson, C, Timra IK (Sweden)

At this point of the draft, it’s hard to nail down which player teams would covet more. But Carolina’s so stacked defensively that we know they’ll aim for a forward in the first round.

Pettersson might be the pick. He’s a pure playmaker, with arguably the best vision in the draft. You could see him becoming a true power play threat for the Hurricanes down the road, making him worth a pick here even though he’ll have a longer development than most.

13. Los Angeles Kings - Michael Rasmussen, C, Tri-City (WHL)

Size and skill are a rare combo for centers these days, but Rasmussen fits that mold. His 6’5 frame makes him seem Kings-worthy already, and his poise around the net makes him a valuable offensive presence on the power play.

14. Tampa Bay Lightning - Juuso Valimaki, D, Tri-City (WHL)

Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images

Valimaki is a well-rounded two-way defenseman with leadership qualities already apparent at such a young age. Valimaki’s 55 points lead all teenage WHL defensemen this year, indicating he could make a rapid ascent to the NHL.

15. New York Islanders - Callan Foote, D, Kelowna (WHL)

The Isles drafted five forwards in the first round over the last three drafts. All of them (Josh Ho-Sang, Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal, Michael Dal Colle, and Kieffer Bellows) are already close to NHL-ready.

So New York should spring for a defenseman this year. Foote, son of Adam Foote, will round out their defensive core nicely. At 6’3, Foote is imposing in his own end with a safe, but smart, game.

16. Toronto Maple Leafs - Nicolas Hague, D, Mississauga (OHL)

And so the run on defensemen begins!

With Nikita Zaitsev and Morgan Rielly in the fold, the Maple Leafs aren’t short of puck-movers on the blue line. They are missing a big body, though. Hague is huge, but mobile: a 6’6 defenseman who captains Mississauga’s power play and isn’t afraid to mix things up in his own end. He could be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Or he could be a master of everything. Toronto will gladly take that risk.

17. St. Louis Blues - Ryan Poehling, C/LW, St. Cloud State (NCAA)

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

With a year of college hockey under his belt, Poehling could reach the NHL quicker than most of his draft peers. That makes him appealing to a lot of teams, particularly contenders.

So will his two-way ability. Poehling is blessed with the skills of a top center and the smarts of a third-line, shut-down winger. Sounds like a Blue, doesn’t he?

18. Nashville Predators - Martin Necas, C, HC Kometa Brno (Czech Republic)

David Poile will do cartwheels if Necas falls this far.

The only knock on the 5’11 center is that he holds onto the puck too long. But that pass-first mentality is born out of strong vision and speed to burn. The Predators lack a true, high-skill center behind Ryan Johansen. Necas can slot into that role.

19. Boston Bruins - Lias Andersson, C, HV71 (Sweden)

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Andersson’s draft stock fell after a quiet World Juniors. The 5’11 center drew attention with a 24-goal season as a 16-year old, but his offensive upside is now in question after a nine-goal season in the Swedish pro league.

His competitiveness isn’t, though. Players with energy, work ethic, and hockey I.Q. are valuable, and the Bruins would make a good fit while Andersson develops his game. And if he re-finds that scoring touch, all the better.

20. Edmonton Oilers - Miro Heiskanen, D, Helsinki HIFK (Finland)

The only knock on Heiskanen? He’s small. That didn’t stop Torey Krug from thriving. It didn’t stop the Stars from drafting Julius Honka. It won’t stop teams from drafting Makar. And it won’t keep the Oilers from jumping at Heiskanen if he falls this far.

Heiskanen disappointed at the World Juniors, but what Finland player didn’t? The Finnish defenseman makes up for his size with an active stick in his own end and can make plays offensively.

21. Calgary Flames - Kristian Vesalainen, LW, Frolunda (SHL)

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Calgary should be pleased if Vesalainen is available here. It’s hard to figure why he’s falling in scouts’ eyes. He was such an important player in Finland’s gold medal run in the 2016 World Juniors. Vesalainen has struggled immensely this season, bouncing around Finnish junior and pro hockey with just six goals.

But the talent (skill and a good shot) is there.

22. Anaheim Ducks - Kailer Yamamoto, RW, Spokane (WHL)

The Ducks play a heavy style of hockey, so maybe this is just wishful thinking on our part. Yamamoto is 5’7 but oozes skill. Teams passed on Johnny Gaudreau and Alex DeBrincat because of their size. They all regret it. Anaheim would do well to take Yamamoto here.

23. Ottawa Senators - Maxime Comtois, LW, Victoriaville (QMJHL)

Comtois isn’t the most skilled winger in the draft. He doesn’t have the best shot. But he does have elite speed and a high-energy style that puts opponents back on their heels. He could end up as a top-line winger. He could end up as a bottom-six penalty killer. Whatever role he slides into, Comtois will play it well and make a noticeable impression.

24. Montreal Canadiens - Nikita Popugaev, W, Prince George (WHL)

Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images

Just look at the kinds of players Montreal targeted at the trade deadline. Big. Strong. Hard to play against.

Popugaev, a 6’5 winger, is all of those things with skill mixed in. He’s struggled since a trade to the Cougars, a more well-rounded team that spreads the offensive love around.

25. New York Rangers - Pierre-Olivier Joseph, D, Charlottetown (QMJHL)

Joseph is garnering first-round consideration because he’s developed confidence with the puck all over the ice. Once he trusted himself to become more involved offensively, his skill and smarts have impressed scouts. The defense-starved Rangers could take a flier on him here.

26. San Jose Sharks - Conor Timmins, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

Another defenseman playing his way into first-round status. Timmins boasts one of the hardest shots in the draft and leads the OHL in even-strength points. San Jose’s younger forwards are coming along nicely this season, so the Sharks could shore up their blue line with a prospect like Timmins.

27. Arizona Coyotes (from Wild) - Urho Vaakanainen, D, JYP (Finland)

Vaakanainen has the tools to become a strong puck-moving defenseman. Right now, he feels like a “safe” player destined to at least become a quality top-six talent. Arizona might bet on the former.

28. Chicago Blackhawks - Shane Bowers, C, Waterloo (USHL)

Bowers seems like a Jonathan Toews clone: great two-way play with a great shot and great hockey senses. The only question is how high his ceiling is. That question didn’t exist with Toews, and it doesn’t exist with the other centers taken ahead of Bowers.

29. Columbus Blue Jackets - Lukas Elvenes, RW, Rogle (Sweden)

A smart, crafty winger, but one-dimensional right now. Columbus’ Stanley Cup window is just opening, so they have time to let a player like Elvenes work on developing his all-around game. The tools are there, though.

30. Pittsburgh Penguins - Matthew Strome, LW, Hamilton (OHL)

Here’s a risk: a player with the Strome family pedigree and a physical brand of play, but poor foot-speed keeping his ceiling low.

31. St. Louis Blues (from Capitals) - Kole Lind, RW, Kelowna (WHL)

If St. Louis goes all-around with their first pick, they can afford to go all-skill with Lind at 31. Lind might be one of the better goal-scorers in the first round as far as instinct goes. It’s just a matter of whether he can get stronger.

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flauntpage · 6 years

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Your Wednesday Morning Roundup

The Sixers turned their winning streak up to 11 games last night as they took care of the Brooklyn Nets 121-95. They’ve won nine games by ten or more points, completing dominating their opponents during this stretch.

The last time they won 11 straight was 1990. A lot of things have happened since:

Things that have happened since the Sixers last won 11 in a row: Eagles have had 22 different starting quarterbacks Philly has elected 5 mayors 11 of the Sixers' players were born Brett Brown coached in Australia, coached in the US, went BACK to Australia & BACK to the US again https://t.co/czSM5UV93k

— shamus (@shamus_clancy) April 4, 2018

JJ Redick led the way with 19 points for the Sixers, while Marco Belinelli continues his hot streak with 17 points. Eight Sixers finished the game with double-digit point figures, including Markelle Fultz, who did play with Ben Simmons for a little bit.

They’re back in action tonight in Detroit against the Pistons at 7 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia. A win ties them with Cleveland for third in the East. Dario Saric won’t play, but he should be back for Friday’s huge home game against the Cavaliers.

The Sixers also got some help in their push for the playoffs. Even though Cleveland defeated Toronto by six, Indiana lost to the Nuggets by three out west. Their next two games are Golden State and Toronto. Miami won and Washington lost, which means the Heat are now in sixth place. Here’s an updated look at the playoff standings:

6-8 is going to be a dog fight

The Sixers are also making a huge push for Ben Simmons to be voted Rookie of the Year. Simmons, who Julius Erving raved as potentially a “once-in-a-lifetime player”, also has motivation to win it himself and for two of his teammates:

.@BenSimmons25 on what winning ROTY would mean:"It means a lot. I feel like I'd kinda be winning it for Dario, and Joel"

— Jon Johnson (@jonjohnsonwip) April 4, 2018

The Roundup

The Flyers are still making a push toward the playoffs and had the chance to possibly clinch a spot last night. They didn’t. Instead, they made it tougher to make it to the playoffs thanks to a 5-4 loss to the Islanders and the Panthers beating Nashville 2-1.

New York got a big second period to lead 4-1 after 40 minutes of play before Nolan Patrick scored two power play goals and Claude Giroux tied the game with just over seven minutes to go. But Mathew Barzal scored the game-winner 28 seconds later.

Petr Mrazek stopped 32 of 37 shots in another shaky outing for the new goaltender.

With the loss, the magic number is still three points and the team falls to the second wild card spot with New Jersey’s win over the Rangers. Florida is only four points back with three games left.

Both teams play Thursday at home. Philly hosts Carolina, while the Panthers host Boston, who’s really good.

The Phillies returned to action last night but lost to the Mets 2-0. Ben Lively pitched a strong 5 2/3 innings giving up two runs on six hits and striking out five. But the Phils’ bats only got three hits all night.

In the sixth, the Phils put a shift on Jay Bruce. J.P. Crawford moved to where Cesar Hernandez would be at second and Bruce hit the ball directly at Crawford. There would have been a chance for a double play, but nobody was standing at second. Bruce got out, but the shift resulted in the only runs of the game.

Both teams play again today at 1:10 PM on Facebook. Aaron Nola will face Noah Syndergaard.

In injury news, Pat Neshek and Tommy Hunter are inching their way towards returning to the team.

Check out the latest episode of Crossed Up as well.

The Eagles signed former Lions linebacker Paul Worrilow to a one-year deal. The Delaware graduate was a beast with the Falcons before losing his starting job, and will probably play a key role on special teams.

The quarterback to watch in offseason workouts isn’t Carson Wentz or Nick Foles. It’s Nate Sudfeld:

“He just got better,” coach Doug Pederson said. “I know you didn’t get a chance to watch him in practice, but the things we saw in practice really gave us a lot of confidence as a staff to, if he needed to go in, he could go in and sustain the role. And that’s why this offseason is going to be big for him. Get him caught up in the offense. Feel real comfortable with him. Again having three guys is a blessing, especially this early in the offseason program.”

The Eagles added Sudfeld to their practice squad before Week 1 last season. They promoted him to the active roster on Nov. 1 after the Indianapolis Colts tried to sign him. Sudfeld, who is 6-foot-6 and 227 pounds, developed a close bond with Wentz and Foles. His only playing time came in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys, when he finished 19 of 23 for 134 yards. Pederson was encouraged by the way Sudfeld played that day, and the Eagles were confident enough in Sudfeld that they didn’t add a quarterback to the roster after Wentz’s December injury.

“We’re all very excited about” Sudfeld, owner Jeffrey Lurie said. “I think you guys know, I attend practice all the time. Nate is very, very impressive.”

As much as Sudfeld learned the offense last season, most of the development for a quarterback in his situation will come during the offseason, because he’ll get more practice reps and he’ll be part of the installation of the offense. Sudfeld wasn’t with the Eagles at this time last year, so Pederson is expecting a jump in development this spring.

Coach Pederson thought the “easy” four-game stretch in the regular season at home prepared his Eagles very well for the remainder of the season:

“There was a stretch in there when we played Arizona, Chicago, San Fran, Denver,” Pederson began. “We beat ‘em pretty good. And you kept hearing comments like, ‘Oh, it’s too easy.’ What do you mean it’s too easy? Nothing’s ever easy, you know? But really, that stretch of games – we had Denver and I think we had our bye, and to score 51 points at that point, you feel like at that point, you’re rolling. You really want to keep it rolling.”

Could the Eagles draft (or sign) Texas punter Michael Dickson, also known as the “Aaron Donald of punting” according to Pro Football Focus?

There are some parallels between the Eagles and the Villanova National Championship team.

Speaking of Nova, Kevin recaps Monday night’s big win over Michigan and also puts their run into perspective.

Nova’s championship parade will be in Center City at 11 AM and will take a similar route to the one they had in 2016. They returned back to campus yesterday.

Jay Wright has been able to sustain a very successful culture on the Main Line:

“We have a chart with three years out, and then a list under the chart of all the players we’re recruiting,” the Wildcats coach said early Tuesday morning after his team defeated Michigan, 79-62, in the national championship game.

“We have a roster of our team on that chart that we all carry with us and we change it based on our guys’ play. We’ll list the guy – like Jalen (Brunson) as a senior this year so we knew that guy’s going to go (to the NBA). Even if he’s not, even if he might not, we list him where we think he’s going to recruiting for that spot.

“We’re constantly changing it, always got a date at the top. As Mikal (Bridges) starts playing really well this year, all right, he’s gone, you move him up a year. We know we’ve got to fill that spot. So we’re always doing that and evaluating our young people. The young guys, ‘OK, is this guy going to be good enough next year to be a starter?’ We call it roster structuring, talk about it every day.”

Donte DiVincenzo in the NBA? It’s possible. He’s on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.

Doug Gottlieb had a tasteless tweet and reminded everyone of his legal troubles not so long ago.

In other sports news, the Rams get even stronger by acquiring wide receiver Brandin Cooks from the Patriots for a first-round pick.

Shohei Ohtani hit his first-career MLB home run in his first at-bat at home:

#ShoTime….Enough said. pic.twitter.com/VXnSnFDQXg

— Angels (@Angels) April 4, 2018

The Astros revealed their World Series rings:

Those details.

pic.twitter.com/418PIXFHyZ

— Houston Astros (@astros) April 3, 2018

RONALDO!

Take a bow, Cristiano Ronaldo!

pic.twitter.com/x2ubbBo94Y

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) April 3, 2018

The Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch set for May has been cancelled.

In the news, a trash truck smashed into several parked cars in South Philadelphia. Imagine waking up to that.

A woman shot three people before killing herself at YouTube’s headquarters in California.

After the U.S. put tariffs on Chinese products, China is doing the same with American goods.

Your Wednesday Morning Roundup published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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cyberia-design · 28 days

Text

Dose - Come Together (March 16-17th, 1996 - Toronto, ON)

#y2k #y2k aesthetic #graphic design #y2k design #y2k music #rave flyer #electronic music #rave flyers #toronto #toronto rave #y2kcore #y2k style #grafikdesign

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posthumanwanderings · 4 years

Video

youtube

MuchMusic Profile of Toronto Rave Flyers, 2001

#toronto #y2k #graphic design #cgi #futuristic #inspiration #raves

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unionrising · 7 years

Photo

Black Bloc vs. Peaceful Non-violent Protest, infiltration and agent provocateurs

Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer Got Punched—You Can Thank the Black Bloc A dispatch from inside the J20 protests.

https://www.thenation.com/article/if-you-appreciated-seeing-neo-nazi-richard-spencer-get-punched-thank-the-black-bloc/

Unmasking The Black Bloc: Who They Are, What They Do, How They Work -

what many are lacking is an understanding of the Black Bloc, it's history, the types of people who are in it, and the problems within.

http://www.occupy.com/article/unmasking-black-bloc-who-they-are-what-they-do-how-they-work#sthash.CCrgouiX.TVOEQ75H.dpuf

‘Black bloc’ style tactics seen as chaos erupts in downtown D.C.

“They’re basically anti-capitalists,” Gomez said. “They like to destroy or damage businesses that reflect their view of the world order.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/2017/live-updates/politics/live-coverage-of-trumps-inauguration/black-bloc-style-tactics-seen-as-chaos-erupts-in-downtown-d-c/?utm_term=.4af6226fa8a8

The Toronto G20 Riot Fraud: Undercover Police engaged in Purposeful Provocation

At the ‘Security and Prosperity Partnership’ meeting protests at Montebello Quebec on August 20, 2007, a Quebec union leader caught and outed three masked undercover Quebec Provincial Police operatives dressed as ‘black bloc’ protestors about to start a riot by throwing rocks at the security police.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-toronto-g20-riot-fraud-undercover-police-engaged-in-purposeful-provocation/19928

A Deeper Look at the Black Bloc: Did Trump's People Fund these Anarchists?

The black bloc anarchists's "tactic is go out and destroy property." Peaceful anti-Trump demonstrators tried to stop them during protests there, but they were "not having any luck," he said.

Some reports even say there are undercover police officers involved, with the government's goal to have a good excuse to impose Martial Law-like crackdowns. Some on the right say the bloc receives funds from liberal sources, while those on the left counter that money comes from conservative sources, such as financiers close to Trump. No one has figured out where the bloc gets much of its funds since it is not the kind of group that files financial reports or even has a general spokesperson. But let's just say this kind of violence does provide Trump a convenient reason to cite if he wants to, say, make all public demonstrations in D.C. illegal. Many might scoff at that scenario, but remember, many scoffed a year ago that Trump had a shot to become president.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/A-Deeper-Look-at-the-Black-by-Jackson-Thoreau-Anarchists_Anti-trump_Demonstrations_Inauguration-170121-319.html

Who Are These Protesters In Black And Why Are They Smashing Things?

The moment a bunch of masked thrill-seekers pull hammers out of their backpacks for some performative felony-committing, they have the attention of the media writ large.

Thadeaus said that generally black bloc participants are aware of the media dynamic they're participating in.

"I think there are a minority of people who engage in black bloc who aren't particularly conscious of the role that they're playing in the spectacle that they're creating for the media. And there are people who try to resist that co-optation and becoming part of a media narrative, who are there for other reasons. They feel empowered to act in solidarity and act out their rage and encourage and empower other people to do the same thing."

http://dcist.com/2017/01/black_bloc_explainer.php

Police Violence Escalates As Provocateurs Infiltrate Standing Rock, #NoDAPL Protests

In stark contrast to the water protectors’ many actions of peaceful prayer and ceremony, the atmosphere at the bridge the night of Oct. 27 was more reminiscent of an outdoor rave. The protesters on the bridge set fire to an SUV, and threw rocks and other objects at a row of armored vehicles operated by law enforcement. This small faction of non-peaceful protesters and officers briefly tossed smoke bombs back and forth.

When several water protectors came to the bridge, they told those setting the fires and instigating violence that this isn’t what they want for the movement.

“We’re here to protect the water, not initiate a riot or some violent protest, which is the image that the whole world is getting right now. Our elders have come together to condemn all of these wrongful actions like catching things on fire.”

Apparently intent on forcing their tactics upon the movement, these outside forces appeared uninterested in listening to the Standing Rock Sioux or other Native water protectors.

Although the black bloc tactic has been used as a legitimate way for protesters to shield their identities from law enforcement, it has also been exploited by law enforcement. Police masquerading as black bloc activists have been exposed at the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy, and at protests in 2007 in Quebec, and police posed as activists to infiltrate the Occupy movement.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/police-violence-escalates-provocateurs-infiltrate-standing-rock-nodapl-protests/222051/

At Least 217 Arrested, Limo Torched Amid Trump Inauguration Day Protests in Washington

The capital's interim police chief, Peter Newsham, said in a Periscope video posted on Twitter earlier today that the problems were caused by one group, "and it's a very, very small percentage of the number of folks that came here to peacefully assemble in our city."

The #DisruptJ20 coalition, named after the date of the inauguration, which promised that its participants would attempt to shut down the inauguration events, tangled with Bikers for Trump, a group clad in leather biker gear that backs the president.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, responded to the protests on Twitter, writing, "Nothing is more unAmerican than protesters who are not peaceful. Disgusting."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/arrests-violence-flares-parts-capital-inauguration-day/story?id=44925970

How a Radical Leftist Became the FBI's BFF

David McKay and Bradley Crowder, a pair of greenhorn activists from George W. Bush's Texas hometown who had driven up for the protests were wide-eyed guys in their early 20s, they'd come of age hanging out in sleepy downtown Midland, commiserating about the Iraq War and the administration's assault on civil liberties.

St. Paul was their first large-scale protest, and when they arrived they were taken aback: Rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, tumbling tear-gas canisters—to McKay and Crowder, it seemed like an all-out war on democracy. They wanted to fight back, even going so far as to mix up a batch of Molotov cocktails. Just before dawn on the day of Palin's big coming out, a SWAT team working with federal agents raided their crash pad, seized the Molotovs, and arrested McKay, alleging that he intended to torch a parking lot full of police cars.

Back in Texas, flyers soon began appearing at coffeehouses urging leftists to beware of Brandon Darby, an "FBI informant rat loose in Austin."

The feds ultimately convicted the pair for making the Molotov cocktails, but they didn't have enough evidence of intent to use them. Crowder, who pleaded guilty rather than risk trial, and a heavier sentence, got two years. McKay, who was offered seven years if he pleaded guilty, opted for a trial, arguing on the stand that Darby told him to make the Molotovs, a claim he recanted after learning that Crowder had given a conflicting account. McKay is now serving out the last of his four years in federal prison.

Darby is through being a leftist radical. Indeed, he's now an enthusiastic small-government conservative. He sounds a bit like his new friend, Andrew Breitbart, who made his name producing sting videos targeting NPR, ACORN, Planned Parenthood, and others.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/brandon-darby-anarchist-fbi-terrorism

#black bloc #peaceful protest #non-violence #infiltration #agent provocateur #richard spencer

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