last victoria show for dj ariz0na

i just posted this on the www.ravevictoria.com message board:
Hello all,
It is with quite a bit of emotion that I write this.
I am moving my home base to Vancouver in late September so I thought I’d better say as much, and a big thank you to all who have been supporting the scene here in Victoria — there are many and a lot of them post on this board.
I might as well get into a list here so I have an opportunity to forget someone. Haha, just kidding.. I don’t want to forget anyone. One name that keeps coming to mind is Brent Carmichael, one who I have told in the past has made a huge difference to the Victoria scene, without question. From the times at Rumours, The Limit and now Hush, he has given a venue to the music that we all love so much. And really I should say “they” — as humble as Brent is, he is probably getting annoyed reading this and not seeing the other staff being mentioned. And as much as people have slagged Hush in the past, I’d like them to think about what Victoria would be like without it. Thank you.
And the promoters that put on the 16+ parties. Awesome.
There are also the strictly community driven efforts, like VEMF (though I missed it this year, the goal is an admirable one), IslandKidz, ravevictoria.com, and Resonance/RGM.
With Resonance, we’re not totally certain what we’re are going to do with it. Nick is thinking of travelling, and I’ll obviously not be here anymore. The response to the show was not nearly as good as it was with RGM, but that 3 years that RGM had to get rolling with, in a bit more of a thriving party scene than what we are seeing today. That being said I believe our party scene has been traded for a really good music scene. Not a bad trade at all, if you ask me. And don’t tell me the parties are just as good as they used to be. Sorry, they’re not. NobleHouse/AMA is no longer putting in insane all-night shows at huge venues with Global Underground DJ’s before Global Underground ever happened. Those were NUTS! Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to put down the efforts of any of the current promoters. I am simply acknowledging how incredible the production value of these events have been — serious achievements. 50,000 watt sound systems, concert calibre lighting systems, 5000 people venue.. Thank you Nigel, thank you Damien, thank you Erik, and all the others that have been involved in these huge shows.
The record shops — Stylus of past, ISBOW of present, the power of Boomtown, the dedication of Whitebird. We’re lucky to have these shops to further fuel our scene. For over half a decade Victoria has been a better place to shop for electronica/techno records than Vancouver or Seattle. How do you like them apples?
I’ll still frequent the ravevictoria.com message board, perhaps more in Vancouver than I have here in Victoria. Who knows what my time will be like there.
I intend to work a lot more on music production under the alias of AFK, as I have really gotten a lot out of making music in the last few years. The label Pacific Front Recordings will be releasing its flagship release AFK – Magnetic with 3 remixes in the coming weeks. Here are a couple URLs:
afk.davin.ws – AFK – production website
www.pacificfront.ca – Pacific Front Recordings.
Pacific Front Recordings will continue to focus on artists from the Pacific Northwest — Vancouver, Victoria, and any talent we happen upon in Seattle. Obviously if you don’t live in a big city, then me and Justin wont listen to your tunes. Just kidding! We’re always accepting material, and we’ll need it to continue with our crazy and ambitious release schedule. Check out the website for contact information. All the artists on there have been central to my musical satisfaction here in Victoria, and will continue to be that in Vancouver. I look forward to the future that we have set out for ourselves.
And what of “ariz0na”? Well for a long time, I have been wanting to go under the alias of “davin” .. which isn’t an alias at all. Here’s the story.. the first night I was to play out, it was almost 7 years ago at tammie and gerry’s, there was this guy named Frank, and he was to play the only gig I ever saw him at. He said his DJ name was “DJ Davin” .. so I was like .. crap! I had never met another Davin before, and what bad luck it was to meet someone on the night of my first gig with the same DJ name as my real name, which I was going to use. So I used “ariz0na,” my online name, and never saw him again. So I’ll probably be known as “Davin” just like Braeden and Christoph and all those other weirdos that use their real name to DJ with.
My last DJing appearance in Victoria will be September 5th at Hush with none other than Hybrid.
It’s been a slice. See ya!