Reggie Watts

Miles gets a look on his face, breathes in, and lets out a trademark ear-splitting shriek ­right at the drummer, right in his face. The music is pumping—the drum’n’bass band pauses just before it hits the breakdown. Miles lets out another appropriate energy-feeling shriek at the break. " Fuck yeah!" the drummer spits back in his face. The 150-plus people presently at my loft, the regulars anyway, who know it simply as "the loft," have grown accustomed to Miles’s shrieks: his harsh yowl once seemed like a nuisance, but now it just eggs the band on to play harder, raunchier. The band performing, Siamese, is playing their relentless brand of non-stop cussworthy dancefloor drum’n’bass / jungle ugliness—and everyone is loving it. It is Loud. Girls in the front are getting down, guys in the back are standing on tables, and the strong pungent smell of reefer is everywhere.

It’s really casual here, and I think that’s what brings the good vibe about. People raid the fridge every chance they get looking for alcohol (it’s byob tonight), — but no, wait, look! Somebody’s bringing a keg of dark beer up the stairs. Very good, it’s just what we needed; my beer hiding spot will only last so much longer. I grab another and join some old-school friends—who’ve come from California to visit me—in my bedroom in an attempt to catch up, take a breather, and pass one around.

I have lived in this loftspace just south of downtown Seattle for about 3 years now. Mostly musicians have lived here, but I think a photographer was the original lease owner. It’s an "artist loftspace;" we’re probably not supposed to live here, but we do. We have no neighbors—therefore no issues with cops during the day or at night, no matter how loud or what it is we do. Before I lived here it was known as the "RTC loft"—RTC was a funk-jazz group ala Medeski Martin + Wood led by my good friend, bassist, and former roommate PK. He had a shindig every couple of months, hosting his own band or jazz groups like the Living Daylights, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, or others. Very bohemain and comfy. I’m an artist manager, agent, and music promoter—so when PK asked me to move in, I saw what the place could become—an underground scene-builder for the jazz / funk and electronica dance kids I knew had no place to call home. I instilled a cover, set up some lighting, and utilized a small email list—the only way people find out about the parties, there’s no other promotion—yet still furthered the comfy personable vibe. Soon, people just wouldn’t show up until late—usually after other shows—so we just started the parties later (2am!) to accommodate—less competition, and a more die-hard crowd. They happen erratically—once, maybe twice a month on the weekend.

The space itself has been well-converted by previous tenants—there’s a shower, oven, fridge, bedrooms . . .the landlord has got to know, it’s obviously a residence. It’s spacious (one huge room, two bedrooms), artsy (a large mural, custom organic-looking ductwork), and the place, like I said, just has a really good vibe about it. My present roommate Rob runs a popular in-house hiphop studio, so there’s a lot of hiphop vibe here during the day—big puffy jackets, forties, blunts. Hiphoppers can never record by themselves—they have to bring the whole crew every time. Makes it sort of hard to run my office at the other end of the loft, but I manage. He’s an excellent engineer and sound person, so he’s been a great addition to the place—even though his business has made the atmosphere of the loft do a complete 180—from bohemian jazz hippies to decently intense fatigue-wearing hiphop.

And that’s what’s cool about the parties—all types of people find themselves here. Rob’s and my friends, friends of friends and our business associates, countless Seattle musicians, artists, and industry, latenight clubbers + hipsters, singles, couples, and anybody not willing to let the party stop at 2. I’ve been lucky enough to have some excellent figures in the jazz scene perform here (Skerik, Wayne Horvitz) as well as some incredible local + national dance bands (Reggie Watts + Das Rut, Siamese). Rob’s hiphop guys from Oldominion will sit-in and MC over the grooves or maybe a friend’s act is on tour and they stop by to check the scene out, hang or maybe sit-in and jam. The parties have become an unintentional attempt to bring back the screamin’ NY loft-style jazz scene sound or throw down some new experimental electronic & dance music, but it’s always something you can get down all night to and be involved. I try to make it engaging. The bands are often "controlled jams:" I ask a specific set of musicians to play, and beyond that, you have to go through me to get to jam. I am the keeper of the vibe; quality control is essential.

The best thing about the parties though, really, are the people, the interaction they have with the music, and the way it makes them feel. It seems people just really, really dig the vibe. It’s undergroun - Vodka magazine