A Dozen Years of House Addiction
“The key to longevity is good relationships.”
This is according to Chris McKean, co-founder, and in recent times the sole torchbearer of, Toronto’s party-producing HouseAddict. The obviously house-focused outfit celebrated a dozen years of throwing events with a well-attended bash at The Den last Saturday. After all this time, Chris’ drive comes from more than the music: “The whole thing’s become an addiction now – hosting these events, having performers in from all over the world. It’d be really tough to give it up.”
“It starts with the artist…”
HouseAddict has a reputation of authenticity, and Chris says that starts with the talent they book: “It just so happens a lot of the performers that play that style of music are really genuine people – they really are artists. When you bring them to the jam and people come, it’s reflected in the music and their personalities.”
Then, it’s up to HouseAddict to add the local vibe; “We try to provide that blend, that duct to translate it to the Toronto underground.”
“…then you bring it to the right venue…”
Once you pass the usual siren-and-ambulance-laden ruckus outside Sneaky Dees at the corner of College and Bathurst, you reach The Den, ground floor of Nest. Coloured uplighting and eclectic decor beckon you in to further explore the 50’s era jukebox, ornate chairs, faux-Persian rugs, and the stray (or is it hip?) ladder leaning against the exposed brick intersecting the dance floor.
“…and the right people.”
A quick scan of the crowd at any moment is a picture of diversity: Early-twenties hip kids, pushing-forty weekend warriors, and all manner of hipster, artist, entrepreneur and social butterfly in between. This kind of gumbo soup is a tribute to the broad appeal of house music and its many sub-genres. “It makes for an interesting party, that’s for sure.”
The equation works, and HouseAddict doesn’t show any signs of kicking the habit anytime soon.
And now, the story of the night from a house beginner’s perspective.
City Kid Soul & the Initiation of the Dance Floor
The in-crowd was still mingling over cask beer and meat skewers when City Kid Soul began preheating the dance floor around 10pm. While it’s nice that sometimes the dance floor’s not the center of the universe, a party’s not really a party till the dancing starts (in my opinion, at least). Gradually the music got deeper and harder, until the pure power of dance rose up and drove a handful of people to catalyze the use of hardwood real estate.
Being the first person on the dance floor “feels amazing,” said a tall chocolate man named Christian (of Salacious Sound) during a water break from his dexterous dancing. “You get to be the soul of it, and you just get out there and have people feel it.” He was all smiles, all night as people percolated to the floor alongside him to communicate joy with their legs.
Simon Jain & The Rock Star
Simon Jain slid onto the decks not long after 11. He kept up the smooth, rolling vibes for a minute and then steered things downwards in altitude towards the deepest of deep. I mean submarine deep. The persistent thump-thump-thump-ing swelled and surrounded the floor in a self-consciousness-disabling muck, resembling big deep footsteps through giant wet puddles.
Directionally the music again went up, up, and barrel-rolled downwards into a synth-and-bleep-laden land I’ll call Adventure House – it’s what you hear on a dance adventure, a march into the Magic Music Forest of the Future, where huge shadow creatures chop lumber and time lasers ahead in a jetstream.
Or maybe it’s just called Tech-House. I don’t know.
Tube and/or Berger
At 1 am a guy got on the decks and people cheered. This subtle entry is typical of house events, I’m learning – and very much the opposite of bass shows where brash emcees holler “WHAT THE FUCK IS UP, TORONTO?!” into the microphone as a zany neon name flashes on a projection screen behind them. A quick poll of the crowd sussed out that this was, indeed, the currently-touring half of Tube & Berger. But which one was it: Tube, or Berger? Nobody knew. But on we danced.
Days of dogged research later turned up the fact that the person on stage was ‘Tube’ (AKA Arndt Rörig), though by that point it didn’t matter: Whoever was playing on Saturday, the place was packed. At full volume, the man in the booth had people on lock, tapped into the music and cheering often. He was conversing with the waving masses through the music, and catered to the diverse crowd with what I’m told is ‘old-school’ house. All of it was cool, groovy, and uplifting.
A Long Night, A Burger
I was pooped from being early to the dance floor, so I hung around till this song then took my tired ass out of there at 2am.
All that talk of ‘Berger’ had made me hungry.
