This nightclub called Asylum Afterhours in Honolulu, Hawaii was where I began my journey into the underground DJing. Asylum was where I cultivated my love for underground music and the dance community. I was fortunate to have been able to play at this intimate space before they closed during covid after existing for over 7 years. I'm grateful that they allowed me to express and create myself as an artist. This set was a combination of different techniques I haven't perfected yet but hopefully with some refinement I can make something really special. The setting wasn't packed but filled with the hardcore residents and DJ's, maybe only 20 people in the beginning of my set. This set is my favorite because it was the first set where I played music with a message. I opened with Brother IZ’s song: Hawai’i ‘78 “Ua mau, ke ea o ka aina, i ka pono, o Hawai'i” which has a deeply meaningful message that says "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." I am Hawaiian so it felt necessary to play it. This wasn't a perfect set and there was a lesson learned moment.  I learned not to give lesson tutorials to people while I'm DJing and also to never let them touch the decks while I'm playing unless its an upcoming DJ and he knows what he's doing. The story is I was teaching a guy named John about loops and let him touch the decks. The improper loop actually sent the track  back to a cue point towards the beginning disrupting the flow I was in. Also I learned through my experience to never let the chicks that hang out in the DJ booth touch the decks when i'm playing…ever… but that was a lesson learned from a different DJ set. My music selection was for the most part on the fly. I didn't plan certain songs to be played one after the other like some sets. That's why I liked this set so much because in other sets i had planned a set list whereas in this I DJed this and was sampling parts of songs to layer over. Other than planning the opening song everything was on the fly. I listened to this set and I can honestly say I was feeling and enjoying the track selection and still do. I used a lot of fx to create rhythm's and to experiment with looping long sections of songs for an extended periods of time and even short 1 bar loops. Toward the end it gets kind of trippy. I really tried to push the boundaries of the intelligent 4 on the floor bringing in different rhythms. In the backroom at Asylum the sound system is located in the back of the room facing the artist and the dancers backs so it was pretty special listening to the set as opposed to through the booth monitor and speakers facing away. It really makes the room come alive with sound.  The production of the songs on the sound system and subs was something really special and brought out nuances you normally wouldn't feel at home on earbuds. The DJ set was done sober. This raw recording was taken on my Zoom H6 Handy Recorder. Enjoy!

(Raw Recording) Andrew J. Judge @ Asylum Afterhours

Andrew J. Judge

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