Energy 4-8 | 69-81 BPM

Sunday early evening party for the Eclipse Zouk Marathon, 2024.

Chapters: EDM > airy synthpop > slower Zouk anthems > alternative > R&B > fun pop > slow and punchy > sustain the energy.

DJ Nerds: This was the pivot set, transitioning from Efosa who closed out the day party into our evening party. As such, the goal of the set was mostly to sustain / rebuild energy from the dinner break and set up the rest of the evening. Nothing too dramatic, but a good in-between set.

Fourth Contact | Eclipse 2024 Sunday Night

Saturday day party set (8-9 PM) for the NY SBKZ Congress on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024.

Energy 4-9 | 72-87 BPM

Chapters: Latin pop > light and playful > alt. R&B > remixes building energy > darker > pop & throwbacks > slow burn > fast burn.

DJ Nerds: Despite coming off a great setup by DJ Yasaf, this set was cursed. I had a relatively early pair of technical errors (removed from this edit because they involved a full audio drop) which, along with the awkward time of day and space, made it a challenging and discouraging set to play. These happen on occasion (and suck, in the moment) but, in retrospect, I'm still happy with how it came out. A reminder not to be too hard on myself 😉

Suave | NY SBKZ Congress (Saturday Day)

Almost almost closing set (3-4 AM) for the NY SBKZ Congress on Sunday, Feb 11, 2024.

Energy 2-7 | 64-76 BPM

Chapters: Neo / cooldown > very chill R&B > mixed electronic / world build > DROP THE ENERGY OFF A CLIFF > 

>> DJ Nerds << The best live sets are context-aware pieces of art. Many of the DJs in the lineup for SBKZ were excellent players of pop and party vibes, and that had been most of the energy of the night until this point. Late on a Sunday, people were also worn out. In response to both those things, the set is a cooldown set and a practice in "weaponized nostalgia": it starts out referencing older Zouk songs, and builds through songs that are nostalgic (though not in the context of Zouk) before returning back to songs that we very much associate with Brazilian Zouk. The ending is much more experimental (mostly for me). In particular, I was *so* glad to get to end with a song that had been sitting on for (literally) a year, waiting for the right moment.

Crystalize | NY SBKZ Congress (Sunday Night)

Energy 1-10 | 67-90 BPM

Prime time Saturday night for the Eclipse Zouk Marathon, 2024.

Chapters: Slow & spacey > slow & punchy > take a deep breath > a very deep breath > in a cathedral > a very, very, very slow burn (feat. electronic, pop, traditional, EDM, and K-Pop) > 2 cooldown songs.

DJ Nerds: My most dramatic Eclipse set started slow to cool the room off after DJ Dhroovy. Energetically, it looks like a hockey stick: the first half is f slow music (of variously low-mid energy songs) and the second half just slowly increases BPM and energy up to a sustained 90 BPM, just barely danceable. The only reason this didn't kill more people than it did was that curated period of rest beforehand. Still, tread cautiously on this one.

Totality | Eclipse 2024 Saturday Night

Eclipse Part 2 | Energy 4-7 | 75-83 BPM

Opening the day party for Eclipse on Sunday, March 2, 2024.

Chapters: Marian Hill (don't make it Rain) > light & fun > darker & more serious > upbeat R&B

DJ Nerds: This mixed right out of a sound check from DJ Rx, our head DJ for the weekend, who had been playing Marian Hill. I thought I'd continue the trend. The rest of the set was aimed to be fun, playful, and accessible, while keeping the genres and BPM moving.

Corona | Eclipse 2024 Saturday Day

Energy 3-8 | 70-80 BPM

Friday, March 1, 10-11:30pm. Eclipse Zouk Marathon 2024.

Chapters: Driving Hip Hop / R&B > Zouk Throwbacks > Lighter R&B > Pop / Alt. Throwbacks > EDM SLOW BURN > cooldown.

DJ Nerds: I believe that a good set should carry from the past DJ, include your own story, and nicely set up the next DJ. In between Efosa and DJ Rx, you can hear each of their influences -- Efosa's in the first quarter, Rx's in the last -- with a span in the middle for me to inject a huge drop and build, one of my signatures.

Umbra | Eclipse 2024 Friday Night

Energy 3-9 | 70-80 BPM

Sunday day party for the Eclipse Zouk Marathon, 2024.

Chapters: Pretending to DJ Traditional > throwback Thursday > pretending to be Efosa > getting weird for Anvi.

DJ Nerds: I'll say it again, day parties rock. With a full room of people, well lit, you can really play off the crowd. That was especially the case here: picking up off of a nicely warmed up room and traditional vibes from DJ Efosa, I decided to transition into something fun and punchy -- throwback remixes! Then once I saw Efosa back on the floor (with a particularly amazing follow) I knew I had to start playing stuff for him. Once I saw him ready to tap out, I knew it was time to switch up the vibe to set up Anvi.

Penumbra | Eclipse 2024 Sunday Day

Energy 3-9 | 77-83 BPM

Almost closing set (4-5 AM) for the NY SBKZ Congress on Saturday, Feb 10, 2024.

Chapters: Zouk / R&B anthems > dark & sexy > Neo / atmospheric > electronic build > pop remixes > HYPE.

DJ Nerds: This set doesn't change BPM much but does have a huge drop and slow rebuild of energy. After picking up the genre / energy from DJ Fraga, the set drops to dark and sexy. I had been sitting on this block of songs requested by Efosa, but he told to wait until the right time to break them out. Fortunately, I didn't have to guess when this was since he shouted "IT'S TIME!" from the dance floor when he was ready. That block is Efosa's fault / tribute. Thank / blame him for that. The rest of the set builds slowly back up from there, a break so that people could still have the energy to close out the night. This set does have one large "mistake" in it but I think the recovery is good enough that I was able to pass it off as an artful tease 😉

Rise & Fall | NY SBKZ Congress (Saturday Night)

Energy 2-9 | 67-78 BPM

Thursday pre-party for Eclipse Zouk Marathon, 2024. 12-2AM closing out after DJ Rx.

Chapters: Dark & atmospheric > electronic build / cooldown > Latin / Brazilian Pop > build > sexy > drop to nothing > slow R&B > punchy Pop > darker Alternative > a lil bit of everything, building towards EDM closer.

DJ Nerds: As a pre-party set, this was meant to meet the room, start warming up for the weekend, and try to get a read on what people liked. I mostly stuck to slower BPMs, as I felt resistance whenever I tried to push too fast, but otherwise tried to wander the genres and energy levels to try to feel out the room.

First Contact | Eclipse 2024 Pre-party

Energy 3-8 | 67-78 BPM

Closing set (5-6 AM) for the NY SBKZ Congress on Friday, Feb 9, 2024.

Chapters: Catch the energy > fun but relaxed > dramatic and slow > continue to cool it down > lovey R&B > chill traditional > trancey > taking requests.

>> DJ Nerds << The first night of an event usually burns out quickly so this is, overall, a slower and more relaxed set. There was a smaller crew in the room to start but I find DJing for these smaller groups can be even more fun than larger rooms; it is easier to harmonize with the dancers and co-create with them. More directly, Efosa, Vinny, and Bryn all helped direct this set: Efosa throughout (sitting with me in the booth for much of the set and calling audibles), and Vinny and Bryn making special requests which I was more than happy to oblige. Huge shout-out to the skeleton crew that made it all the way to 6AM, which is crazy on a Friday night ❤️

Fortress | NY SBKZ Congress (Friday Closer)

Brazilian Zouk DJ. More music on mixcloud.com/djsprenk

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