Topic: The Star: Feel Sexy DJ spins over to the Sauce
- Oct 21, 2007 05:14am by NRG - livin the art that is life !
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Feel Sexy DJ spins over to the Sauce
JENEÉ OSTERHELDT [email protected]
Miles Bonny It has been one of Kansas City’s most popular dance parties for more than a year — Feel Sexy, where Kansas Citians in their 20s and 30s go to groove to soul music, hip-hop and tons of old school jams.
Every month, on the third Saturday, Miles Bonny spins at the Hangout. And tonight it’s time to say goodbye to the dance night that gave us a place to party safely. There are no fights, no guys groping on girls uninvited and for the most part, none of that lowest-common-denominator music.
Miles has decided that the party has run its course, and he’s ready to move on.
“I am kind of anxious to get it over with,†says Miles, 26. “When it started, it filled a void. There weren’t many places for a DJ night that featured good dance music regardless of it being currently popular or not.â€
But as Feel Sexy gained success, it gained a new crowd that was confused about the concept. They weren’t always interested in old hip-hop, throwback soul music or what Miles thought was good music.
“And when that happens, it’s up to the DJ to maintain the original character of the night, or to be influenced. It was becoming more and more difficult to not compromise,†he says. “Most of the people didn’t know that it was a moral struggle to avoid the inundation of pop requests and hatred toward my direction.â€
It’s like Miles was playing for two crowds. One crowd knew him from Hip-Hop & Hotwings, knew him as a jazz-influenced hip-hop producer. That crowd was happy to have a dance night that fought against pop-music madness. The other crowd wanted to hear the latest in crunk, snap rap and all things thugged out and oversexed.
Most nights Miles found a way to happily mix the two, but as time went on, the battle to maintain balance began to wear him down.
“I felt like the people that were initially interested in the heart of the concept lost interest. And as that happened I lost interest. It was still a really successful night. It just wasn’t what it initially was. And I am more interested in the music than the money. It gets tiring to have to deal with a request from an audience that isn’t in line with what I am interested in playing. I would rather just let them have their own party.â€
Just as generations before us grew out of disco, funk and psychedelic jazz, Miles realized that he, and many of his original fans, are outgrowing what has become popular hip-hop. And digging for good music started to mean digging outside the box and further into the past.
Now he’s on a musical journey that includes Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, Labi Siffre, Curtis Mayfield and others. All of the music that current hip-hop and R&B samples, Miles is finding it and playing it at the Spitfire Grill on 39th Street every Friday with fellow DJ Beatbroker. The night is called the Sauce. There’s no cover, no dress code and it’s not about dancing, it’s about music.
“It’s a whole new concept and as removed as you can get from pop music,†Miles says, “but can be enjoyed by a wide variety of people. It’s a natural progression as I get older. And honestly one of my favorite parts of it is the same people who went to Hip-Hop & Hotwings and first went to Feel Sexy, they show up at the Sauce. It’s like we’re growing up together.â€
