A Paisley Babylon Rehearsal, July 31 2010

Paisley Babylon is in the studio rehearsing for a multi-media performance to be announced soon. What you’re about to hear is an hour’s worth of sonic weirdness–live mashups and mixes using a variety of sources including three turntables all going at once.

It’s a sound collage, music mix and live mashup being rehearsed in preparation for performances in Chicago to be announced soon.

In the meantime, enjoy this one-hour journey into the central nervous system of Paisley Babylon. Have a listen to the Mp3 and please feel free to drop comment on what you think of the clip–keeping in mind that it’s rehearsal quality, not performance quality.

Retro Now: Guitar Hero Commodore 64 Mod

Guitar Hero for the Commodore 64 computer system? Some kinds of madness transcends both the medium AND the message of the presentation. This is all at once the most pointless thing ever done and the coolest. Why would you want to play Guitar Hero on the C64? For the same reasons people climb Mt. Everest–just freakin’ BECAUSE. Forget about “can’t be done” or “shouldn’t be done”, anyone crazy enough to mod an old clapped out computer from the copper age of computing is also probably a total genius.

I discovered this glorious insanity on my new favorite retro blog, Retro Thing, which also features VIDEOS of this in action–definitely worth the flashback value. Bravo, Retro Thing…and the best part of this whole thing for me was the fact that it was on display right here in Chicago. It’s just a shame the post was already two years old when I found it!

Retro Thing is definitely still going strong and well worth a look.

DJ Paisley Babylon

I’ve worked under my own name and as DJ Paisley Babylon behind the decks in one form or another since 1987. I got my start working in radio as a midnight-to-6AM disk jockey in central Illinois, and briefly ran a mobile DJ service before I joined the Air Force in 1991. I’ve DJed all over the world since then thanks to my military career–everywhere from Japan to Iceland. As you’ll read in my newly added bio, I took some time off in 2005 but have returned to DJing once more here in Chicago and beyond.

I am back in the game and happy to spin sounds ranging from disco, New Wave, electronica, Chicago industrial and 80s/90s derivatives, strange genre-bending combinations of all of the above. I also spin soundtrack sounds from the 60s and 70s–you haven’t lived til you’ve heard Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, Goblin, Claudio Simonetti and other luminaries mixed with Big Audio Dynamite, Beck, Clash and others.

I am currently available for bookings–call (312) 504-1264 for details or drop me an e-mail to jwallace (at) turntabling d0t net. I am available for events, club bookings, parties, etc. I have an extensive library of the above genres and also have plenty of rare vinyl–especially the horror-related material, new wave, and what I call “unheard” music.

I’m based in Chicago but am available to travel. My schedule does require some notice for cross country travel–for best results on either coast, please call at least seven days in advance. Midwest-based gigs are easier to schedule with short notice.

I have PA gear suitable for medium-sized rooms–typical club/band performance spaces or smaller. Please contact me directly for rates and availability. If you’re curious to hear what I’m currently spinning, please download this DJ mix I did as a promo giveaway for HorrorHound 2009 in Indianapolis at the Turntabling.net booth. I have more mixes coming to this space soon.

Thanks for reading!

Joe Wallace/DJ Paisley Babylon

Paisley Babylon Back in the Studio

It’s true that there’s been precious little activity on this site for some time, but Paisley Babylon is finally back in the studio once more working on a new album for 2010. Many of the tracks were completed last year and a few remaining cuts have to be sorted out, but there is activity in Babylon once more.

Stay tuned for additional details.

Paisley Babylon Gets Active

This site has been very quiet since it hit the web nearly a year ago. That’s coming to an end as Paisley Babylon has been ramped up after a long period of dormancy. Coming to this space—lots of Paisley Babylon-related material. We’d say stay tuned, but that’s been said here for a year or more…now we’re up and running.

The journey continues into the new decade.