Incredible to think when we release War On House Global 1 back in 2010 mixed by Aido C & Benny Mc. Who would have known it would take 12 years to release 100 Global mixes? When we started this journey it was for a simple reason. Play the best in underground House music, it was about Tech House and Techno back then featuring some of the all-star DJs at the time Steve Lawler, Umek who is also the owner of the iconic 1605 label, Joris Voorn, and many more.
When we started the Global concept of War On House we aimed to create top-quality mixes with the best music from around the world. It was a showcase of talent and art. We were broadcasting video at that point through an old website. It was all manually coded the video and sound were fine we were ahead of the times. It is only now do I start to appreciate we have been ahead of the times.
The setup at the time was using Traktor Pro which has evolved massively since then. In my opinion, it seems like the CDJs have now the same compatibility as Traktor and Serato DJ. I invested in Traktor when it was largely unpopular and unknown and the reason was to use 4 decks and maximize the remix and loop functions and integrate them into the mix. This was the challenge and we paired that with 2 Pioneer CDJ 1000mk2 and two midi-controlled decks which we manually mapped to Traktor. This was all connected via Audio 6 which then progressed to Audio 10 when Audio 6 decided to die. That coupled with the legendary Pioneer DJM600 mixer it was a sight for sore eyes.
I loved the set up it was clean and the mixing was spot on, the focus music and the blending, and the timing were all in focus. It did not disappoint, some of the early mixes of the music were just incredible. So much I have gone back and found these tracks and played some of them to this day including the amazing Mark Fanciulli (Joris Voorn Remix) The Tide.
War On House took video broadcasting seriously not just uploading to Youtube but playing live. We were ahead of time with no direction. Imagine what we could have done if we had the knowledge we have today! Below is captured Benny Mc in the mix back in 2011
Banging the drum as hard as you can. It all started here in a wooden shed that was overloaded with Tech and Sound. It was paradise for me and not so much for the neighbors. Though the new man cave there are still some similarities. Happiness for me and not so much for others.
As life evolves so does music. War On House has moved from underground Tech House to a more open format of House Music. It is how we have progressed as well. Understanding music more. The origins and appreciating some of the incredible music we are lucky to have ever heard.
My appreciation for Frankie Knuckles has gone from strength to strength. This man was a visionary, he mixed Hip Hop, and RnB with House Music. Was one of the founding fathers of House Music and some of the tracks he produced are still iconic today. They sound better than a lot of the music created today. When I started to develop War On House this Classic, Disco, and Piano House were a lot deeper than I appreciated at the time. It has so much depth and history and passion, it helps me be a better DJ and Producer. I created my Frankie Knuckles mix to try and capture some of the imagination he brought to the House music world.
Incredible to think it took 10 years to reach 50 War On House Global Mixes and we have done 50 in two years. That is a mix every other week. The why and how is simple. I put refocused on building the series up. Progression is great and I have gone on that journey but sometimes it leads to uncharted territory and leads you to focus on other areas of music. Live performance is one.
The 50th mix was all about Dec B & Benny Mc laying down some bears
