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NAME/ALIAS: Hugh Herrera
NATIONALITY/BORN: Lebanese Mexican American | Los Angeles, CA
CURRENTLY RESIDE IN: Jumping from New York to San Diego a lot lately
YEARS PLAYING/PRODUCING: Sharing music since 1976. Getting paid to share music since 1997.
GENRE(S) OF CHOICE: Whatever the party calls for. I'm not a one-trick pony. I show up to a gig not knowing what I'm going to play, and I deliver. Music selection and timing are a critical marriage. It doesn't always happen in a public setting because the variables are countless--sometime insurmountable. The real party is the after party. If I get you at 7am, you are mine. I prefer vinyl records, but I'm not a f***ing hard-ass about it because the reality is that most sound systems are shit anyway, so go ahead and play your 128k mp3, honey. If you have an open musical mind, you will enjoy yourself. If you are close-minded, you still might enjoy yourself. The best quality sounding music across all genres was from the disco era, even Dick Clark agrees. Repeat: that includes all genres. The period of transition from analog to digital production was kind of magic, too, in its unique fresh way. Some of the best music we hear is on radio's airwaves, but we have our filters on. On the whole, though, more creativity exists underground, as with anything. When I was six-and-a-half years old, I would lay on my bed with my eyes closed, headphones on, and listen to Steely Dan's Aja album...over and over. This was my introduction to music. I thought all music would reach that standard. I was wrong, but since then I've wanted to share the experience I had as that boy on his bed with the headphones on lost eternally in bliss.
AFFILIATIONS: I am the one behind the H-Track brand, established in 1999. Over the years, H-Track has morphed from a simple website hosting music mixes to a platform for larger projects including a record label and soon a record shop. I am also A&R Director for Pacific Beach Recording Company in San Diego.
INSPIRATION COMES FROM: Everywhere, I mean it. The ocean. Boeing 747. Dancers. Business management. Radio. Shopping malls. Ghetto blasters. Highway driving. City driving. Los Angeles. Gas stations. Jai Uttal. Drummers. Friends. Madeline Khan. Alcohol. The forest. Bands. Estonia. Booming car stereos in New York City, the one town where everyone is on to great music. My guru. The Sun. Kick drums. Woman. Pyschic events. Negra Modelo. Brooklyn. The Desert. Coconuts. Benirras. Relationships. The The. Airports. Beach cruiser. Manhattan. The mountains. Grand Central Station. Avocados. Sports. Single Gun Theory. Love. The Loft Party. San Felipe. London. Dinner. Loire Valley. Mid-low range. Tunnels. High hats. Death Valley. Golden Hill. Underwater. Mangiami NYC. Technology. Plants. Drugs. Airbus 380. Every morning I wake up with a song in my head, etc.
MOST MEMORABLE DJing MOMENT: I'm actually going to pick one...f*** that's impossible. Let's see, 5,000 people outdoors in Sofia, Bulgaria opening for Level 42 was pretty cool. Playing under the stars in the breezy quad of a castle in Morelia, Mexico for the Morelia Festival was great. Throwing parties under the sun on the bluff in Del Mar, California made me cry tears of elation. Getting this request at Candelas, where I played records for six years,” I just got out of jail, can you play some house music" was hilarious. Playing after hours at cool chick's flat on the thirty-somethingth floor of a high rise in Hong Kong was cool--I just met her that night. Throwing the one and only Sunday Skyline party in downtown San Diego with Harvey on the roof of my building on July, 18th, 2004, was epic. Playing at the office while Chris Renzulli is going bananas never gets old--15 years now. Playing Ibiza with Phil Mison and Gerry Rooney was a complete blessing. Becoming friends with Bernie Mac as a result of the music I was playing at the Screen Actors Guild Awards post-party was super dope--he's a real mother-f***er. Starting the first daytime dance party at Burning Man was a brilliant idea--that's right, it was my idea and now it's a 24 hour dance party at Burning Man every year, I love it. One time I was playing early at Candelas and a cute girl was at the bar--I realized I played these three songs in a row subconsciously: Woman Of The World, Don't Break My Heart, Take A Chance With Me--some call this quantum physics. Playing the Grammy Awards post-party for BMG in New York City inside a Gothic bank was surreal. You get the idea. There are a lot of special memories. I probably shouldn't even have named anything because I left too many out, but I don't to leave out all the times that involved my friends from around the world--especially the small private parties with stellar sound systems.
FAVORITE ARTIST(S): OMG, really? Listen to h-track Radio. It will only begin to answer the question.
WEBSITE: www.h-track.com
BLOG: Subscribe to email list as www.h-track.com
MIXES : www.h-track.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/hugh.herrera.7
TWITTER: HughHerrera
SOUNDCLOUD: I've been doing soundcloud before there was soundcloud at www.h-track.com, so I’m late to soundcloud tsunami, but I’m getting up to speed at soundcloud.com/h-track.
OTHER:
BONUS: It's always the good ol' days. Be unattached to results.
