Chicago’s long-running Smart Bar will host a special club event on November 21 with Justin Long and Mazi Namvar: the duo, also known as Wasted Chicago Youth, will record their DJ sets to be released next year on TuningSpork Records as a double-disc set, inaugurating the label’s 10-year anniversary.

Justin Long has been a Smart Bar resident DJ for a number of years, and in addition to being an esteemed producer, he runs his own label .dotbleep. Mazi Namvar is also an established DJ and producer (perhaps most notably under the alias Audio Soul Project), co-runs the label Fresh Meat, and is a regular contributor at dance music site Beatportal. Over the years, Justin and Mazi’s tracks and remixes have been released on Cajual, Ovum, NRK, Robsoul, Junior Boy’s Own, Dessous, and numerous others. Since 2008, they record and DJ together as Wasted Chicago Youth, having teamed up with Jay Haze’s Berlin-based TuningSpork Records. Their productions have been played over and over by the world’s top DJs like Richie Hawtin, and they have brought their dynamic four-deck set to Los Angeles, Denver and London’s prestigious nightclub Fabric.

Guests on the dancefloor at this night’s event can expect to hear Justin and Mazi juggle new and unreleased material from TuningSpork, Fresh Meat, .dotbleep and other like-minded imprints. With selections ranging from raw jakbeat to polished tech-house, Justin and Mazi will teach the crowd about their hometown’s influence on dance music, committing the night’s proceedings to tape. While nowadays most commercially released DJ mixes are put together in studio isolation, Justin and Mazi will distinguish their effort by including the energy and ambience of the crowd – an intangible yet crucial element within the art of dance music. The Wasted Chicago Youth 2xCD package will be released in stores and online in early 2010.

Smart Bar was founded in 1982 and has a history of showcasing both home-grown talent as well as top techno/house DJs from around the world. With its Funktion One soundsystem and classy but relaxed atmosphere, Smart Bar is in no small part responsible for keeping Chicago’s dance music tradition alive. Join the house revolution!

Justin talks about the reasons behind recording the mix live:

After doing a few releases for Tuning Spork records under the Wasted Chicago Youth guise Mazi & I were approached by them to put together a double mix CD for their 10 year anniversary.

After a bit of thought we wanted to make the project more special since in recent times a lot of mixes are fabricated with computer programs and done in the quiet of a home studio which to us is not the true essence of a mix and it does not capture the vibe or energy of a moment. After all how many times have you looked though an old shoe box and pulled out that one mix cassette that reminds you of that time driving to the warehouse party or the one time a mix brought you up from being in a big of the old doom and gloom or even when you met a special person. A proper mix is a moment in time and can serve as a audio photograph.

So after a little bit of a think tank session a idea sparked…
What if we recorded it live at Smartbar and rigged the room with microphones to capture the night in its entirety?

Immediately some phone calls were put into place and the process of molding the golem begun!

Our next move was to get in contact with labels of our choice to put together our track lists and we have received great support and have put together a quality collection of music which we will unleash on the scientific funktion one system. It will be a true rumble of man vs speaker!

With all the elements now in place the only thing left to do is execute the night as we will all work together to capture this moment!

We are very much looking forward to this project and we are looking forward to having everyone that wants to be part of it come along and dance and shout until the doors close at 5a.m.

More info??? www.smartbarchicago.com