“Ten years ago Mikey Palms told us he was opening a bar in Park Slope in an old 99 Cent store with his childhood friend, Matt Roff. As soon as we saw it, we immediately knew we wanted to throw a party there. The Rub started the first summer Southpaw opened, and after an unprecedented run of over a hundred monthly parties, we are sad to report Southpaw is closing.

Simply stated there would be no Rub without Southpaw. Before Fifth Avenue had any sushi restaurants, yoga studios or boutiques, Mikey and Matt took a bet on the neighborhood. They helped us connect with a community of people who wanted to stay in the Slope and party with their friends to quality music. Southpaw was an oasis for Brooklynites who didn’t want to go to Manhattan and spend half a paycheck on bottle service while some asshole played The Strokes off an iPod. And they didn’t just invest in the neighborhood, they invested in three DJs who were dying to find a big room were we could play cool shit for a crowd who loved music as we did.

We were talking about it the other day, and Mikey put it in perspective when he said “remember, when we opened, you could still smoke in bars.” This was just six months after Bloomberg took office – before mash-ups, before 50 Cent, before Serato or MySpace, or all-over print and skinny jeans, before any of us had gone on tour or released a record. If you were there in the beginning you remember Roger, and Uncle Moe, and Marissa, and Bill, and Alex (RIP). You remember when Mark Ronson Djed on Halloween in face paint, when Diplo and Low-Bee played in a blizzard, when DJ Premier dropped in for a surprise DJ set and when Dave Nada tore the room wide open with Baltimore club. You remember when a couple fucked the sink off the bathroom wall, when Pumpkinhead got in a fistfight at the end of the night and rolled around on the dancefloor, when the winner of the White Rapper Show threw up and passed out on stage, when we got shut down and had to move to Bar Reis because Southpaw didn’t have a license to serve lemons and limes, when Jeru the Damaja hopped on stage and performed “Come Clean.” There was a special feeling every month, like a big house party, loud and sweaty and thrilling. And in the last few years, you also remember waiting on a long ass line around the block. We could have moved The Rub to a bigger club plenty of times, but it was such a special feeling and a perfect crowd, and besides we were loyal to Mike and Matt, and of course Kenan and Ro and the whole crew.

This Saturday will be the last time The Rub is at Southpaw, but it’s not the last Rub. Mikey and Matt are going to focus on their Williamburg club, Public Assembly.  The Southpaw space will become a tutoring center for children.  Eleven, Cosmo and I are taking The Rub down the hill to Bell House, a beautiful venue very similar to Southpaw in a lot of ways, but a little bigger, with a little better sound, and a little off the beaten path. We looked at a bunch of clubs in Brooklyn and talked to a ton of our friends, and everyone agreed that this feels like the perfect room. The gang’s all going to be there, with Rahnon and Matt at the door, and me, Eleven and Cosmo on the turntables. We’re switching it up to the last Saturday of every month, and we hope you’ll help us spread the word so we can keep it up for ten more years. Please please please sign up for our email list, follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and ask your friends to do the same. And if you don’t have anything else to do this Saturday, come to Southpaw (EARLY, to beat what will surely be a crazy line) and join us for the first Rub of the rest of your life!”

I must reiterate this: COME EARLY ON SATURDAY, FEB 4TH!!!

If you’re so inclined, head over the The Rub blog to see many of the flyers from the last 9+ years.  And, for those with even more time to kill, head to The Rub Facebook page to see a LOT of pictures from the parties.

Eugene Tamborine and I just let our remix of Goapele’s “Play” fly this week.  (Check the Soundcloud player to download it.)  Thanks to DJ Icewater for the mix, Ricardo Guitierrez for the master, and Dee Phunk for the art.

Goapele – Play (Eleven Tambourines remix) by 11InchRecords

Plus, as an added and very unexpected bonus, our Yum Yum homie Tand Williams came with the ill video!

Thanks to everyone that made the 11/11/11 party such a great success.  It’d take all day to name everyone individually, but special thanks are due to:

The Red Bull Space for having us and Bushill’s USA for providing lots of booze.

Moma, Max Glazer, Mick Boogie, DJ Illo, Matthew Africa, Ayres & Cosmo for the great music and Donwill & Mike Baker on the hosting duties.

Namane for helping to make the whole thing happen & Matt Arlyck for keeping the crowds at bay & Kenny Rodriquez for documenting the whole thing.  You can see all of the photos here

And, much thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with us!

Ring in the New Year with The Rub & DJ Moma at Southpaw.  Buy them here now!

Since I gave up smoking, drinking, coffee, sugar, and just about everything else fun, about all I have left is my undying love for bacon and a desire to eat well at every meal.  So when the folks from Food Republic hit me about doing an interview about what and where I like to eat, I was more than ready.  You can check it out here.  (For the rest of their DJ week interviews, including with Z-Trip, A-Trak, Tittsworth, M.O.S. and other others go here.)

URB, OkayPlayer, GiantStep , RCRDLBL, Hypetrak, SoulBounce, AlterHipSoul, RawDrive, StupidDope, Blind For The Kids.

In case you missed it, you can listen to and download the track from player down below:
J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science – Go to Work (feat. The Pimps of Joytime) (DJ Eleven Remix) by 11InchRecords

I’m been scheming on this party for MONTHS.  A chance to get some of my favorite DJs together in one place with some of my favorite people and celebrate a day when everything comes up elevens?  Yeah, I’ll take that.  Here’s the story:

Friday, November 11, 2011
The Red Bull Space – 40 Thompson Street (at Watts), NYC
Music by Mick Boogie, The Rub, Max Glazer, DJ Moma, Matthew Africa, DJ Illo
Hosted by Donwill & Mike Baker The Bike Maker
9PM-1AM, open bar all night, $11.

There are a VERY limited number of tickets available at www.eleven11eleven.eventbrite.com/.

Grab them NOW.  Because when they’re gone, they’re gone.

My remix for the homie J-Boogie’s “Go To Work” (featuring Eugene Tamborine on keys) just saw its premiere on RCRDLBL.com this morning. They had a lot of nice things to say about it:

“This DJ Eleven remix of “Go To Work” by J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science is so outlandishly funky that it’s disappointing rooftop lounges aren’t still open to fully experience it. A sweaty apartment will do, though. There’s that sweet, fat old school synth bass, melodic squelches like De La Soul’s “Me, Myself And I” and a simple yet seductive refrain to just be there and dance. Boogie’s new one,Undercover, has more of this, and it’s out now on OM Records.”

Head on over here to download it for free.   Or check it out down below in the player.

We’re celebrating the release of Mike Baker The Bike Maker’s new album at FAM (at Von – 3 Bleecker Street at Bowery) on Oct 27th.  Come through at 9PM to hear the album, stay all night to party.  DJ Tara will be joining us for a guest set and Dee Phunk will be hosting the fun.

The homie DJ Center just released the remix version of his “Everything In Time” album, including a remix by yours truly.  While my version of “In A Song” can’t handle a candle to DJ Spinna or Applejac’s remixes, I’m still pretty damn proud of it!  Head on over to iTunes and cop it right here.