My LA Moment; the time Josh Duhamel Rolled Up On Me

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While DJing in Los Angeles, even I was a bit surprised to see a Josh Duhamel. But moreso because I was actually playing his wife's song when he walked up to me. 

For as long as I can remember, I've had this weird “attribute” about me. It happens when I’m thinking about something and then suddenly that thing or something related to it comes up. It might be a song I'm thinking of that will come on the radio. Or I could be thinking of an actor and as I’m flipping through the TV I come across him on a random showing of a movie at 2 p.m. on a Saturday.

Well it happened again, in Los Angeles with Stacy Ferguson, A.K.A. Fergy Ferg, A.K.A. Fergie, A.K.A. Mrs. Josh Duhamel.

I was in L.A. with Fitbit to DJ at the Mile 22 cheer station of the Los Angeles Marathon. Exactly 28 songs into my “marathon, six hour” gig I figured it was time to drop the Fergie song, L.A. Love … I know, so cliche.

As I started playing it I see this guy walk up with his kid in a stroller. He starts recording me on his phone. This didn’t seem like too out of the ordinary, as it is fairly common that people will take photos or video of me DJing.

However, a minute or so later, I see him still hanging out and smiling back at me. Understand, where I was set-up was not an area that people were standing around and cheering. There were large groups gathered in other areas nearby, and here was this guy, with his kid, just standing behind me.

About 30 seconds later I look back at him, we make direct eye contact and then it hit me. It’s Josh-freaking-Duhamel .... Fergie’s husband!!

I literally shouted out “oh my god,” stunned at the coincidence that had taken place.

As I walked up to him, about five steps away, because remember he was standing so unusually close to me, and said “I just had that song ready to go, I didn’t even see you or realize you were there.”

To which he replied, “That’s funny, I just assumed you saw me walk up and decided to play it. And thanks, she will love it.”

Note he said “she will.” So I’m going to just digest the fact that at some point that day, while they were sitting on their couch at home, Josh showed Fergie a clip of me spinning L.A. Love.

And that’s a memory and an L.A. moment I’ll hold onto forever.

Here's a short video of the moment.

Josh Duhamel does a little lip sync to his wife's song, L.A. Love. F.Y.I., his wife is Fergie.

2016 Los Angeles Marathon - Fitbit Fitness DJ

San Diego DJ, Justin Kanoya, with the Fitbit crew at the 2016 Los Angeles Marathon.

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The mile 22 cheer station at the Los Angeles Marathon had nearly as many cowbells for cheerleaders as there were runners ... okay, not really. But if you wanted a Fitbit cowbell, you received a Fitbit cowbell.

At the beginning of 2015 I wrote down a list of goals and among them were to DJ an event with at least 10,000 people and DJ at the start line of a major running event. Of course, if that second goal was met, that first one was pretty much in the bag.

A year later, I’m happy to report that I can essentially check mark both, thanks to my friends at Fitbit.

As one of the corporate sponsors for the Los Angeles Marathon, that took place on February 14, Fitbit has a major presence at all things related to the event. From the race expo, to a tent at the finish line to a cheer station at Mile 22. And that’s where I came in.

I was set-up -- along with a handful of amazing members of Fitbit’s marketing team and super volunteer Erin -- at Mile 22 to play music and cheer on runners as they made their final 4-mile push to the end.

And while it wasn’t at the start line, I can now check off “DJ for several thousand people” (20,000+ runners) and “DJ at a major running event” (the LA Marathon is kind of a big deal). You can even read about my own LA moment, with Josh Duhamel, which will probably go down as one of the most unreal coincidences in my life.

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Lastly, I still have not run a marathon myself, but I can now say I DJ’d one, and in a way it was a marathon all on it’s own.

Here’s what a six hour setlist looks like.

• Anuhea - Higher Than The Clouds
• Crystal Bowersox - Midnight Train to Georgia
• Oasis - Wonderwall
• Magic! - No Way No
• Flo Rida - My House
• Prince Royce f./Snoop Dogg - Stuck On A Feeling
• Charli XCX f./Rita Ora - Doing It
• Iggy Azalea f./Jennifer Hudson - Trouble
• Coldplay - Adventure Of A Lifetime
• Aloe Blacc - The Man
• Fifth Harmony - Sledgehammer
• OneRepublic - Love Runs Out
• Maroon 5 - Maps
• Pitbull f./G.R.L. - Wild Wild Love
• Demi Lovato f./Cher Lloyd - Really Don't Care
• Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
• Pink - So What
• Ariana Grande f./Zedd - Break Free
• Kid N Play - Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody (Select Mix Remix)
• Monie Love - It's A Shame
• MC Hammer - Turn This Mutha Out (Select Mix Remix)
• Coolio - 1-2-3-4 (Sumpin' New) (Select Mix Remix)
• Mariah Carey - Emotions (Select Mix Remix)
• US3 - Cantaloop
• Tony Toni Tone - Feels Good
• Imagine Dragons - On Top Of The World
• Lorde - Team (Select Mix Remix)
• Fergie - L.A. Love (La La) (Select Mix Remix)
• Natalie La Rose, Jeremih - Somebody (Select Mix Remix)
• Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life (Select Mix Remix)
• Paramore - Ain't It Fun (Select Mix Remix)
• Ariana Grande f./Iggy Azalea - Problem
• Ja Rule - Livin' It Up (Select Mix Remix)
• Nelly - Hot In Here
• Wayne Wonder - No Letting Go
• Fat Joe - Get It Poppin'
• Big Tymers - This Is How We Do
• Usher - Yeah (Wedding Crasherz Break)
• K7 - Come Baby Come
• Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation (Select Mix Remix)
• C&C Music Factory - Gonna Make You Sweat
• Icona Pop - Emergency (Ghassemi Remix)
• Alesso - Heroes (Basic Tape Remix)  
• DNCE - Cake By The Ocean (Select Mix Remix)
• Ed Sheeran - Sing
• Pitbull, John Ryan - Fireball (Select Mix Remix)
• Clean Bandit, Jess Glynne - Rather Be (Select Mix Remix)
• Chromeo - Jealous (I Ain't With It) (Select Mix Remix)
• Afrojack, Mike Taylor - SummerThing (Select Mix Remix)
• Ariana Grande, Zedd - Break Free (Select Mix Remix)
• Maroon 5 - Sugar
• Robin Thicke f./Nicki Minaj - Back Together (Clean Edit)
• Tupac - California Love (Original Version)
• Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg, Kurup & Nate Dogg - The Next Episode
• Dawin f./Silento - Dessert (Remix)
• Jackson 5 - I Want You Moombahback (FeestDJRuud & Naffz Bootleg)
• Beyonce ft Jay-Z - Crazy In Love (Mayeda Remix)  
• Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On (Mayeda Remix)
• Discotron - Disco Ballin'  
• DJ Cassidy f./Chromeo - Future Is Mine (Promo Only Intro Edit)
• Boyz II Men - Motownphilly
• INXS - New Sensation (Edge Remix)
• J. Geils Band - Centerfold
• Paula Abdul - Forever Your Girl
• Paula Abdul - Opposites Attract
• Whitney Houston - How Will I Know (Select Mix Remix)
• Madonna - Holiday
• Beastie Boys - Brass Monkey
• Young MC - Bust A Move
• Usher, Nicki Minaj - She Came To Give It To You (Select Mix Remix)
• Justin Bieber - Love Yourself (RENAIR Uptempo ReDrum Edit)  
• Disclosure ft Sam Smith vs Justin Faust - Latch (Digital Dave Disco Fix)
• Avicii - Broken Arrows (Promo Only M-22 Intro Edit)
• Adele - When We Were Young (DiscoTech 2AM Radio Edit)
• Milky Chance - Stolen Dance (Uptempo Pop Mix)
• Beyonce - 7/11 (Tracy Young's Smack It In The Air Radio Edit)
• Nicki Minaj - The Night Is Still Young
• Jess Glynne - Hold My Hand
• LunchMoney Lewis - Bills (Promo Only Clean Edit)
• Zedd f./Selena Gomez - I Want You To Know
• Prince f./Zooey Deschanel - FALLINLOVE2NITE
• Charlie Puth - One Call Away (Lash Radio Edit)
• Krewella - Enjoy The Ride
• Calvin Harris & Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love
• Nelly Furtado - Do It
• Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (Live)
• Walk The Moon - Shut Up & Dance (G Duppy Remix)
• A-Ha - Take On Me (Kygo Remix)
• Disclosure ft Sam Smith - Latch (G Duppy Reggae Remix)
• Mutya Buenya - Real Girl
• Mack Wilds - Love In The 90z
• Nelly f./Jeremih - The Fix (Riddler Remix - Clean)
• Years & Years - King
• OMI - Hula Hoop
• Demi Lovato - Cool For The Summer
• Hailee Steinfeld - Love Myself
• Rudimental f./Ed Sheeran - Lay It All On Me
• Tove Lo - Talking Body
• Ariana Grande - One Last Time
• Mariah Carey - Heartbreaker
• Heavy D & The Boyz & Al B. Sure! - We Got Our Own Thang
• Mase - Feel So Good
   

Discovering the Undiscovered - How to Find New Music

Searching for music and artists like Allen Stone, Irma Thomas and Pokey LaFarge

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DJ Justin Kanoya explores some of the ways to find new music that works well for cocktail and dinner hours and just about any other non-dance period during an event. 

One of the most arduous tasks -- but still fun -- of being a DJ is sorting through the mountains of music that I have access to on a daily basis. While it’s important to be up-to-date on the latest hits and chart toppers, it’s equally important to find those less heard tracks.

The reason I like to explore off chart music, is less about wanting to introduce new music to an audience -- although that is an incentive -- and more about finding music that works well for those times during a set when dance floor fillers are not needed. I’m talking about those cocktail and dinner hours, and the music to play when people are walking into a room, or when leaving a party.

I also play music for award shows and galas, so it’s important to have a library of “walk-up” tracks (songs that are played literally as people are walking on and off stage).

Why “unknown” tracks vs. the latest upbeat Justin Bieber song? For starters, you do not want to waste a good dance song while everyone is sitting and having their dinner or sipping a cocktail. Since music sets a tone and vibe to a room, I don’t want people to be too into what is playing during these times at an event.

Think about the last time you were having a conversation and a song you really like came on in the background. You probably stopped and said, “oh, I love this song.” Or maybe started to sing along. I don’t want to disrupt dinner conversation or interfere with the first impression when people walk into a room. I want the music to complement that.

Therefore, playing music that has a great beat, but one that a person has likely not heard, does just that. It complements everything else, enhancing their experience.

I dig around for this type of music a couple of different ways.

Dive into your music subscriptions. If you are getting paid to DJ, you should be paying for your music. Online music pools, such as BPM Supreme, Promo Only, DJ City and others are the best way to stay current. Set aside time to listen to tracks and artists you haven’t heard before and note what may work for those “non-dance” times of an event.

The other tool I’ve been using lately is Spotify. This popular online streaming music service has been invaluable in discovering new music. Not only does it have hundreds, if not thousands of pre-made playlists for what seems like an inifite number of genres, there is also also the weekly updated “Discover Weekly” section. For those using Spotify, just tap or click the “Discover” tab and proceed to a set of music that has been custom made just for you, based on your past listening choices.

Each week on the “Here and Now” show on National Public Radio titled “DJ Sessions.” It features a guest that is a genre expert who presents a list of new songs from up-and-comers. The portion of the show, usually not longer than 10 minute, provides snippets of the songs and is fun to listen to as it provides some insight on the artist. The songs are also added to the “Here and Now” playlist on Spotify. Once again, if you’re a Spotify user, log on and subscribe to this great playlist.

New music is just a click away, so go digging and see what you can find. Also, tell me what artists you like to play for cocktail or dinner hour?

Stories From New York - Part 2

The New York skyline, and Freedom Tower, as seen from the 46th floor of the Trump Soho Hotel.

Even spending just a few days in New York City results in a host of stories. I can't imagine spending a lifetime there. Here are few more from my trip.

Move, Get Out The Way
In New York I always felt like I was in the way. Even with designated walking and biking lanes, certain areas get so tight there really is not actual separation. And with people moving in all different directions you constantly find yourself heading straight into another person’s path.

In other parts of the world, this usually means you start to walk a different path. Not New York.

In one such instance, I was headed toward a staircase while another guy was descending down. We were aimed right toward each other. Did he start to dive to his right while I did the same? No, he kept his line while uttering “MOVE. MOVE. MOVE."

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 A line of patrons waits to be seated at Dim Sum Go Go in New York's Chinatown.

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An assortment of chinese dumplings at Dim Sum Go Go.

Seinfeld 4
One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, and likely shared by many others, is “The Chinese Restaurant,” where Elaine, George and Jerry are waiting to be seated at a New York chinese restaurant. The entire episode consists of them waiting and never getting that table.

I had my own moment with my three friends as we stood outside of Go Go Dim Sum in Chinatown. We were number 82, and as the numbers crept up closer to ours, we noticed numbers 84 and 85 and others higher than 82 were being called. They seemed to being going to larger and smaller parties than ours, so we just assumed our "just the right size" table was not ready.

At one point we even got a "you’re next." But minutes ticked away and more tables were seated. Finally, we asked what was going on and apparently our names had been crossed off, the host thinking we had been seated.

Once we were finally seated, we ordered several dim sum dishes, including a veggie sampler platter. Also despite not ordering it, a pot of tea was placed on our table. While two of my friends and I feasted on our carnivore friendly dishes, our one vegetarian friend waited and waited for her sampler. And we drank the tea.

On three occasions we asked for a status, and after 45 minutes of completing all of meat-laden dishes, the veggie platter came out.

The server was apologetic and began to motion to the platter that was sitting next to that pot of tea that was brought out -- once again, without us ordering it -- to our table earlier. He apologized for how long it took for the food to come out and as a make good, would not be charging us for …. the tea.

The tea, that we did not even order. We waited 45 minutes for a plate of food after our initial order of food was brought out. And they comp the $2 tea?

Umm, thanks?

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Slow Ride
New York City is known for being a city that moves at such a fast pace. People zooming and weaving through each other, honking their car horns and paying no mind to "Don't Walk" signals. But I discovered something rather interesting. To get anything done in New York actually takes a lot of time. In that sense, it’s a city that moves rather slow.

The problem is, with so many people in such a confined space and most whose only means of transportation is to walk or use public transit, you are at the mercy of those two things.

How fast can you walk? How quickly will the train or bus get you where you need to go?

With a limited amount of time in the day, there are are only a few things you can really get done. Whereas, in a place like San Diego, where everyone drives, parking is plentiful -- yes even in the Gaslamp as compared to New York -- one can check many things off their "to do lists" throughout the day. And if you forgot something in one part of town, just get back in your car and double back.

There is no doubling back in New York, well not at least if you are not on a time crunch, and who isn't these days.

New York, in my observation, is the slowest, fast paced city I know.

New York City's Grand Central Terminal

In case you missed it, here is Stories From New York, Part 1.

Stories From New York - Part 1

For a few days, Justin Kanoya traded in the title of San Diego DJ, for New York DJ.

After spending a few days in New York I completely understand why Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, creators of “Seinfeld”, one of the most successful TV sitcoms of all time, had no shortage of material. Being in New York was like being in an episode of Seinfeld.

It was like nothing, but still everything. And I really can't make this stuff up. 

Mutual Job Love
“You have the best job in the world.”

I've heard these words before, usually coming from a person who works the average 9-5 job that keeps them within the comforts of a cubicle. But this time those eight words were coming from someone who arguably has a way cooler job than me.

They were coming from Anita Patrickson. A wardrobe stylist. But not just any stylist … a celebrity stylist. The type of person whose job is to suggest to Hillary Duff which piece of statement jewerly she should wear to the MTV Video Music Awards; confirm to Julianne Hough that her “boyfriend blazer” is just right for that Super Bowl party; and to let Chrissy Tiegen know that yes, indeed, her ensemble for the Golden Globes looks perfect because, well, she’s a supermodel and basically she looks good in everything.

And I only know the term “boyfriend blazer” because I saw it on Anita's Instagram.

I play the music of today’s hottest stars. Anita hangs out and dresses them.

I guess “best job” is all relative. I only had one response as she took a stab at scratching on my Techincs 1200s.

“Your job is pretty cool too.”

Celebrity stylist Anita Patrickson took a shot at DJing during the launch event for Fitbit Alta.

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This is the 'Shroom Burger at Shake Shack. Looks delicious and is delicious. But there's no meat.

Shake Shake Fail
This was my first journey into New York since the existence of Shake Shack, the popular burger and milkshake joint. I was excited to finally try this burger, and the stars lined up as I found myself in close proximity to one as my friends and I were deciding on a dinner spot.

In fact, we were at the original location located in Union Square. After a quick scan of the menu, I had committed to the SmokeShack, a cheeseburger topped with bacon and chopped cherry peppers. We waited in a relatively short line and just as it was my turn to walk up to the counter, I hear my friends discussing about the ’Shroom burger and the ’Shack Stack. I see the ’Shroom has something to do with a fried mushroom and as all of this is happening and I wanted to ask them what the difference in the two were, I get called up to the window.

Without knowing the difference between the ’Shroom and Shack Stack, I idiotically switch my SmokeShack order to the ’Shroom, assuming I was in for a taste of a meaty and fried mushroomy goodness.

I would soon find out the difference. For those not in the know either, the ’Shroom is simply a friend mushroom patty. No meat. What vegetarians order at Shake Shack.

I left New York, without having the chance to get back to a Shake Shack and have yet to taste one of these burgers.

HashtagFAIL. #shakeshackfail

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Is it Too Late To Say I'm Sorry
Generally when pedestrians bump into each other, they will apologize and move on. This is especially true in San Diego and something I noticed in my recent travels in San Francisco and, of course, Vancouver.

But, oh New York.

As I was walking among a throng of people on a subway platform, a man, looking to be in his late 50s/early 60s, with a rolling suitcase was approaching and about to cross my path. One of his wheels ended up rolling over the foot of the guy walking next to me, slightly tripping him up.

A stare down ensued. The man, also appearing to be about the same age as they guy who just had his foot rolled over, had a look of disgust.

What does the man who had just committed this understandable accident say? Does he apologize? Nope.

He simply uttered with equal disgust and that New York accent: "Maybe you should pay better attention."

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Jumping The Turnstile
November Project is the free fitness group I am a part of in San Diego, and there are tribes all over the country that welcome visiting members with open arms. I was excited when I realized my New York trip was overlapping with a 6:30, Wednesday morning, the day and time NP meets all over the U.S., Canada and Europe.

I Uber'd to the workout, because guiding my noob self on the MTA at 5:30 a.m. just seemed like a recipe for disaster. But after the workout, knowing I had time to spare and new friends (NP-NYC peeps) to help me  guide me to the nearest subway station. When we arrived at the ticketing area we were met with two very long lines to purchase tickets. I said my goodbyes to them as I got into line and they scanned their transit passes and headed to their respective platforms.

And I began to wait.

After about one minute, I hear someone yell my name, "JUSTIN!" I look over toward where I thought I heard it coming from, trying to make out a familiar face through a crowd of New York commuters. And I see Tammy, on the other side of the fence, motioning me to come over.

She opens the emergency exit door, the one exiting passengers use when they don't want to use the turnstile exit. Technically you're only supposed to use this in an emergency, but when's the last time a New Yorker followed rules.

With the door swinging open, she motions me toward her, and enter through this exit, without a ticket.

“That line is ridiculous.”

“You're gonna get me arrested,” I say. To which she replied, “Whatever, I'll get arrested for you.”

Want more? Here is Stories From New York, Part 2.