Al Gomes tells this story to illustrate how good news has followed Song Slam, the live music showcase run by Big Noise, Gomes and partner A. Michelle's music promotion firm.
In February 1998, Gomes says, Christina Aguilera was sitting in the den of his East Side house, drinking tea and playing a couple of songs from her demo tape on his stereo. "We were blown away by her," Gomes says.
By coincidence, the Grammy Awards were playing on TV that night. Gomes recalls, "She looked right at me and said, 'One day I'm gonna have one of those.'" Aguilera was right. And in addition to winning the Best New Artist Grammy, her self-titled RCA debut album has sold 10 million copies worldwide.
Aguilera, then 17, took the trip up from Manhattan to Providence, RI with a music scout from her first management firm that had signed her just two days before. The scout was in town to sign the Comic Book Super Heroes, the Providence, RI band that played a break-out set during a Song Slam showcase that year.
And there's two other Aguilera connections to Big Noise and its Song Slam.
Gomes and A. Michelle's association with Christina led to their jobs as executives at Three Wishes Productions, Inc., Aguilera's production company. Gomes and A. Michelle oversee the teen-pop star's official website - which clocks an astounding 5 million hits a month - as well as acting as publicists, biographers, and archivists for Aguilera.
The third Aguilera / Song Slam connection is D.U.I., a techno duo from Chicago whose members include Adam Balawender (keyboards, programing, sequences) and Mark Jachimczuk (guitar, keyboards, sequences). They released their first CD, 'Under Pressure' in 1998.
At that time, Bogdan Fabianski, a journalist and popular radio personality from Radio 4U in Warsaw, Poland, became interested in D.U.I., and gave them tremendous exposure. With his help, a short time after the release of 'Under Pressure,' the song 'Brothers and Sisters' made it to the 'Top 30 Dance Chart,' one of Europe's most important radio dance hit lists, broadcast by Radio 4U.
After nine weeks, the song placed #2 on the list! The band's popularity increased after song's success and many fans of techno began following the band prompting many record labels to become interested in D.U.I.
BMG decided to include the song 'Let Yourself Go' on a compilation CD, 'Techno Zone Vol. 2.' This song became an even bigger success, lasting 13 weeks on 'Top 30 Dance Chart.' It eventually hit #1 on the list for 3 weeks!
The popularity of this song encouraged BMG to incorporate another D.U.I. song, 'Under Pressure' onto next compilations, 'Techno Zone Vol. 3,' and 'Techno Zone Vol. 4,' which was released in March of 2000.
D.U.I. then hooked up with Big Noise to further their exposure and the duo traveled to New England to perform at the Song Slam. They impressed Big Noise's Al Gomes, who called them, "One of the most talented acts to ever appear at the Song Slam."
With their BMG chart success, Gomes then suggested to the band that they try their hand at remixing Aguilera's 'What A Girl Wants' for RCA Records (a BMG label). It proved to be a suggestion that changed D.U.I.'s lives. Their remix became a #1 record on Radio 4U's 'Top 30 Dance Chart' in Europe. D.U.I.'s version proved so popular that RCA Records added the D.U.I. version of 'What A Girl Wants' to future pressings of Christina's debut CD in Europe.
With the success of 'What A Girl Wants', Gomes once again suggested the duo return to the studio and remix Christina's next single 'I Turn to You.' Lightning struck again and D.U.I. found themselves with another single on Radio 4U's 'Top 30 Dance Chart'.
"It's an amazing opportunity," Gomes says of the Song Slam series. "You come here. You put on your show. If something is going to happen, it will happen" (artists at the Song Slam perform for music business pros, including scouts representing record companies, management firms, radio, and music journalists, paying most attention to performance, stage presence, songwriting, and overall look).
With D.U.I.'s amazing chart success for BMG's compilations and the Christina Aguilera remixes, BMG signed D.U.I. to a deal and their first full-length BMG CD, 'Freeway,' was released in 2000, receiving unanimous critical acclaim and expanding their already-rabid fan base.
D.U.I. perform live in clubs in Chicago and New York and also were invited to play during the national DJ competitions in Warsaw, Poland in the Fall of 2000 as a special guest.
- Includes reports from Vaughn Watson for The Providence Journal
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For a taste of D.U.I.'s Christina remixes,
What A Girl Wants
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Big NOISE E-mail: duimusic2000@yahoo.com To join their mailing list Recordings available: Freeway (BMG - 2000) CD
D.U.I. in the studio |
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