Last year, our friend, DJ and tireless promoter of local music Gary lost his house in a fire. It was tragic, and I hoped something like this never happened again to anyone I knew.
Yesterday, it happened again, to another friend, DJ and tireless promoter of local music.
Mike Carlson, a guy who I’ve known as a DJ in Madison as long as I’ve lived here, watched his house burn down yesterday. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but preliminary estimates put the damage at over a quarter of a million and the human damage is more – his family are now without a home, clothing, and belongings. Mike’s lost the records and CDs he uses to ply his DJ trade.
Mike, both as a DJ and as the owner of MCAudio, has been a fixture of the Madison music scene for decades. He’s also a genuinely nice guy. I don’t know a DJ or a band in town that he hasn’t helped. Certainly, he’s the guy who spun Null Device discs before anyone else would touch them, regularly throwing our poorly-recorded cover of “Wicked Game” into big night sets. Last time I saw Mike, it was sort of by accident – Wendy and I had wandered over to the Great Dane for a late snack and drink, and he happened to be DJing. He came over to our table, bought me a beer and an apple turnover (!) and talked excitedly about new dubstep records he was getting in the store. He’s always enthusiastic about music, and about the people who make music, and you can tell he’s a guy who loves what he does and loves sharing it with others.
Every few times I see him, he tells me “you know what I’m really digging these days? That acid jazz.” I usually joke that he has so much vinyl that he’s merely rediscovering stuff he’s owned for years and just forgotten about. I won’t be able to make that joke anymore.
A few people have already set up donation points on paypal:
http://www.paypal.com and send money to mikeandfamilybenefit@gmail.com
If you’re in Madison, you can donate a nonperishable food item at MCAudio on University Ave.
UPDATE:
Dane101 is on this. So is The Onion AVClub.
And there’s already a Benefit tonight at The Inferno:
Tonight (1/27) at the Inferno (1718 Commerical Ave.), a benefit show for Mike Carlson. No cover at the door, taking donations of both non-perishable food items and money. Starts at 9:00 p.m. DJs Eurotic and Alan!, + more.