Soul Harmony's Podcast

In holiday mode Soul Harmony brings you a very special bonus episode as promised. Fill your holiday with quality house beats fine selected & mixed by this fine house music connoisseur. With great pleasure I present to you
DJ RICARDO TORRES from West Coast Collective.

Several years back (2003) by total coincidence I heard a Ricardo Torres mix (PCH sessions) and it's been hard to forget how it made me feel. Still to this day I might play it from time to time. By this period I was familiar with OM records and dj's like Mark Farina and such I had been long over the sound of progressive house playing & rock concert mosh pits. Unsuspectingly Ricardo Torres's mixing style hit me across the face and I never looked back. It could have been the beautiful vocals he chooses that drew me in but this cat influenced my love for the soulful sounds of the west coast and that's that. Ricardo brings a set filled with beautiful house gems taking you on a journey through house music utopia. Hope you feel what I'm talking about when you are done listening to this mix. Personally I think everyone should get to experience a Ricardo Torres mix and that's why I'm beyond myself when I can spread the word. MUSIC SAVES seriously TRUST YOUR DJ.

Q&A with Ricardo Torres:

1)Ricardo Torres mixes/sets are?
Therapeutic (at least they are for me when I make them)

2)You got your first taste djing back in the 80's; Why do you continue to dj?
Helps me forget that I turned 40 last year. In other words it keeps me young. Wait. That's actually the opposite. It reminds me how old I am. Let me change that answer to "I do it for the love of House" (yeah that's the ticket).

3)Are you left or right handed?
Right handed. My mom is left handed and she told me that when she was in catholic school as a young girl they would tie her left hand to the chair to force her to use her right hand. Those nuns... they were a hoot.

4)Who was or were your music mentors?
It was a guy named Brian Dorais back in my college days. He introduced me to the college radio station and the two turntables there. He opened me up to the electronic music of the time such as Cabaret Voltaire, Front 242, Depeche Mode, etc. That lead me to discover Acid House as I started researching underground electronic music. The rest is history as they say.

5)I know that you are apart of the West Coast Collective family how did you guys come together on the idea of "Uniting People through House Music" ?
I actually met Kevin of the WCC first. He was introduced to me by a common friend, music producer and DJ - Jay-J. Like all of the WCC members Kevin is a DJ by night and is a professional in another field by day. Kevin is an amazing graphic designer and web designer. He does Jay-J's Shifted Music site and Jay-J thought that we would would have common interest since I'm a Visual Effects artist by day. When we met we were both interested in what each other did with the visual medium but what really bonded our friendship was our common love for Soulful House. He was DJing at a local gig that week end and he invited me to play with him. That's pretty much how it started. He introduced me to Torin and Dustin later and I became the 4th member of the WCC. These guys are not just people I DJ with. They have become family. House Music really did unite us.

6)Are you starting a cult; Why are you Uniting People?
That's a good idea... maybe we can win Tom Cruise over from his other affiliation.

7)I know you are close to music producer Jay-J and he's remixed your wife's (Sandra Lima) "Take it Higher"; do you have anything in the works with him that we might get to hear soon?
I am close to Jay-J. He is a really good friend. To be honest I don't like to mix business with my close friends. When Jay-J works on one of Sandra's project it's because it was meant to be. I would never asked him to help us with something he is not feeling. Jay-J is busy right now working on his album project. Sandra is also busy working on numerous tracks with other producers. She is also close to Jay-J. Even if they are not collaborating directly she seeks his advice regularly. He is a true expert when it comes to working with vocals. For example not too long ago he recorded and edited her vocals for a track that Sandra is working on with a German producer.

8)What song or songs are you burning up at the moment that you have NO involvement in? & that you DO have involvement in?
Most of the tracks I play I have no involvement in. Right now from the released stuff that would be "The New Dawn EP" from Grant Nelson on Nice'n Ripe. Great old school Garage feeling on that one. From the coming soon stuff it would be "The Way Back" from Evolve. This is Jay-J's Shifted Music next release. My favorite remix is the Random Soul one which I include in this mix for you. The only tracks that I have some involvement in (by default I guess) are the ones that my beautiful wife Sandra works on. She just completed a track with Irish producer Scope called "Don't Give Up". I've been rocking that one for a few weeks now. Hopefully it will be released before WMC once it finds a label it can call home.

9)It's difficult to pick just one favorite house classic I will say my favorites are Love & Happiness -River Ocean feat. India & Earth People- "Dance" What is your top classic house track?
It is a tough question. I guess if I have to pick one it would be "You Used To Hold Me" by Ralphi Rosario. This is the track that bridged for me Acid House and Vocal House and made cross over to the soulful side in the late 80s.

10)Which came first the McChicken or the McNugget?
In my case that would be the McPoulet since I grew up in Montreal. And that came way before the Nugget.

11)If we saw you at an event where you are NOT playing at; would you be on the dancefloor or looking over the dj's shoulder?
Since most Djs play on CDJs now a day the art of Train Spotting is going away. Especially if the CD Text is turned off on the player. I rather be on the dance floor but I do like the DJ booth privileges when someone I know personally is playing.

12)What equipment set up do you mix with at home?
I have a Rane MP 2016A rotary mixer with the XP 2016 external processor unit. Two Pionner CDJ 1000 MK2 and two Technics 1200 turntables that are collecting dust since I've digitized most of my vinyl collection. I also use TraktorScratch Pro from Native Instruments with the time coded CDs and a midi controller to trigger effects and loops. I will only use this system at a gig if I'm the only one playing. I usually use CDs only on the road. Recently I tried to use for the first time Traktor with a midi controller only at a gig in NY. It actually worked out pretty well. I loved how compact it was.

13)Are you like superman; do you have a normal job in the day time and turn into a house music superhero at night?
I'm actually FX Man during the day. I've been a Visual Effects artist for 18 years now. Specifically I do digital compositing which basically means I work with software/hardware that is like Photoshop on steroids for moving images. After working at most of the big VFX Studios in Hollywood I decided to start my own company 4 years ago with a partner. Since then "Below The Radar" has become one of the major VFX Boutiques in Hollywood especially for commercial work. We also do feature work (we just recently completed some shots on the movie City of Ember) but due to our size we can only take so many shots per movie.

14) What advice do you give to the newbie dj?
Really know your tracks. Get intimate with them. The whole song not just the intro and outro. If you know your music you'll know just what to play when you read your crowd and how and when to mix it in or out.

15) A few weeks back you had the opportunity to play alongside Eric Kupper which you were honored to have done so; who else do you hope to play with?
That was fun. It was an honor to play with Eric since I've been following his career for years. Believe it or not I've never really played with Jay-J and I would love to. I've played at his Shifted Music Party in Miami but we were in different rooms. When I was with him in Ibiza last year we played on different days. That wish might come true soon. We have a friend who is throwing a huge x-mass bash next week in Hollywood. She is good friends with both Jay-J and Louie Vega. They both say they were interested to play and will be there if their schedule permits it. She also asked me to play so I might have an early x-mass present if these two show up.

16)Can I have your entire music collection?
Well that collection took years to accumulate. I think it's only fair that if I give you my collection I start with the early stuff. Expect my Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Zeppelin and etc vinyl in the mail soon.

Thank you for your time Ricardo. Much Luck in your music career and hope you continue to spread love with the music for years to come.

GET HOOKED UP WITH DJ RICARDO TORRES & WEST COAST COLLECTIVE SOUNDS AT:
Dj Ricardo Torres Website

West Coast Collective Website

“I am on an eternal quest to achieve that perfect mix – (that’s) when the ideal tracks come together to form a superbly flawless union”.-Dj Ricardo Torres

and on that note here is the tracklist:

ARTIST / TITLE / LABEL

01- Jihad Muhammad feat. Chris Dockins / No More War (Main Mix) / Movement Soul
02- Poussez vs. Demarkus Lewis feat. Hannah Khemoh / Passin Thru (Original Vocal Mix) / Tone Control
03- Jill Scott / Whatever (Scott Wozniak Remix) / white label
04- Blakkat VS The Barrio Brothers / Understanding (Jay-J Remix) / white label
05- Brancaccio & Aisher / Its Gonna Be A Lovely Day (Jay-J Remix feat Latrice Barnett) / Moulton Studios
06- Evolve feat Margo Reymundo / The Way Back (Random Soul Mix) / Shifted Music
07- Knee Deep / I'll Be There For You (Knee Deep classic mix) / Defected
08- JJK and C.A.M.A / Fort Myami (Instrumental) / Reversoulmusic
(contains accapella parts of: Mr.V / H.O.U.S.E (Accapella) / SOLE Channel)
09- Jolene / The DJ (Alix Alvarez SOLE Channel Mix) / SOLE Channel
10- Copyright featuring Imaani / Deeper (Baggi Bagovic & Soul Conspiracy Club Mix) / Defected
11- Bravo Mike Ft. Monica Lynk / Someone Like You (New Jersey Mix) / Glideslope Music
12- Withney Houston / I'm Every Woman (C&C House mix) / Classic Track 1993

♥