50 something gay black male residing in Washington DC which is where I have lived for most of my adult life since attending University of Maryland in 1973. With the exception of a few years during the 80s that I lived in NYC.

With an eclectic musical taste my mixes have no bounds.

I began mixing / blending music in the early 70's while still in high school during which time 8-track was the popular format. Cassettes followed, cds and now podcasts.

Having first visited the Pier 9 in SE Washington DC while a senior in high school in September 1972 which was the first gay night club in the city ... disco along with rock and roll and soul music represented important elements of my early 8-track compilations.

In early 1979 I was introduced to electronic / new age music and since then, new age / electronica music by the likes of Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and Kitaro has been amongst my favorite genre.

Always with a theme my mixes often reflect on my life.

Beginning in the summer of 1978, my best friend, Frank Gramarossa and I would take weekend trips to NYC to party at Studio 54 or on Fire Island. So, early on, I was introduced to some of the best music and DJs in the world.

The week after my move to NYC in September 1980 the Saint-At-Large opened at the old Fillmore East in the east village.

Not only did we continue to party at Studio 54 until its closing, The Loft, Paradise Garage and a few other NYC clubs but visting The Spike and The Eagle before heading to The Saint was our weekend ritual.

And, then the Mineshaft, Saint Marks Baths or Everhard Baths afterwards.

The music at the Spike, often created by owner CT and that at the Eagle by Jim Johnson was and is still considered some of the best ever.

And Frank and I would create our own personal compilations that we played at the apartment and at parties that we hosted before heading out to one of the dance events.

And, yes, designer drugs including MDA was part of the scene!

I often speak of Roy Thode as being my favorite DJ but, Jim Johnson from the NYC Eagle ranks amongst the top as well. As does CT from the Spike whose mixes and/or sessions had no bounds.

Since 1992, photography has been in the forefront of my artistic extression. While street and protest photography have been my claim to fame, my body of my work has always been rooted in documentation.

Always hoping to integrate my photography with powerful and or provocative music compilations, in recent years, I have created several video / dvd projects that have integrated mixes of San Franciso based DJ Bryan Hughes with photo montages of my work. Here is one such example of the April 2000 Millennium March on Washington for Equality at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4091221651135295761#.

Through my podcast productions, most of the mixes that will be featured at this site will serve as background music for my various photo / video montage projects.

The merging of my music mixes with my photography has been a contemplation since the early 70's when I created 8-track compilations.

And, the integration of my photography with my writings as well as MY music compilations will not only document the times in which I have lived but, also, shed light on my personal history.

A personal history which and among other attributes, but without aplogies, has been that of an openly gay black man!

Elvert Xavier Barnes Mixology
elvertbarnes.com