I broke a promise I made myself a while ago…!

Hey,

I hope you’re well…! It’s Monday morning already. I just came back from my morning run and realized how much last week has been quite intense and filled with so many great things and announcements. 

Sometimes, when you’re in the midst of it all, you end up forgetting the size and depth of things as you’re fully involved in them. It’s like looking at a painting with your face really close to it. You’ll only see a few things, but as you walk back, things start to beautifully unfold, and this is what this morning feels like as another promising week slowly and nicely arises! 

🎧 Music I’m listening to

Texas Sun by Khruangbin

I had the huge privilege to be a DJ for the first time in my life at the very high-end restaurant and nightclub called La Muralla in Tangier last Saturday night. 

The owner of this place is a very dear friend and brother and friend to Alex and me, and as I was having dinner with him and his boyfriend Philippe last June, they decided to use this time to book their DJs for the whole month of August and September. At some point, as they truly were really into it, they both turned around and looked at me, asking, "Jeff, can you DJ?!" 

My answer must have been something like, "Well, I can do a great playlist, as I have a pretty great variety of musical tastes from the 1950s up to now, but I kind of promised myself in an unofficial way years ago that I’d never be that guy…"

You know the guy! 

Behind the giant booth, headphones on, looking extremely serious, two hands moving around dramatically, one USB stick containing what apparently represents the entire history of recorded music.

So, naturally…! Last Saturday… I became that guy. For six hours!!! 

Listen to the Missive Playlist

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

Constantly try to be in rooms you don’t deserve to be in
- Scott Galloway 

This has been the story of my life ever since I first went to the Canadian Music Week showcase back in 2004, where I was with my emo punk haircut, my Dr. Martens boots, skinny tight black jeans, studded black belt, and a very tight Ramones t-shirt with "Hey Ho Let’s Go" written in the back, being looked at from high above by loads of music execs hoping I’d simply leave rather than sharing my new band CD. 

A very famous Montreal radio host, to whom I asked where the party was earlier that day, truly laughed at me simply for asking and told me, “Who let you in?” 

One of the Glastonbury Festival talent buyers, whom I started to speak with nicely about how great his festival is and to whom I was hoping I could hand a CD and maybe be a headline contender in two to three years onward… Being a very humble man in my 20s, he looked me straight in the eyes after my fourth word and said, "You're not going to give me a fucking demo, are you?!” then left…! 

I used to think the goal was to finally belong in those rooms. Today, I'm not so sure.

Maybe the goal isn't to belong. Maybe it's to walk into the room without asking permission to be yourself. Because the moment you start changing yourself to deserve the room, you've already lost something.

I didn't have the right haircut. I didn't have the right contacts. I didn't have the right business card. I barely understood what anyone was talking about.

But I had a record. I had a dream. A shared dream! 

And, apparently, enough nerve to keep knocking on doors that were very clearly being slammed in my face.

That's also why The Club matters so much to Alex and me.

We've always been interested in creating rooms that didn't exist before. Rooms where you don't need the right badge. The right contact. The right status. You simply need to care.

And if you're here, you're already in.

🎙️ Podcast That Inspired Me

Alex and My Open Conversation Part I - Springtime

Thanks to all of you who showed up last Saturday for the YouTube premiere of a three-video series in which I asked Alex deep insights and questions about what’s behind the song Springtime..! 

If you have any questions for Alex, please feel free to send those to me here in advance! 

Truly looking forward to meeting you all again on Saturday for Part II! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

This guy with that guy! We’re probably discreetly laughing about a list of songs being played in Tangier for the very first time, wondering about people's reactions and sharing on their Instagram "Worst DJ set ever"! 

Speaking of being in rooms you don’t deserve to be in…! It was a lot of fun in the end as many people, thanks to Miss Isabel, left their dining tables to dance for a little while! 

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

The Morocco weekend has taken up an unreasonable amount of space in our Long Shadows conversations lately.

For good reason! We're doing something that isn't particularly conventional, right? 

We're bringing an international artist, his friends, and our strange little way of doing things into a place where this kind of gathering hasn't really been done this way before.

And yes, it's a little terrifying to say the least! We're probably walking another tightrope. But we've been doing that for years…! 

Maybe that's what happens when you stop asking whether you belong somewhere and start asking what you can create once you're there.

If you missed the announcement, here is all the information regarding a once-in-a-lifetime gathering! 

This city has seen some extraordinary gatherings before, but I'm hoping ours will be remembered for something completely different! Not because of who was invited, but because of what happened between us! 

And who knows! I might be that guy again for a second time with you all during that unforgettable weekend!!! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff