“Well good for you. You run a blog. So does everyone else in   the world. Do you want a cookie?”

I know full well how stiff the competition is in the blogosphere, even on a local scale in a niche market. It requires a passion for the music I write about, the vision described above, and the discipline required to put time aside to keep the content fresh (especially during the week when most people are reading). This consistency is how I am trying to differentiate this site from others. I hope that Beantown Boogiedown ultimately becomes a “one stop shop” for all things dance music related in downtown Boston; this is the same goal I’ve had since opening shop in January 2009. The challenges I listed above are merely speed bumps.

Origin

2008 was an eye-opening experience for me. Over the course of 12 months, I watched as every facet of my personal and professional life changed drastically. The economy was in free-fall, a future in my career as a graphic artist was no longer a guarantee, and dance music in general was being shaken up by the dominance of electro and rapid emergence of dubstep. I had originally been known as a drum and bass DJ in the New England area, and watched as my gig schedule didn’t just slow down, but disappear. I looked at the writing on the wall, and it told me “IRRELEVANT”. As a positive person I knew I could overcome these changes, I just needed to find different ways to contribute.

I launched Beantown Boogiedown in January of 2009. Several co-workers introduced me to the Squarespace blogging platform and initially, I wanted to use the it as a chance to brush up on my HTML and CSS skills. But another opportunity was hiding in the cracks that I wasn’t even aware of. At the time, there were really no local blogs that covered the entire gamut of the dance music scene in Boston. The ones that existed, although solid in content, were run by promoters to spread the word on their events. It didn’t take very long to get this site off the ground, and by mid-2009, had obtained a very loyal local following.

In 2011, a major problem with social media is that sites like Facebook and Twitter are completely awash in an endless clutter of self-promotion. When bombarded with everyone constantly inviting you to their events, pushing their DJ mixes in your face, or begging you to comment on their tracks, you start to tune everything out. Meaning the good content gets ignored along side the garbage. You can’t knock the hustle, but it can get overwhelming to your average person! 

Although when I first launched this site I was concerned that Facebook would have far more content available, I’ve learned that a curator who hand-picks the content to recommend to others can have far more impact. Which is one of the reasons why Beantown Boogiedown has been an enduring website locally. As a non-promoter who listens to all types of music, what I choose to cover is unbiased. I do not give my close friends (or myself for that matter) special precedence over people I do not know as well. If the topic is good, I cover it, end of story.

Overview of the different sections of Beantown Boogiedown

• Journal: This is the “main” part of the blog, the first thing you see when you type in the URL. It’s the main feed for all of my recent content. Any articles that aren’t local events get moved into one of the sections covered below after several months. The archive of local events remains in the journal however.
• Featured mixes: If I find a DJ mix by either a local jock or beyond that I really enjoy, I will give it a proper write-up and feature it here. Any genre or style is applicable.
• My DJ and Production Work: Every DJ mix I’ve ever recorded, along with original tracks I release (down the road), is archived here.
• 9:59: This section includes ten-minute “mini-mixes” I record off-the-cuff. I originally titled the section “9:59” because I included videos of the mixes hosted on YouTube, which had a ten-minute upload limit. However I have moved away from YouTube entirely, and all 9:59 mixes are audio now.
• Crate Exploratory: Write-ups on both new electronic music, as well as anything from the last 30 years. Much of what I write about in Crate Exploratory is obscure, long-forgotten, or slept-on tracks that deserve to see the light of day again. Video embeds are also included of Crate Exploratory tracks; however I have shifted away from YouTube and towards Vimeo due to copyright violations on the former. (Note: I also edit and abridge the songs in video form; this is to protect people from trying to rip the full songs illegally). Songs covered in Crate Exploratory are generally produced by people from outside the New England area.
• Coffee Table: This is where all the non-music, and graphic arts rants go. Just a break from the normal artsy fartsy monotony.
• Cool Free Stuff: If it’s free, and of some sort of use to my readers, you will find it here, exactly what it says on the tin. I post anything from free high-quality music to sample packs, synth presets, resources, and other tidbits in this arena.
• This Old Mixtape: Although this section is a bit scant in content, it is a place where I upload and archive old DJ mixtapes from the 1990s of Boston and New England area DJ’s. Getting ahold of these tapes has proven to be FAR harder than I anticipated! Most people from the scene back then are now long in retirement and tough to get ahold of; plus many of the tapes themselves have been lost, stolen, or FUBAR’d over the course of the past decade. If you happen to be reading this and have tapes from DJ’s from any form of electronic music (or even early 90s hip hop) that you would like me to share, we need to chat! Email me at nminieri@yahoo.com.
• Beat Box: Lots of production tutorials here. Most of them are ones other people have posted to YouTube that I paraphrase. However I occasionally do some of my own as well. I also post sample packs of breaks and beats I run through my Akai S950 sampler. Ableton and Reason are the focal programs as they are the two I am most familiar with, but you may see a piece of Logic, Cubase, or even Renoise from time to time. You will also find write-ups and tutorials on DJ-ing & DJ-related technology in here, as well as iPhone, iPad, and Android apps.
• Time Machine: Massive archive of photos I have taken at events going all the way back to the beginning of 2009. I have documented hundreds of parties with my SLR since launching this site!
• Backyard: Think Crate Exploratory, but ONLY for New England producers and musicians. Most of content I cover in Backyard is posted right around the time of release. I also blog about unreleased songs I either find on Soundcloud or ones that are sent to me for review (that the producer doesn’t mind sharing with the masses). 
• Sketch Pad: An overly-neglected section that has graphic arts and photography related posts. Although the original intent was to write about graphic arts just as much as music, that would’ve caused this blog to completely lose focus, as well as a dedicated readership. So although you may see an occasional Photoshop tutorial or something Illustrator, Flash, Lightroom, or After Effects related, they will unfortunately be few and far between!
• Thursday Throwback: A classic hip hop, freestyle, or early electronic joint from between 1980 to 1995 that gets posted every Thursday. Well, almost every Thursday. (Sometimes I forget, heh.)
• Links: Like what you’re seeing here? Here are some other blogs and resources you can check out that are primarily Boston music based. 

Defunct Sections I Got Rid Of

• Accessorize: Beantown Boogiedown shirts anyone? Didn’t think so. Don’t have time to design them right now, and I doubt this site has the popularity it needs in order to sell enough to make it a worthwhile venture. Off to the chopping block!
• Calendar: A calendar of events? Gee, Facebook has the exact same thing. Off to the chopping block!  

And, in the original closing paragraph I initially posted here when I launched the blog:

I plan on updating this site frequently as well as promoting it fairly consistently throughout the Boston/New England area, so if there is any of your music, art, or events you would like me to showcase on Beantown Boogiedown please do not hesitate to contact me. The sections and information breakdown is not at all rigid and can expand or change to reflect the trends within the community. The opinions of all users of this site are very important so please feel free to contact if you have any feedback or suggestions to better this site.

Hope I’ve lived up to these promises so far!
-Nick 

(Last update: September 2011)