Scraping Heaven: Mood II Swing and DJ Heather at Smartbar

Mood II Swing is one of those names – like Masters at Work or Todd Terry – that is shorthand for a whole era of quality deep house music.

It was also an era when the remix was not so much an extension of production or DJing but a calling unto itself.

“Remixing was a vocation for us,” Lem Springsteen told Czarina Mirani in a 5 Mag cover story. “Our bread and butter back then was remixing. We would sell our songs around town, trying to build up a catalog so that we could work with the Jody Watleys and other artists that we liked. And then at the same time John (Ciafone) was doing underground tracks just to small labels, beats and stuff and he never intended that those dubs that he was doing on the side for fun would be anything people would want to put on an album ten years later.”

The Mood II Swing intense 12 minute anthemic mix of Ultra Naté’s “Free” was considered by some the epitome of Mood II Swing remixes, with that grandiose intro building an edifice that stretched into the heavens before it comes crashing down in a classic Jersey Garage vocal track:

Mood II Swing have been back together and taking to the road the last couple of years, and they’ll be stopping in Smartbar for DJ Heather‘s residency Lake Effect this Saturday night. Tickets are available at etix.com.