David Kirby

I always wondered who TexasMile actually was. My theory was Diplo.

I remember TexasMile messaging me on Soulseek in 2001: "Hey I see you have Otomo in your shares, you should check out the ihatemusic forum." It was unfathomable that enough people liked this music for there to be a forum.

Then I discovered Soulseek and its treasure trove of Onkyo gems. I downloaded everything I could find, from Sachiko to Toshimaru to Otomo and their many dozens of collaborators, from Berlin to New York to Paris.

Probably the most impactful moment in my young life was discovering Erstwhile Records (@erstrecs) in 2001. My coworker Jai purchased Do from Aquarius (on description alone) and we listened full-blast in the record shop. The customers ran screaming but I was in ecstasy.

Moving into the 2000s. I'll return to the 90s to discuss Jillian Ann and honor her memory, but that's another story.

Now playing jestorfoe.bandcamp.com/album/tools-of…

Anybody else remember when @safieflato used to play the insides of a vintage stereo receiver, plugged straight into a wall socket? That was so wild.

@laxmog I promoted it because my Facebook account was banned in 2020 and I was hoping to cast a wide net and find some of my old friends. Thanks for reading.

@homophoni Kind of a random post to promote/advertise, but it was a fun read. Idk what a lot of those tech words mean, but I get the spirit of it. I had similar relationships on skype, TeamSpeak and forums when I was younger. Except my parents weren't strict at all.

@DoingFedTime You feign disobedience, cop.

Civil disobedience is only celebrated when it's old enough to be in a textbook.

@slither198 I believe they call it the hangman's curse.

@homophoni Plus, big mistake was them giving me the keys and enough information to basically crucify them and escape.

@slither198 I've definitely blown up a few chatrooms over the years. I don't feel great about it. It turns out that severing the relationships we make online carries a grim psychic weight. I ache for the friends I've lost. Here's to making new rooms.

@homophoni Im not. The people that ruined my life had a room there, but I wish I made my own room instead.

@slither198 I'm sorry that happened to you. Paltalk shut that service down with no migration path, no data export, and no warning runway. Just gone.

@homophoni Reminds me of my life as an 11-year old. I went on IRCs, then I made the mistake of going to Tinychat. Bad move.

Squatting in the Reed dorms got pretty boring since Reedies were always studying, so I ventured out into the city and discovered the PDX noise scene. Here is a pic of me at the 2002 Portland Noise Festival (circled in red).

Once I hitch-hiked to Portland and lived in the girls dorm at Reed College for an entire month. Somehow those young philosophers kept me secret the whole time and fed me like a King in the Commons with their meal cards. I highly recommend the turkey and cheeses sandwiches.

Then one day I disappeared without a trace. No call, no show. I had sold my worldly possessions and was tripping in the Asheville mountains with a Witch Doctor and a traveler named Icky. I'm sorry Peter, I really should have called.

I spent so many thousands of hours entering used CDs on this cranky old MS-DOS computer. I remember it ran on a token ring network, which was pre-Ethernet. We used this system well into the 2000s. That goatee though. Ouch.

1999 was pretty mellow. I worked at Disc-Go-Round Cumberland with my dearest friend Peter and we listened to music all day and I was calm and happy. If I could go back to any time in my life, it would be with Pete at Disc-Go-Round.

I ran away from home at 17 and moved in with my late best friend Jillian Ann. Clubbing was our lives and we spent hours getting dressed up in the hopes of sneaking past bouncers. I wore make-up and fur-coats and she was just gorgeous. The Metro was our favorite haunt.

Remembering the Metro Video Bar, Atlanta.