The following is all a bit niche but here is what comes to mind -
Sam Rivers (he used to show up to play at my improv night and he would join us on stage to play horn, always a treat)
Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy)
Bon Harris (Nitzer Ebb)
John Tejada
Nick Batt
The entire crew from KMFDM
The entire crew from Sisters of Mercy
Lots of smaller IDM greats like Phoenecia, Proem, Kid606, Funkstorung, Lusine, Pole, Jan Jelinek, Thomas Fehlmann (one of the nicest of the bunch, just a brilliant guy)
Dieter Döpfer and Dave Smith get mention as they helped a lot of us do what we enjoy doing, plus they are/were swell guys all around.
I’ve met some famous musicians, but nothing really interesting happened. Like I met Phil Collins once, but whatever… it’s not like we’re friends. Haha
I do have a funny story: I keep running into Ed Rush – is he famous enough for this topic?
Anyhow, many years ago I was DJing and Ed Rush was playing the same venue that night. He was going to play on the main stage and I was just opening for some nobody in a smaller room in the same venue. Before he went on i met him, we chatted a bit and music and he seemed like a cool guy.
Over 10 years later I was at another club and he was playing and I talked to him after his set. I was like “hey, remember playing at the Asylum in like 2003? We met, blah blah blah” – he said he remembered, but I could tell he was just being polite. Why would he remember me? So I told him i enjoyed his set and left him alone. I don’t want to be that guy who tries to talk to the DJ.
A few years later I saw him again. This time I actually went to hear him play, but I even told myself I wasn’t going to talk to him, because he clearly wouldn’t remember me and I didn’t want to annoy him. Before the show he was at the bar and he started talking to me. Lol. Just random bar chat, it was loud, and he was just being nice to a stranger. He definitely didn’t remember me and I didn’t tell him we’d met before.
So yeah, I don’t think Ed Rush plays in the US that much, but when he does, apparently we talk
Worked for Grand Hustle around the time Tip got out of prison the second time. Also had a lot of early 808 mafia stuff done in my little studio apartment or my buddies house, as well as some Brick Squad stuff before there was an 808 mafia. Also worked for Zone 4 Ent. Between all of them I probably met and/or worked with 70%ish of the biggest rappers and producers in the south, as well as some people like Dr. Dre (amazing experience, I just got to watch, didn’t work). I was young and wild, and no longer work in music, and am happier for it, but there are some great memories. I had good connections from people I grew up with and my best friends older brother.
That’s quite an amusing series of encounters with Ed Rush! It’s funny how sometimes we find ourselves repeatedly crossing paths with certain individuals, even in the world of music and entertainment. It’s understandable to feel hesitant about approaching someone famous, like you mentioned with Phil Collins, but it’s those unexpected moments, like chatting with Ed Rush at the bar, that can turn into memorable and amusing experiences. Just like how Helena Rojo performances leave a lasting impression, these chance encounters with musicians like Ed Rush add a unique flair to our own personal stories and memories.
I’m not a musician, but used to help friends with bookings and was the warm up dj before few shows - had a chance to meet & hang out a bit with Hiatus Kaiyote, Bilal, Cykada, part of Ezra Collective, Henry Wu, Yussef Dayes, Andy Votel, Kidkanevil, Daisuke Tanabe, Dj Format, Taylor McFerrin, Marcus Gilmore, Eddie Chacon - all beautiful people with great energy
Had dinner with Chris Rhodes of Mighty Mighty Bosstones through a mutual friend some years ago.
Briefly spoke to Jason “Jay Space” Weilmeister, the original drummer of A Place To Bury Strangers at one of their early gigs in the basement of The Delancey in NYC, nice guy.
I met Gravity Kills after a kind of weird show. Most of the crowd was there to see the band that opened for them, who was just recently on MTV, so when GK came on, it was pretty empty. I was in the front row and in my younger years, so I was all about head banging. So much so that they commented about it when we were chatting, so that was fun. I’m still getting over the bangover to this day. Super cool guys, what an amazing keyboard rig that guy had…
Picked up Scott Ian’s guitar and briefly met him while interning at an artist management company in Brooklyn. I also met one of his friends who was also in a band and I think kind of famous, but can’t remember his name because when I dropped of Scott’s guitar at his apartment, he had a giant 5’x4’ framed picture of let’s call it a phallus, and that’s all I can remember about that encounter.
At that same company I also met “Mistress” Juliya Chernetsky, who was popular in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, particularly in the metal world. She told me Wagner (who I was listening to) was a Nazi, that was fun.
Maybe a couple more but I think that’s it.
Also, not music related, but I taught Australian Super Model Nicole Trunfio, who’s website at the time I helped build, how to use WordPress, while she was sitting next to me at my dinky old desk at work. I was nervous for that one.
Bob Moog (interviewed)
Sainkho Namtchylak (interviewed)
Robby Krieger (played together on the same stage)
Dr. Fink (met at his house/studio for a sampling project we were both involved in)
I’m sure there are a few more, but for some reason these are the first ones that came to mind…
same…meet Derrick May in the late 90s ( 98-99) in SF walking down Haight-Ashbury while I was on smoke break from work…had a little casual convo … very nice man.
I worked a pretty “hip” bar in the West Village in NYC at the end of the 2000’s
Moby
Beyonce
Jay-Z (he owned the building the bar was in)
Bono
Nick Zinner - yeah yeah yeahs
Jeff Mills - R.E.M.
Christina Aguilera
Chris Martin - coldplay
Lou Reed
Eddie Van Halen
Bon Jovi
The weird part was I was like 21 at the time so none of this seemed strange at the time, now that I’m older I realize the whole scene was weird.
EDIT: Mike Mills of R.E.M., not Jeff Mills of 909 fame.
( I did meet Jeff Mills after a set of his at the Sullivan room in NYC for all of three seconds back in like 2009. I had no idea who he was at the time but my girl friend (now wife) was wild about him and his sets.)
Played some big european festival shows in the late 90th because the bas player of a friends band got injured. Talked to lots of the other bands. Most memorable was meeting the Abbott brothers (Pantera) and Justin Sullivan (New Model Army)
