I really don't know where to begin this time around, simply because it's so fresh in my head still. So I guess I'll just start with the obvious.
Bryan Bickel was a beautiful person and a good man.
I met Bryan when he was one of the key guys at Record Time's dance music room. It seemed as if he always had a list tailor made in his head for my arrival
(I'm typing this all up listening to a mix of Erasure, New Order and Pet Shop Boys. I'm hoping a few of you can find laughter in this notion.)
and eight times out of ten he got it right. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who felt this way either whenever we walked into the dance room.
He worked his ass off at school and got a job working with many of his friends at Sigma6..which then turned into Appnet, then Commerce One and the finally i33 (for now at least). He worked his ass off selflessly each year being the web designer behind the DEMF festivals. He saw past the politics each year and did the right thing, something which I've learned a bit about in these recent years.
Bryan's passion was music. I'd be wiling to bet the money in my wallet that given the opportunity he could have recited back to me not only every single the Pet Shop Boys ever released, but the entire Apollo records discography. He was a part of a small group of friends passionate about Ambient music that started the Ambient Friends Network. I was only fortunate enough to attend one of those meetings, but I learned more in one session than I could have in weeks on my own. He was always willing to educate selflessly, and saw past the elitism most record snoots feed upon.
I'll be the first to admit, I didn't see eye to eye with him all of the time. As a matter of fact, there were times where downright pissed me the hell off. But this was due mainly to my own immaturity and political blinders than anything else, and I soon got over it the next few times in which we saw each other. I reasoned that if so many people that I care deeply about thought he was a fantastic guy, then the fault must be on my end. It certainly was.
One of my favorite memories of Bryan was a DJ set he did a Motor one night. It was all beatless material, and it was driving the backroom patrons absolutely batshit that there was no toe tapping rhythms they could drunkenly sway back and forth to. It was a serene, excellently selected set of material, save for the distortion of the obnoxious thud emanating from the main room bass cabinets no less than 20 feet away. But there was Bryan, hammering away at records like he was headling a major European festival.
So now I'm sitting at work trying to get my head back in the game, maybe do some mindless task that will distract me for a few until I can get the hell out of here.
Detroit lost an amazing person today.
Posted by rob at April 8, 2004 12:59 PM