By Jimi
Bruce
There were many
magical moments for me at Dj Times' International Expo 2000 such as
the time an angel found TWO 12" copies of JoiCadwell's
"Superstar"(Carpenters, circa 1974) abandoned at one of the
phone centers on the third floor, and brought them to me saying,
"didn't you forget these?" I really hadn't but to
anyone bringing me the Vinyl, I say "Yes!" And I love
the version she did!; The magic of "you've got to give to
get" idea exchange transcended into the nights across town at
Atlantic City's premier nightspot , De'ja' Vu (New York Ave &
Boardwalk) as their End Of Summer Bash tied-in with the International
Expo 2000. In this interview I will speak with mixers
John Hohman & Harris and Gary Deane.
Gary Deane
It's
Monday night , August 28th, and Gary Deane is my guest right now
here at DeJaVu Where he just got off the turntables with a
set. Now I remember a time not so long ago When a DJ had
to go to all the record companies and pick up the latest vinyl all
over town, You'd come home with about fifty pounds of records
which is kinda hard to manage on The Subways of a city;now there's
Promo Only, and that's how I'm gonna introduce Mr. Gary Deane!
GD: how ya doin!
JB: much better
since the Dj Expo started; I saw you on one of the panels earlier
today at one
Of the seminars;
GD: I have
one tomorrow as well; ah, tomorrow's is MP3s, speaking of new formats
JB: right.
GD: It's
computer music. First there was vinyl, then CDs, now it's MP3s.
JB: that sort of
rhymes! Gary, I look at you up there on the dias and it
seems, you look
Like a DJ
veteran like me. Is that true? Tell us about your history?
GD: I've been able
to survive twenty-seven years as a Disc Jockey, and that is something
in itself.
JB: Where'd you
play first?
GD: Buffalo, New
York in a roller-rink - that's where I started.
JB: That was 19;.?
GD: Heh, 1973.
JB: Yeah, I mean
c'mon, history is a nice perspective for young DJs. I
think my first gig was a high school dance in 1970 where suddenly
they needed someone to play some 45s
Cause somebody
didn't show up; next thing ya know I'm in college spinin' frat parties.
GD: It always
happens that way, ya always start bein a DJ when you least expect it,
somebody else doesn't show-up, and you get the gig. That's the
way alotta people start.
JB: Do you have
alotta vinyl in your personal collection?
GD: I've got about
10,000 pieces.
JB: And how
are you adjusting to the new technological revolution?
GD: Well, I
tell you what, if I was still playing on the same turntables I
started on,
I wouldn't have
pitch control. The most important thing a DJ can do is
incorporate new
Technologies and
new mediums into their show! If they ignore it, and say, "I
only do this-",
Then they are
ruling themselves out of some very, very particular potential possibilities.
JB: They're gonna
get left behind?
GD: No, they're
gonna be standing still in a world that's moving ahead.
JB: Ya know,
people are resistant to change, I own about 3,000 records and
had a hard time
Accepting
CDs. How do you keep playing all the new technology and
the vinyl too in your own repertoire?
GD: It's not
difficult, you just add on to what you already know, it's what you've
always done; you learn a new technique to mix, you find a new
headphone, you do this, you do that
Yopu always add to
what you already know. The day I stop learning is the day is
the day I need to be buried.
JB: Okay.
Where do you play right now regularly?
GD: a place called
the Lava Lounge in Baltmore, 601 East Pratt Street in the Inner Harbor.
JB: What
style do you play there?
GD: Everything.
JB: Do you
branch-out into other cities and venues?
GD: No, I stay home.
JB: (laughs!)
Gary Deane on the first night of DJ Expo 2000, headin' through the
rest of this year, where you coming out for any special events?
GD: I'm gonna take
it easy up to the opening of a new club in about a month and a half
called Hammerjacks in Baltimore as well.
JB: Awriight!
Are they lookin' for any DJs?
GD: Nope, I got it
covered, I already have my staff picked-out.
JB: (laughs)
Thanks a lot for talking with me and DJZone!
GD: Thank you.
John
Holtman
& Harris
JB: The
DejaVu nights continue here during DJ Expo 2000, and the next mixer
is John Holtman from Metromix who I'm sitting here with right now,
and how are YOU?!
JH: Great!
JB: I saw you
slammin' the tracks, got some pictures of you doin your thing, tell
me and DJZone readers about yourself and Metromix.
JH: Ahh, we're
actually based out of Pittsburgh, Pa., and New York (laughs), we have
studios in Pittsburgh; we spin all over the country, we been playin
with MP3s for probably six to eight months now in nightclubs - along
with vinyl and CDs. I had and exciting time;
A fun time tonight!
JB: Aw man, you
were smooth!
JH: Thank you.
JB: It's
such an interesting room whenever we come down here, ya know, and do
the DeJaVu thing at the Expo, it's slow at the beginning of the
night, then by the time you guys
Get bumpin it's
like a whole trance we're into ya know?
JH: (laughs)!
JB: Um, how long
have you been playin'?
JH: I've
been playin since 1977.
JB: Alright,
and I notice you're on a lot of the expert panels;
JH: Yes, we do a
lots of different things in Metromix. We have a who crew of
people back in the home office that do syndicated radio shows, we
also program, consult, nightclubs,
We do major
productions like we're working with Nile Rogers from Chic, and we're
part of that band;
JB: yeah? Is
Chic still around?
JH: Yes they
tour actually, I actually tour with Chic.
JB: Oh, Okay;
JH: We were
involved in Divas 2000 with Nile, and we DJ and we've just done
remixes; we just did a remix for Sony on Jagged Edge, it debuted at
#1 on the 12-inch Sales chart for Billboard magazine; it's been
there for four weeks, now.
JB: Wow!
Jagged Edge? That would be "Let's Get Married"?
JH: Yes.
JB: Okay!, I'll
look for that and suggest that all of our readers look to hear that too!!
JH: Thank you.
JB: Is Metromix
your company, did you found it?
JH: Actually
Harris, my partner, and I found it. This is Harris;
JB: Also sitting
with us now (just joining us) is Harris;?
H: just "Harris"
JH: like "Madonna"!
JB: So you guys
are a team?
H: Hohman n'
Harris - Metromix.
JB: This is a guy
who, I always thing your voice is so striking on the panels at the DJ
Seminars; You said
something the other day that was really funny, everybody's talking,
and you said, 'well ya don't have to have a radio voice;' and here
YOU've got the most radio voice up there!
H: Rite, but the
point was, that I was tryin to make, ya see is I might have been a
li'l more fortunate, but it's not necessary for a DJ to have a
[baritone] . All they need is to have enthusiasm for what they do,
and project it to their crowd.
JB: Exactly. Ya
know a lotta the conversations I hear, an matter of fact I was walkin
around the exhibits and convention center finding out who's a DJ, and
they say something like,"I'm learning." Now I never
really like, Learned how to jock, I just developed a feeling for I
it. Isn' that the way you wanna get into it, like nobody
can really TEACH you, don't you have to "just DO it"?
H: Yeah, like with
anything you do, you have to Practice your art to develop the skill.
JB: I remember
going down to the Village to, say, watch and hear Larry Levan,
and If he did a mix or somethin' hot, that would stay in my head
until I went out and bought two copies so I could emulate that!
H: That's right!
JB: So where are
you guys from here? Do you do a lot of these conventions or are
you out spreading the word?;
H: In September we
have gigs in L.A. and San Francisco, and we do a lot of traveling. We
also go into markets; wee also have syndicated radio shows!
JB: How does
somebody syndicate a DJ mix show, for example, is there a short
answer to that question?
JH: It's not easy (laughs)
H: Yeah, there's a
short answer, first you gotta get it on - one station.
Depending on it's success, you're in a better position to broaden the
number of outlets.
JB: Now, by
"success" you mean advertisers or audience?
H: Audience!
Let's just start with audience success;
JH: How many
people are actually listening to your show weekly.
JB: Right, how do
you measure that? I mean, it's all Arbitron
H: Yeah, Arbitron.
JB: If
you're on overnight, let's say, and they don't rate that time period generally,
then , how can you know?
H: Well, see the
Arbitrons are available for overnights, stations don't PAY for 'em.
Ya know, [they say] "aah, fuck it, we don't need that;
it's throw-away. And in our case they don't start at midnight,
they start in measured time;
JB: Right, like
eleven, ten, or whatever..
H: Or nine, or
eight, and they go to midnight or one. An' there's another way,
there's call-ins, when it gets to radio, they do a lot of projections
based on call-ins to the station. So that's something you can
generally measure. Ya know the jocks, the people who are
receptonist at the station, or whoever's answering the phone'll
say, "Oh yeah, we got twenty calls about XYZ;"
JB: So where can
my readers hear you on radio next or see you?
H: Every week,
every week and depending on where they are in the country; we can't
tell you where; like locally , right around here [Atlantic
City] we used to be on BSS..
JB: Boss, yeah I
remember that when I was jockin there for a minute. The BUZZ is
happening now in the area as the new club and dance station.
H: Yeah, and we
just haven't gotten around to them yet.
JH: Do you have a
card, so whenever we're doing something, we'll send it to ya?
JB: Here ya
go, no problem! Thanks for talking to Djzone.
-JB
Next issue I
talk with Chris Cox
What do
you think? Post your comments on our Forums.
|