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The man who frequently sets the musical bar for club remixes has got to be Junior Vasquez. He spins on Saturday at the Crown and wonders how edgy the crowd will want him to be. |
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Roland Belmares may be newer to the DJ booth but he knows how to make the house move. |
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Vasquez, Belmares power up the music
By Rob Phelps
Banner Correspondent
As anyone familiar with the dance club scene will tell you, it’s all about the energy. At Independence 2007, the Crown & Anchor’s week-long Fourth of July celebration, the energy will be amped to the max.
Seven hot deejays, among them industry legends and international headliners, are slated to spin the Crown’s Paramount nightclub and Wave video bar.
Energy oscillates no matter how seriously it’s juiced. So the Banner rapped with two of the biggest names spinning the Crown to get a read on their meters: Junior Vasquez spins Saturday, June 30, at 9 p.m. and Legendary DJ Roland Belmares, Sunday, July 1, at 8 p.m.
From the start it was obvious these two put out very different vibes. Vasquez is intense, dark, direct and reserved. Belmares is a bright mix of laid-back cool and high energy.
These attitudes make perfect sense when you consider where these guys came from. Vasquez literally had to invent everything he did, and that’s the way he still does things today, he says. House music was just beginning in the Midwest when he started spinning in the ’80s, and much of what the deejays were doing out there Vasquez had to re-create for himself. Belmares, coming up a few years later in the late ’90s, already had all that to build on.
Legendary Icon
Vasquez’s career began in music production, under the guidance of the disco deejay, pop remixer and producer Shep Pettibone. Through his residency at the original Sound Factory, Vasquez quickly gained national prominence as record labels brought him new releases to remix and try out on his crowds; then the labels spun the remixes to clubs all around the country, thus making the songs into hits. Labels brought him music to remix, artists brought him music to remix, and sometimes he just took the music he wanted to remix for his much-sought-after private collection.
“I just understand the science of remix,” he says. “You can make anything danceable. Remix is for the dance community.”
He went on to co-produce albums for John Mellencamp, For Real, Lisa Lisa, Cyndi Lauper and Britney Spears. All the while he spun as resident deejay at the hottest New York clubs: Sound Factory, in its various incarnations, Twilo, where the management built him his own exclusive deejay booth, and Roxy. He also hits the parties and big events all around the world. Currently, he resides Sunday nights at Cielo, a small West Village bar.
Vasquez is always working. Trying to imagine what it would be like to be on the other side of the deejay booth, he says, “I’ve been doing so many clubs for so many years that, personally, I don’t go out myself. I don’t know what it would be like. Sometimes I get in the car and snap in a tape of mine, and say, hey, that’s pretty f**king great. But I’m always about five steps ahead of what’s out there so I don’t get the impact of hearing it [fresh on the dance floor].”
A New Legend
Belmares started spinning in the late ’90s. It’s impossible to believe that Vasquez did not influence him in a big way and must continue to do so. Still, this relatively new “Legendary DJ” has got them going crazy from Rio to Toronto to Palm Springs all on his own unique sound.
“I always have a hard time describing my sound as I incorporate many genres during the night,” he says. “But I think I’ve defined myself as a great mix of Tribal House/Vocal/Top 40 music, if that makes sense. I love my tribal beat, but my sound is never too heavy. When I used to be out on the dance floor, the best moments were singing to songs I knew, so my sets will always have something current you’ve heard on the radio. I might be a little more commercial than some of the other big name deejays, but even so I keep it progressive.”
Progressive enough for the Austin, Texas club scene, where he caught the ear of Ben Parsley, founder of Austin’s former circuit events, Perfect Day and Meltdown. From there Belmares jettisoned into the big time.
He’s getting into CD mixing and producing too.
Of CD mixing, he says, “I would have to compare it to singing in a studio versus singing live at a concert. There’s nothing like the energy you get from a live audience. Also, I never know exactly what track I’m going to play during a live set. I choose my songs based on what the crowd is reacting to. It’s always fun for me to see where the crowd is going to take me.”
But when it comes to producing, he sings a different tune: “Producing is a totally different animal. It’s fun learning how to approach it and still bring your creativity to it. The most exciting part is ‘peeking behind the curtain’ of Oz and learning how it all comes together.”
What turns Belmares on has “always been the music,” he says. “There’s nothing like seeing everyone throw their hands in the air and the big smiles that come over their faces. That’s always a rush for me.”
Independence 2007
Vasquez also says he takes his cues from the crowd but predicts “I’m not sure they’re going to want me to be as edgy as I get. These kind of parties are very vocal-ly, very gay and happy. It’s not after hours so I don’t have to be too dark.”
He says he’ll probably bring up his new remix from the original vocal track of Cyndi Lauper singing “True Colors” as a duet with Erasure, which was very big at New York’s Gay Pride last week. “I’ve also just got the vocal track from the label of Mick Jagger’s ‘Charmed Life,’ along with the guitars and harmonica track,” he adds. “Reminded me of the old Black Betty song, you know, Black Betty, ram-a-lam…” Breaking into this riff, Vasquez’ brighter side shines through.
Belmares says he’s excited to spin here. He’s been to Provincetown three times before, he says, and adds, “I love the energy. It’s so laid back and you can feel the history of the city as you walk around town. It’s a place that you can go be in the party, or go in another direction and just relax. There aren’t many places where you can do both. There is a camaraderie that is in this town that you don’t always find at the circuit parties. And in P’town the energy is so centrally focused. You don’t always have that in a bigger city.”
Vasquez says he’s never been to Provincetown. When reminded that his remixes have them packing the dance floor here season after season, he says well then the time has come for this town to get some of the real thing.
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Jun 28th, 2007