Tell us a little bit about how you got started DJing. Who was your biggest inspiration?

The end of the 1960’s-early 70’s my house became the center of the naibourhood where all my friends would hang out & listen to music. I was already a minor vinyl junky, & soon I got a 2nd turntable & a mixer & I was DJing for my friends while we were hanging out. When Andy Warhal’s club (the Dom) closed, I managed to get their Altec Lancing-Voice Of The Theater speakers, quite huge for my room, it was like me & my friends had our own private club. When my father turned his Ninth Circle Steak House into a disco in 1971, I was only 14, but he knew I was already DJing & on top of the music, & hired me to DJ @ the Ninth Circle. This was right around the corner from the ledgendary Stonewall, the birth place of gay rights, which had closed the year before. Greenwich Village was now like the gay center of the universe, & The Ninth Circle was now A gay Disco… & packed every night. My 2 biggest influences at the time were James Brown & a new Television show called Soul Train.

Will this be your first time in Hong Kong? Is there anything that you are looking forward to doing or seeing in particular?

I’ve been in Hong Kong several times over 12 or more years. No real plans for sight seeing, just looking forward to hooking up with my good friend DJ Rork @ the Kee Club.

How do you feel that DJing and producing has changed over the last few years?


The changes I see have been happening for some time now, but maybe more so & faster the last few years. More & more technical short cuts, from michines doing mixes, to people bringing all their music on a tiny USB drive, to many popular productions made compleately by non musical people without any real technical skills. Audiences have gotten used to hearing a lot of music like this, & has seriously lowered their expectaions. Short attention span is the norm, rather than hearing songs, more often your only hearing sound bites, which is not very inspiring to follow the artist or go out & buy the song. Another element to this is the telephone, with their cameras, videos, social networking, when something actually happens on a dance floor, chances are these people were too preoccupied & missed it. That said, the parties that are special, attract an audience that are not there by accident. I give these people more credit then the people of days gone by, these are people swimming against the tide & I truly do appreciate them.

What was your favourite memory of 2014 so far and what do you have planned for the rest of the year?


All my 718 Sessions parties have been collectively memerable, I put a lot into these parties, the crowd is quite exceptional.

Aside from your DJ equipment, name your top three touring essentials.


My music, great music lovers, & a wonderful vibe.

What is the weirdest thing that you’ve seen from the DJ booth?


In the 70’s I once went to a club in Greenwich Village called Crawdaddy. When you entered on the ground floor, there wasn’t much there but someone collecting $ & a slide going down to the lower level… felt a little like a fun house. Once below, a very basic club, a little like an after hours club, but the space was huge, like half of a very large city block. The club itself was rather small & surrounded by red ropes, that just lead to darkness. Me & my friends ventured past the ropes, into the darkness… we walked & walked until we finally came to the end & realized we were in a semitery… very sereal.

Do you have any pre-gig rituals?


Besides a sound check, I also am there checking out the layout, checking out my space, the dance floor, the lighting & so on. If I’m playing vinyl, there is a whole ritual of balancing the tone arms.

Who in your opinion are the best up-and-coming producers at the moment?


Funny, but if I can name them, then most likely everyone has already heard of them.

If you weren’t a DJ/Producer what would you be doing?

I just know if it wasn’t something to do with music, I would probably feel twice my age.

What tracks/ projects can we look forward to in the upcoming months?

Danny Krivit Quinissencials double CD is be realeased as we speak. Another 718 Sessions complilation. & quite a lot digital & vinyl only edits coming.

What would be your dream collaboration?

Me & Larry Levan… keep dreaming :)