I’ll hit it off with Monday night. Went to Johnny Utah’s first and enjoyed the bull. The party is still slow - in progress of getting back where it used to be. With new guys like Everon and Eddy B bringing great energy, things are looking promising for Monday nights Johnny Utah’s, which used to be a sick pregame party. Matt A. was the main reason it used to be best - he brought in a higher end crew and keep great energy in the room. Now we are remaking this party. Let’s see how next Monday goes.
Greenhouse succcccckks when they play that rock crap music. It’s definitely difficult for a promoter when all his girls are saying they are going to leave because the music sucks. BUT as soon as DJ Steve Powers hopped on, he rocked the room and brought fantastic energy that saved the night. I highly recommend him as a DJ…and I don’t know any DJs. If you’re ever looking for a DJ contact him…he, like the rest of the world, is on facebook.
I left Greenhouse to go to this five year anniversary party at Pink Elephant. Talk about no parking. My friends and I had to walk eight blocks after parking real far away. Outside was totally empty, so we were in shock when we walked in and balloons hung from every part of the room over tall, European women and well-dressed men. Just to portray how many people were there and how much money Pink Elephant made that night - the owner Rocco Ancarola himself was pushed to the whackest table in the room (the one closest to the entrance staircase). Tiesto is a good DJ. I’d never heard him play before, but he has good mixes just like DJ Steve Powers. Can’t believe I just put them in the same category.
Tuesday, I spotted football player Warren Sapp at Greenhouse
Tuesday at Marquee was a popping good time. I headed to 1Oak afterwards. It was slower than usual. Binn was back at the door after “a 3 day vacation,” he jokingly told me. Genz, his brother and the doorman for The Box, was also there chilling out. Saudi Sheik or prince or whatever you call him was there spending money on bottles of crystal. I hit up Avenue right after and it was totally empty. TOTALLY.
Those of you who want to do a quick catch up on my Miami trip can do so in installments one (the plane ride) and two (rowdy dinner).
The first nightlife venue we frequented is a place called Rok Bar. As we mingled with the crowd of Rok Bar sidewalk hopefuls waiting to get in, I start chit-chatting with these Brazilian guys we know from New York, one of whom quotably stated: “I came to Miami to relax my problems.”
Me too, man. Me too.
It remains a huge mystery to me why warm places like Florida and the Hamptons don’t have open air clubs. I won’t digress into that rant, let’s just say if I’d wanted to choke on second hand smoke in an overly air conditioned cave I could’ve done so without dropping four hundred dollars for a plane ticket. Rok Bar was disappointingly indoors, yet its décor put New York clubs to shame.
To me, Rok Bar seemed like one giant art instillation. In fact, had you taken me to Rok Bar empty, under different circumstances, and then told me it was actually an experimental floor in the MoMa I probably would’ve believed you.
The ceiling flashes psychedelic waves of purple and black. Deep triangular pockets plunge into the wall with 3D Goth faces digitally flashing in alternating shapes. The best way to describe it is a flat kaleidoscope wall - on crack. Titanic rock posters adorned the wall behind the bar, stretching all the way up to the very high ceilings. The suspiciously good-looking DJ spun perched at the top of a spiral staircase, grooving with the crowd like something straight out of a music video.
Seeing the DJ several floors above made me realize that this place felt uniquely Miami because of the high ceilings. New York’s more into underground caverns, bat-like places where people above six foot have to duck. Miami seemed to party upwards on the vertical as opposed to being suppressed into the horizontal. All energy shot UP. The people jumping up and down probably had something to do with this.
Jumping turned to leaping when a song I’d never heard before, but everyone else clearly had, shot through the speakers. Apparently, this is some sort of Miami tribal theme song.
“Drink all day. Play all night. Let’s get it poppin’. I’m in Miami, bitch”
People went nuts!
Observe…and what’s smash? Some drug I evidently haven’t heard about yet? Watch and enjoy:
Since its inauguration, I’ve perpetually found myself confused when writing about Meatpacking hotspot Kiss & Fly. On the one hand, they copied the décor and vibe of Pink Elephant disco ball by disco ball and are home to dirt-encrusted outdoor traffic cones and even worse, rumored B&T. On the other hand, Pink was getting old anyway, Kiss boasts an impressive ambiance, I’ve never noticed nor been bothered by the rumored B&T, and what better spot does zone-Little West 12th have to offer?
Often, you begin nights at Kiss in a desolate empty arena. I usually enter the club at 12:30pm scowling, not just because of the irritating, indoor security check point guy whose job is to annoy you into checking you coat. The dance floor’s empty, the tables few and far between, and the entire club resembles the Siberian desert. The only sound is the wind whispering across the landscape i.e. the air conditioning vents humming to the non-movement of disappointed guests. You’ll sit and start clicking on your cell phone S.O.S.ing for alternate plans and somehow, consistently, magically, inexplicably, when you shut your phone and stand back up the club’s transformed to look like this:
[All photos compliments of the talented Emma Cleary and her very large camera]
Kiss & Fly does deserve the award for consistently filling up, usually with exceptional energy. Just don’t expect it to happen before 1:30am. Recently, their Thursday night party has featured a live sax player, adding a dynamic element to the music and infiltrating the soul of the crowd. Also adding to the scene is the cabaret-style sparkle dancers, who pitch in with a dash of sensuality and exoticism.
Everyone here seems to be having a good time…
If someone could teach me how to braid my hair in this Laura Croft meets Tarzan up-do that’d be great.
And perhaps it’s true or perhaps I just like to see it this way, but I always enjoy thinking of Pink Elephant and Kiss & Fly in a kind of brutal rivalry for the same sceney house-music crowd. Whether this is the case or not, I want to know: Who is winning?
I recently found myself at One, the restaurant aside Gansevoort in Meatpacking which is the promoter pre-party dinner hub of the city. To explain what that means, you’ve gotta know that promoters often cut deals with New York City restaurants, bringing their hot entourage to eat for free before attending whatever club they’re herding people to that evening.
Why This Works: A Flow Chart (keep in mind I haven’t made a flow chart since eighth grade):
Generally speaking, it’s a promoter’s job to have hot chicks and guys who’ll buy tables at their beck and call –> For the most part, guys who buy bottle service work all the time (allowing them to afford bottle service) and being hard workers, don’t have a time to socially micromanage a glamorous entourage. –> Since partying at a table alone without a glamorous entourage is considered faux-pas and a major waste of alcohol, the hard workers decide to team up with a promoter who is, for all practical purposes, a species of middleman. –> On the opposite end of the spectrum, those who make up the glamorous entourage most likely can’t afford a table of their own, hence their decision to work with a promoter. –> To further entice the glamorous entourage to come out with them, promoters will offer perks like limo rides or free dinner at a trendy NYC restaurant pre-clubbing. –> Trendy NYC restaurants need good-looking patrons into order to retain their aforementioned status as trendy. –> Since a promoter already has a glamorous entourage that can’t afford trendy dinners at their disposal, the promoter offers their encourage to eat and drink for free beforehand at [insert trendy restaurant here] –> The restaurant gives away free food to the promoter and their group in exchange for what is essentially, product placement PR with humans. –> Theoretically, everybody wins.
I’m sure many variations of this formula exist, but this is its core function as I understand it. Many restaurants (more than I can list) work with promoters in this capacity, but I don’t think any participate as much as Gansevoort’s next door neighbor, One.
One has really uncomfortable seats and tables, insanely loud music, and mediocre food. At some promotional restaurant gigs, you actually see a menu and order whatever you choose. At most however, menus are a never presented and the server just brings out select appetizers and main courses for everyone to share family-style while boozing people up on a lot of champagne. A sample promotional dinner at One consists of:
-Unlimited wine and champagne (dangerous)
-A shared Caeser-like salad (pretty good)
-A shared quesadilla (pretty gross)
-A shared appetizer pizza (pretty satisfying)
-An odd chicken tapas thing (which I think I don’t like) and
-Shared steak with French fries and ravioli for the main course.
Not too shabby.
My qualm with One has nothing to do with the food, but rather the music level, which is so absurdly high you’d think you were eating in the middle of a concert or club, which essentially, you are. Promoter dinners take place at 10 or 10:30 since everyone has to be in the club around midnight. One, which doubles as a bar (hence the importance they be perceived as ‘trendy’) starts cranking up the volume to make the place feel like a discotheque at around the same time the promoter tables are sitting down to eat. You therefore often find yourself in the completely surreal experience of eating in silence with thirteen other people, listening to deafeningly loud party music. Carrying on a conversation is an impossibility and on my last visit, the unthinkable happened.
At 11:30 One went black. Black as in they turned all the lighting off, even in the dining area. The restaurant was darker than the inside of your average club, because at least your average club has fancy strobe machines and an expensive lighting system. Literally, none of us could see. Not each other. Not our food. It was like some creepy horror movie in which you suddenly find yourself at a vampires banquet in a dungeon.
I thought the whole thing was a joke and waited for them to play ‘Thriller’ and then turn the ambiance lighting back up – but no. It was a big finger in the face to anyone who was still eating, and even the non-promoter diners seemed pretty weirded out. I mean, this is New York. A lot of people sit down to dinner at 11:30pm. And I understand that One likes to think of itself as a lounge and therefore wants to create a party atmosphere to sell drinks to wasted people in ASAP, but why then bother having a restaurant?
Tenjune is one of those clubs I’ve always resisted getting intimate with, hanging out there a handful of times but always in passing. For some unknown reason, my friends have always framed the idea as:
“Let’s swing by Tenjune,” as opposed to, “Let’s spend the night at Tenjune.”
I wrote about my mild dislike of the place and briefly made fun of their Halloween decorations, only to realize recently that I never really gave this establishment a fair chance. So I set up my Saturday evening with the intention of scoping out this hotspot for real.
I tagged along with a promoter and therefore experienced a stress-free, smooth entry around 12:15 AM. Yes it was mad early, and the inside of the club reflected this. While the dance floor and bar were cluttered with people, the surrounding, elevated VIP section remained void of human activity. This made the club surprisingly comfortable and I relished in the fact that my friends and I could dance without having our noses pressed up into one another’s sweat glands. Sweat was nowhere to be found in fact, since Alaskan-style air blast through the club’s vents at high frequency. I’d recently purchased a fashion statement of a jacket that I enjoyed showing off so didn’t mind, but my heart went out to the sundress-clad ladies suddenly smothered in goosebumps.
The DJ spun everything from rap to Billy Joel to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Airtheme song to Ministry of Sound in a surprisingly smooth flow. The club’s population count and temperature rose naturally over the next half-hour and it wasn’t until one of my guy friends elbowed me in the ribs while performing a head jerk that I realized the man in the table next to us was Kanye West.
Kanye West!?!?
I’m one of those people who remain stoic and unenthusiastic about celebrity sightings, but Kayne West!?! He’s perhaps the coolest male artist you could see these days, primarily because he invented terms like “go ahead, go nuts, go apeshit,” which my friends and I have adopted in regular speech. So I admit that my excitement went up a notch and I became even more determined to thoroughly enjoy the evening.
About Kanye: He partied with three male members of his entourage and a breathtakingly beautiful Rihanna-looking girl who had the most enviable legs I’ve ever seen. A girlfriend of mine, who follows celebrity stalker publications said that she’d seen pictures of this sizzlin lady with Kanye on his recent beach vacation. Nice!
Kanye himself wore a plain green T-shirt, jeans, crazy cool sneakers that were a hybrid between Nikes and Uggs, and a plain cloth baseball cap worn elevated and twisted to one side. He’s remarkably short. In fact, I’d described him as child size. (Note: Being the only table next to him, we were all expressly asked by management not to take photographs).
Kanye didn’t smoke or drink the entire evening. He did however, look relaxed and like he was having a good time. He alternated between sitting on the banquette focusing on his cell phone and jiving on top of the banquette dancing in small, jerky movements, occasionally pausing to chat with the gorgeous female hottie.
Immediately, my stress-prone brain began to wonder: Kanye’s tunes are such a club staple – How does a DJ best handle the music situation when the artist himself is in the house? Does that mean you play more Kanye songs? Or does it mean to you play none at all?
I pondered this dilemma until the DJ finally bust out “Stronger” and the crowd went wild. I immediately honed in on Kanye eager for some sort of reaction on his part, but got nothing. Throughout the beginning of the song he tapped away on his cell phone, seemingly oblivious, then stood up and enjoyed his music with everyone else.
“Would he sing along?” I wondered. “Or is he so totally sick of hearing his own music that he wants to barf right now?” Again, I observed him like a veteran stalker and didn’t see him mouth any of the words (although his gorgeous lady friend was singing them at the top of her lungs). Later on, the DJ played “The Good Life.” Kanye got a little more into this tune and even sang a tiny bit by the end.
Kanye and his entourage rolled out of the club unusually early and all that was left by 1:45 AM was their empty bottles. Overall, I enjoyed the Tenjune experience, although I don’t know how much of my review is bias since the most famous rapper of the moment was literally 3 feet away.
I do give Tenjune props for keeping their VIP area roomier than other places. If you do decide to invest in a table you’re truly are gaining some privacy and breathing room since a bouncer guards the prive area (unlike Pink Elephant or Kiss and Fly’s elevated areas for example). This surprised me because on previous visits to Tenjune I felt like the club was unbearably crowded. Maybe the weekend party load has been lightened thanks to New Yorkers jetting off to the Hamptons or maybe Tenjune really does deserve props for keeping their club appropriately below capacity. Either way, whatever my previous issue with this locale, it suddenly seemed unimportant.
Another cool feature of note is that the club provided a ‘make your own shot’ service at the tables. They give you many mixers (watermelon, yes!) as well as shot glasses and a shaker. So the wanna-be bartender of your group can cocktail shots all night long for anyone who’s interested. I thought this was a fun feature to what’s otherwise a boring, cookie-cutter table set up.
Who knows? At this rate, I think I’ll be frequenting Tenjune again.
Ever notice that almost every trendy nightclub you set foot in throughout New York City has one, if not many, drummers pounding away, pumping up the crowd?I’ve started to take these party extras for granted, but the reality is that drummers in commercial clubs is a nightlife phenomenon that went from nonexistent to noteworthy just in the past few years. Clubbers accepted it, thrilled in it, and quickly welcomed these musicians at their dance floors and tables. Since then, no one’s stopped dancing long enough to analyze what this trend is all about! So I left my party shoes behind and sat down with Stu, one of New York’s most elite nightclub drummers, to pick his brain on the topic. Not only did I get a unique insider perspective on New York nightlife, I got a crash course in music as well!
Enjoy!
When did drummers in nightclubs become hot?
I’d say five or six years ago. I’ve been doing this for six years now, but it was already a kind of a thing when I started doing it. Now you see more and more of it all the time.
Is there a country that started it?
I don’t really know. I just figure everything comes from London (laughs) but I could be wrong.
Is there a particular club in New York that launched the trend?
And what kind of music are club drummers associated with?
Mostly house. That’s the most live drum friendly music.
Now I say I like house music, but I know house music is actually extremely complex with all these different subcategories. Can you explain some of the different kinds?
You’ve got the earthy house, I don’t know what the exact name for it is really, but you’ve got real sampled instruments, piano, singing thrown in there. It’s not so electronic and techno sounding. And that’s more drum friendly. Then you have the techno thing which is sharper, and it’s harder to get in there with a big sound and a live instrument. There’s also hip hop. I love playing drums over hip hop, but that’s harder to do because there’s so much space and you don’t want to just bash away. You want to blend in and pick your spots, but it’s so slow you’ve gotta really know what you’re doing.
What does a drummer bring to a party?
Energy. It’s a live musician. And drums are an exciting instrument to watch someone play. It’s a creative expression, and sometimes you don’t get that from the music itself unless you’ve got a really great DJ who can mix something really well.
What are the different kinds of nightlife drummers? I know there are the guys running around playing the bongos, but you were one of the first drummers I saw still with a complete set up and symbols and everything.
Yeah, well there aren’t many of us. (laughs) There are the guys who play the African djembe drum and they walk around with just that one drum. And I like that. That’s awesome. But I’ve been a drum set player all my life. So I have more cymbals and bongos, more Latin percussion instead of African. I’m more Latin, Afro-Cuban I guess you could say.
So would you say the trend started with the djembe guys?
Yeah. Although way back I saw more drummers with a rig than now.
Were you one of the first in New York clubs?
I’m not sure. Definitely one of the first ten. (laughs)
Now it seems clubs like having a sax and guitar player too. What’s this all about?
I think it’s because back in the old times clubs had shows, musicians and performances. Look at “I Love Lucy.” And then it got narrower and narrower to where you’re just packing people in with a DJ. I think now we’re back to maybe wanting more performance oriented things. And I think drumming is probably the easiest way to get in there, then sax and guitar. I’ve played with an electric violin player too, which was great.
And how do all of you collaborate? Do you talk before hand? Do you all rehearse?
(Laughs) No, No. There’s never any rehearsal. It depends on the musician. If you get someone who just wants to wail on his drum or guitar and not listen to anybody else, then you’re not going to do much collaborating. But I like to listen to what they’re doing and give them play. If you’re with other good musicians, you’ll understand what one another is doing.
So how do you know when to bang on the drums and how do you know when to stop?
Instinct. It’s all about what the music sounds like. Where can I fit something in? Does it need anything? Should I play on the beat? Play around the beat?
That’s improv, right? Technically, you’re improving the entire night.
Yeah. The entire night. I’ve played some songs so many times that I’ve developed some sort of routine, but it was never on purpose. I like to think of it as a wave. The DJ’s sort of the band. He’ll come up and get louder and louder and cut out. There’ll be that airy sound before he gets faster and faster to where the pounding beat comes back in. And I like to go underneath him with my volume like a wave, and when the music hits its peak, I like to crash over the top, playing louder and then backing down again.
Can a drummer make a party worse?
Yeah. If you’re not a good musician. If you play out of time. It just sounds like a mess. (laughs) Hopefully, that’s not me.
Tell me about how you started as a musician and how you started working in clubs.
I started piano when I was six, drums when I was eight. I’ve been playing drums all my life. I went to music school. I played in bands forever. Ten thousand bands. Then I was working at a stereo store. A promoter shopped there and he always asked me to come to his parties. I’d never been to a club in my life. He’d always invite me and I’d never go. I didn’t think I belonged in a club. I’m more of a rock, dive, CBGBs type of guy. I also always had paying gigs on the night he had his parties. So finally he said, “Why don’t you come, bring your drums, and I’ll pay you.” And I said “Really?!?” But a gig’s a gig.
And what club was this?
Dorsia.
And what was that first experience like?
Awkward and weird. I’d never been to a club before. It was a whole new experience for me. So I started playing and just tried to think about not annoying people, blending into the music, and trying to do something cool by listening to what was there. And by the end of the night, after a few drinks and a few girls getting into it, I started to get more comfortable until I got more and more gigs, getting hired at other clubs. And here we are.
So how much of this nightlife stuff takes up your work now?
I was doing four nights a week at one point. While it doesn’t sound like a lot, you’re playing for four hours with very few breaks. You’re going all night. It was rough, but I loved it. And it paid more than the blues and R&B gigs I was getting.
And what are the pros and cons of working in nightlife like that?
Pros are that I was thrown into New York City nightlife without any of the waiting in line. It was a whole new experience and whole new set of people I met. It was overwhelming in a very cool way for awhile. I loved it. It was something new. It was glittery. It was shiny. The girls were pretty. (laughs)
Girls love the drummer, just tell me.
Yeah. (laughs) Girls love the drummer.
And any cons?
You can get sucked in to a black hole of partying all night. Playing till four, then the after party. Next thing you know you don’t see daylight anymore. You’re a vampire. And you start to lack balance.
So when you did that four nights a week thing, what was your schedule?
Groove Jet, Flo, Latin night at B Low, Dorsia, Room Service, PM, and some others that I forget.
Do you have a favorite? A least favorite?
I played at the Versace Mansion through Cain. I loved that. But I’d say Cain. Not just because I work there, but because of the atmosphere: the wood pillars and the South African vibe. I like the whole scene, the staff. The security guys there are the coolest.
They protect you from all the girls?
(Laughs) They don’t mind doing that.
Something you love about New York nightlife:
I love the action. You can do any kind of style, any kind of vibe. You’ve got everything and people from all over the world.
Something you hate:
Yeah: Lindsay Lohan (laughs). Nah, people get snooty and uppity sometimes. I like open minded people.
Favorite place to chill in the city:
National Underground which is a new spot on Houston and Allen. It’s a bluesy, rockish, folk place. They have some really nice nooks and a brick cavernous thing down there. It looks like a mafia, speakeasy, Al Capone-type hang. And then I like Lit on 2nd avenue near 6th street. The downstairs, not the upstairs.
So that’s where we’ll find you on your nights off. Favorite drink?
Uh. Beer. (laughs)
What’s your inspiration drink while drumming?
Vodka cranberry. But that’s not because it’s my favorite. It’s just what gets handed to me all the time.
Craziest drumming nightlife experience?
I was playing at PM where they’d made a little stage which was three feet wide. They’d attached it to a runway which was attached to a wall. A wall of white cinderblock – so I had to climb it. I’d climb the wall and jump down in time with the music when the DJ would peak.
To hit the drums?
Yeah. Onto the stage from the wall. I wouldn’t climb very high but one night it was the owner’s birthday and I had a bit too much champagne before I started playing. I started climbing all the way up to the next floor and jumping down. I climbed too high and I didn’t make it on the way down.
So you’re hitting the drum with your whole falling body force?
Yeah. Oh yeah. I’d land on the stage while I’m playing. At the same time. But I didn’t make it this once. One leg hit the stage, the other didn’t, and I just fell off the side. I fell hard. And everyone watched me. (laughs)
Future plans?
My band’s The Matters of Circumstance (check out and listen here!). It’s acoustic / electric rock, kinda poppy, but it’s deep stuff as far as lyrically and musically. We have a base player and two guitar playing singers from Barbados. We’re going down there to make a record and then hopefully do some touring. And keep playing in nightclubs!
When I lived in Milan I knew Ania J. as that sassy, over-the-top diva in my group of girlfriends who was always harassing us to come hang out with her at Milan’s underground club Gasoline. Six years later, this Canadian vocalist has achieved Italian fame and is hard to miss in the European club culture. She’s in your face no matter what musical genre, vocalizing over beats aside top international DJs, as Masters at Work, Joe T Vanelli, Kenny Carpenter, Supernova and more.
In March 2005, Ania J. traveled to Miami for the Winter Music Conference together with producer Giacomo Godi from SUPERNOVA, representing their first single “Rock U,” which hit the top ten charts in the house genre in Europe and New York. Ania J.’s performed at various fashion ceremonies including Dolce & Gabbana, where she shared the stage with Grace Jones, and perhaps most well-known for her regular performances at Milan’s most exclusive nightclub, Chandelier Motel - the dinner theater New York’s The Box is modeled after.
Since America’s a bit behind on the vocalist bandwagon and many clubbers, myself included, don’t fully understand what a vocalist is, I sat down with this “rock star angel” to learn about nightlife through her eyes.
Can you explain what a club vocalist is?
It’s someone who wakes up the crowd and gets them involved with the music. Someone who knows how to intervene with the music, yet not over do it!
How and where did this tradition begin? When did it become popular in nightlife and why?
I used to go to raves in Canada when I was really little and saw people performing vocals at raves. So I think it’s a rave tradition. In the commercial base really started in Italy. It became really popular in Italy and that’s where I was at the time.
Why is it a bigger phenomenon in Europe than America?
I don’t know. See in America you don’t really have vocalists. A vocalist in America is a singer. I think it’s different in Europe because people really like it when you give them attention. Like people really like to hear their name called out if they’re celebrating a special occasion. The crowd likes it when you make them feel good about themselves. People like to stand out in clubs in Europe. They like to be part of the scene, part of the party. So if you involve them with the vocalist and the DJ, they feel like they’re part of the party themselves, not just going out to the club and dancing with three friends. They become one with the entire experience.
You’re originally from Canada. How did your career in music begin and how did you end up in Italy?
I was modelling before I started doing what I’m doing now - before I became a singer / vocalist. I was modelling in Europe (Paris, London, Austria, Greece) and I met this agent who brought me to Milan. And that’s where it all began. I was modelling and going out to clubs a lot. I was going out in Milan more than anywhere else. One of those nights, I drank a little bit more. I saw the mike and I grabbed it. (laughs) It’s the champagne, Dom Perignon. That’s how it all happened.
Had you ever sung before then?
No. As a child, I played the piano by ear. At age seven, I kept asking my dad for a piano. He’d ask me, “Why?” And I’d say, “Because I know I can play!”
But you didn’t have any formal voice training?
Never. No. I was always shy. I was always admiring singers. When I was ten, I remember someone asked me if I had one wish, what would you ask for? And I said I would love to sing in front of an audience of ten thousand people and feel that energy. Whenever they advertised things for kids, toys or whatever that had to do with music, I remember I always wanted them. But I never knew I could sing. I was just always attracted to music.
So after you grabbed the mike that one time, how were you able to make a name for yourself in Milan? How did you start working in nightlife?
It happened on its own. I was lost. I was a model. I didn’t want to go back home without achieving something more or discovering a new dream and knowing what to do with it. I was always very goal oriented as a kid, and I always wanted a dream: The one thing that I could call mine, focus and go for. After I grabbed the mike that one time, a friend of mine came in from Canada and had me do it again as a dare. And we were at a huge party, a fashion party for Andrew Mackenzie, in Milan.
So I went to the DJ and I lied. I told him that I knew Andrew Mackenzie and that he wanted me to take the mike. So I took the mike and started doing some vocals. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I had no clue. Then this guy Filippo Rossi, from Gasoline Club [Milan] came up to me and started asking me what I did and took my number. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to stay in Milan that summer or if I was going home. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was lost. And Filippo really took me under his wing. Gasoline was my school. Filippo believed in me. Anyone else would’ve said, “Get out of here!” cause I think I sucked in the beginning! (laughs)
Then from there people come to the club, see you, and ask you to come to their club. It’s like a chain. A domino effect. And somebody came who worked at Chandelier Motel (Milan) and asked me if I wanted to work there. I said yes and that was six years ago. And at the time I was working as a vocalist at another night in Milan called New York Bar, and I couldn’t really work both of them because they’re hot clubs in the same city – they where in competition. So I decide to try and offer to Chandelier that I would sing. I felt ready to just sing, and at New York Bar I’d just do vocalist so I could work them both. And it just so happened that they both agreed! So I did both of them one night, for one year. I was opening New York Bar, taking a cab, going to Chandelier, singing there, getting in a cab, going to New York Bar, closing the night there and then going back to Chandelier. No one’s ever done that. That was a first in the history of Vocalist!
How do you book jobs?
I have an agent / manager but I also do it myself when it comes to clients I have worked with for over the past six years. You build up a clientele through word of mouth.
Can a person make a career out of working in nightlife?
In Milan, yeah. In Italy, yes. There are vocalist that are forty-something, and they’ve been doing this for twenty years.
What are the pros and cons?
Well, you’re around a lot of alcohol and drugs. That’s the difficult part about working at night. If you’re doing three gigs a week and if you start drinking, you just kind of keep drinking and that gets tiring after awhile. Sometimes you just want to stay in and watch a film like everyone else and you can’t cause you’re working. You also don’t see your friends that much because you’re working on weekends and holidays when everyone gets together. So you’re pretty much always alone. Then if you’re travelling all the time - it’s like any artist - you’re alone all the time.
Tell me about the persona you project when you sing. I know you love wearing wigs and have an over-the-top personal style. Where did this come from?
Honestly, I didn’t really think of it before. I wanted something special. I wanted something my own. I was always really creative. I’d change my clothes from what everybody else was wearing, I’d have the same shirt as someone else, but I’d have to cut it or do something to it to make it different. I used to shop second hand a lot. I’m always looking for something different. Something that when I see it, I know it has my name on it. I really have to like the piece. I like punk-ish, yet elegant and clean. I like bright colors, but I also like black and white. I’m constantly changing. You never know with me. Like with the wigs. I used to wear wigs just going out. You don’t have to style you hair and you get into this other character. You make this big impact. You feel big with a wig! I love big hair. My hair is so thin, and there’s so little you can do with my hair. If I had a huge afro, I’d just leave it like that.
Where’s your favorite place to perform?
Chandelier Motel. Antonio Coppola makes up great choreographies and he always makes me look outstanding on stage surrounding me with dancers acrobats special effects…a little club stage becomes a circus and I love it!!!!
Do clubs need vocalists? Why? What do you bring to a party?
It depends on the club. If it’s really deep house and people just want to go and be in their own little world and dance, than I don’t think they need a vocalist. Sometimes a vocalist can help involve the crowd in the party- and give them something extra. You vocalise and reach out with your voice and energy to them and you’re giving them something. Not just saying, ‘Put your hands up!’ and if you’re singing, you’re really giving them something.
What’s your favorite kind of music?
I don’t have a favorite kind of music. I love music. I love classical music. I love hip hop. I love rock. I love punk, rockabilly, Mozart, house, club, electro. If the song has a good beat, good lyrics and a good melody it could be anything. It could be a country song. I like Garth Brooks. I love Bob Dylan. It’s the song in itself. And I’m such a chameleon with everything, with fashion and music, that I could never just stick to one style.
Can you tell us some of your favorite artists or DJs?
A lot of DJs from New York are not used to working with vocalists. More of the bigger European DJs are okay with it, like David Guetta, Dimitri from Paris, although he was a little skeptical about having a vocalist at first. Other good DJs and club scene artists: Supernova (Italy), Pete Tong, Bruno Bolla (Italy), Princess Superstar, Deep Dish, Joe T Vanelli, Moloko, Peaches (She’s Canadian!)
What’s a vocalist’s relationship with the DJ? Do you two have to be perfectly synergized? Are there ever feuds?
A good vocalist doesn’t work well because of the DJ, they work well because of the music. You have to have the rhythm in your heart and you have to listen. You have to know when he’s mixing. And when he’s mixing, you shut up. When he’s playing and there’s a singing song, you don’t sing on top. That’s where a lot of vocalists go wrong. They sing on top and they ruin the song. You listen to the music and you stay out of the DJs way. You do your own thing. You weave yourself in with the music and the rhythm.
How do you know when to sing and when to shut up?
I feel it. It’s instinct. And I try not to overdo it. I said I try!!!! (laughs)
Do you have every house song in the world memorized?
Are you crazy? I don’t even know the names of the songs. I’ve been working with house music for the past six or seven years. I’ve heard some songs a thousand times and I don’t know the words. When I work I get lost. In my work, in the music, in the people. I’m not there for the DJ. You want to blend in with his music but stand out on your own.
Can a vocalist ever over do it and detract from the music, making a party worse?
Yeah, they can. If they’re screaming all the time. If they’re talking too much. I wouldn’t want to go to a party if I heard one of my favorite songs and someone started yelling over it ‘Put your hands up!’ and screaming at the top of their lungs all the time. Say what you need to say, make it short, make it sweet, and shut up!
Do you sing words? How do you know what to say?
Yeah! I sing words. Or I sing vocals. Skats. I wrote poetry as a child and I love rhyming words and it just comes to me. I pick at things. Like I’ll see a couple fighting in the audience and I’ll hear a beat and I sing -
He loves me
He loves me not
He loves me
He loves me not
Because you get it from them. They feed it to me.
Have you ever been booed off stage or sang for crowd that just wasn’t feeling it?
No, but I was really paranoid at the beginning. If people were looking toward me and laughing I’d always think they were laughing at me. But I think every artist goes through that.
How do you energize a crowd?
I just get in front of the crowd usually in front of or aside the DJ. I grab the mike and begin by announcing the DJ, myself and the party. This usually gets everyone going (it all depends on how you say it). I wait for the pause in the music, this way they can hear me more. I rehearse what I’m about to say in my mind by memorizing names…dates…the event the city I’m in… Sometimes I’ll ask the DJ how long the pause is before the beat kicks in, this way as I’m going up with my voice the music will kick in at the right time of my intro.
What was your best clubbing experience ever?
I used to love going to raves when I was younger. Because of the music. I loved jungle. And I loved dancing. I was in the best shape of my life back then.
Favorite club to go to?
I don’t really like crowded clubs. I like smaller clubs. Only when I’m working do I like big clubs because I like being on stage. I like Gasoline Club Milan because it’s so underground. It’s so tiny and it has its own character. And they change every year. They paint. So one year it’ll be a Barbie theme and everything is pink and gold and then they’ll have a war theme with messages about peace and love written on the wall - its’ like walking into a comic book.
Tell me something you love about New York nightlife.
It all depends on the club you go to…in New York where I was performing at the Mansion, people where going insane dancing and jumping up and down I loved it…but I notice that people in New York prefer more intimate clubs…like The Box, GoldBar… where they can hang with a close group of friends.
Favorite Song?
“Blowing in the Wind” by Bob Dylan
Favorite drink?
Green tea because it’s detoxifying.
Favorite cities to perform?
Milan, New York, Switzerland
Future plans?
I have been working with dual DJ’s producers Supernova (Giacomo Godi, Emilliano Nencioni) in Milan, Italy for the past four years. We have come out with s few singles on the house charts in Europe and U.S. as well as our first album last year Supernova (Downtown Underground), where four of the songs on the album where co-written with me. Two of the songs came out as singles. Silence is the Enemy, & Dude. You can hear the songs and see the videos on www.myspace.com/anotherblondeakaaniaj
I am also working on my own album coming out soon, “Sex, Detox and Rock ‘n Roll.” So keep in touch New York!
Just when you’re trying to enjoy yourself at a space saucer like Mansion where the music’s intense, the disco lights are trauma-inducing and it takes twenty minutes to scale the six staircases to the bathroom, the club fades to black and a girl with butterflies in her cascading hair starts busting out some opera. Because isn’t this why we all go to clubs? To hear whacky versions of Verdi?
I’m confused.
I’ve known Mansion is into doing shows: Last time, I witnessed some electronic string quartet jam along with the DJ. Naturally, everyone remained bewildered about whether to continue dancing or to give the string instruments their full attention while sitting attentively feigning an interest in art. This is what I don’t get. Mansion is as clubby as a club gets. No amount of luxury renovation can kill the Crobar spirit that permanently haunts this space. Why the bouts of LincolnCenter?
Are they trying to pull a theater thing like The Box?
Are they trying to culture the club experience?
Do they consider such spectacles a selling point?
How much is this costing them on top of their frightening rent?
I’m thirsty for theater as much as the next overworked New Yorker, but is when I’m chilling with my fifth cocktail really the time I want it chucked in my face?
Next time at Mansion, I’ll consider packing both earplugs and opera glasses.
Miss Model Behavior’s the new nightlife writer for theBlaqlist.com. Feel free to post any nightlife comments or questions on our forum or contact her at MissModelBehavior@theBlaqlist.com
Lollipop’s a hybrid bar-club on 61st and Madison. While in no way a destination hot spot, get the right group of friends together and you can have a stellar night there on a weekends. Be forewarned that the place is shoe box level small. It’s sort of like a hallway turned disco that you have to slither through to get to the back bar.
The people problem’s a double-edged sword because if Lollipop’s empty the vibe’s not that fun, if it’s crowded it can feel like a miniature mosh pit. This is where alcohol intake comes in. Let loose and drink enough and you won’t mind bumping shoulders (and other body parts) with the crowd. Girls can also hop up on the couches and tables to dance and get some oxygen.
Suits swarm the bar after work but late night it’s a stereotype free for all. Don’t miss the cool color-sensor-screen thing at the entrance. It tracks your movement and makes you look like one of those now cliché iPod billboards.
Why the place is called Lollipop remains unclear, but it never fails to make me think of the unbelievably annoying Lollipop song below, which then is usually stuck in my head anywhere from hours to days. Just in case you’re not feeling nuts enough already, I’ve provided it here. If you decide to give Lollipop a lick, make sure to sing this as you skip in.
Miss Model Behavior’s the new nightlife writer for theBlaqlist.com. Feel free to post any nightlife comments or questions on our forum or contact her at MissModelBehavior@theBlaqlist.com
