CP NEWS: Inside the World of Afterhours Parties

[ddm-news]

-By Mike Gehrig

You’ve heard the stories. Hell you've probably even wondered into one or two yourself – those crazy early morning afterhours affairs, the ones that carry a good club night over into the next day, changing the night from great to legendary.

Yet what is about these parties that make them so unique and special? Afterhours parties have always had a mysterious, secretive air. They're often thrown together at the last minute. There's seemingly little or no planning. The attendees usually end up missing work, school, church or, at the very least, a good amount of sleep. Why?

Joining us for an exclusive look into this world are DJs Damian Lazarus and Three, noted not just for the prowess behind the decks but also for the ability to play long past the time people in the normal world have started their day.

Lazarus, chief of the emerging Crosstown Rebels record label, was dubbed the “breakout DJ of the WMC” after rocking a string of parties last year and this year hosted his own exclusive afterhours at Miami’s Studio A. At the party (where he didn’t even take the decks until 11am), he was joined by label mates Pier Bucci and SilverSurfer as well as a host of others.

Three, a New Yorker via Tampa, may have taken Lazarus’ title during this year’s conference after playing a wild string of late night/early morning parties at clubs such as Space and the District in addition to joining Lazarus at his early morning soiree. Known for his across the board, twisted techy sounds that go so well with early morning parties, even Tommie Sunshine recently proclaimed that Three's name is synonymous with the words “afterhours.”

Talk about what your favorite thing about playing afterhours parties is.

Three: They tend to be more personal. Full stop. You see....by and large the era of the 'resident DJ' in the purest sense is over. Now, I mean resident as the one who plays the whole night, who the audience has come to see exclusively and who has the implicit trust of the entire audience to go places musically, to take risks, to piss off the audience for a while....week in and week out.

Relationships like this with DJs are nearly extinct (obvious examples being Larry Levan at the Garage, Junior at the Factory or Tenaglia with Be Yourself at Vinyl/Arc). At an afterhours, you are nearly always dealing with an audience at a more personal level and you get a shot at finding that magic that can only happen on that level.

Lazarus: The atmosphere really. You know you can play for five hours and not necessarily have to build in those peaks and troughs. It’s the time when you can just roll up the music and do your thing and not have to worry about making the crowd go wild in a half hour or going through your records trying to figure out a structure.

What, in your opinion, makes afterhours parties unique and different?

Three: Again....the personal level, and on the opposite end of that is the audience shows up to an afters knowing they are going to get what who's playing and maybe whose throwing the party wants to do --- rather than the DJ being forced to win over whatever the M.O. of the regular night is at that club each week.

You’ve been characterized as the perfect afterhours DJ and your music has that dark, warped, techy edge that goes perfectly with that vibe. Why do you think your sound is so perfect for afterhours parties?

Lazarus: Drugs (laughing). Seriously, just people with an open mind that don’t want conform to regimented beat structures, people that just want to be taken off in their mind to another place.

I think the music I play is quite challenging, it’s very different. It makes you open your ears; you can’t avoid not checking every sound or every weird and bizarre structure. There is a late night, kind of slightly altered state of mind relationship where your mind is maybe slightly more open to that kind of music. It’s not the kind of music that you can listen to 8 o’clock in the morning whilst you’re getting ready for work.

Last year you were labeled the “breakout DJ” of the Conference after your sets at the Marlin, Pawn Shop and Rest, Relax and Recover BBQ. What is it like returning to Miami a year later? How are things different for you now?

Lazarus: This year my name is dirt (laughing). A lot has happened actually since then, particularly here in America. My first U.S. tour came straight following Miami and I think, fortunately I continued doing what I was doing here on that tour.

For me, actually this year has been very exciting. The music I was bringing last summer has now kind of outgrown the small, very underground parties and is now branching out into the mainstream here. There’s still not going to be twenty thousand capacity venues but my anytime my peers and friends come here from Europe, there’s a much larger impact for that music.

As a DJ, would you say you prefer one type of party more than another?

Lazarus: I think the question would be, I’m going to offer you this kind of crowd or this kind of crowd. If you came to me and said I’m going to offer you the sort of people that are just devoted to new music and cutting edge sounds or I’m going to give you a crowd of people that just want to get off their heads and maybe screw someone at the end of the night I know which one I would take.

As a label and personally, I’m always trying to think slightly different and challenge myself as well as the people on the dance floor.

Three: I couldn’t live without both. There needs to be balance for me as a DJ. Even if the ratio of perfect afters to perfect traditional club nights is never even.

Do afterhours parties allow you to become more experimental as a DJ and do you do anything differently?

Three: I’m able to expand upon themes longer at an afters, so on one hand yes. But, I don’t like to subscribe to the notion that magic can only happen there because that’s a cop out. If you are only 'rocking' afterhours and not your traditional club nights in a way that satisfies you then there's a problem!

Lazarus: I do. When people come and hear me for the first time, they’re going to hear music they’ve never heard before. I can take them from that point and move on. I tend not to play hits; I tend not to play the big records of the day. I’d like to think that people would come to hear something totally different played in a different way.

What's your favorite thing about afterhours parties at during the conference?

Three: Given the spirit of things these tend to have all the right elements if for no other reason than the cross section of people. You’re dealing with some of the best clubbers around at these, so it’s a no brainer, usually. Top night after top night....or morning as it were!!

Talk about the Crosstown Rebels "Lost" Party, what are you most excited about in regards to this show?

Three: I met Damian officially last year by inviting him to play my Hallucination party. I gave him the helm of my after party (as he had never been to the states and I've had my share of WMC moments!) and we struck a chord. We're on the same wavelength for this sort of thing.

What’s next for both of you?

Lazarus: I’ve got a mix album coming out in a couple of months called “Get Lost.” There’s more incredible new music to be released on the label and I’m working on some music supervision for some movies right now. We just set up a publishing wing of the booking agency. So, kinda busy. And at some point I’m going to have to teach myself have to mix (laughing).

Three: DJ, DJ, DJ....and we're about to launch our '06 Hallucination Limited release schedule which will include a further push of the Hallucienda mix album and singles with mixes / tracks by Motor, Mount Sims, Reverse Commuter (aka Apendics Shuffle), Sycophant Slags (Mr. C and Francis Harris) and more. I remixed the Crosstown Rebels hit Mish Mash feat. Lois end of last year and we may see some projects of my own on Rebels.

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