DJ Ron Slomowicz: How did you get started as a DJ?
Joe Bermudez: I got started in radio when I was 18. The short story
is I had just been kicked out of my house and had no job, so I really
had nothing to lose. I drove by this radio station on the way home
from another job interview and thought it might be fun to do. I
literally went up to the station and demanded that they hire me so I
could pay my rent. Luckily for me, they did, and the rest is history.
RS: How did you make the move from the radio to spinning clubs?
Joe Bermudez: I guess it was just a natural progression. Locally,
people had heard me on the air so my name was familiar and eventually
I was asked to DJ a club. The first time I spun a club was actually
the first time I was ever stepped foot inside one though. I was
pretty nervous, but I guess it all worked out.
RS: What song or songs inspired your love of dance music?
Joe Bermudez: Rollo & Sister Bliss were huge influences early on.
Their remixes of Kristine W - Feel What You Want, Faithless -
Insomnia, and the OT Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down really made me
take notice of the genre.
RS: How is spinning mixshows different than spinning clubs?
Joe Bermudez: When you are spinning a mixshow, you don't get to see
your audience like when you do at a club. Also, the people listening
are usually at home or in their car so there are no fancy lightshows,
go-go dancers or ecstasy to keep them interested. You can't play
beats all night long or you will lose them to another radio station or
Saturday Night Live. You have to play songs with hooks.
RS: What's it like programming one of the most influential radio
shows - Open House Party?
Joe Bermudez: OHP has really helped me learn how to program. It is
the largest live syndicated show on the planet, airing on over 150
radio stations every Saturday night all over the US. Basically, that
meant I had over 150 program directors to deal with every Monday
morning if we played something they didn't like so I had to learn real
quickly how to keep a large scale diverse audience happy.
RS: How many different mixshows do you do each week?
Joe Bermudez: I do ones for Kiss in Cleveland and Youngstown, OH plus
KRNJ in Phoenix, AZ. Then there's Rotation on XM, Resident Nation on
Music Choice, and I still fill in from time to time doing the top of
the hour mixes on OHP.
RS: What effect have you noticed satellite radio has had on dance music?
Joe Bermudez: For the first time, everyone in the country is on the
same page. Before, you would have regional hits. Miami wouldn't play
the same record as San Francisco because they didn't feel it was their
sound. That has always been one of my issues with dance music. That
there is no unity. A hit is a hit no matter where it's played. Now,
we finally have a national broadcast playing one record that reaches
all the markets slowly unifying the dance community.
