RS: In addition to remixes, are you working on any original productions?
Joe Bermudez: I There are a few in the works. I am keeping them
quiet for the time being though. Trust me, you will definitely know
when they are ready.
RS: You often spin in circuit and gay clubs as well as straight clubs. As a straight man, whats it like
to spin to a gay crowd? Is it any different than spinning to a
straight crowd?
Joe Bermudez: Musically it's a little different. A never fail record
in a gay club would be Deborah Cox while in a straight club, it would
be a Paul Van Dyk track. The logic behind it is the same though. You
are simply reading the crowd and trying to play the best records to
keep them dancing.
RS: What's the biggest crowd you have ever DJed for?
Joe Bermudez: Open House Party has an audience in the millions so
that would be the largest radio crowd while Blue Ball in Philadelphia
or Cherry in DC both had pretty massive club crowds dancing live in
front of me.
RS: What are your biggest / hottest records in the clubs right now?
Joe Bermudez: Deep Dish is on fire lately and their Say Hello record
looks to be my dance track of the year. The Mariah Carey is still a
lot of fun as well. "We Belong Together" is just a record everyone
knows so it tends to work no matter where I am.
RS: What are your most favorite club records of all time?
Joe Bermudez: I absolutely love Peter Rauhofer's mix of Perfect Love
by House Of Prince. It still sends chills up my spine.
RS: I was told by a mutual friend that the song "Unspeakable Joy" by
Kim English had a profound effect on your life. What's the story
behind that?
Joe Bermudez: I Back when I started going out to clubs, it was during
the whole Razor-n-Guido explosion. I remember going to Machine in
Boston with my old roommate Jeff and hearing Darren Friedman drop
"Unspeakable Joy." The song was the peak of the night for us and we
were running around like two schoolgirls with our hands in the air
screaming at the top of our lungs. It was a great feeling that I have
never forgotten.
RS: Who is your favorite DJ to hear spin live?
Joe Bermudez: I It's too hard for me to pick just one. When they
want to be, Deep Dish are pretty amazing live. Gabriel & Dresden seem
to always keep me dancing. Sander Kleinenberg is great too. The list
just goes on and on.
RS: Your website - www.JoeBermudez.com - is pretty incredible. Did you design it? How often do you update it?
Joe Bermudez: My friend Brandon Mosley and I came up with the concept
and then he went and locked himself in a room and made it look more
incredible than I could have ever imagined. I try to keep the
playdates and audio samples updated monthly and we do a complete
overhaul on the site once a year.
RS: I have sort of watched you from the beginning - getting your
start with support of the internet DJ community. How has using the
internet and making contacts helped your career?
Joe Bermudez: The internet is great because it puts everything at
your finger tips. If you want to know what's going on in London or
Los Angeles, all you have to do nowadays is Google it. When I
started, I was living in Maine so the internet played a huge role in
my education process. I would stream sets from top DJs and see how
they put their sets together. I would read message boards and see
what about those sets people liked and disliked. It just made
everything more accessable for me.
RS: You do so much - DJ, remix, mixshows, write for DJ Times,
spokesmodel, etc. How important do you think it is to be so
multifaceted in the dance music industry?
Joe Bermudez: As with anything in life, the more you can do will only
benefit you in the long haul. As the dance music industry continues
to consolidate, more and more people are having to wear several hats
for the first time. Pretty soon all DJs will have to be multifaceted
or they will be stuck working at Starbucks instead of spinning
records.
RS: What advice do you have for up and coming djs out there?
Joe Bermudez: Just stick to it. If this is what you truly want, then
don't give up no matter what anyone says. Just do your thing and have
fun with it.
RS: Anything you want to say to dance music lovers out there?
Joe Bermudez: I look forward to seeing you on my dancefloor sometime soon.
