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 “One time I particularly remember we were doing an outdoor summer evening party in Fordham Road in the Bronx, in 1987, in a very famous park called Poe Park, where Edgar Allen Poe was born. We were right by the Grand Concourse, the big avenue that runs through the Bronx, when someone shot into the middle of the crowd from the other side of the street, hitting this one guy directly in the middle of his mouth. The bullet went into his mouth and his tongue fell out. He didn’t die, but me witnessing that made me think ‘this is deep, this kind of stuff only happens in these kind of neighbourhoods, places like the Bronx or Brooklyn’. Stuff also happened in Manhattan, sure, but it was very much more likely to happen in the Bronx.”
Almost twenty years after he escaped the mean streets of New York’s infamous outer borough of the Bronx, Hector Romero is a remarkable success, both as a globe-trotting international DJ and as a business executive of New York powerhouse DJ company Def Mix. Also co-running Saw Recordings with his Def Mix compadres Satoshi Tomiie, David Morales and Judy Weinstein, he’s a shining example of the power of music and its potential for escape, a point the shooting helped him both to understand and to grasp.
“The day I witnessed that event I thought ‘hanging out on the streets is not cool’ and I decided I wanted to get a little more serious about my music, to focus on bettering myself instead of hanging out on the streets so much,” he recalls, “I could have been the bystander that got shot and that was one particular scenario I experienced that was very ugly and I still picture it as clear as day.”
Chatting to Skrufff today, he’s both friendly and infectiously cheerful, as well as candid about the reality of his youth.
“The Bronx was edgy, sure, because I was 13 when I started DJing there in 1983 and I was out in the street a lot. It was very easy to get caught up with the ‘bad apples’ out there, the people who were selling drugs or gang-banging, though I didn’t have that many bad friends,” says Hectorl
“And it was easy to do things that you shouldn’t do but what saved me was honestly the music because everyone loved me for being the DJ. Because I was a DJ, I made friends with the meanest of thugs because they wanted mix tapes for their cars and houses, so I got by easily, basically just be being an entertainer. It was edgy but I found my path. I knew some really thuggish people, sure, but they were cool with me personally because I had something to offer that they probably wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else. I didn’t really have too many bad times. I was a young punk in the Zulu Nation and that was one of those things you did, being part of a group, of a gang, but I never held anyone up, or carried a gun. Though I could have, it would have been easy, and other friends did, of course.”
Guns and ghetto talk aside, and in his present day reality as a leading US house DJ, he’s just mixed one CD of Pacha’s latest 2 CD compilations Winter Sessions Volume 4 (Juan Diaz has done the other), reflecting his long standing five year residency at the clubbing organisation’s Ibiza base and it’s this album, he’s here to promote today.
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Your new mix CD is branded as a Pacha compilation, how did that affect the approach you took?
Hector Romero: “Pacha, at least in my eyes, is this glamorous club that everyone retreats to in the summer, where everyone is in good spirits and there’s a real feel good vibe and attitude so I tried to portray that in the selection of tracks I picked. Even though I was limited to ten or so songs I feel I achieved that with the records that were available. It is difficult fitting it all into 80 minutes but it worked out at the end. I tried to shape it towards the sound of Pacha, even though that is my sound anyway. It’s funky with vocals, and some feel-good music in there. I did the whole mix very quickly, freehand, with no computer work or anything like that and gave it a nice live effect with a feel of how I play out; with nothing too tight or over-sequenced in computer terms. It took me about three weeks.”
Skrufff: What impact has thePacha opening in New York had on the perception of Pacha overall?
Hector Romero: “My feelings about Pacha New York is that I’m all up for it and I want it to succeed, not so much for them but more for the sake of nightlife in this City. The City definitely needed another club because right now there’s only a handful of good clubs here. We’re talking about New York here but the only really happening super-club in New York is Crobar so there is definitely room for healthy competition. When Pacha opened in December I thought it was a perfect time to come into the game but they seem to be being hounded by the Government of the City and the police, who seem to be extremely zealous on their policies towards the club. I hope Pacha New York works out, because we need it. And Pacha have been good to me, I’m coming up for six years of doing the DefMix/ Saw Recordings night there in Ibiza so I wish them well.”
Skrufff: What is the authorities’ attitude towards nightlife in New York right now?
Hector Romero: “It’s pretty hostile and stale, dance music and club music isn’t really part of the culture here, it’s al about hip hop, R&B and rock & roll- that’s what rules in the States. I was in London last weekend and I went out from Friday to Sunday to three or four clubs and they were all busy and the vibe was so healthy. People living there might think differently but coming from New York from the States it is. It’s really bad here in the States, unfortunately, the kids don’t really appreciate dance music and don’t really appreciate DJs unless they’re some kind of super-duper progressive trance DJ. They’re not open-minded enough to go and hear a good house DJ, if they’re not famous, they’re not going to come out in numbers to support them.”
Skrufff: Are you ever tempted to switch musical styles to progressive trance?
Hector Romero: “No, I don’t feel it so I wouldn’t do it. I started off as a young hip hop DJ, because I grew up in the Bronx- hip hop was my first love then I grew into dance music but I can firmly say I won’t ever play trance.”
Skrufff: A lot of the original Bronx hip hop pioneers ended up involved doing crack, was it hard for you as a teenager to avoid slipping into that?
Hector Romero: “Sure, definitely, I experimented because you’re surrounded by drugs so much but it didn’t grab me and wasn’t for me. It didn’t mix with my personality. It wasn’t that my parents were telling me ‘don’t do drugs’ I guess I was just a little more strong minded than other friends. A lot of my good friends got caught up with doing crack. I experimented because it’s very hard to avoid. But now, in 2006, it’s even worse in those neighbourhoods, because the poverty level has gone up again. After 83 when the poverty level was pretty high it fixed itself for a few years but now it’s at an all time high. It’s even worse.”
Skrufff: Do you go back to the Bronx much these days?
Hector Romero: “I do, my Mother, sister and brother all still live there, in Parkchester actually, so I go back at least every two weeks, at least when I’m home. I go for my rice and beans home cooked meal (chuckling). It’s funny because I often see old friends who are like ‘hey Hec, what’s up, you still DJing?’ and my reply is always ‘Yeah, I’m still DJing’ but I can’t go into any detail to what level I’m doing it at. Firstly because it would take too much time, I couldn’t explain it to them the right way, they probably think I’m a DJ who spins records in his bedroom. And secondly, I wouldn’t do it because I’d feel like I’m bragging. Because they’re out there doing not much, maybe holding down a simple 9 to 5 job and hanging out while for me I’m leading a good life and I’m happy with what I’m doing. Bragging is something you definitely don’t do when you come from there.”
Skrufff: It must have been tricky for you making it as a DJ in Manhattan, coming from the Bronx. . .
Hector Romero: “It was a big deal, especially for me because the Bronx was like another world to Manhattan, it’s like going to another state, it’s like ‘Wow’. When we used to come to Manhattan when we were kids, to go to the Village and hang out, you’d actually say ‘we’re going to the City’, Even though the Bronx is part of New York City, you’d still refer to Manhattan as ‘the City’. The first time I was put in a situation to DJ in Manhattan that was elating- I played at Studio 54 actually, not in its heyday, not when it was a big disco but it was still Studio 54- the marquee was still out there with my name on it. I have a photo of it still and I remember thinking ‘I’ve made it’. Even though you hadn’t made it, coming from the Bronx, that’s how it felt at that moment. We used to do Bank Holiday parties which we’d promote really heavily throughout all the boroughs and they became really successful and at one big one, the promoter teamed me up with David Morales, at the Red Zone. It was the first time I’d met him and worked with him, even though I’d known of him for years, and had been seeing him play, that’s how the relationship started. That was THE highlight of my career- making it as a kid from the Bronx, actually playing at the Red Zone alongside David Morales. Of course, here I am today, working together with him at Def Mix (chuckling).”
Skrufff: And nowadays you’re handling a business job alongside DJing?
Hector Romero: “That’s right I don’t produce music or do remixes, I spend my Mondays to Fridays in the office. Five years ago, Satoshi, David and Judy Weinstein started the label Saw Recordings. I’ve been doing administrative, executive stuff for 15 years with Def Mix but the big jump was starting the label and five years on we’re celebrating our 50th release. I love the business end, I tried remixing and producing but I basically sucked at it and gave it up- I was no good at it and didn’t have the patience you need to spend hours and hours in the studio. But I found a passion for dealing with producers, listening to the final product and giving my A&R ear and dealing with contracts and lawyers- I really get a kick out of it, I love it. And I came to terms with the fact that not every DJ needs to be a DJ/ producer in this business. There are other ways to make it. I tell a lot of young DJs ‘don’t force it being in the studio, if it’s not in you, it’s not in you, you’re just going to make crap music, you’re not going to be happy and people are going to write negative things about you’. I give them props for trying- I tried, but you need to find out what you’re good at.”
Pacha Ibiza: Winter Sessions Volume 4 (mixed by Hector and Juan Diaz) is out shortly on Pacha Recordings.
http://www.hectorromero.com
Interview by Jonty Skrufff (JontySkrufff.com)
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