|
 Brooklyn,
N.Y. – Ever get your hands on a phat mix tape? Maybe
it was a 90-minute Maxell someone gave you at a convention
or a club – something that sat in the glove box for a week
or two before you got to it. But when you finally slapped
it into the deck that tape took hold and you couldn’t pull
it out. When you realize you’re playing the same tape days
later, the connection is complete and that charge of pure
discovery is unlike any other. The DJ leads; you follow.
To
hear Victor Calderone tell it, that’s been the story of
his professional career. Jocks spinning for 20 years will
swear up and down that a mix tape never got them a job,
but apparently Calderone has been blessed. The tape, it
seems, has had a hand in every significant step he’s taken
as a DJ.
From
his early mobile work in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, through
his early ’90s techno dalliances with Joey Beltram (as Program
2) to his still-running Saturday residency at Manhattan’s
Roxy, the tape put Calderone in a position to move onto
a new phase. From Roxy, he nailed a residency at Miami Beach
hotspot Liquid, where his mix of classics, vocals and tribal
flair won over the South Beach brigade of beautiful people.
Then in 1997 Madonna called. Still basking in the production
successes of heady, percussion-drenched roller-coaster rides
“Give It Up” and “Beat Me Harder” (Eightball), Calderone
got word from Liquid co-owner Ingrid Casares that Ms. Ciccone
was interested in his remix contributions for her upcoming
Ray of Light (Maverick) project. His mixes for the title
track and initial single “Frozen” launched Calderone into
global DJ status, a perch from which he continues to work
and flourish. Remix work for the likes of Gloria Estefan
(“Heaven’s What I Feel”), Byron Stingily (“Mighty Real”)
and Garbage (“Push It”) poured in, while Calderone DJed
around the world.
 In
1999, Calderone signed a deal with Tommy Boy that includes
an original artist album. But first comes E=VC2, a mix-CD
that gets back to Calderone’s basic beginnings and the art
of the mix tape. Mostly a reflection of his charged Roxy
and Liquid sets, E=VC2 carries listeners through glorious
gospel anthems (Razor N Guido’s mix of Kim English’s spectacular
“Unspeakable Joy”) and tingly tracks (Pete Heller’s transcendent
“Big Love” and Basement Jaxx’s timeless “Fly Life”) to old-school
shout-outs (Todd Terry’s call to the floor “Can You Party?”)
and a new take on the old school (Calderone’s slammin’ collaboration
with Peter Rauhofer on C+C nugget “Do It Properly”). If
you love house music, careful with E=VC2 – it’s addicting.
DJ
Times recently visited Victor Calderone in his spacious
Brooklyn apartment, which also houses his substantial studio.
Situated in the upcoming area locals affectionately call
DUMBO – Down Under the Manhattan Bridge – Calderone’s digs
offer a panoramic view of the East River, both the Manhattan
and Brooklyn Bridges and the Manhattan skyline. Not bad
for a guy who started out making mix tapes in his bedroom.
DJ
Times: You mentioned before that you were worrying that
your sets had become somewhat formulaic.
Calderone: The best way to describe my sets are a
lot of vocals. Because I play for a large gay audience it
is what they enjoy. There have been nights when I felt like
“I’m gonna play hard tonight” or “I’m going to play progressive”
because that is part of me, too. But when I have done that
I’ve gotten complaints. “Where are the vocals?” It’s not
that I don’t like that music, I just get tired playing some
of it and a lot of the music in New York. All this build-up
stuff, they’re overdoing it. I do want to start playing
some of the music that I’m listening to, but I don’t want
my set to sound like it’s all over the place.
DJ Times: How do you work in some of the other sounds?
Calderone:
I’ve been really enjoying a lot of the trance that’s been
coming out and I’ve been playing that a little later in
my set because it works with the vibe and that time of the
night. I’m going to try to work it in a little more, educate
some people and hopefully they’ll have an open mind for
it.
DJ
Times: How did you become known as such a purveyor of
vocal house?
Calderone:
I do enjoy vocal records. It comes from that. I’ll hunt
them down and there definitely are not enough good vocal
records out there. I guess I just became this big circuit
vocal DJ.
DJ
Times: Who are some good vocalists and vocal producers
that you’re feeling these days?
Calderone:
Hex Hector has been doing a good job with vocal records
in New York City. Adam Bayer. As far as vocalists, I like
Lisa Stansfield, Deborah Cox. I like some of the vocals
that come out of the U.K. also, like the Armand [Van Helden]/Duane
Harden song [“U Don’t Know Me”]. They’re a little more diverse
than what’s happening here in New York. I like the Pete
Heller [“Big Love”], which is really good, too.
DJ
Times: What do you have in your booth at Roxy?
Calderone:
We have a UREI mixer and three Technics turntables. For
monitors, we have JBL double-15s hanging above my head and
four 15-inch subwoofers at my feet. For effects, I have
a [Lexicon] Jam Man that I bring. Also, there’s a little
Vestax sampler that samples and loops and has pitch control.
I just purchased this Korg [Kaoss Pad] effects processor.
What I like is that it’s really small for travelling and
it has all these filters and delays, and it samples.
DJ
Times: What’s your favorite trick when you’re DJing?
Calderone:
I just like to work a record on the fly, like work the intro,
extend the intro, bring the vocals back into it. I enjoy
doing that. There’s nothing better than working two records
at the same time. Blending is important. Also, I don’t like
to play vocal after vocal. I like to split it up with strong
tribal beats and that makes the vocals that much more powerful.
I’ll work the percussion for awhile.
DJ
Times: What made you want to do this – be a DJ?
Calderone:
My brother Cesar Calderone was into clubs and he had DJ
equipment and I would experiment a little bit with it. He
was inspired by Jellybean and the Funhouse. For me, it was
records like James Brown “Sex Machine” and Jimmy Castor
“Just Begun,” a lot of classics. I inherited this amazing
collection.
DJ
Times: When you first started DJing, was it a club or
mobile situation?
Calderone: Mobile. Once I got addicted to DJing,
I was like a junkie. I would sit at home and make tapes
when I was 16. I had been giving them out to friends and
then someone asked if I would play a house party. I had
to bring my whole entire setup and we just jammed all night.
Then it snowballed. I started doing weddings, teen parties.
It got big in the neighborhood through word-of-mouth. It
was all reputation. I was carrying crates, racks of Crown
amps, big Cerwin-Vega speakers. We were known for classics.
People would just say, “Hire this guy. He plays great classics.”
That was my niche.
DJ Times: What did your years as a mobile DJ teach
you?
Calderone:
It really taught me about the business. It was the difference
between a hobby and sitting at home enjoying something and
turning it into a business. It got me in-depth with what
it was all about, staying in touch with people, doing phone
work.
DJ
Times: Then you moved into clubs.
Calderone:
Yeah, I got a chance on a Saturday night. A friend of
mine was a promoter who hired me and it turned into a steady
gig for about a year. I was playing stuff like Judy Torrez
and a lot of Todd Terry.
DJ
Times: Your group with Joey Beltram, Program 2, had
a modicum of success during that brief mini-signing frenzy
of techno acts in the early 1990s.
Calderone:
We got signed by Seymour Stein at Sire Records. He offered
us a deal and we recorded a record, but it got sent around
from lap to lap and nobody really knew what to do with the
project. It sat around up there and eventually the scene
changed. The project just fell apart.
DJ
Times: You left the music business for awhile.
Calderone: After that period I got into another venture.
I had a friend who had a chain of restaurants in New York
City and he wanted to open a new one. One night at dinner
he offered me a partnership and I said, “Sure, I’m not doing
anything.” I could use the extra money to carry me through
this. I thought it would be a good idea. We opened the restaurant.
I was very happy in the beginning. It was successful and
I was meeting a lot of people. It was exciting. But after
a while, I realized that it wasn’t for me. It just consumed
all of my time and I had this home recording studio that
was just collecting dust. The restaurant was successful,
but I wasn’t happy.
DJ
Times: Why did you go back to DJing and producing?
Calderone:
It was a call of the music to get me back. I had started
going out, you know, living the restaurant life. We’d close
the restaurant and go out. This was about the time Junior
[Vasquez] was playing at The Tunnel. He definitely inspired
me to get back to DJing. As for production, I just needed
to get back in there and start working on new material.
DJ
Times: What about Junior’s sets inspired you?
Calderone:
There’s a story. Hearing him play was like he was telling
a story about the night. He’d play progressive stuff, tribal
stuff, really good music, house music. He took me away.
It wasn’t just one level. It wasn’t one repetitive thing.
There was a whole scenario.
DJ
Times: What was your first step back into the DJ realm?
Calderone:
My first gig was a rave in Toronto. After I sold my restaurant
share, I went into my studio and did “Give It Up,” which
did very well. I didn’t have any direction or plans. I just
wanted to work in the studio and do house music. I can’t
even say where that came from. I mean, I was sitting in
this restaurant listening to ambient electronic music, so
it wasn’t that. “Give It Up” was edgy and progressive, so
it had my roots in techno. It had that influence and the
house music that I was listening to at the time.
DJ
Times: What was the gig like for you?
Calderone:
Beltram was on the bill, Derrick May, a number of other
big-name DJs. I just went back out and started buying records
again. I was nervous about it. Here I am with Beltram again.
It actually turned out well. The audience was into it and
they were great to me. And that was it. Yeah, I think DJing
is something that if you have it you never lose it.
DJ
Times: How did the Roxy residency happen?
Calderone:
It was like when I started DJing – I made a tape just for
myself at home. A friend of mine heard it in my car and
I made her a copy. The tape somehow got around and it would
up in a promoter’s hands. This was Mark Berkley and he was
promoting a night at Life called Boy’s Life. He offered
me a night to play. He liked the way I played and offered
me a residency. Eventually, I was playing until 8 in the
morning. Great energy, good crowd.
DJ
Times: Was that the first time you’d consistently played
for a predominantly gay-male crowd? How did you approach
it?
Calderone: Yeah, it was. I just played what I liked
and somehow it worked. It was my kind of music. I think
that’s why it worked. I wasn’t playing something trying
to please someone. I was playing what I really liked and
I played it well. Now it’s become this ritual that I’m living
[laughs].
DJ
Times: Was their any trepidation on the part of the
audience?
Calderone:
Definitely. From what I hear now, there were all these
questions going around, “Who is this guy? Who is this straight
boy?” [Laughs] But they welcomed me. They really enjoyed
what I was doing.
DJ
Times: You better be good.
Calderone: Exactly [laughs]. My sexuality wasn’t
a problem as long as they were enjoying my music.
DJ Times: A lot of DJs don’t have a devoted audience
that loves you and appreciates you for the music you play.
What’s that like?
Calderone:
It’s a great relationship. I’ve said in the past that I
love playing for gay audiences and I have preferred to play
for a gay audience because they give back so much, they
really do. They really appreciate me. They’re giving. They
let me know that somehow I’ve changed their lives on the
dancefloor from hearing my set. That’s really special to
me. I mean, I had a doctor from NYU telling me how much
I changed his life and writing me this really moving letter.
It’s really special and that’s what’s important. Having
people enjoying themselves that much is what it’s really
about. They keep me on my toes, too. I have to reinvent
myself.
DJ
Times: How do you do that?
Calderone:
Keep trying to experiment. Try some tricks. Sometimes
things work for you and sometimes they don’t. But I have
respect for someone that’s playing and trying different
things. If you screw up a mix, you screw up. At least you’re
trying. If you’re trying something, eventually you’re going
to get it. That’s how I keep going at it.
DJ Times: What should a club DJ be most aware of?
Calderone:
Definitely the dancefloor. You know when you’re connected
with your audience. They’re giving it to you and you just
keep giving it back. When I play, my audience is really
letting me have it, cheering me on, screaming my name. When
there’s nothing but the dancefloor moving like a wave I
know I’m doing something right, so I pay close attention
to my audience. When I get that feeling that they’re really
cheering me on, I work that much harder and I try to come
up with more things, more tricks. I’ll trick them, like
I know how they’ll respond to this next record that I have
planned. I’ll take out an anthem that I know they’ll respond
to, play a couple notes and I’ll hear their roar. To me,
a chill goes through my body. It peaks out and that’s what
I live for.
DJ
Times: How did your residency at Liquid in Miami happen?
Calderone:
At the time, David Waxman had been the resident DJ. I was
filling in for him one night. There was a staff member there
who had read about me in Billboard and had seen “Give It
Up” on the charts and recommended that I play. I got a great
response that night. All the staff and bartenders were coming
up to me and telling me how much they enjoyed it and they
hadn’t heard a set like that. My set was like what it was
in New York – a lot of tribal, some really good vocals and
a lot of classics. It was the classics that put me over.
People were saying that they really liked that I brought
back the Marshall Jefferson and “In the Mix” and the DJ
International records. Apparently, nobody was doing that
there. Eventually, it turned into a residency on Saturday
nights.
DJ
Times: Can’t beat that town for a party.
Calderone: Everybody goes down there and it’s just
a party vibe. That’s what it’s like. They’re lying on the
beach and planning their night. You don’t have to do much
to get the people off. They’re ready to go. If you do the
right thing, you got ’em. Liquid is a special room, too.
DJ
Times: How did the Madonna connection happen that you
ended up doing mixes for the Ray of Light songs?
Calderone:
Liquid’s co-owner Ingrid Casares is very good friends with
Madonna. We built up a good friendship in the time that
I’ve been playing at the club. She happened to mention to
me in passing that Madonna’s working on a new album and
maybe I could get to do some mixes. I didn’t take it seriously.
Before I knew it, she called me up and wanted me to meet
with her and Madonna to talk about remixes. Madonna called
me up and asked, “So, do you want to remix my first single?”
DJ
Times: She didn’t have to ask twice.
Calderone:
She didn’t even have to ask. I said, “Yeah!” So I met with
them, sat down with Madonna and I could not believe this
was happening. And she asked, “Well, what do you have in
mind for it?” And the first thing out of my mouth was “tribal.”
I said, “I want a tribal rhythm, but maintain the integrity
of the song. I won’t make you sound like Mickey Mouse when
I stretch it.” That was it. She gave me free reign, no guidelines.
DJ
Times: So what happened?
Calderone: So I did it and I was really excited,
but nervous. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t
know if she would like it or hate it. I didn’t know if it
would make me or break me. I was waiting to hear from her
and it was around Christmas Eve and she called me and told
me she loved it and was happy with it. That was a great
Christmas present.
DJ Times: What did you do with that song? What do
you think made it work?
Calderone:
When I first heard that album, I was blown away by it. I
was really impressed by what William Orbit had done. It
was very different from everything else that was out there.
They took a chance. They could’ve gone the Babyface way
and put it out and had a bunch of pop records. Again, I
was impressed with Orbit’s production and I wanted to keep
that vibe – kind of trancey, melodic, spacey lines in there.
In “Frozen” and “Ray of Light,” you can hear that – moreso
for “Ray of Light” – but I really wanted to make them work
more for the dancefloor. If you’ll notice, the drums were
kind of pulled back in the original mixes and I wanted them
to stand out more and pound with more percussion, but keep
the integrity of the song.
DJ Times: So for that tribal bottom end, did you
sample and loop up a world-beat record?
Calderone:
Yeah. I used the Kurzweil K2000 synthesizer workstation
– I didn’t have my Akai S6000 yet – and that has a 32-track
sequencer. I did all my sampling in there and I dumped the
vocal into my computer and I time-stretched it and recreated
the music. Back then I was sampling each vocal line and
putting it across the keyboard and replaying it. It was
a little difficult. I’ve since upgraded. But yeah, I tried
to find some really good ethnic sounds, real drum sounds,
real percussion, real congas and I’d really get into layering.
I’d layer a bunch of drum sounds and some conga sounds and
try to make a big sound out of it. Then I’d play it and
replay and then loop a piece of vocal until something worked
with it. I’d make sure it didn’t take away from the vocal,
though.
DJ Times: Did you play much with the vocals?
Calderone:
Not really. I would sample one little snip of the vocal
and experiment a little bit, maybe filter it for the intro
or for a breakdown. That’s all.
DJ
Times: What’s it like for a guy who started out as a
mobile DJ to be remixing Madonna?
Calderone:
[Laughs] It has been amazing. This last two and a half
years have been a blur for me. It’s happened so quickly.
From leaving the restaurant and going in and producing one
song and then this all happening. I don’t know how to take
it in. I feel like it’s someone else’s life. Sitting in
a room with Madonna and planning out a remix for her, it
didn’t feel real. It didn’t feel like it was me.
DJ
Times: Is it kind of strange to consider that one person
could have so much star power that it would shine on you
and help push you this far in your career?
Calderone:
Madonna has that power. It’s happened with a number of people
in the industry that she’s come in contact with. There’s
something really special about that woman. There really
is. And she really has been true to dance music. I can attest
to that. When she hired me to do her mix, I had a No. 1
record. She’s keeping an eye out for who’s hot. I don’t
really want to be the guy who’s hot for the moment, but
she’s been continually good to me and using me for her mixes
and helping me out.
DJ
Times: Since your career has taken off, you’ve had the
opportunity to travel and play clubs around the world. What
are some of the more interesting places and why?
Calderone:
Japan was interesting for me because of the audience there.
They’re very into the scene and very into who is DJing and
making the music and they really know who is out there.
They really research who the remixers and producers are.
I was impressed by the record shops. The clubs were great
and the scene was strong. Paris was great. I thought they
would be more into filter disco, but the crowd was really
into my set. Another good experience was the Black & Blue
party in Montreal. I played for 15,000 in one room in the
Montreal Convention Center. I couldn’t even see the end
of the room, just a sea of heads and I never heard a crowd
roar like that.
DJ
Times: Like a U2 concert.
Calderone:
Yeah, it’s kind of weird. My fiancée always asks me if I
get nervous in situations like that. I don’t know what it
is, but I don’t get nervous. I feel really at home behind
the turntables and in front of an audience. It’s a great
feeling, especially in front of an audience.
DJ
Times: How about clubs in North America?
Calderone:
Toronto and Montreal. In Toronto I played at Guvernment,
which has an amazing sound system, kind of like a Twilo
sound system. I had a great night there. They have a great
scene – great rave scene, great progressive house scene,
great gay scene. It was a good mix that night. I played
from 11 to 7.
DJ
Times: That’s nice to have that kind of time, but what
do you do when you’re playing a city like Boston, which
shuts down early?
Calderone:
The weird thing in Boston, say, is that even though
it shuts down at 2, the crowd doesn’t show up until 12:30
and it’s like a big party for 90 minutes and then it’s over.
In my set, I try not to sound like it’s all scrunched in,
where it’s anthem after anthem. I won’t do that. I’ll still
split it up and play some tracks between the anthems. I’d
rather build up and bring it down and set it up again for
the next anthem.
DJ
Times: With this being your first mix-CD, what were
you trying to do that was different?
Calderone:
For my CD, I didn’t want to surprise my audience and
the majority of my audience is a gay audience. So I did
want to capture what they’re used to hearing from me and
my set. On this CD I selected a lot of records that were
big for me at Roxy and Liquid. I did want to capture a peak
hour of my set, when I drop the anthems and do some tricks.
I would’ve been great to just record a set at the club,
but the difficulty is with all the licensing clearing. I
really wanted it to be me. I wanted that tribal influence.
Instead of going the commercial way and licensing all these
vocal records and having all these big names, I wanted to
license some of these independent records and bonus beats
and stuff like that.
DJ
Times: Which songs were essential to this project?
Calderone:
I’d say some of the trick records, like Todd Terry’s
Royal House “Can You Party?” For me, that’s a little teaser
I use throughout the night. When I play a few notes of it,
I hear that roar from the audience. I needed to have that
– also, Basement Jaxx “Fly Life.” As soon as they hear that
horn, it’s something you can work over any tribal record
or any record. Also, I did a collaboration with Peter Rauhofer
on “Do It Properly,” the Clivilles and Cole classic. Also,
there’s a new mix that I did of Madonna’s “Sky Fits Heaven”
that was unreleased. There were some vocal records like
the Veronica [“Someone to Hold”] and Deborah Cox [“It’s
Over Now”] that my audience really enjoys. When I play them,
it’s the biggest reaction of the night.
DJ
Times: How important is it for a DJ to educate listeners?
Calderone:
That’s what I’m hoping for on this CD. My audience, of course,
knows this material, but I’m hoping people buy this who
haven’t hear these records and I turned them onto something
new.
DJ
Times: What’s your deal with Tommy Boy like?
Calderone:
In the future, we’re going to do one or two more compilations.
We’ve also signed an artist/production album deal with them.
I’m going to be producing all-new original material maybe
featuring some artists. I don’t have the wish list together
yet. I would like to write with a vocalist or maybe work
closely with a vocalist who writes some material. I’m willing
to collaborate with someone I feel comfortable with.
DJ
Times: With Mayor Giuliani and the city of New York
taking such lengths to hamper the Manhattan club scene,
how has that impacted Roxy?
Calderone:
Thank God, we haven’t been affected by it and we haven’t
had any police officers burst through the doors and raiding
us. It’s been good. We have a really good, positive night
there. There haven’t been any bad situations. I think maybe
that has something to do with it. But it’s on everybody’s
minds. You hear people talking about it. You hear about
other clubs getting shut down. You hear about the raids.
Everyone’s on edge. “Is it going to happen here tonight?”
It has affected the scene and it has affected the way people
are feeling about going out.
DJ
Times: Do you think the mayor is just making a political
football out of the Manhattan clubs?
Calderone:
Absolutely. I think it’s ridiculous. You don’t see cops
rushing into Madison Square Garden for rock concerts. You
can’t blame a club owner for what the patrons are bringing
into the clubs. They can try to control it to a certain
extent, but that doesn’t mean that you shut down all the
nightclubs in the city. That doesn’t solve any problems
with drugs.
DJ Times: Like it or not, it’s a part of the culture.
Does it make a difference to you if your crowd is off its
face?
Calderone:
It is a part of the culture and what people do in their
own personal lives is up them. It doesn’t make a difference
to me how they enjoy themselves, as long as they enjoy themselves.
If they come out and they’re straight and music is their
high, then great. If not, so be it. If they don’t do anything
to affect the night, then fine.
DJ
Times: On the production front, what should DJs look
for, gearwise?
Calderone:
The unfortunate thing is that the equipment is very expensive,
but if you want to take it slow there are some workstations
that you can get. For me, the essential piece is the sampler,
because you can really experiment with a sampler. If there’s
a certain sound you’re looking for, you can get it and totally
create a different sound. Most samplers don’t have sequencers,
but some workstations do. Also, get a good keyboard with
a good variety of different sounds.
DJ
Times: You’re a Logic Audio guy. What do you like about
that sequencing software?
Calderone: It’s very user-friendly. It’s so basic
in its layout. You can use it the first day you have it
on your computer. There are so many ways that they allow
you to change the actual layout of the program to make it
work the way you want it to work, as far as key command
and so forth.
DJ
Times: If you had any advice for up-and-coming club
DJs, what would it be?
Calderone:
What has worked for me is making tapes. Get a tape out there
and it might fall into the right hands. As much as it sounds
ridiculous, it’s worked for me a number of times. The other
important thing is listening to your music and knowing your
music and knowing the songs well. Know where the breaks
are and know how long the intro is. Spend the time. Open
your mind to a lot of different kinds of music and it will
be reflected in your production and your DJing.
Copyright
© 1999 DJ Times Magazine
TESTA
Communications Publishing
|
