Sleepy & Boo have been going nonstop planning the musical programming for each Friday at Marquee New York. This Friday, August 2nd sees the return of their own special night, Sleepy & Boo + Friends with rising New York DJ/producer, Jean Pierre. In anticipation of the event, they're created a mix "Let's Go Techno," which you can listen to below. We caught up with the duo before they headline Marquee and open the following night at Made Event's New York Made benefit on Governors Island, to catch a little NYC clubbing history as well as what's next.
This Saturday, August 3rd you are playing Made Event's Made In New York event on Governors Island. How did you get involved with this benefit event where the proceeds will go to New York charities? We've worked with Made for many years, and last summer we played on Governor's Island for them with Danny Tenaglia and John Digweed (which was a great time). We love having the opportunity to play for a benefit. It feels great to combine music and partying with helping the community out at the same time. Originally, this was supposed to be at Randall's Island (the home of Electric Zoo), but the island isn't ready for events yet, so we're happy they were able to move it to Governor's Island and keep it intact. And yes, Randall's Island will be ready for Electric Zoo, which is the priority.
You're playing New York Made this weekend with a roster of artists who played the legendary New York club rotations from the eighties until the 2000s - Digweed at Twilo, Danny Tenaglia at Vinyl and Paradise Garage, Victor Calderone at Roxy and Pacha, and now Wolf+Lamb with their stake at the Marcy Hotel in Brooklyn. Back in those days, what was your most memorable club experience? It's really hard to pick one. We are lucky enough to have experienced some of the great clubs of New York's recent history in person, and and all of these artists we're playing with have made their own unique and significant mark to that legacy. Twilo was just a special place that felt exactly how a New York nightclub should: big, dark, spacious, edgy, and the kind of room that people could just get lost in. Some of the epic marathon sets that Danny played there, that John played there, Sasha, so many others...it was a time when big anthems and memorable records were released, and to hear these master DJs play them on that Phazon sound system, it was very inspirational to us, and really, to anyone who got to experience that era.
Which of these DJs playing with you Saturday would you say had the biggest influence on you and your love of DJing? We'd say we've learned a few things from all of them about the art of DJing. Just witnessing Danny Tenaglia in the midst of one of his marathon sets, his ability to completely control a room, the way he breaks out music from so many different styles and genres and fuses it all together to create his own "DT" sound. He's a DJ that knows how to connect the strains of New York's dance music culture and history. Nowadays it's very hard to find a club that would have one DJ who would play the whole night, or to find a crowd that would be there to see that same DJ week in and week out, or even the expectation that a DJ would have to play for six to eight hours a night. But that's the history and knowledge and expertise that Danny brings to the booth.
John Digweed is another true master and we've been honored to play with him a few times. He's a DJ that's strictly business in the booth, he's not a showman at all, he's completely focused on his music and he always drives the crowd crazy. It's really refreshing to see that these days, especially with so many DJs trying to outdo each other with light shows, antics and gimmicks. The way he structures his sets and seamlessly blends his tracks together, how he can vary from dark to light, that's something we really admire in his music. Victor Calderone has never been afraid to embrace new styles and sounds, and has shown us how important it is to "evolve" musically, while continuing to keep your own distinctive style as a DJ and a producer. He's another DJ that understands the art of the long set, and he's been able to attract so many different groups of party people to his music over the years.
The New York scene has gone through a lot and changed a lot. Do you ever find yourself wishing for the old days? What's your favorite part about today's scene? There's a lot you can learn from the past but wishing for the old days doesn't really make much sense. Times change, the world changes, that's just a fact of life and it's important to acknowledge that and understand and grow with the times. There was definitely much more freedom in the older days of clubbing in New York, and it would be great if we could bring that spirit back to today's nightlife somehow. We would love to see the city get behind New York nightlife as a business and a cultural entity, instead of trying to make life difficult for club owners. As far as today goes, the current scene in New York is very dynamic, and there's a lot of choices and options out there. The music lovers in New York are very knowledgeable and as a city, the fans are blessed with great out of town DJs coming through each and every week, especially if you compare what we have to some of the other US cities. And now there's really a nice selection of venues throughout the whole city. Everyone involved in the scene has worked very hard to get New York back to where should it be: a city that's globally recognized for its music and nightlife.
You've recently partnered with Marquee New York and have been bringing an excellent selection of talent for theirFriday night musical programming. What are some upcoming gigs you are excited about at Marquee? We're very excited for this Friday at Marquee! We're bringing our Sleepy & Boo + Friends party back to the club after an amazing debut there in June. This is our headlining party, we've done it now for a few years, and it's always a highlight for us as we get to really let loose with our set. Playing at Marquee is a treat, the sound system is top notch, we've got killer Funktion One monitors in the booth, and the crowd gets way into the music and gets down on the dance floor. On Friday, we're joined by our friend Jean Pierre, who is doing really well with his productions (he just had a track included on Loco Dice's new Defected mix). All of our Fridays at Marquee have been a blast, it's been a little over six months that the club has been open and we're really happy with the DJs we've brought to the club and the response that they've had about playing there. We are wrapping up everything for the fall now and we've got some of our favorite DJs coming back to the club for a second appearance there, as well as a huge event series that we will be announcing soon. It's something that New York has never quite seen before, and we're very excited to be bringing this to the city and to Marquee.
Is there an artist you've dreamt of playing with that you haven't yet? We've been really lucky to work with so many of our heroes, and one that we've always dreamed about playing with is coming in the Fall to Marquee. As far as a few others, it would be amazing to play with Sven Vath or Ricardo Villalobos. One of the highlights of our summer was being in Vegas during EDC and playing at the "Las Vegas Loves Techno" afterhours parties at Lavo. We played our own four hour set before Carl Cox took over and he just blew the place apart. He gave us a shout out on the mic which was amazing, and was such a positive person to work with and be around. Nothing but good energy and enthusiasm. We also played with Sasha and Dubfire there, John Digweed played, and so did the whole Dirtybird crew. it was a treat to have these killer DJs playing such an intimate room and hearing great underground music in Las Vegas. There's more fun projects in the works.