NYC’s Fixed party has stood as an institution bred on common sense and always doing right by the international underground EDM community. With an ethos highly comparative to that of Will Eastman’s Blisspop or Stereo Faith’s Feedback parties in our capital city, of being low stress, high energy, focus on dancing events, Dave Pianka and Josh Houtkin have put together one of the finer events of it’s type in the nation. On Saturday night, the duo, DJing as Dave P and JDH, the duo comes to U Street Music Hall on Saturday night, fittingly enough with Stereo Faith, for what should be, as their reputation having hosted easily some of the most talented and vaunted names in underground dance history, a fantastic night.
I sent along some questions to Josh “JDH” Houtkin about his own background, and some thoughts about the party itself.
Need sonic proof of what the party sounds like, check RCDLBL’s January FIXED mix by the duo, as well as an October mix for Time Out NY. Enjoy, and definitely come by the Temple of Boom on 1115 U Street on Saturday night!
1. What is the main draw for so many punk/hardcore scene denizens (of which you were one) to the world of electronic dance music and DJing?
Well for me, when I was in high school in the mid-90’s, we would go to shows at all ages venues and then wonder what to do when they ended. Most of the time we ended up going to parties or clubs that we could get into and dancing to techno. I started getting more and more into the music (along with hip-hop) and my taste just started to shift. I think also at the time, hardcore started becoming a bit boring and stale, and dance music was interesting. It makes sense that people into that scene would also be into dance music since it really pushes boundaries which is what we were all into musically.
2. When did the decision to leave the world of journalism to become a full time DJ become a necessity, and are you still as happy today with the move as you were back then?
The magazine I used to run was called “Flyer”, and it was basically a nightlife listings and music magazine. I actually got into it through my parties and whatnot. Once we decided to fold the magazine, I thought it was a good time to start focusing on spinning/touring/doing parties. I’ve had a few full time jobs since then, but we’ve really tried to focus on FIXED recently.
3. What is the thought process to your booking policy for Fixed? You’ve been known to have a “tastemaking” ear at the party, so is there a particular process or type of DJ/artist that you look for, or is it constantly evolving?
We have a pretty wide-ranging list of people that we have booked or are trying to book. It really just has to fit into the idea of what makes sense at FIXED. I guess to the outsider it might seem like there is no rhyme or reason, but we really think about everything we book very carefully. It could be a minimal techno producer, disco dj, or band. As long at we are into it and it works, then we go for it!
4. What has been the most gratifying part of the development of the RVNG imprint? What were some of your favorite releases, and what should we look forward to in the future?
RVNG is actually Dave and his partner Matt. They can definitely get more into that. I love RVNG though! We’re all family…
5. What have been some of your more favorite lineups and also favorite nights in the history of the Fixed party, and who are some personal faves in the history of music that you would have loved, or would love to have the opportunity to book?
Hmm there are tons of nights that I really was psyched about. A few that stand out are: Our 1-year anniversary with The Rapture playing live in the Tribeca Grand basement, A CMJ event we also did at Tribeca’s basement with Hot Chip, Cut Copy, Tom Vek, and Mylo in 2005, and our 5-year anniversary this part November with Basement Jaxx. We have a pretty huge wish list, but I’d say dream bookings would be Primal Scream, Chemical Brothers, and Plastikman. It would be cool to have Andrew Weatherall too as we’ve never had him play. 2 Lone Swordsmen live? That would be rad.
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