DJ Chauncey D
Remember when everyone was flocking to Myspace? Come on folks, it hasn’t been that long. I remember, and that’s how I met my favorite DJ, Chauncey D, who is also the head honcho at House of Dandridge. I was excited that Chauncey agreed to do this interview with Calming the Natives—he’s always inspiring and eager to state his opinion, which is why we get along. If any of you are in the NYC area, feel free to look him up and catch one of his gigs.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Would you consider yourself a traditional DJ? I mean do you like mixing? Do you miss the popularity of the art of mixing? Is it just as exciting for you as it was before?
DJchaunceyD: When it comes to being a DJ I’m not sure the word ‘traditional’ ever comes to mind but when it comes to mixing, I am definitely from the school of beat matching. I taught myself everything I know when it comes to the technical side of mixing. It was quite a slow climb because unfortunately like a lot of things in my life, I always figure out how to do things the hard way until that moment I discover that there’s a much easier way and then I transcend to the next skill level. I guess life is like a Nintendo game 
Unfortunately, due to the ADD generation of today, I think extended versions of songs that used to be revered back in the day are not as popular as they were. I still hold tight to the idea that a DJ tells a story and is not just a human jukebox.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you think there is an art to being a DJ these days with the iPod revolution and digital music?
DJchaunceyD: The art to being a DJ is still there whether or not bar and club owners want to tap into it or not. The problem with the iPod and Internet radio stations is that the respect for talented DJs has dwindled. As respect diminishes, so does the salary. Music mixing software should not be taken for granted and should allow DJs to take their craft to the next level, not use it as a way to be lazy. Digital music allows you to also have a vast amount of music available at each gig and alleviates the burden of lugging crates upon crates of record or even books of CDs.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you think that eventually there will be no big name DJs? Or has that already happened?
DJchaunceyD: I think there will always be big name DJs but what is expected now of DJs is to also be producers as well. Most big name DJs of the past certainly dabbled in editing tracks and reworking songs but it is more prevalent now due to the availability of mixing and production software.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Are the new younger DJs just as passionate about the music or are they DJs just to have something to do?
DJchaunceyD: Some of the younger DJs out there today are extremely passionate about the music for sure and I am happy to know a few of them. It’s nice to actually be the DJ that they sometimes look up to just like I looked up to my predecessors. Yet, as a lot of DJs became somewhat celebrities with much success, fame and adoration, a lot of newer ‘DJs’ out there just do it for the publicity and whore themselves out with no real talent or craft involved. I must say that they have ruined it for the hardcore DJs who want to create art with each set.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: What made you want to become a DJ? Do you enjoy it or is it more for the money?
DJchaunceyD: I was always obsessed with music and discovering the songs that nobody had heard before, anxious to share each new discovery with my circle of friends. We all used to go out dancing quite often, I’m definitely a club kid at heart. It was only natural that I became a DJ. A lot of my friends suggested and pushed me in that direction. My taste and repertoire have always been what I’m most proud of and sometimes even snooty about, it was the technical aspect of mixing that was my biggest obstacle in the beginning. If I was DJing for the money alone, I’d be on welfare right now
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you get the respect that old school DJ’s used to get back in the day? If not, do you feel cheated that you have spent a large part of your life doing something that used to be considered such a skill that is now shunned a bit?
DJchaunceyD: I’m certainly not as popular as I thought I’d be but I also never wanted to be another Junior Vasquez. I have a strong base of followers and fans that have been there since the beginning and pick up a few along the way. I never set out to be a superstar because I never wanted to compromise my artistic integrity (to quote Madonna haha). I despise requests because the people who request most usually request something so far off from the journey that I’m on that I find it insulting. If I’m playing Depeche Mode and you request The Cure you’ll make me smile but if I’m playing Depeche Mode and you request Beyonce I’m going to laugh at you. It’s like asking a college professor to jump in and substitute teach for a kindergarten class.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Is it possible for a white DJ to get the props outside of the night club that say a 1990s Black DJ the likes of Frankie Knuckles would get? It seems that white DJs mixed music gets played much more on the nightclub circuit and hardly as mainstream music. Why is that?
DJchaunceyD: I think that’s all changing. People like Frankie Knuckles played a lot of soulful post disco house music. Disco was mainstream for a while. Techno, which is primarily a German export (or “White” as you say) remained underground for the longest time. Organic music will always be more accessible to the mainstream because we are humans and organic. Synthetic music is harder to digest for the masses and was usually associated with heavy drug use as was Psychadelic Rock from the 60s and 70s. But if you turn the radio on nowadays, it’s all synthetic, rehashed and recycled. This is also why an artist like Adele, a soul singer backed by mostly live instruments, is a diamond in the rough and will shine no matter how many times her song is remixed.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do DJs have a common bond amongst themselves regardless of race?
DJchaunceyD: There is definitely a comradery between all the DJs I know whether they are black, white, hispanic, male or female. At the same time there is a bit of a silent rivalry to an extent. We all want to rock people’s world and have a significant following but there’s only so many high profile gigs out there and we all have to pay our rent. That is why I always kept my career as a DJ as a labor of love and always had another form of income. This way I rarely ever took a gig for the money alone (although there were times when that was my only income for sure).
CALMINGtheNATIVES: What old or new DJs do you admire and why? What is it about their style that you find admirable? Does your typical audience feel the same way about those DJs as you or is it just music to them?
DJchaunceyD: I admire many DJs from the past and the present. The list would take forever to conjure up. There are just a few requirements. The DJ certainly has to be beat matching, definitely has to play songs that make me dance and most definitely play a few songs that make me jealous I didn’t play it first.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: I was recently out at the bar and the music was playing and I, being such a fan of music and in particular DJing as an art, realized that the people around me enjoy their music played exactly as it is on the radio. They do not care whether the song playing is a new mix or an old mix or any particularly crafted mix. I started to realize that I am offended by this. Are you? I remember the days when I was at the height of my party days and I could tell by the way a song started within the first 10 bars who the mix was, who the DJ was playing it sometimes and I either really got into it at that point or didn’t. Do you think the patrons at the clubs are just as knowledgeable now?
DJchaunceyD: I’m definitely offended by it but I often wonder whether the majority of people who are at the bars now are too young to have experienced masterful blending of songs. I really don’t even know when it all started to turn sour either. It could have been around the time that a lot of the bigger clubs started to close down that the popularity of remixed tracks started to die. I also blame the popularity of Hip Hop as well. If you go to a Hip Hop club you basically get the radio edits with not much overlapping track wise. Hip Hop dominated the Pop charts for a while and the ‘kids’ today grew up on that. I’ve been DJing mostly at Gay Clubs my entire career and it almost seems that as Gays have become more and more accepted in society the less and less of an underground exists. I used to DJ at The Eagle, a ‘somewhat’ leather bar in NYC and at the end of one of my sets on the first floor I could hear the DJ upstairs playing a Britney Spears track. I think I cried a little. The one thing I have noticed is that since I’ve recently been playing for more straight crowds, particularly The Burning Man crowds, dance music is certainly still thriving just not in the Gay Bar Community.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Are you better received in certain types of bars? Do the yuppie bars prefer yuppie DJs? The seedy bars prefer seedy DJs? The black bars prefer black DJs? Or is a good DJ just a good DJ?
DJchaunceyD: I’ve always been the White boy with tons of Latino and Black friends. I grew up hanging out on Christopher Street and The Piers before all the gentrification destroyed the Downtown Culture. I grew up going out when Classic House was all over the streets and clubs, the types of places that were mostly filled with minorities and rough trade. My musical style reflects that. I’ve been told I play predatory, bathhouse type music before and that makes me proud . I don’t really know if there are Black bars or Yuppie Bars or Latino Bars anymore. Musical boundaries are so broken down and twisted these days that the places you would least expect to hear a Hip Hop song and the last place you’d expect to hear a Katy Perry song are the places you hear it in.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you feel more comfortable spinning around majority white bars? Black bars? Latino bars? Yuppie bars? And why ?
DJchaunceyD: I like playing at a dark seedy dive bar or a grimey club…those are places my music is best received.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Do you ever write your own music? If so, what kind?
DJchaunceyD: I write a lot of poetry in lyric form to hopefully one day transfer into songs. I like the idea of spoken word over house and techno or breakbeats. I used to sing in a band years ago and can definitely carry a tune. Would definitely like to explore that aspect of my artistic side more. I need to get myself focused and learn an instrument or three and get into that side of me asap. I write a lot of confessional and introspective lyrics that probably wouldn’t be as accessible or popular. I like to make people laugh and I like to make people think and ask questions and motivate them to make a difference in their own lives as well as other people’s lives.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: What is your favorite all time mix? Who mixed it and what about it speaks to you?
DJchaunceyD: My favourite all time mix? That’s a tough one. I like so many genres of music and so many styles of production it would honestly be hard to pinpoint just one. I know that answer is a cop out but to pick just one would be a disservice to all the other genius pieces of work out there in the past, present and future.
CALMINGtheNATIVES: I know you’re working on an upcoming CD and have even released a few tracks online. Could you tell me more about this?
DJchaunceyD: I have released two tracks online recently. You can hear them one on my soundcloud page at http://soundcloud.com/djchaunceyd. Both were produced by a former record label mate Eddie Andrews who I kept in touch with after we both left the label we were a part of. He is a young and inspiring tech/house producer and DJ who has really made my dreams come true. He lives in Long Island and we basically created the tracks by sending vocals and instrumentals back and forth through the internet and honing in on our desired sound through feverish text messages. It’s all very ‘now’ and the creative process is exciting and fun. We’re going to work on another track soon. One of the tracks was also recently reworked by my friend Sy who is a member of the electro glam group Naked Highway. I’d like to do some more experimental tracks as well as more simple and organic pieces too. I’m not completely sure if a whole cd is on its way and/or how long it will take. This adventure is all new to me and I’m just simply enjoying the ride for now. Rumor has it that Stephen Earley Jordan might actually be the producer of one of my upcoming tracks!
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Ah yes… I hope to produce one of your tracks. You’re too brilliant for me to NOT work with. Finally, what are your TOP 5 songs that we need to purchase today?
DJchaunceyD: Top Five Songs That You Need To Purchase Today
Boris Dlugosch – Bangkok
Bardeenz – Mouthwerk
Richard Durand feat. Christian Burns – Night and Day
The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love? (Emperor Machine Remix)
Shindu – Happy House
CALMINGtheNATIVES: Thanks Chauncey. I’ve been listening to your mixes for a few years now and I’m always eager to download a new one. It’s the only thing that helps me stay motivated during a workout at the gym. Please keep us updated with all of your projects!
