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You had one of the longest running electronic nights at Trinity, one of Seattle’s biggest nightclubs in the Seattle area. How did it come to an end and what can we expect from the last one?
Thanks! One has to seriously love what they’re doing to keep at it for this long in the same place. I love everyone at Trinity Nightclub. They ARE my family and it will be hard to say goodbye to them. The decision to end my tenure there is purely selfish on my part. I feel like I have hit every goal I can possibly achieve at Trinity and now I’m looking for more challenges: bigger crowds, more responsibility, higher profile events. Over these past seven years I’ve tried my best to as many people as possible but at this point in my career I’m focused on more personal fulfillment. I’m hoping this last night won’t be sappy or sad. I just want to give the Trinity’s Blue Room one last rager with everyone I’ve met through the years partying right along side of me.
What are your thoughts on the current state of dance music? underground v/s more mainstream sounds?
Electronic music is currently experiencing the same growing pains that every major genre that’s come before it has had to survive through. It’s being stripped of its soul in exchange for maximum commercialization. Look at rock & roll: once you strip it of it’s sex, drugs, rebelliousness, revolution and you end up with Huey Lewis censoring himself when he sings the word “ass” on The Heart Of Rock & Roll. I don’t think censorship exists anywhere in the heart of Rock & Roll but there you have it. The same thing is happening today to EDM, just replace Huey Lewis with Deadmau5 or Skrillex. I don’t mean to offend either of those guys, I wish them well with their inevitable Disney contracts.
We heard a vague story about DJs peeing in other DJs record bags in similar fashion as Justin Bieber peeing in a restaurant’s mop bin. Do you have the details? Name and shame!
I cannot tell a lie: it was Johnny Monsoon.
Just kidding! The short story, as it was relayed to me, was that it was I who ripped through an entire bottle of vodka at a gig in Las Vegas. Then, during an appropriate black out, I mistook a well known dnb DJ’s record bag for the urinal. It was an authentic Kieth Richards moment that I’m not proud of. Is this story true? Well it must be now – you read it on the internet!
What’s the most bizarre thing a girl ever did on your dancefloor?
Wow that’s a tough question because there have been so many! The first one that comes to mind is the time a girl wanted to lick my ankles while a played my set. Ask me again tomorrow and I’ll probably have a different answer. Now as for the fellas…one guy couldn’t get in the club once because he was wearing sandals so he paid a homeless person $10 for their shoes in order gain entry. That’s still the best compliment I’ve ever received.
What kind of revenue brought your night in and how did you pull it off?
I have always offered my guests free entry so 100% of the revenue for my night has been generated at the bar. How do I do it so effectively? I’ll reserve that information for my next employer lol.
When comparing scenes from different cities with each other, what a favorable quality for the Seattle crowd?
That’s easy – everyone is gorgeous! Multiple times during my career I’ve looked around the venue I’m playing in and think “Damn, this looks like a movie!” Seriously, there are directors in Hollywood right now trying to craft the perfect club or afterhours scene for a movie that best emulates what we in Seattle experience every weekend.
We know you’re buddies with Darin Epsilon, one of our good friends. Care to give him a shout out?
Absolutely! I’m really excited for the opportunities and exposure Darin is getting right now because he deserves all of it and more. He is extremely talented and works hard to share his music with an ever larger audience. The first time he played in Seattle was for my night and he stayed at my house. We didn’t know each other very well but I could tell right away that he was very proper and considerate so I decided to have a little fun: I told him that I participated in a “good luck” ritual before every show that involved walking slowly around my back yard in the nude while thinking good thoughts and since he was there he would need to join in! If you know Darin then you can imagine the spot I put him in but he handled the joke with grace and I love him even more for being such a good sport.
What are you up to next?
Hopefully another Seattle outfit will recognize my contributions and want to involve me in some of their events. I think I’ve proven myself to be a favorable addition to any club or production company so we’ll have to see if I get any offers. Until then I plan on taking advantage of having my weekends free and catching some great DJ shows, getting back outdoors, and spending more time on music production.
____ is a douche but I love him!
Ummm, I’ll leave that one blank. Not because I want to be PC but because I don’t know anyone who’s a douche. I’m lucky that way I guess!
Which track from your record bag had an everlasting impact on your crowd?
I had to pick one track that best describes the relationship I have built with my audience I would say it’s the Grayarea remix of Two Months Off by Underworld. It’s a progressive house mantra dedicated to the listener, repeating the phrase “You bring light in” until it convinces everyone of how amazing and uniquely awesome they are…and that it’s their presence that is making the night so special. It wouldn’t be a party if no-one showed up.
Do you know secrets from some of your homies (Guy, Flave, MKKM, other DJs) that you know but they don’t want the rest to know? Share the secret (you don’t have to include the name if you don’t want to, but you may give a hint)
The biggest secret I’ve ever learned is from Guy, who told me early on that the successful DJ’s are the ones who create problems for the club they are playing at. Not problems in the sense of fights or destroying equipment…but problems that make the club rethink it’s own policies as to how much liquor to have on hand, how to allocate it’s own security staff or have extra personnel available whenever you play. Those kind of problems make a club take notice of you as a performer in a positive way which will keep your gig schedule very busy. I’ve carried that knowledge with me every time I play some place new and it’s never failed me.
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
Just one. Undoubtedly there is someone reading this interview and thinking “Who’s this guy? I can do better than him!” I have only one thing to say to that person: Bring it. Seriously, I hope you try. Just because my night is ending it doesn’t mean that Seattle no longer needs an outlet that concentrates solely on delivering great dance music above all else to it’s audience. I hope someone out there is ready to pick up where I leave off, put the people first, and give us many fun nights for years to come.
Connect:
https://www.facebook.com/jason.lemaitre
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