The Lost Art of The Weekly Residency
From NY’s first DJ nights at The Loft, the residency was a simple idea: a musical host brings their friends to a space and plays their favorite jams for them all night.
Born out of necessity and community, these nights were a place to feel the music, revel with friends and enjoy the art to the highest degree- and from it, nightlife itself was born.
Lasting 6 to 12 hours, disc jockeys told stories through music and took the people through waves of emotions, artists and musical themes, keeping them engaged from start to finish.
The Loft was a legend, and inspired by it, Frankie Knuckles went on to create the Warehouse, and Larry Levan, the Paradise Garage. These residencies built their own sound -called House and Garage. And as we know, these genres flew to Europe and took the world by storm.
Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia and David Morales were inspired by their own experiences at the Garage and went to make residencies of their own. The Sound Factory, Redzone and Vinyl were their spaces to build their sound. And build it they did: these DJs and clubs became household names and created the era of the superstar DJ.
As culture has evolved, so has the experience. The sparkling superstar DJ lifestyle is oft the dream of today’s up and coming DJs, to fly around the world and play a two hour headliner slot for a lofty fee. But with that, an important step has been left behind.
The weekly residency is an opportunity to build trust with a crowd and build a new sound from the ground, testing out sounds and reworking others to create something that is the DJ’s true expression. This is art in real time.
The trust they build allows them to create their own personal version of ideal sound- whether playing out whole classic disco songs like David Mancuso at the Loft - or flowing in and out of dramatic moments of tension and soulful floor stompers to light up a room - like Junior Vasquez and Danny Tenaglia.
This is the magic most young club goers are missing out on- a regular opportunity to hear a DJ to express themselves fully, build trust and their own sonic identity. This can only be done through constant contact, week after week.
This is hard to find, and most DJs only have the opportunity to do it on stream.
Today, I am working hard with the venues I play to bring this experience back.
And with that, I introduce my own residency:
The Rendezvous.
The Rendezvous is a weekly residency in the old school style of the greats of this city- and though I’ve invited talented guests before, Lauren Flax, Planet B, Dwells & more- this is my residency to develop my sound and give the people what they need.
I do best when given long periods of time to stretch out and play, and have fun reaching into my deepening library of sounds to take you on a ride.
I cherish the opportunity and will continue to push this art form as hard as I can, and have a good time doing it.
I hope you join and hear the sounds I select for my vision of what music means to me.
The party is currently held weekly on Wednesday nights at the Soho Grand Club Room, 10-late, and you can RSVP on Instagram, here on my website, or with my hosts.
See you there.
Roman
