The Boys of Nouveau Riche
Manuela sat with the boys of Nouveau Riche, a fearless set of dj's and friends that met while working at XM radio and that together have created a dance party that DC hasn't seen probably since the days of Trax and later Buzz. These guys are coming to New York soon - so watch out for these rising stars who have already been named Best Dance Party of 2008 by the DC City Paper. Nouveau Riche is made up of Gavin Holland, Nacey and Steve.
What is Nouveau Riche and describe your musical styles?
GH: It depends on the situation and time of night. We take the pacing of the night really, really seriously. We like to keep things really inviting at the beginning of the night... easygoing songs... Disco, 80s pop gems, easygoing house music, fun hip-hop dominates the early part of the evening. As things get crazier, we work into harder, wilder types of music... Electro, bangin' house music, rave classics, rowdy Baltimore Club anthems... we know we've done our job when people start swinging from the rafters.
Nacey: There's something to appreciate about any type of music. My DJ style strips things down and makes them hit hard. It only takes one massive bassline or a dynamic hook to get people's attention. When I'm DJing or producing music, I keep that in mind.
Stove: I have a serious love for music across all genres but when it comes to Nouveau it's party music for the dance floor. I'd say my style is bass driven dance music with a hip hop feel. Ball to the wall bangers with some old school flava in the mix.
Dj's/Performers you admire?
GH: Among the "one man band" producers, I love Miami Horror, Switch, Blaqstarr, Diplo, Crookers, Drop The Lime, a.k.a. Curses, and For live shows, Spank Rock and Jamie Lidell probably put on some of my favorite shows in recent memory...
Nacey: Blaqstarr, Annie Mac, DJ Mehdi, Switch, Chromeo, MGMT, Feist, Cut Copy
Stove: Drop the Lime/Curses!, Blaqstarr, Crookers, Green Velvet, Boy 8 Bit, Laidback Luke, Rod Lee, Nadastrom, Armand van Helden, Switch, Sinden, Dave Spoon, Twocker, and The Runners. Hip-hop wise I love Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, old Cash Money, UGK (RIP Pimp C), Hood Headlinaz,Ghostface and Raekwon, Ludacris, old school LL Cool J, Outkast of course, Lil Jon, E 40, Tabi Bonney, Kanye, Pitbull and the Beastie Boys.NIN, Nirvana, Pantera, Johnny Cash, Weezer, Primus, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones and of course The Beatles.
Your thoughts on the state of dance music?
GH: All of a sudden, 5000 jiggawatts of production and distribution and marketing technology were dumped on the dance community, and people are still trying to figure out how to utilize it all... the potential is staggering!
Nacey: Dance music is accelerating towards the cosmos. Not only are the production tools becoming more advanced, more people are making it. Computers have empowered people all over the world to produce music. It's really a great thing.
Stove: I think a huge phenomenon that's happening right now is the marriage of hip hop and house/club music and I believe Baltimore Club music is blowing up internationally.
Tracks you would like to remix?
GH: Ra Ra Rasputin, U.S. Royalty, The Dead Husbands, K-Murdoch, Mo Dari....
Nacey: Anything by Santogold or Feist
Stove: Rob Zombie - Dragula , Blaqstarr - Gon Break It Down, LL Cool J - I'm That Type of Guy
What is the Nouveau Riche crowd?
Open minded individuals who leave the club when it closes, sweaty, and with large bar tabs.
Coming soon to a party near you!