Gavin Holland Interview: SXSW 2010

DJ and producer Gavin Holland cannot recall the exact date of his first DJ experience, but that's because the first time happened at some 8th grade dance party. It's been 7 years since Holland first scratched plastic to a house of party animals, and even under guises like Nouveau Riche and Party Bros, Washington, D.C.'s party-starter doesn't plan to halt the fun anytime soon. He'll be performing 2010's SXSW by himself and with Nouveau Riche. Spinner caught up with him to see what makes this DJ's record spin.

Describe your sound in your own words.

I'm a DJ, so I'm really all over the map. Definitely key terms for me right now are "house music." I'm close to Baltimore, so Baltimore club has always influenced me. I try to work in some hip-hop attitude. There was definitely a time in the late '80s and early '90s when hip-hop and house weren't mutually exclusive at all, they were the same thing. So I definitely try keep that attitude. It's pretty much fun, party music.

How did the project form?

Technically, I created mixtapes on my computer for 8th grade parties. I don't remember what 8th grade was, it was definitely a long time ago. I actually got my turntable and started DJing live at parties 7 years ago. I was on vacation in Zurich, and I met this guy who had really similar taste in music, I was in college at the time, and he and was telling me that he would play this house music at frat parties. I was like, "That's not possible!" He was just like, "I Just do, and when people get bored I play something like a Motown song to keep people interested." So basically I went home and immediately bought all my DJ gear. I knew I wanted to do it, there's no question there. April will be my second year of DJing full-time.



What are your musical influences?

I was in a band that was based around the DC punk scene. The whole Dischord scene is a huge influence to me – I don't know if it influences directly in my project since I don't play a lot of punk music. The weird thing is that pretty much all the major DJs in D.C. was in a punk band some time or another. I think there is an ethics to that culture, the way Dischord runs its business is so ethical and really groundbreaking at the time. A lot of that really influenced the indie record business. When punk rock was bigger, whatever had energy we were into. We were once in punk bands, and I'm finding a lot of this energy in dance music, so that's kind of where I went.

Why do you go by your name instead of picking a stage alias?

Well, with Party Bros, my side project, it pretty much just came from, "Well, hey! Let's party, bro," and thus Party Bros was born. Gavin Holland, well, I just really like my name. (laughs) I don't know if that sounds arrogant, but I was lucky enough that my parents gave me a really sweet name. Also when I perform, you're not getting a stage persona, you getting me performing to the audience.

If you could collaborate with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?

Because I just saw this show, Arthur Russell. He was a pioneering disco DJ, and just last night there was a reunion show where his huge disco band got back together and had a tribute for him, since he died in the '80s. I really look up to him because he was such a diverse artist. He started doing these disco songs, had a few minor hits, and just got more and more abstract and artistic. I think his last album might have been solo, electric cello and his voice in delay and distortion. It's beautiful music. I just like someone who can go off the deep-end and be really weird.

What's your biggest vice?

I don't really feel guilty about much of anything I do. I guess I wake up too late and drink too much beer. But I love beer. I guess I'll go with waking up too late, because I like getting stuff done at a time of a normal person.

What's the craziest thing you've experienced on a gig?

I used to throw a party with Derkl clothing company called 'Shorts,' which the only requirement and theme of that party is that you absolutely had to wear shorts to get in. Even good friends were turned away at the door if they did not come wearing shorts. For some reason, there's something about wearing shorts that liberates people. We gave the door guy scissors and a couple people did actually sacrifice their shorts for the party. The craziest thing for me is that I don't even go to strip clubs, I have never DJed at a strip club, and basically it was so packed that some of the people started dancing on the bar, and three or four girls just randomly took their tops off. I have never DJed under those circumstances before, and they were really attractive, so I was actually super distracted from it.

What's your festival survival kit for SXSW?

It's my first year going so I have no clue what I'm getting into. What's particularly scary is that I'm going directly to Miami from SXSW. I know from my Miami experiences that by the time Saturday rolled around, I felt pretty dead. So my survival kit will probably have to be to pace myself. It's really easy to be drinking all day and night when everyone else is doing it. After a day or two, I become dead.

If you had to be on a dating show, how would you pitch yourself?

Dead sexy, ambitious, loves to party, skilled at DJ-ing, and tender and caring. I am a great boyfriend!

Rika Nurrahmah is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.