The Standard

This Friday June 24, we are honored to welcome one of the most iconic DJ’s of New York, Danny Krivit. Growing up in Greenwich Village, in the 1960’s, Danny has been through the many waves of the NY night life. In 1996, Danny joined François K and Joe Claussel to form THE New York party of the 90’s: Body & Soul. He also has been running his own residency “The 718 Sessions” - widely acclaimed as one of the best in town. It’s often a cliché to introduce a DJ as a Legend. Not with Danny Krivit.

The Standard asked Danny some questions on childhood dreaming and his favorite DJ’s in history. Here were his thoughts…

The Standard: Danny, do you believe there was a golden age of the DJ era?

Danny Krivit: For me, the 70’s were a golden age for DJ’s. There were no rules, it was open territory and you could take all kinds of risks, so many DJ’s from this period were really true pioneers… People were open minded and had plenty of leisure time. Music was written… arranged… and performed by musicians… Who had something to say and said it well. It seemed like an endless supply of quality music. All music was analog and most of it raised your emotions. Good DJ’s talked to you with the music and it took you on a journey… I’ll stop there, as it really goes on and on.

If not a DJ or a musician, what would you have dreamed to become as a kid?

Really nothing compared to music, nothing else had my passion… Maybe an inventor, or an architect, or a teacher, or a basketball player.

Who are the three DJ’s who really inspired you in your career?

There was much more than three, but the obvious three would be: Larry Levan, David Mancuso, and Walter Gibbons. Walter showed me the technical level of skill a DJ could perform. And playing on a great sound system at Galaxy 21, his style really ushered in the new club sound in music.

David mancuso was the first to really widen my scope of music, playing so much fantastic music that I just would not have heard anywhere else… All on an extremely audiophile sound system.

Larry Levan took the whole experience to the next level with the Paradise Garage… He had the best club, best sound, best crowd… Week after week for 10 years. He had incredible taste and foresight in music. He played with extreme mood swings… and up or down, were always memorable… Again I’ll stop here as this subject could really go on forever.

Today, who do you think are the new generation of DJ’s who push forward?

I know there are many who are pushing it forward in many ways, but it’s really a world thing now, not just everything centering around New York. In the 70’s, all these pioneers were basically in my neighborhood and I seemed to know everyone. All the new guys are now spread out all over the world, and mostly anyone I think is worth mentioning, you probably already know.

It seems the dance music scene has never been bigger in the USA since the disco era. Do you think that is true?

I’m surprised you would say that… That’s not my impression… For me, it only seems like a steady decline in everything music related. In the late 70’s music sales were booming, being a million seller was really not that uncommon, record labels regularly gave out several thousand promo copies of a record… These days selling more then 500 copies of a song (digital… whatever) is considered a big deal. In the 70’s there were about 4000 cabaret licences in NY and more then an equal amount of clubs without them… Now there is only about 40 cabaret licences in NY… You would think… 30 years later there is only more people, and those 40 would have it made… But the reality is they have to work twice as hard as they used to to make it… And surprisingly a lot of them don’t.

Are you a nostalgic or do you always look forward?

Both… I’ve seen a lot of great things happen… That are now what you might call nostalgic, but at the time were forward and cutting edge. I still love to look forward and embrace the new… But more than that, I love to embrace the best and less concerned about it being new or old.

If you would have to give a playlist of the 5 songs which move you the most, what would they be?

I own about 80,000 records, maybe another 20 to 30,000 in other format’s. What all that music has taught me is… The more I get… The more I realise I don’t have… It’s endless! So asking someone like me to list 5 songs that move me the most… Is kind of like saying “take 5 of the best cups of water out of this river”… The songs that move me the most… Run into the thousands!

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Danny Krivit and Dennis Kane, at Le Bain, this Friday June 24. Doors 10pm.