A onetime promoter at the decadent Tunnel nightclub during the ‘90s, DJ Nutritious came up from the underground just like any other tried-and-true DJ — building a buzz with his mixtapes. In full swing more than a decade later, Nutritious is holding it down in NYC proper, by throwing nightclub events of his own with his DJ pals and a slew of guests that, recently, have included Rob Paine, Willyum and JT Donaldson. URB sat down with DJ Nutritious so he could fill us in on his past score projects for Danny Aiello, DJs who inspired him early on, and how music builds community.

URB: How would you define your live sound?

DJ Nutritious: Fresh, often cantankerous.

URB: You also play instruments. Tell us about your contributions, collaborations and original creations.

DJ Nutritious: Over the years I scored and co-produced a few feature films produced by Danny Aiello. I drum jazz [and] funk mostly, but I also tinker with most instruments and will work up an entire production solo, including my own vocals. I really like to bring friends and new talent into shows and the studio and improvise. I recently mixed a jungle mixtape with producer [and] beatbox MC ElaNEF, and programmed drums for the new electro-pop duo Brooklyn Sound Lab. Occasionally, tenor saxophonist Will Swank and drummer Stephen Chopek pop into shows. I also … have this crazy dirty booty-style house thing going with vocalist [and] dancer Zoe Wilder — she’s sexy and I like to sample her voice a lot.

URB: How did you get into DJing? What DJs or producers influenced you the most?

DJ Nutritious: When I was in high school I started promoting for The Tunnel in NYC and late nights there got me digging the shifty, underground tech sounds that were happening in the late ‘90s. One morning I came home and decided I wanted to DJ so I gathered up all the different playback sources I could find around the house: a dual tape deck, a Tascam 4-Track recorder, and a portable CD player. [I] patched them all together via some of my brother’s guitar FX stomp boxes and started mixing tracks. This became my routine after returning from the clubs and after a while my bedroom floor was a maze of wires and mismatched electronics. I recorded the sessions and handed a few out. Next thing I knew, kids in school were begging me for my mixtapes. A few months later, I left home and bought a pair of Technics 1200s and a mixer; and so began my vinyl fetish.

Early on, I was influenced by Hurricane, Funk Flex, Hardware, Keoki, Dan, Monk, Venom, Craze, Bad Boy Bill, Sneak, Wink, and Rob Paine. But there’s just so many gifted influences to list: Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Issac Hayes, Sly Stone, George Clinton, James Brown, Lee Perry, Mario Caldato, Rick Rubin, Ahmet Ertegun, and hundreds more who’ve been out there making it happen…

URB: What is your ideal DJ set-up?
DJ Nutritious: I go through phases; right now I’m really happy with Pioneer CDJs and the DJM-800. I have the custom rotary kit installed on my studio 800 and I love it.

URB: Do you have a crazy DJ story?

DJ Nutritious: Many. We’re all a little bit crazy.

URB: Tell us about your brand of events.

DJ Nutritious: In an ideal world, our parties would be as far removed from brands and business as possible, but we have to create a cycle of money-in, money-out so people can eat. The parties are easy, down-to-earth, and fun. At the last few parties we’ve had Rob Paine, Willyum, JT Donaldson and Atnarko, and we’ve also done some local nights where we give some truly underground acts some extra support. It’s really about the grateful, humble people that come out to the parties. It’s like a reunion each time and it keeps growing — people are connecting. The music is so good that the whole thing is healing. It’s soulful.

URB: What do you have planned for the future?

DJ Nutritious: Throwing down the best DJ sets possible, in as many places as possible, always keeping things fresh. And, I’m about to release original tracks now. I’m writing a ton at the moment and I just ran up my first single with my friend Ariel Borujow of Westward Music Group. This has been an awesome process. He’s a multi platinum Grammy nominated engineer and he rocks the gorgeous studio C4 at Stadium Red Studios up in Harlem — a true genius. He worked the mix there and then we mastered in Stadium Red’s brand new mastering suite with Ricardo Gutierrez. BOOM!

http://www.soundcloud.com/djnutritious
http://www.twitter.com/djnutritious
http://www.spinspinnyc.com

Photo by David Blitzer

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