Sometimes you just want to have fun, without some egghead turntablist letting his noggin interfere with your nightlife. And you don't need no stinking holier-than-thou white label purist insisting that you worship every nuance of a track's rarity. You want to hit the club, and you want to dance -- that's it.
But just because you're into the fun stuff doesn't mean you want the DJ to dumb things down. Hell, you know full well that even the stupidest-sounding set takes a bit of smarts to pull off right. You also know that just because a DJ can spell LMFAO doesn't mean he or she knows where it goes.
That's why you dig DJ Ruen. The cat doesn't let his smarts get in the way of some good dirty fun. And whether he's housing up a party rocker or rocking out a house anthem, you know that he's minding the floor. So you're free to forget about everything except what you came for -- that is, to lose yourself.
Born Brandon Pendleton in Newport Beach, California, and raised up the coast in Huntington Beach, Ruen's been banging about Miami since 2003. But it wasn't till the past two or three years that things really started kicking for the head-spinner, and his name began to become synonymous with the right kind of night. Ruen gets his tag from the battle days when it was all about "ruining it" -- but there was already another DJ Ruin. So he swapped the "i" for an "e," and became intent on becoming as ubiquitous as a four-letter word.
Ruen's played all the hotspots, and he's played them all more than twice. Mokai, Cameo, LIV, Rokbar, Florida Room, Blade -- name it, he's spun it. More importantly, in the case of Mokai, Florida Room and Blade, he's still spinning it. Or as they say in the trade: he's in residence.
But what, you ask, exactly is this cat spinning? Well, if it's a Saturday night at Blade, the swing might veer more toward new disco from Aeroplane or Holy Ghost, with perhaps some happy house undertones. After all, at the start of the evening, people are eating. At Florida Room it'll pump a notch or three, but still maintain the cool that Ruen is known for.
At Mokai, however, he plays house-heavy, party-rocking favorites from beat one. Maybe songs like DJ Chuckie's "Let the Bass Kick" or Sydney Sampson's "Riverside" won't be your favorites when you first arrive at the club. But by the time you leave, there will be no question that both will be in line to get cued on your iPod the very next morning. And they'll be beating in your brain every time you flash back on another Ruen-ous night in the MIA.
DJ Ruen's Current Top Five:
1. "Chuckie-Moombah (Afrojack Remix)," Silvia Ecomo
2. "Pon de Floor," Major Lazer
3. "Township Funk (Crazy P Remix)," DJ Mujava
4. "Make You Mine," Miami Horror
5. "I Will Come Back," Holy Ghost
DJ Ruen. Tuesdays at Mokai, Miami Beach. Thursdays at the Florida Room, Miami Beach. Saturdays at Blade, Miami Beach. For more information, visitdjruen.com.
