Top shelf iced vodka shakes on the VIP table with each thump of pounding bass.
The walls vibrate.
Half-naked model chicks dance on couches, slap each others' asses, and take pictures.
NYC's DJ Boris surveys the scene from his booth, builds his sound like an architect, and then smashes through the house with a crushing drop of subs.
The people of Gryphon go insane. They all believe in Boris.
Here's what he has to say about it before his Friday night show.
New Times: Wasup man? So you're from Russia?
Boris: That's where I was born, St Petersburg, Russia. I came here when I was two-years old to New York City and started DJing professionally pretty much when I was 17.
Where at?
At a place called Tilt, a club that no longer exists, in 1992, in Manhattan, on Varick Street. The party took off, and I was a resident for two years, playing house, hip-hop, reggae, classics, everything, basically the mashups of today, I was doing that back then.
You've been around the world, is there a difference between say Miami and New York and Chicago and LA?
Every city has its own taste and certain places like want it harder, more techno, more house, every city has a niche. So I try to give em a little of my flavor in that city.
What's your style?
I would say a lot of buildups, a lot of peaks and valleys, a very energetic type of sound.
What's up with your own production?
I just had a big EP on Sci Tech, that's Dubfire's label. I got a big record coming on Toolroom, a collabo with Chus, did something with Roger Sanchez, stuff on some techno labels, and then the next Believe In The Music coming out on Nervous in time for the WMC.
How does music publishing and copyright work in the EDM world?
You're either ASCAP or BMI, and they collect for you, like if you got a big record out, and they're playing it in Madison Square Garden, at sporting events, or in commercials, they absolutely get that money for you, and it's a good revenue stream.
Is there infighting amongst DJs and producers about similarity between tracks, or is that a good thing for mixing?
Everyone is ripping everyone off, from hip-hop to house to rock, everyone samples everyone's music, going back to early funk and everything. But it's not ripping off, it's sampling. There's no way around it. That's the reality of it.
You ever play for like Sunny Isles Russian mobsters and thugs and shit?
I play for everybody. And believe it or not, a majority of my following are Colombians, Venezuelans, and Dominicans from playing at Space, and Pacha New York over the course of time and establishing a certain clienetele. All sorts of people come out. I play quite a few gay markets too.
What about the evolution of electronic music?
Well it's definitely evolved. When I started out and told people I was a DJ, they would look at you like, "What's a DJ?" And now every other person you meet is a DJ. There's more DJs than doctors, lawyers, police, and firemen combined. The mystique is pretty much gone.
You think that's good or what?
It's good for the sense that the DJ thing has become the rock star, and as far as travelling and doing what I do and making a great living, it's exploded.
How do you like Gryphon, how these Seminoles treating you?
It's great. I love it. The energy is top notch, the people are top notch, and I always look forward to it.
How did that Believe in Boris start?
I was a resident at Crobar in NYC in 2004, and my first night they had like a kind of a red LED ticker going across, and the light guy, Mike D, on my first night he wrote that and it stuck.
What you got for WMC?
Getting ready for the Get Wet pool parties at the Surfcomber and, of course, we're gonna do a Believe party at Space.
What do you think of Ultra?
Ultra is good for the scene. Festivals are good for the scene.
Boris. With Donnie Lowe. 11 p.m., Feb. 8, at Gryphon Nightclub, One Seminole Way, Hollywood. Vist gryphon-club.com.
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