D.J. Smash

I first met DJ Smash while working at the still-in-business Saint Mark's Sounds in the heart of NYC's East Village back in the mid 80's. Back then, "Sounds" was THEE place to find amazingly underpriced 12" singles of all genres. Local DJ's would bring their doubles, promos or just sell-off their old disco singles to get quick cash, and the store would flip them over for a few bucks. That's when we became friends, and I realized by working alongside this man that he was destined for greatness. Smash is SUCH a breath of fresh air in this ego centric, self-hyping jungle I call "The DJ Rat Race". He's low-key and super intelligent, he really knows and feels any kind of quality music from rock to funk to disco and electronica and back again. At the time, I was just starting to spin, and one night Smash shows up at one of my gigs at The Palladium with a bag of records and asked if he could play. Well to be honest I was intimidated by his obviously superior DJ and Turntablist skills, and feared that I'd be out of a job at the end of the night if the crowd and the managers heard him do his thing, so I politely declined in order to save my own ass and keep my job. I felt bad about it, but I'm sure we both knew "what time it is" and he was totally cool about it. I was also working at the legendary Save The Robots, and I wanted to make it up to him and get him to play there. I highly recommended him to the club's owners and asked him to audition, but he declined for more than a year. Finally, he played there and the rest is history. From my point of view it was the defining gig of his career, 'cuz "Robots" was one of the coolest, most eclectic after-hours parties in NYC at the time along with the Paradise Garage and The Loft. "Robots" gave Smash the kind of freedom to stretch out and play many styles of music as the mood and the crowd suited him. He's a DJ's DJ, and a gentleman and a scholar as well. He moved on to bigger and better things, including his own label and his involvement with Giant Step, and the rest is history. DJ Smash is a diamond in the rough in this world of over-hyped, egomaniacal, self-important wannabees with minimal programming skills. He can rock ANY crowd without pandering to the lowest common denominator. My hat's off to you Brother!