Hometown Hero

For Boston clubbers, there’s no escaping the Bermudez triangle

by Scott Kearnan

There’s no place like home, and DJ Joe Bermudez knows that well.

“The best part of playing locally is getting to catch up with all of my friends,” says Bermudez. If the record release party he hosted for his new album (Mass Movement) is any indication, Bermudez sure has a lot of amigos. The day after Thanksgiving, Bermudez and buds partied at the Revolution Rock Bar in the Financial District. They celebrated the release of Bermudez’ album on NYC’s Nervous Records, and the DJ even broadcast his weekly hour mix-show on XM satellite radio live from the party. “I’m really thankful to have such a great crew of people around me. They’ve been supportive since Day One,” said Bermudez, who spent half the night behind the decks spinning some of his trademark dance-pop remixes. The other half was spent on the dance floor, mixing and mingling with his nearest and dearest.

“It a great place!” Bermudez says of his Boston hometown. Since he started DJing at age 18, the local has ascended to the international ranks of marquee club names; remixing dance hits for Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Nelly Furtado and other superstars will do wonders for a career. But despite the global success, it was a no-brainer for Bermudez to name his album Mass Movement as a tribute to his beloved Bay State.

“People around the world identify the area with our sports teams and are huge fans of the Red Sox and Patriots,” says Bermudez. Indeed, he’s happy to see Boston get its pop culture props in recent years. “They [the rest of the country] are starting to know us as the new Hollywood with great movies like The Departed and Gone Baby Gone being filmed here. There is a lot of great local talent that DJ around Boston. If I can help kick open the door and make more people aware of what we have to offer in the EDM [electronic dance music] scene, why not?”

If Bermudez’ intention is to spread the club love, he’s doing a good job of it. The Revolution Rock Bar reached capacity by 11pm, a particularly impressive feat given that most clubbers were still digesting their annual helping of turkey, squash, and uncomfortable dinner conversations with Drunk Uncle Larry.

Plus, Bermudez was competing for clubbers with another big name DJ. Superstar French DJ David Guetta (featured in these pages last month), was playing at The Estate nearby. Coincidentally, the DJ preceding Bermudez spun Guetta’s current single, “Baby When the Light.”

Luckily, Bermudez’ early training was pivotal in his ability to attract the big crowds that come out to see him every weekend. “By starting in radio, I learned how to program music for the masses,” he explains. “The biggest club in Boston right now has a legal capacity under 1,000… by having a bigger audience from the start, I quickly learned how to keep a lot of people happy with what I play. Even in my underground mixes, there’s an element of pop that attracts people who normally wouldn’t listen to the genre.”

Besides his killer club music, Bermudez’ personality is also a big part of the attraction. Like the music he spins, the DJ is warm and approachable, high energy and always ready for a good time. He’s a far cry from the pretentious “superstar DJ” that club fans envision stepping off a plane from Ibiza in designer boots and shades. Bermudez’ popularity has made him equally well-traveled (recent overseas gigs include spinning for his birthday in Mexico City and a New Years stop in Sydney, Australia), but he never packs attitude or ego in his overhead compartment.

It doesn’t hurt that flocks of female fans (and more than a few guys, too) swoon over Bermudez’ physical attributes. Even a simple Google search turns up more than a few remarks of the “what a hottie!” “soooo cute” and “OMG I LIKE TOTALLY LUV HIM LOL” variety. Bermudez, however, takes it all in stride. “I never in a million years thought people would be into my DJing as much as they are, let alone how I look when I’m doing!” he says. “So it’s very, very flattering.”

Bermudez has some flattering words of his own… for the Boston club scene. “My favorite part of the Boston club scene has to be the number of big name DJs that pass through town,” he says. “Just in the past year, we’ve had the chance to hear John Digweed, Armin van Buuren and David Guetta.”

He does have one criticism of Beantown nightlife: “People take forever to get ready for the club,” he says. Like a lot of DJs, he’d rather see clubbers get the most wear and tear out of their dancing shoes. “Even though the clubs close at 2am here, people rarely show up before midnight. In those final 2 hours, most DJs are just getting warmed up!” Luckily, Bermudez’ next Boston gig will last into the early hours of the morning: he’s booked for RISE, Boston’s only after-hours club, on January 5.

In the meanwhile, fans can get ready with his Mass Movement compilation. “Some of these are getting ready to blow up in the clubs in the next few months,” says Bermudez of the track selection.

Coming from a DJ this explosive, that’s quite a claim, indeed.

DJ Joe Bermudez will spin at RISE on January 5, 2008 (306 Stuart St., Boston; www.riseclub.us). For more info, visit www.joebermudez.com or www.myspace.com/joebermudez. And to read more from the interview, visit www.divadivodance.com, your online resource for dance music news, reviews, and more!