Mike Simonetti is one of the godfathers on the Manhattan music scene, having gained huge success with both his indie-rock label, Troubleman Unlimited Records, and dance label, Italians Do It Better. We got in touch with him ahead of his upcoming Beijing gig to ask about the changing culture – but mostly he wanted to discuss how much he hates ‘internet DJs’. He’s going to love Beijing, then.
You’ve been at the heart of NYC’s club scene since the ’80s – what’s been the biggest change between then and now?
Now everyone is a DJ; everyone can illegally download songs and automatically have a DJ set without any knowledge of the music or the artists. I see it as cheating, in a way. And 99 per cent of these DJs are absolute s**t because they don’t understand the music they’re playing.
Are things bad now? You’ve said before that ‘New York is dead’.
New York is, indeed, dead. People go to the big, bottle-service clubs and spend 500USD on a table to feel like they are special. There are no underground clubs and promoters are caught up in a pissing contest trying to book famous out-of-town DJs while NYC DJs – some of the best in the world – can’t get a decent gig or any respect in their own home town. It’s hilarious.
Are there any musical connections between your two labels – or are they both different?
They are both different, but the indie world has sunk its blood-soaked fangs into dance music, so I am sure it will be drained dry and forgotten soon enough. Maybe after that, we can get back to basics and throw good parties again, and not have to sit through internet DJs’ s**ty acid-house sets.
So do you have any evidence to prove your assertion that Italians do it better?
Have you ever eaten spaghetti?