Circuit Daze: An Interview with Joe Gauthreaux

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When DJ Joe Gauthreaux gets the party started on Saturday, July 16 at the San Diego Hall of Champions for the Bill Hardt's Circuit Daze event, he will not only bring with him his equipment and remixes of popular artists, but some of his own original songs, as well.

Gauthreaux has branched out into the songwriting and producing arena and his two most current singles, released on his Prop D Recordings label, IN February are "Our Last Kiss," featuring Abigail and "You Are My Family," featuring Inaya Day. The latter is an anthem about the tightknit connections made with the family you create along the way in life, which incorporates elements of pop, EDM and gospel house. In a word, it is a perfect encapsulation of what Pride is all about, celebrating those who surround us and support us, no matter what you do and who you are.

Not bad for a 35-year-old, who as a teenager would make mix tapes of the music that spoke to him in his hometown of New Orleans. The affable song-and-dance man told The Rage Monthly about how his love of music came about. "I've always loved music," he said. "It's something that I've always gone to, whether I'm really happy or sad or if I want to go to the gym or if I want to just chill out at home. Any kind of emotion that I'm going through is always in some kind of song and that's been my go-to. The first time I walked into a gay dance club, I just remember being so captivated by the dance floor and the club beat and everything I felt. From then on I wanted to pursue it."

Pursue it he did, using the dance clubs as a means to learn how he too could bring music to the masses. "I started to buy all the dance songs I was hearing; I was hearing music that I had never heard before," Gauthreaux explained about his genesis. "And finally, I had enough music to where I thought... 'Maybe I could put this together.' I begged one of the DJs to show me how to do it, because back then there was no way of downloading any kind of software or anything and he took the time to show how me how to do it a few hours a week," he said.

"I started to make tapes and send them out to the clubs in New Orleans. Finally Oz New Orleans called up and they hired me... And the rest was built from there."

From that start, he decided it was time to spread his wings and leave the birthplace of jazz and to take a bite out of the Big Apple. "New York's always one of those place that I saw on TV and I thought, 'I want to live there when I'm

older!' Finally, when I was 22, I took a trip with some friends and it as everything I thought it would be and more," Gauthreaux stated. "I was going to move there in 2001 and 9/11 happened, so it was a weird time to move. After the following year, after things had calmed down a little bit, I finally moved. I love this city, there is always so much going on."

While New York City serves as home base, one of the perks of his job is that he gets to travel the globe doing what he loves. "The best part of DJing is getting

to travel around and play for people all over the world," he opined. "I've played Asia, Brazil and Europe; but mostly I like playing in the U.S. That's where I know most of the people on the dancefloor and it's my home country."

Gauthreaux tried his hand at being a West Coast transplant, but it just didn't take. "I moved to Los Angeles for three years in 2008," he explained. "A lot of my friends live in L.A., and honestly I had a really bad snow-filled wintertime here, maybe I just needed to get out of the city. Not that I didn't love L.A., but I wound up missing New York a lot. We all get restless sometimes, whether it's our job or maybe a relationship; we always think maybe there's something else out there. Sometimes, you actually have to see what else is out there to actually realize how much you love where you came from."

"The best part of producing is that I get to actually write a song, to do actual music, to bring an idea in my head to life." Gauthreaux continued. "That has actually totally invigorated how I feel about DJ'ing. When you do something for so

many years, it's still fun, but it doesn't have that kind of first feeling. Now that I'm doing [my own] music and seeing people respond to it, it's completely re-energized me."

With his own growth in the music industry, Gauthreaux has seen the DJ culture change over the years. "I've noticed that actual DJ sets are not nearly as long as they were when I started," he explained. "Now it's a little more that people have shorter attention spans than they did 10 years ago. I find that I play better for maybe three, four, five hours. I can deliver a much tighter set. The way that parties are laid out today, it's more about bells and whistles, video screens and dancers-it's not just about being in a room with great sounds and lights and having that great energy. So, it lends itself to not DJ'ing for quite as long. But I personally like it because I can go in and deliver such a good set."

One thing that is a constant, are the divas who pack the dance floor. "There are always going to be the gay staples like Madonna, whether somebody re-remixes an oldie or she has something new," he said. "She is one of the few artists that you hear her voice and it's gonna bring attention. Rihanna always does well getting the boys going and Beyonc�, you know if you do a remix of them it's definitely going to work."

Gauthreaux did want to clear up a misconception about his chosen profession. "The biggest misconception is that it's only a job that we do in the booth for three or four hours," he explained. "People ask what I do during the week, and I think, 'Are you crazy?' It's a lot of work because it's not just showing up to work; it's getting your set prepared and there's the whole administrative side, contracts, social media, answering emails, talking to promoters, talking to my peers, talking to club owners; it never ends. But I enjoy it."

But it's not all drudgery, especially as Gauthreaux readies his set for Circuit Daze and he is looking forward to getting the people up and dancing. "I love San Diego and this party I'm play- ing has been the most successful Saturday night party in San Diego for so long," he concluded. "I'm really looking forward to being there and having a good time!"

For more info on Joe Gauthreaux, go to djjoeg.com. To purchase his original music, go to iTunes.

For Circuit Daze tickets and information on the many Bill Hardt Parties during San Diego Pride Weekend, go to billhardtpresents.com