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DJ HUNTER LAINE (Hiro Mizuno)
My DJ career started very early 90's with training from Joe Claussell
( Dance Tracks ). Joe Claussell gave me lessons to become a DJ. The training started from very basic such as how to
touch vinyl. The lessons led to all DJ mixing skills. He helped me musical choices since the late 80's up until he left
Dance Tracks. When he joined Body & Soul and established a record label; Spiritual Life Music, I had an opportunity to
be in his recording session which took a place in Axis Studio.
At the same period, I started DJing at college circuit. I had an offer from
Sarah Lawrence College which was well known for weekly weekend parties. Fugges had a live performance there at the same
period. It was before they hit billboard chart.
After the college circuit, I was approached by a clothing designer; LORENZO, for show casing his fashion show as a DJ
at the legendary club; Palladium. This fashion show was sponsored by ABSOLUT Vodka.
These experiences got me 4 year residency at Nell's. At that time, Nell's was managed by personalities from Palladium,
Club USA, Kit Kat Club, Life ,and Save The Robot.
My roll at Nell's was to DJ for main floor on Friday nights, dance floor on week nights to fill any gaps that management
needed to cover, and private parties.
During the residency at Nell's, I managed offers from different locations. I was asked for a partner roll from MKL for
his guest performance at Bang The Party ( Club 205 ). Unfortunately, this did not happen because of conflict with my schedule
at Nell's. For other venues, I played at Club Metro in MA for tour. 600 people were brought into the event. Back in NY,
I joined Dj Phil D ( Jerrybean Recordings, Dance Tracks, and Down Town Records )'s residency at Club Venue. The owner of
Club Venue approached me for being a resident dj for their Thursday nights. I was able to manage this roll until they opened
new club; Club Cream. Also, I had a few opportunities to guest spots for E&O, Izzy Bar and Madame-X. On the private
party side, I was able to share the turntables with Kim Lightfoot in Brooklyn. This event was fundraising event in Brooklyn
neighborhood. Julissa Marquez from BET was in the house. She was not well known at that time; however, she was already featured
in MTV and a back up dancer for music videos such as Will Smith and etc.. At last, I was offered a DJ position by China Club
when it was relocated to Times Square. The reason was that one of managers from Nell's was head hunted by China Club. However,
this offer did not follow through because the manager was hired back by Nell's.
After 4 years of residency at Nell's, I received an offer from Restaurant 147. I took this offer and became a house DJ
for Restaurant 147. I was responsible for Friday nights and Saturday nights. Also, any private parties took places in week
nights. This residency last for one full year. It ended due to the noise claim that restaurant was receiving from neighbors
and had to be shut down. The owner of the restaurant sold this location to Johnny Depp and John Malkovich.
I moved on to Monday nights at club King ( former Rex ). It was my first to become a residency at gay night club. This
residency last one year as well. The club needed to close for good because the water leaking in the building became severe.
Right after King/Rex, I received an offer from an up-scale night club in upper eastside; Club Decade. This location held
800 people with 2 stories of a dance floor and a restaurant. The management included Keith from Original Studio 54 and Discotheque.
98.7 Kiss FM was holding their weekly comedy event on Monday nights. I was a resident DJ on Friday nights. For Friday nights,
clientele was also upscale at this location. Donna Karan, Louis Vuitton, and CHANEL were to name a few that reserved their
parties on Friday nights.
Spending one year with up-scale club scene, I missed the underground scene that I came from. Therefore, I started looking
into other locations and found a little spot called; SOL, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. I left Decade and put all my energy to
SOL. I became a resident on Saturday nights. Saturday nights at SOL quickly became one of the coolest spots in NYC area.
Many people from Manhattan traveled over to experience this Saturday night fun. It was the perfect combination of everything.
SOL presented their Soul/Spanish Entries in their menu. It went perfect with Soulful/Deep House Music. Also, it was very
interesting to be found house music played at the lounge space at that time. Sade Remixes were very popular to be played.
During the residency with SOL, Dj Kamala ( Union Square Lounge ) invited me as a guest DJ to her event at JOE's PUB (
LOVE BAZZAAR ). This guest appearance led me to another event at Pier 63. On the other hand, Dj Lola invited me for her
event at Idlewilde ( Deep See ). Also, SX137 invited me for a guest DJ spot. One night, the owner of Caviar Studio ( Duplex
) came to SOL and offered me a DJ position; however, it did not come to an agreement.
After completing one year residency with SOL, I found myself DJing at MOE's. This was a hip lounge space in Fort Greene,
Brooklyn. I started as Thursday night resident and this led me to Friday night residency. Dj Spinna cancelled his Friday
night booking in a last minute, and I was the one to cover for that night. This became my Friday night residency at MOE's.
Residency at MOE's led me to the spot at SUBA restaurant. However, MOE's and SUBA did not last too long. There was constant
problem with sound system with both locations.
Another short residency was at Boogaloo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. Antibalas was one of the regular live performers
at this venue. It was a secret spot for a few celebrities. You would see TV personalities time to time. I knew their faces
just did not know their names. One Friday night, I invited Dj Lola and Dj Kamala to join for the night. It was a fun evening.
We had a guest like Dj Riddler ( KTU 103.5 FM ), Dj Jus-Ed ( Kazulo ), and so on came out to check us out.
Around this time, I was having contacts with Carlos; the manager of
Union Square Lounge. Our contacts went back and force and it reached to the point that Carlos was looking for an opening
that I could fit in. One Saturday evening, he left a message and asked for me to be standing by. He was expecting an opening.
However, this did not follow through.
During that period, I met Joann Jimenez ( Alma, Deep Space, Wave Music, and Body & Soul ) . She introduced me to
her new project called; The Melting Pot. It was still in the networking process. In the networking process, she introduced
me to John Davis ( Body & Soul ), Rhina Mercado ( The Melting Pot ), and Marc Alan Grey.
I was approached by Marc Alan Grey to dj on Sunday nights at Happy Ending. This spot tuned out to be interesting later
on. One evening, Marc Alan Grey was off to WMC, and I was in charge of whole event. Therefore, I invited all DJs were available
at that week and had a little fun. DJs who came out to spin for that night were, Boyd Jarvis, Antonio Ocasio, Cris Santos,
Dj Kamala, and Carlos Alberto. People who came out to support were MKL, Winter Santos, Gary Michael Wade and so on.
After Happy Ending, I had an opportunity to DJ and being a part of promotion for Rhina Mercado ( The Melting Pot )'s first
official event at Club Luahn. This led me to a few different directions. First one was the guest spot at 667 Bar Gallery
Lounge ( BKNY ) with Dj Kayo, Tyrone Francis, Donna Edwards, and Lil Ray. Second was the John Davis ( Body & Soul )'s
private party with Victor Rosado, Carlos Sanchez, Marlon D., Dj Kayo ( BKNY ), and so on. The last was the Christmas party
at Rehab with Kenny Summit .
When New Year arrived, I was responsible for Wednesday Nights at
Lounge 32 in Astoria, Queens, NY. This was a tuff project. It was caught in the middle of one of the coldest and the
most snowed winters in NYC history. I was joined by Dj Winter Santos ( Liquid Sound Lounge ), Nef Nunez ( Dat Party ), and
Dj Jus-Ed ( Kazulo ). Also, there were a few could not make it due to the severe weather such as, Angel ( Slam Mode ) and
Justin-Justin ( Dress in White Party ).
By the time winter was over,..Because of my work at Lounge 32, I was offered a residency at 667 Bar Gallery Lounge by
Markus Rice. This residency took places on Saturday nights. It went on entire spring and summer seasons. After summer
was over, 667 Bar Gallery Lounge went under the owner-ship change. The rest was the story that everyone knew. The location
was assigned under City project.
With the credibility at 667 Bar Gallery Lounge, Dj Lil Ray ( Club Shelter, Club Jamboree ) offered me a guest spot at
his Wednesday night event; FUZE NYC, which took a place at Club Shelter. This event featured Victor Rosado, Karizma, Tyrone
Francis, Andre Collins, and Donna Edwards.
Besides all these night club spots, I have been featured in several radio shows.
XM Radio ( The Move ), JAM FM Radio Show in Germany, 93.1 FM ( Sweet Loops ) in Sarajevo, Cyber Jamz Internet Radio,
and WBAR 87.9 FM ( Columbia University ).
Currently, I am introducing my dj mix project; Yellow Night Mix started in 1993, to online world. This project has been
favored by Cabiria & Benny ( 718 Sessions ),
Alec D ( APT ), Aram Sabet ( 49 Grove / Halo ), Michael ( LOTUS ), and many.
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