Shwag Article

[stymie]

THIS IS OLD AND WAS ON BLUEVIBES BUT IT IS STILL A PILE OF SHIT.

Rising star's orbit attracts followers

By Joanna Massey, Globe Staff, 12/11/2003

Six months ago, Jay Prouty was DJing all-night parties at friends' apartments -- the humble but essential training for young and hungry DJs. Now he's landed residencies at two of the city's trendiest clubs and will host an exclusive New Year's Eve party at Whiskey Park.

Prouty's speedy rise to the top, no doubt boosted by two years spent spinning in Atlanta's robust DJ scene, is far from typical for many of Boston's up-and-coming DJs. In a city with a limited number of venues and an underground culture that, in Prouty's words, ''has a long way to go,'' would-be DJ superstars can toil for years without a regular gig or widespread exposure. ''A lot of the younger DJs don't realize how difficult it is to get a weekly residency or to get in a position where you're in demand,'' said Rick Naples, a longtime Boston DJ with residencies at Pravda and La Boom. ''A lot of times they come out too early: They're not ready, so they just crash.''

Others lack the technical skills or crowd appeal, said Naples. Even young DJs with talent don't always hook up with the right promoters.

So how has Prouty, known to night owls as JayP, artfully avoided the potholes along the DJ fast track? A 25-year-old former military brat, he gives some of the credit to a life lived on the move throughout the US and abroad.

''I've pretty much lived everywhere, and that has a lot to do with my success,'' he said last week, when my telephone call interrupted his viewing of the Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie reality show ''The Simple Life.'' ''I've been exposed to so many different cultures, not just musically, but in life. I think you can hear the different elements in my sets.''

Multiculturalism, got it. Does that mean DJs who haven't strayed from Boston are a lost cause? Not necessarily, he says. But he adds that his DJ experiences in Atlanta and on the West Coast give him an advantage.

''A different city could be a lot tougher to break into, but Boston is pretty behind the times when it comes to house music, and I think what I bring is above the norm,'' he said. ''Someone like me -- who knows what's hot -- brings it here, and it has really caught on.''

It's tough to argue with him. After Prouty's first set at Pravda earlier this year, a local online clubbing chat room lit up with postings of praise. ''Pravda finally found the DJ that defines what the Boston clubbing scene should be,'' wrote ''JuddyBuddy'' from Kenmore Square. ''The crowd clearly loved it.''

Another from Somerville wrote about ''finally getting the chance to hear some great house beats.'' He said even a friend who never listens to house music and ''lives for Pearl Jam'' wanted to know when he could hear Prouty again.

Right now, the answer is monthly at Pravda, including tomorrow, and every Wednesday from 6 to 11 p.m. at News, the lounge inhabiting the former Blue Diner near South Station. But new club dates and opportunities are ''popping up left and right,'' according to Prouty, who pays the bills as a civil engineer.

The company promoting Prouty, Cassiamor Productions, also hopes to bring a repeat of last month's four-hour set at Pravda featuring Prouty and one of his DJ mentors, Craig Mitchell, a.k.a. DJ Oliver Twisted, of Burlington.

Mitchell, well-known in Burlington's underground scene, turned Prouty on to house music when Prouty was a student at the University of Vermont -- encouraging him to pursue both the jazzy lounge house and harder progressive edges now heard in his spins.

Despite the best advice, Prouty says he knows he is lucky to have gone from a ''nobody playing parties and warehouse events'' to playing Pravda monthly.

''It doesn't usually happen like that; I guess I kind of broke the mold in that respect,'' he said. ''I was lucky in being given the chance to showcase my talent at a place like Pravda. And due to the response I've gotten from people at the shows, I'm not looking back.''

[flavanugz]

''A different city could be a lot tougher to break into, but Boston is pretty behind the times when it comes to house music, and I think what I bring is above the norm,'' he said. ''Someone like me -- who knows what's hot -- brings it here, and it has really caught on.''

How could you be a Boston DJ and not be totally insulted by this?

[stymie]

:laugh:

THATS WHAT I SAID.

[teamj5]

he's right though

[fouroneone]

turn on, tune in, drop out

[unclefester401]

Originally posted by flavanugz

''A different city could be a lot tougher to break into, but Boston is pretty behind the times when it comes to house music, and I think what I bring is above the norm,'' he said. ''Someone like me -- who knows what's hot -- brings it here, and it has really caught on.''

How could you be a Boston DJ and not be totally insulted by this?

Not that I'm a Boston DJ, but it doesn't really bother me. I think that's partly because I'm in a very jaded point of my DJ career and just don't give a flying fuck anymore.

(My DJ career )

See what I mean

[flavanugz]

Originally posted by teamj5

he's right though

u faggot.

thank god the 'hotness' has arrived in boston. i guess it doesnt matter that deep dish hasnt been in boston for a year....we have the whole yoshi catalogue being spun once a month.

[teamj5]

you are just jealous because you havent spun in atlanta.

get a clue

south carloinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[flavanugz]

yo dude, i been all over kid.... i have acquired some ridiculous musical knowledge from spinning at lesbian hillbilly parties at farms in central nh. ya heard?

[xlr8ted]

Originally posted by unclefester401

Not that I'm a Boston DJ, but it doesn't really bother me. I think that's partly because I'm in a very jaded point of my DJ career and just don't give a flying fuck anymore.

(My DJ career )

See what I mean

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[unclefester401]

Originally posted by xlr8ted

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I'm glad somebody finally found that funny, I thought I was going to have to make a post laughing at myself.

[groovefire]

Originally posted by stymie

"Pravda finally found the DJ that defines what the Boston clubbing scene should be,'' wrote ''JuddyBuddy'' from Kenmore Square. ''The crowd clearly loved it.''

FINALLY!!! FOR SOOO LONG THE DJS THERE HAVE SUCKED!

Are you fucking kidding me?

[kaydup]

JuddyBuddy, what a gay name :laugh:

and doesnt this kid Blow ass??

[xlr8ted]

Originally posted by kaydup

JuddyBuddy, what a gay name :laugh:

and doesnt this kid Blow ass??

It's a Bloody Buddy.

[nyis4meatheads]

that kid cooked me a mean omlette at News last Wednesday though. Flipped it in the pan and everything... .that's the kind of thing you only learn in the dirty south.

[kaydup]

Originally posted by nyis4meatheads

that kid cooked me a mean omlette at News last Wednesday though. Flipped it in the pan and everything... .that's the kind of thing you only learn in the dirty south.

Is this you??

Another from Somerville wrote about ''finally getting the chance to hear some great house beats.'' He said even a friend who never listens to house music and ''lives for Pearl Jam'' wanted to know when he could hear Prouty again.

[xlr8ted]

People who love great house music are coming out of the woodwork.. Where were they when I was into great house music, now i'm into plain old shitty house music.