Boris

Written by Jeffery Taylor

When Stephen Pevner heard Boris spin at Crobar in 2004, he must have felt like the prince slipping the glass pump on Cinderella’s foot. With his dark and driving beats, sexy vibe, and pulsing energy, the New York-based DJ seemed like the perfect match for the world-famous Black Party. As head of the Saint at Large, the organization producing the party, Pevner is always on the lookout for a breakout DJ who will help keep his main event on the cutting edge.

Unfortunately for him, however, the glass slipper fit too tightly. Boris has always faced a conflict of interest, as the Winter Music Conference in Miami fell simultaneously with the Saint at Large’s New York party. This year, finally, WMC is being held the weekend following the annual bacchanal. Boris will be making his debut at the Roseland Ballroom for the famed fetish-and-flesh festival, and both he and Pevner hope the shoe fits. This will be Boris’ first time spinning a mega-gay party, but it certainly won’t be his last: Just a few months after playing BP, he will be headlining World|Vibe Orlando, an event being produced by Mark Baker over Memorial Day Weekend. This amazing weekend of parties will be the kick-off to summer, with events spanning the resort city, from Walt Disney World to Universal Studios. Go to http://www.worldvibeorlando.com for more information.

Make no mistake: Boris is no little princess. (Nor is he a queen; the Russian- born Brooklynite plays for the other team.) Boris helms the ship at Pacha New York, one of Manhattan’s largest venues, and is known for his hard-hitting power House style. He can hypnotize a dance floor with his trancelike rhythms and tribal drums and shake things up with his massive build-ups and explosive energy. Just the right ingredients for Black Party.

“I know what to expect, obviously,” Boris tells noiZe. “I know it’s a little more out there, it’s a little more hardcore.” Although he has never attended Black Party himself, Boris knows some of the DJs who have played the party in the past and has friends who attend every year. Also, when Pevner first started talking to Boris about it a couple years ago, he invited the DJ to his office to watch Schwarzwald, the Saint at Large’s documentary about the legendary party. The film, heralded as “the movie you can dance to,” features a soundtrack consisting solely of music from the event and footage from the 2006 Black Party with transsexual porn star Buck Angel as the master of ceremonies. The movie leaves little to the imagination, to say the least.

But that doesn’t faze Boris in the slightest. “It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me,” he says matter-of-factly. In fact, he’s excited about joining Eddie Elias and Junior Vasquez on the roster for this year’s event. He’s been in the studio working on special edits for his set: “records that have been famous in the past” reworked and reimagined, Boris- style. One new track the crowd at Roseland will be hearing is his new mix of Kim English’s “Unspeakable Joy,” which he’ll be debuting that night.

The boyz in the Ballroom might also hear some of the tracks off of Boris’ latest compilation CD, Believe in Me, released this past September on *69 Records. This double-CD contains a “2am” and “5am” disc that each showcase what you might hear at that particular time on a typical Saturday night at Pacha. The compilation contains tracks by such artists as Oscar G., Plasmic Honey, and Ralph Falcon as well as two collaborations by DJ Chus. The first, “Stay Together,” features DJ Chus vs. Jerome Isma-Ae, and the other pairs Chus & Vibe for the track “Amtrak.”

The original “Is Everybody Tweakin” by Boris is included as well as a Carlos Fauvrelle remix of the track. Also part of the package are “Breaks 2008,” an old Arthur Baker record that Boris remade and his mix of Laura Kidd’s “Automatic,” lauded as one of the biggest global hits of the year.

Boris became the resident DJ at Pacha in 2006, after spending three years at Crobar, where his career really took off. During his residency at Crobar, Boris would regularly fill the 30,000-square- foot space, and holds the all-time attendance record at the megaclub with 5,400 attendees—a feat noted in Club Systems as one of the Top 100 moments in club history.

Boris got his big break in 1998, when he became the resident at the Roxy, where he did a huge party on Friday nights called “Big Fridays.” It went for two years and “was one of the more legendary straight parties of this era,” according to Boris. He has also held residencies at Exit, Limelight, and Spirit. Though Boris typically attracts a straight crowd, he’s no stranger to the gay scene. His first gay gig was playing years ago at Warsaw in Miami, where he spun a monthly party on Wednesday nights as well as a White Party event there one year.

It was at Crobar where fans began to “believe.” Michael David, who ran lights for the club, started displaying the words “Believe in Boris” on a red ticker sign that ran under the DJ booth. The phrase caught on, and before long fans were making t-shirts emblazoned with the statement. It has since become Boris’ branding: his two earlier compilation CDs (both on Moist Music) are titled Believe and Believe II, and his latest is Believe in Me.

Reader Comments

Boris is AMAZING! I have heard him spin at least 3 times, and everytime I am blown away. I would follow him anywhere.

By st8raver on 04-24-2009

And no he may be back again in Orlando! Have you checked out the worldvibe stuff?

By sml29 on 04-30-2009

Packing my bags for next week’s events. Boris here I come!

By Yes on 05-18-2009

DJ Profiles

Search Articles

Back Issues

Boris

Written by Jeffery Taylor

Reader Comments