Over the past few years DJ and nightlife impresario Spencer Product has been at the center of New York's burgeoning music scene, capturing headlines for his tight DJ sets as well as for his parties. You'll find him at the center of the city's underground circuit with 'Ruff Club', his cutting edge 2-level Friday night party at the Annex, that he and DJ cohort Denny Le Nimh created. Spencer's vision for Ruff Club is an amalgamation of his previous parties. Ruff Club acquired club stardom a mere few months after its launch in 2006, with established bands such as We Are Scientists, Walter Meego, Young Knives, Selfish Cunt and The Films gracing its stage, and internationally renowned DJs such as Boys Noize, Para One, Kitsune Maison DJs, Junior Sanchez, Arthur Baker and Tommie Sunshine behind its decks. With this caliber of talent, it's no surprise Spencer and Ruff Club have become one of the most talked about parties of the moment and won "Best Party" at the 2nd Annual Paper Magazine Nightlife Awards.
But the story of Spencer didn't start here. Born in Normal, Illinois, Spencer moved to the Big Apple in 1997 and began to throw parties at his WIlliamsburg loft around the turn of the millenium, attracting a great mix of cool kids, up and coming fashion designers, musicians and artists. When the crowd got too big, he moved his group of friends to Luxx in 2001, where he and friend Larry Tee started "Berliniamsburg" and its counterpart "Mutants". Everyone from 2 Many DJs to James Murphy (DFA / LCD Soundsystem) to Fischerspooner came out and performed, and the club night began to garner international attention. Even a then unknown band called The Scissor Sisters gave their debut on the Berliniamsburg stage. These parties led to NY's "Electroclash" movement and festivals which shaped the aesthetic for the downtown and Williamsburg nightlife scene around the millenium. Full of ideas, Product moved on to create "We Bite!" in late 2003, a debaucherous electro rock'n roll night at Happy Ending, which transformed NYC's Tuesday nights into a Saturday mood. With a rotating line-up of celebrity guest DJs ranging from She Wants Revenge, Bloc Party, The MisShapes, Steve Aoki, and even Felix Da Housecat giving an impromptu set, We Bite!'s raw dance-punk sound moved Paper Magazine to vote Spencer Best DJ at the 1st Annual Nightlife Awards in November 2005. As a result of these highly recognized parties, Spencer transitioned into the role as a globetrotting DJ where the demand for him internationally is high.
Spencer has played hot club nights and art parties throughout North America, Australia, Japan, Mexico and Europe and has collaborated with top design houses for numerous fashion events. Some of his highlights include DJ'ing live sets for the notorious Dior Homme parties in both NY w/ Sonic Youth performing and another in Tokyo w/ French band, Phoenix, the opening party for Lollapalooza 2006, Courtney Love's 2006 Halloween party at Beatrice Inn, parties for Purple Magazine, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen in Paris, as well as a monthly residency in Amsterdam for MoMA's 'The Andy Warhol Club' party. He has also done music for DKNY, Banana Republic and Generra fashion shows.
However, Spencer has not always been a DJ. In 2001, he developed a stage act around his alter-ego, Prance. The robo-Prince protegé, which brought 'electro parody' to a new level, combining performance art, music and fashion. Prance's club hit, "Contra-Pussy" was used by Michel Gaubert in Jeremy Scott's first NY fashion show in the Fall of 2002. Prance performed amongst artists like Peaches, Chicks On Speed, The Rapture and Vive La Fête for the Colette No.4 party in Ghent, Belgium. From Prance, Spencer then moved on to become front man of the electro-punk creation, Black Moustache. After enjoying immediate success and notoriety after the release of their debut album back in 2003, and a 12" remix EP in 2004, they performed as a band playing shows up and down the East Coast and Canada, including a special live set in Pittsburgh at the Warhol Museum. In 2005, he and Black Moustache collaborator, Mike Skinnerworked as producers on various projects for other artists, such as writing and producing Fendi's 'Mother Inc.' album for artworld mogul Yvonne Force Villareal (Art Production Fund). These days, Spencer has his hands full with his new remix project "The Dirt Lab", remixing such artists as The Horrors, The Films and Pop Levi, and working on a new original album.
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