10. Nickodemus

10. Nickodemus

What is the DJ’s job, anyway? Play good records. Mix them together so that you add something to the listener’s experience. Don’t be a dick.

This third point cannot be emphasized enough. Why are so many DJs such arrogant idiots? OK, that is a question that doesn’t really need an answer. The real question is whether people realize how much difference it makes when the DJ is a nice person.

In rock music and other performance- and projection- based art, this doesn’t matter. In fact, being an asshole is often a clever approach to becoming a rock star. But DJs have a different job. They are our hosts, which means they should acknowledge that we are there and part of the event. They have to make us dance, which means more than just playing funky music, it means putting us at ease. Dancing doesn’t come easy for most people! A DJ that projects arrogance and elitism only makes it harder.

Which brings me to Nick. Don’t get me wrong: Nickodemus is a fantastic DJ. He is technically skilled, having cut his teeth in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn alongside world-class DJs and accompanying musicians. (For anyone who might be following this whole list, Nickodemus was a partner in the Organic Grooves nights with Number 20, Sasha Crnobjna.) He has found the funk in a hundred musics from a hundred countries. He has an amazing sense for progression, and his Turntables on the Hudson nights, which took place in the belly and catacombs of a rusted-out steamboat moored on the Hudson River called The Frying Pan, were unmatched in their ability to take partygoers on a journey from a low-energy mingle to an ecstatic celebration.

But just as important as his DJing is Nick’s personality. Everyone who knows him thinks that he’s one of the nicest guys ever; more importantly, the hundreds of people who don’t know him but attend his parties can see that just as clearly. He projects it from behind the decks: not just entertaining but making eye contact, smiling, encouraging, wondering if his guests are enjoying themselves. Invariably: they are.

http://soundcloud.com/turntablesonthehudson/nickodemus-live-thelift