INTERVIEW: Boris – Russian Storm

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There are overnight sensations, and then there’s Boris. Baptized in the booths of New York City, the Russian native learned the craft of DJ-ing in front of the most demanding crowds in the world, developing a deep sense of what moves a packed floor in a moment, an hour, or a full night-to-morning extended session. From early 90’s to today, he’s been a resident at every major New York nightclub (including Pacha, Crobar, and Roxy). He’s also released several compilations on local label Nervous: Timeless capsules of the sounds of the city.

His fans worldwide boldly declare they, “Believe in Boris,” a new project with a major American icon, and his latest release ‘Dance Vibes’ on Mindshake Records might just turn us into ‘Boris Believers’ too.

Hi Boris, welcome to We Own The Nite! Great to have you with us for the first time 🙂

Glad to be here 🙂

Please can you introduce yourselves to our readers?

Hello all, I’m Boris, DJ/producer from the US and label owner of Transmit Recordings

How has your 2019 been so far? Any particular highlights?

It’s been a great year so far filled with a lot of amazing gigs in the US, in cities like LA, Chicago, Miami, San Fran, and of course NYC just to name a few. I’m also coming off playing two showcases in Ibiza and Barcelona for respected labels Tronic and Senso,

On the production side, I’ve signed some big releases with Senso, Toolroom, and Mindshake. I also have two releases dropping on my label Transmit Recordings this year – one of which is a big collaboration with D-Unity

I’m also working on a big project on my label that will have people really surprised and I’m combining a huge DJ with a huge legendary group that I can’t mention just yet 😉

How did you become a producer and what made you decide to take up a career in music?

I started producing in the late 90s with a partner by the name of Beck. We remixed and produced a lot of big artists, like Pink, Gloria Estefan, Britney Spears and Ricky Martin to name a few. Then we both went our own ways and I geared towards the underground world because that where my heart was always since I was a young DJ. Music was always my passion since I was a kid and at 15 I got my first set of decks. I frequently went to clubs when I was a kid, and was always fascinated by how a DJ controlled a crowd when they played music. Right there and then, I fell in love with that and knew I wanted to become a DJ.

Boris – Dance Vibes EP (Milkshake Records)

Congratulations on the forthcoming release of you debut EP on Mindshake Records — Dance Vibes. Can you talk to us a bit about the record?

Thank you! I was always a fan of Paco’s sound, and the label, so I went into the studio with a vision of tracks that he would play. I made 2 tracks “The Spot” and “Let Me Dance” that I sent to him and Brad (A&R) they both really loved them and wanted to sign them. Then I finished the EP by doing “Dance Vibes” and they both hit me up loving that one and wanted to make that as the main track of the EP. And here we are today 🙂

How did the introduction to Paco Osuna and Mindshake come about?

I knew Paco from passing but just small talk as we never played or worked together. Just recently we’ve become pretty close and started working together on many different projects including a follow up for next year.

Where do you draw your inspiration from, and who do you look up to in this industry and why?

A frequently asked question haha! There too many great artists and producers doing their thing to name, but I try and go out to see as many DJs as I can to inspire me to go back in the studio and make tracks that people can vibe and dance to. Going out to events you will always get inspired and you get to see what the people like and don’t like. If I like a certain track and see the crowd vibe to it, I’ll go back in the studio and try to make something along those lines and incorporate my sound into them.

What are your favorite pieces of studio equipment right now?

Ableton Live, Ableton Overdrive, Fab Filter Pro Reverb, A.O.M Invisible Limiter, Izotope Nectar 2, Output Arcade to name a few.

Can you talk to us a little bit about your history with NYC and the city’s nightlife scene?

I started out playing in NYC in 1991. A friend was starting a party and needed a DJ, I gave him a mixtape to listen to and a few days later he called me to play. It was a club by the name of Tilt and I became the resident for 2 years. After that I played all over NYC clubs – back then it was all about resident DJs that played weekly, so I became a resident at clubs like The Roxy, Sound Factory Bar, Nells, Supper Club and Exit, but it wasn’t until I became the resident at Crobar that I made my name and my popularity increased.

To this day there hasn’t been a club like that. It was the big room of big rooms and we use to do 3500-4000 almost every event. It was the mega club of NYC and I was the resident there from 2004-2007 before it closed. After that I moved on to Pacha, a world-renowned brand, and was the resident there for 8 years until it shut its doors. From there the days of the resident subsided and we just started doing events at different venues in NYC like Output, Schimanski, Brooklyn Mirage and that’s pretty much what’s happening now.

Top 5 favorite records at the moment?

1. Boris – Dance Vibes
2. Boris – The Spot
3. Boris – Resist
4. Level Groove – Exit
5. The Goodman – Give It Up (Agent Orange Rework)

What have you got planned for the rest of the year?

We have a ton of shows that we are planning for this year in the States as well doing some Transmit showcases, and also being part of Mindshake showcases, and Senso showcases. Like I mentioned, I have releases for Mindshake, Senso, Codex, D-Untiy and of course Transmit Recordings.

I also just finished 2 remixes for Madonna that I’m really excited about and am working on some collabs with some other big names. So we have a busy rest of the year!

Tell us something we might not know about you.

I’m a big sports guy, football, baseball, basketball mostly. I used to play in many organized leagues growing up and I love to watch it any chance I get. I’m also a big foodie and love trying different restaurants and foods.

Any final words for our We Own The Nite readers?

Go out and pick up the new Mindshake EP Dance Vibes! You won’t be disappointed!

Dance Vibes – the eagerly awaited EP and label debut from Boris was released on August 26 via Paco Osuna’s esteemed imprint Mindshake Records.

Featuring a trio of brand new, original productions from New York-based stalwart, Dance Vibes yet is another masterfully crafted EP on Mindshake from a vintage producer at the very top of his game.

STREAM via SoundCloud

Dance Vibes‘ is available via Soundcloud and Beatport.

Boris:
Facebook | Beatport | Soundcloud | Twitter | Mixcloud

Mindshake Records:
Facebook | Instagram | Soundcloud | Twitter | Youtube

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