Recently I connected with Evan Greenberg and had a great conversation.
Tell me a little bit about yourself, tell me where are you from.
Evan: I'm from Chicago and have lived in Atlanta for about 23 years. I was born in Chicago. I like to say that I'm from Chicago just because my heart is there in some ways. I draw a lot of inspiration from there. For all intents and purposes, just say Atlanta.
MDB: We'll take that and you can have both. Because you know the real story is that most of us are transplants anyway here in Atlanta. We do have a home base or where we were born or where we were as kids. Then somewhere along the line, we make this transition to come to Atlanta. Then we decide we're not leaving, we're gonna stay.
Evan: So surprising, I will actually be moving to Chicago for a little bit. I'm trying to explore the cities that draw me a little bit. I'll always be an Atlantan because it has my heart and I know these streets like the back of my hand.
Tell me if you can remember, what was it like growing up for you as a kid in Chicago? Do you remember the type of music you were listening to back then?
Evan: So, I never was inspired when I was living in Chicago. I was a little too young at that point. What really drew me to music was Disco. When I was growing up, my mom grew me up on Disco. I liked whatever was danceable at the time. All the other kids were listening to Backstreet Boys and InSync. When everyone was listening to Britney Spears and whatever was hot, I was listening to the top 50 disco records. I listened to Donna Summer and YMCA. Anything that was a hit. But there was still some good stuff within those hits, there were still some good gems. I went to a flea market in Miami. My mom bought me my first CD player and my first CD which was the top 50 records from the East Coast and West Coast. I like breaking that record, not in terms of breaking it, but I listen to it so much. Then I listened to Saturday Night Fever, then I listened to the Bee Gees. I started digging the sounds of disco and I was hooked. So, when I was carpooling in the car, I was always begging people to play disco. At that age, you know Disco is not cool.
Evan started listening to Disco at that age and it somewhat mirrored dance music as well. He always had that affinity for it. He would never say that he really got into good dance music until much, much later in his life. But having those funky disco roots really did kind of set a nice foundation and added the additional habit of having to dig deep. That's what makes a DJ, a DJ and it really makes it a fun craft. It's that idea of you know just digging and really getting into it. If you like this? See if you can find something even better until you just can't go anymore.
That's the sound of a real true DJ that enjoys what they're doing. There's so much music out here, incredible music. It's a great opportunity when a DJ gets their hands on a gem or something that the DJ likes, Then they want to take it to another level. They dig deeper and take people on a journey. It's a connection because ideally, the DJ is telling a story. A DJ wants to move the crowd, wants to see a crowd's expression, wants to see faces light up, and wants to see some sweat dripping off their forehead. The DJ just wants to get them enthralled in what they're doing. We really appreciate those that take the time to really focus on this as a craft. Kudos to Evan.
Disco can make you happy and make you feel good. I don't think many people will argue with that as it's been the entryway to House Music. Would you agree?
Evan: Of course, I would agree. There was this period when Disco started to evolve. It wasn't quite House Music and it wasn't quite Disco anymore. I think a lot of that was from The Paradise Garage, some of those sounds and early New York. I guess David Mancuso is one of the earliest. I would say The Paradise Garage was a huge inspiration. Also, for me and my other partner (Evan's partner with The Atlantean), we do think that disco was the originator. But then it became like disco is really saying something. With what we would probably consider Garage Music, it's extended to 12-inch cuts. Even though the 13-minute tracks for some of that stuff, I think of those like cross-genre tracks like City Country City by War. That's a crazy track. As it starts to get a little harder, I would say House Music came from The Garage, and then even when it was still House Music, it wasn't quite there yet. It's crazy to see this was the defining moment where House really became House. Agreed, disco really was the pioneer but I think it was more the culture around Disco than the music itself.
Based on the city you were in, definitely in the North and Midwest, there's that question and constant battle back and forth of who discovered House Music. Where was it discovered? Is it in New York or is it in Chicago? New York City had Frankie Knuckles and then he moved to Chicago. Therefore, Chicagoans feel that they discovered House Music. Back then it wasn't a problem to play the same track several times throughout the night. Nowadays, if it's played more than once, the crowd will say ~ Didn't they play that already? Sometimes, the best way to have the music penetrate in your soul is by playing it more than once during the night or set. Especially, when you hear it through an incredible sound system.
Because you're so passionate about the music, about the vibe, about the energy that the tracks give you, how has it been playing the music that you love so much? And that you enjoy so much in Atlanta?
Evan: Atlanta has been so inspiring. This is where I started to first really feel House Music. I knew that it came from these other places. And also not just House Music because there's crappy House Music. Kind of EDM type of House. Then I started listening to and liking artists like Disclosures. Still a very talented duo. They have a UK garage sound. Even with them, I started digging a little deeper and saying what more? I distinctly remember that there were two moments in Atlanta that kind of sparked me. Actually, there were about three or four. There's a place called Apache Cafe and it was a really cool little afro soul art venue. Brandon and I would go there on Monday nights. There was a guy spinning vinyl and it was like black jazzy vinyl. I was like what is this? What is this music? This is good! We kept going back and asking "Is he playing tonight?" I was obsessed. It was so good, it was so jazzy. I've never heard something that could be considered EDMish and played in such a fashion. That was sophisticated and challenging, it was soulful and moving.
There was another moment at this place called Wild Pitch in Atlanta. I remember Ron Trent and Osunlade played there one night and I was still into Jackin House. Ron and Osunlade play very, very Soulful House. I remember going there I had $300 in my pocket at that time and I was broke. I was feeling free at the time because I had no job. I just remember going there and dancing away some of that struggle. It was a feeling of what am I doing with my life. It wasn't in the best part of town, but that party kind of made me feel like wow where am I going? I'm in the roots of Atlanta. This isn't the Atlanta shrouded in bottle service. This is Atlanta where people are coming to truly be present. I remember that party and people were like hanging off rafters. People were going crazy. This is how you move to House? What have I been doing all this time? It's great to see people moving as they have never moved before. It's beautiful.
Evan is inspired by people like Kai Alce and his approach behind the decks and just how he plays music. He has a humble approach to how he plays music. He just let it play out and his ideology really does show through when he's presenting music. There are incredible players in Atlanta that are so talented. Kemit. Salah. Ramon. DJ Keiran (Former owner of The Music Room). These are just a few names as Evan shared. House in Atlanta is amazing and it's deeply rooted here. It's beautiful to know that it's not just here in Atlanta but you can also make a voice for yourself in other cities.
Evan, what's next for you? I know you're saying you're really thinking about and considering moving to Chicago for a little bit a while. You will come back? Will you have a dual residence?
Evan: I have a few shows coming up in Atlanta. One show is for a really wonderful group called Render Atlanta. And we have our collective The Atlantean which I assume is not going to go anywhere. We've brought Danny Kravit and Glen Underground so we do not expect to stop anytime soon. There may be a couple of other festivals and things that are still in the works. In terms of me coming back to Atlanta, I absolutely will also have Atlanta on the radar. I love the idea of exploring where the birthplace of House Music. It's been a move that I wanted to do for a really long time so I'm just going to explore it for a little bit. But I do plan to be in Atlanta every three to four months(ish) just to see what's up and play anything that people want me to play.
What are your expectations of Charivari? Is this your first time going? What do you think will happen? What do you want to put into it?
Evan: I've never been to Detroit so I'm super excited to go there. My expectation is that I'm going to be a small fish in a big pond with these incredible artists that inspired me. Now, I get to be at a festival with them and be considered in a similar vein obviously not at the same level. Just my expectation is to really just play music for people that I know want to hear it. I play a lot of these artists in my sets. They are going to hear music that they like to hear and I'm going to be able to play for a crowd that is willing to listen. That's literally my only expectation, that's all I care about. If the crowd is willing to listen and dance, I'm like let's go! I'm really excited to be around like-minded people and go to a festival that really celebrates this music and culture.
Follow Evan Greenberg on Facebook and @dj_evang on Instagram.
