How was 2017 for you?
AC Slater: In 2017 I did something I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I released my debut artist album. On top of that Night Bass continued to grow bigger and bigger. We did 17 Night Bass events across North America over the summer during our annual Summer Phases series. We also did a handful of shows in the UK. On top of all that it was awesome to watch a lot of great music and DJs make their way into festivals and clubs throughout the United States and totally hold it down.
Highlights?
My debut album, Outsiders. Duh!
Lowlights?
2017 saw a lot of crazy natural disasters and ominous political events. But I believe there is a lot of good in people and we will overcome all of the setbacks from this year.
Song of the year?
Wax Motif’s remix of “Fly Kicks.” Absolutely destroys every club or festival I’ve played it or seen it played at! Hands down number one for me.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
I really want to throw a mini Night Bass festival! I also want to try to use my position in the music industry to help out with more charitable causes.
@AC Slater
Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of America yesterday, later wreaking havoc on New York City, the city Big Shot calls home. Though some residents initially dismissed the storm as a nonevent due to Hurricane Irene failing to deliver its predicted wrath, the Big Apple went through a night of heavy rain, flooding, high winds and displacement of residents due to blackouts.
DJs were on Twitter all night discussing the historic storm as it happened. New York jock Tommie Sunshine served as a repository of storm related information, passing along breaking news to his followers. Others like AC Slater provided levity by joking about filling up bathtubs with champagne while locals like rekLES (“On the roof in Flatbush…wind almost knocked me down.”) were actually caught in the brunt of the hurricane.
Here are some of the most interesting tweets from a night New Yorkers won’t soon forget. Stay safe everyone!
After making a name for himself on the happy hardcore scene, AC Slater—the DJ, not the character from Saved By the Bell—decided he had had enough of playing and producing frenetic tracks spiced with chipmunk vocals and piano riffs. He quit the genre and reinvented himself in bassline house.
Conventional wisdom says that it’s difficult for a DJ or producer to make a lateral career move in dance music. Make your name in one genre and it’s difficult to find acceptance in another. Aaron Clevenger, who is better known as AC Slater, is the exception to the norm. While the past two years have consisted of a flood of high profile remixes for Moby, Robin S., the Freestylers, Stanton Warriors, and Schwayze, as well as other of floor-rockin’ productions and DJ gigs all over the world, few know that before this phoenix rose from a loft space with a low ceiling in Bushwick, he was a major player on the happy hardcore scene.
“I had a moment where I was playing a big rave in Brooklyn at Club Exit; the club was packed, and everyone was 16, and I’m 27 at the time,” says Clevenger over a cup of green tea at an eatery in Williamsburg. “I didn’t want to be there, and I was getting sick of the music. I felt weird, out of place, and creepy. I needed something new.”
In what now seems like a former life, Clevenger started DJing at parties when he was 18 or 19. He grew up in a small college town in West Virginia, about an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh’s then-happening party scene. The city was known for throwing huge rave parties and was also the home to popular weeklies like Steel City Jungle. Clevenger was so enamored with the energy and sound of dance music that he decided to pursue a career as a happy hardcore DJ; he later launched Pitched Up Records, one of the few domestic labels championing the sound.
Though his career was holding steady, he had an epiphany two years ago that changed his life. “I had a moment where I was playing a big rave in Brooklyn at Club Exit; the club was packed, and everyone was 16, and I’m 27 at the time,” says Clevenger over a cup of green tea at an eatery in Williamsburg. “I didn’t want to be there, and I was getting sick of the music. I felt weird, out of place, and creepy. I needed something new.”
Brooklyn, NY based DJ/producer AC Slater is blowing up on the bassline house scene and beyond. In Issue 25, Moby cited his “Turn Up the Music” as his third favorite thing about 2008. Now part of Brooklyn’s Trouble & Bass crew, AC Slater talks about his new digital label, Party Like Us Records, and forthcoming remixes and debut artist album. Look for a full feature in Issue 26.
