DJ Enferno: On Tour With Madonna

One night he was spinning at a club in Florida, and the next he’s meeting Madonna and joining her on tour. So what’s it like to be onstage with the world's most famous woman? I chatted it up with Madonna’s current “Sticky and Sweet” tour DJ, Enferno, as he drops knowledge on his synergy with the “Queen of Pop” that began when he was 13, plus stripper poles and the competitive sport Madge would kick his ass at.

How did you get the gig with Madonna?
The musical director, Kevin Antunes, saw me perform in Orlando at this club called Blue Martini, and apparently it was not too long after he had talked to Madonna, who said, "Hey we want a DJ, but not just a DJ. We want a turntablist, but not just a turntablist, we want somebody that’s cutting edge." That’s basically, from what I understand, what was told to Kevin. So he tracked me down. He wanted me to show a video of what I could do. So you can actually find that video, it’s on my liveremixproject site, and it’s called "Live Remix Project: The Setup," and all I’m doing is I’m explaining what it is that I’m doing, and that’s the video that was sent to her. Not too long after that, I got a phone call saying, "Hey man, you got the gig." It was an amazing moment.

Had you seen a Madonna concert before you got hired?
I had never seen her in concert, believe it or not. But you know the first time I ever slow danced with a girl was to “Crazy for You” by Madonna, when I was 13.

What’s a day in life on tour?
It’s evolved, because we had the rehearsal process, which was really long. It didn’t seem long to me, but for everyone else who had been on tour told me that three months is a long rehearsal period. You know I’d never toured; this is my first artist touring. There were times because I was collaborating with Kevin on some of the remixes for the shows where I’d be there, and 12 hours would go past, and I hadn’t left the room. Sometimes it was like that, but after that everything kind of came together. The show was starting to take form. Right before the first show everything was really like clicking on all cylinders, and now it’s great. We get called in pretty early throughout the day. So basically it’s like the show day, it’s all blocked off for the show. You don’t have much leeway to like go see the city that you’re in.

Are there any rules you have to follow on the tour?
I wouldn’t think there are any rules that wouldn’t be out of the ordinary. Everything’s professional. Everybody knows what to do. We don’t have to be told.

Is it ever like a huge party when you guys are all together?
The funny thing is, and maybe it’s where I’m at, or maybe it’s because I come from that industry, but it’s not on my mind in my free time. [Laughs] It’s definitely not the party lifestyle that you might think.

Did you collaborate with Madonna on what the sound is going to be?
Yea, there would always be some sort of direction. The set list was already there, but the direction came from Madonna. And then Kevin and I would work on something, and then we would present it and at that point it was three heads.

What was your first meeting with Madonna like?
I was nervous, man. How would you feel? I was nervous, excited, and I had just got married too. I was cool, though. Well I thought I was cool, but apparently according to everyone else in the band I wasn’t cool at all. [Laughs]

Do you guys all hang out?
Yea everybody in the band, we all hang out. You know what would be really cool? Is if one of these days I can get Madonna to come out to one of the parties I’m spinning. That would be really cool. She hasn’t come to any of my gigs.

So in the show, the stripper pole is attached to your booth, and at one point she’s gyrating on the pole basically right in your face. What’s that like?
Dude, I mean, to be able to share that moving platform with her. What’s funny is I have to do upper-body dancing. That was stressful for me; upper-body dancing. Here it is, I’m looking at Madonna and she comes from dance, and singing, but she comes from dance. I felt so tight when I first had to move in any direction with her.

There is a lot of attention on this tour focused on her body. Do you guys work out at all together?
If I was to work out with her, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep up! Actually I can tell you for a fact, if I ever worked out with her, I wouldn’t be able to keep up. She’s so fit. She might crush me in an arm-wrestling match.

Are you guys sad that Sarah Palin can’t come to any of your shows now?
[Laughs] She’s funny, man.

Which one?
Madonna is funny. Sometimes during the show, my cheeks hurt because I’m smiling so much.