Spencer Product: Notes from the Underground

Back in the late nineties, when Brooklyn wasn't yet the new Manhattan, Spencer Product was throwing the kinds of parties in his heart-of-Williamsburg loft that today might be found in the outer limits of Bushwick. Filled with upstart creative types, demand forced him to move them across the bridge -- first to Luxx, where he started the "Berliniamsburg" night, which attracted acts like LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy and electroclashers Fischerspooner.

After a decade, Product is still on the vanguard of NY’s indie club scene with his Ruff Club Friday nights at Lower East Side sweat den The Annex. On September 5, he celebrated the release of his first mix album ...Product, released on Coco Machete and featuring attitude-pumped mixes of songs by the likes of Bloc Party, Cut Copy, and Pop Levi. I spoke to Mr. Product in the thick of Fashion Week, where he spent the previous night at a Christie’s party and Interview’s party at the unfinished Standard Hotel. I caught him as he was preparing for the night with what else but humus, zucchini cooked in olive oil, and K.

So how’s it going?
It’s okay, I’m never drinking champagne again. I had three glasses of it all night, and I feel horrible. It doesn’t agree with me.

Is that all you drank all night?
No, I had a Stella Artois at the Beatrice, an eight dollar one, mind you.

So what’d you do today?
I did some laundry, ate some lunch.

What’d you eat for lunch?
Some hummus, and then I had zucchini sautéed in olive oil.

Did you dip anything in the hummus or did you just scoop it with a spoon?
I used crackers.

What did you do while you ate?
Chewed, then swallowed.

But do you like to read something while you eat, or maybe watch TV?
No, I just eat. I graze, like a cow. I ponder and chew. I enjoy concentrating on the flavors, and I have to concentrate on chewing so I don’t choke.

So how are you preparing for your big record release party tonight?
I think I’ll drink a twelve-pack. And then I’ll do a quick bump of ketamine, followed by a Red Bull, and then I’ll be good to go.

So what makes for a good crowd at your parties?
Diversity. Everyone being together, jocks and nerds, living harmoniously.

Can you tell me about The Dirt Lab?
It’s myself and my collaborator Jake Sinclair, who is one of my resident DJs on Friday nights at Ruff Club. We started collaborating last year, doing remixes for the Horrors, for his other band The Films, and Pop Levi. Then I had a lot of material that I hadn’t used and that I wanted to make something with, and after Black Moustache dissolved, I was sort of at a loss as to who to collaborate with, and Jake and I were doing such cool remixes, that we decided to do a record together, which we just finished recording in June.

Why did you and Black Moustache break up?
We just dissolved, really. There was no fighting—more like alienation and neglect.

Some people credit you with helping your parties at Luxx ignite the electroclash phase of turn-of-the-millennium New York. Thoughts?
Yeah, Larry Tee and I started those in 2000, and I guess Ruff Club is sort of the continuation. But I was never fond of labeling anything. Everyone asks me what Ruff Club is, is it a rave, is it punk? It’s just a party. I have a certain aesthetic but it’s really hard for me to label my work. I have influences. I’m really influenced by Prince, but I don’t think I sound anything like him.

So is Product your real last name?
Right now it is. What do you mean by real?

Were you born Spencer Product?
In some ways, yes.

How long have you lived in Manhattan?
I lived in Williamsburg from 1997 to 2004, and I’ve been in Manhattan for four years.

And where were you before New York?
I was in London.

What brought you there?
I was scouting living locations, and I had studied there, and my family is from there, so I thought, why the hell not? So I went there, and it was really expensive, and I kept comparing it to New York. And I always wanted to live there, so I moved.

What did you do when you first got to the city?
I had a series of bad day jobs.

Like what?
The first job was internet porn. I was a graphic designer. I was a visual artist pursuing an art career, but it was easier to do graphic design, and it’s hard doing visual art and graphic design at the same time, because you spend all your creative energy on someone else’s stuff.

And then what? You start throwing parties at your loft?
Yes. I had this great loft on North 5th between Bedford and Berry.

Did you have roommates?
Yeah, three. It was 2,500 square foot. Black Moustache would rehearse and play there as well.

So was your DJ career something you set out to do, or did it happen by accident as a result of these parties?
No, everything just seemed to click. Back then, New York nightlife was really inspiring.

Is it not inspiring anymore?
Well, I hope it is.

Spencer, having a laugh.

So what comes after DJing? You can’t do this forever.
Some people do. I don’t know, I have some tricks up my sleeve.

Can’t you just live off the millions you’ve made so far?
Yeah, I’m actually at my beach house in Puerto Rico right now. Then I’m going by helicopter to the Hamptons, then I’ll land on the pad on top of my loft, and then boat-plane it to the Annex.

Are you surprised at how much money celebrity DJs can pull in these days?
I’ve heard what some people make, and it’s pretty insane. And they play songs we’ve all heard before. But more power to them. I don’t find my rate to be overly--pricey.

What do you do when you don’t go out?
I get creative.

Do you have Netflix?
I do; I just got two movies in the mail today.

Which ones?
The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down and Emmanuelle in Paris.

What do you do on the weekends?
I’m not very ambitious on the weekends, because I get so much done during the week, that on the weekends I just retreat. Living in SoHo, sometimes I just retreat, or I escape to Brooklyn, because it gets too crazy here.

You should go to the beach.
I would love to go to the beach, but I’m too intimidated by the commute. It’s like a train, a bus, a car, a shuttle ... I prefer to just go to the airport and fly to Miami. That just seems more feasible.

Do you travel a lot?
I do. I spend two or more months of the year away from New York. It’s great. Traveling is the best education.