DJ DUFF

I have been DJing at Bootleggers since its inception. Right now I am on every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Before that I used to do fraternity and sorority parties at a number of the local colleges, 218 South Street, Flatspin, Arena’s and Hammerhead’s to name a few. My best gig was when my friends from the Zone hooked me up with a wedding in Bermuda. My girlfriend and I got put up in our own cabana for four nights at Michael Douglas’ resort.

I really like to get the crowd involved, for example running contest, letting girls dance on stage, and having them sing into my microphone. I like to get involved in supporting local original music, and will get behind a good cause whenever I can. I MC/Dj’d an event not too long ago for the families of fallen military that were from Northeast Philly. Another time I worked with my friend, Mike Greto who put together an event called the Green Planet Festival. That was to showcase original music and raise awareness about environmental issues. Both were amazing and great to be a part of on many levels.  

Mike: so I hear you got a lot of other things going on?

Duff: Yeah, everybody always ask me about that. I don’t talk about it much so to some it has become somewhat of a mystery. Most people are surprised when they find out about my “extracurricular activities”. In the past I have been a radio station intern, a rock band concierge, a UPN 57 cameraman, a published author, and a University professor…that’s all I can think of right now. Currently I maintain an interesting dichotomy, however, all I am really going to speak on is that I have three college degrees that I put to good use. I will tell you that I work in mental health and I am about one or two years away from earning my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. In actuality the two main jobs are not that different. Very simply put in both cases you have to figure out what the audience/patient is thinking and what their needs/wants may be. I purposely keep the two worlds apart. Only on very few occasions have they ever come together. The best example is when I was a psychiatric crisis team leader at Woodstock 1999. There were amazing musical experiences, for example standing on stage during some of the performances and hanging out backstage with the likes of George Clinton and Serena Altschul (MTv). You should see the pictures. At the same time I was helping people who were lost, injured, or anxious from the large crowds or even from taking too many drugs. It was wild. At one point during the rioting we were bandaging somebody’s head and people were throwing s**t at us. One not so good instance of the two coming head on is when I was assessing a patient who reported excessive anxiety. He said to me that part of his symptoms were that his palms got sweaty. I replied, “…knees weak, arms are heavy…nervous, but on the surface you look calm and ready.” I thought to myself, “Holy S**t! You just used Eminmem lyrics to assess this patient.” Enough about that …I’ve probably said too much already.

You asked me how I feel about satellite radio. I’ll tell you what it is an unfortunate state of affairs in Philly radio right now. I would be lying if I said I did not like my XM radio, but my concern lies with all of my friends out there doing the original music thing. Basically there are one and half rock stations in Philly right now. That means that my friends such as Laura Lea, Octane, the Flood, Fosterchild, Bonehead/Familiar 48 and Carfax Abbey have even less chance of being heard on the Philly airwaves. Gratefully Myspace.com has proven to be a great platform for such bands to get their music out to the masses. I am also friends with a band called Sparta from El Paso/LA who are amazing. Their last record received an A- from Spin Magazine. They have opened for the likes of Pearl Jam and Incubus yet I guarantee that they have never been played on Philly radio. That is a travesty. I would much rather hear them or even some upstart band looking for a break then listen to some talk radio jock espouse his preposterous views on mundane bulls**t or speak confidently on subjects they know nothing about.

The bands Split Decision, Candiflyp and Lima Bean Riot work primarily as cover bands yet they are putting out original music also; I try to play the local original music whenever I can. In that sense I really appreciate what 93.3 does, carrying on the Y100 tradition with the Tuesday Night Music Club.

Mike I know that you are into the Oldies. Sometimes that is the best bet: just cruising around listening to the classics. Then I can come in and discuss with Split and Reaction all the different ones then can cover or I can play to get the crowd going. They are really good at that stuff.

Anyway, everybody should get down to Bootleggers as soon as possible. We have an amazing group of regulars, but if you’ve never been in now is the time to check us out.  There are always a lot of great things going on down here. Besides, the Juggies will be back again very soon. Check us out at www.bootleggersusa.com