Victor Calderone On Manhattan, Madonna & Metrosexuality

"I would, define myself as a metrosexual, yes. I think the definition of one is someone who's conscious of how they look or they dress, so yes I would."

Impeccably styled and immaculately sculpted, New York's superstar DJ Victor Calderone remains one of the biggest draws on the Manhattan club scene, seamlessly straddling the City's increasingly blurred line between gay and straight club culture.

"I never got involved with a man, you know I'm married with a child," Victor told Benedetta Skrufff this week.

"Not that that means anything- there's plenty of married man who engage in gay relationships and live secret lives."

Sexuality issues aside though, what drives Victor's reputation is his music producing (he's a regular collaborator with Madonna) and DJing (he launches a bi-weekly residency in the New Year at New York's newest superclub Crobar). Synonymous with New York vocal house music, he's recently switched styles to embrace a global sound more in keeping with his goals.

"I've moved on completely from the diva-style vocal based house to something a bit dirtier, I wasn't happy anymore, and it wasn't fulfilling for me to continue on that musical path," he explains.

"Musically I have much darker, harder, tribal roots and the transition has been working well, especially abroad, where my music has been better received, much more than before, in fact, compared to when I used to play vocal house."

His new musical style is showcased on his latest mix CD Resonate, which he launched last month at a massive party in Tokyo.


Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): How important are overseas territories for you compared to the States-

Victor Calderone: "The US is still very important to me, but the general attitude I've encountered here towards the music I play, has left me feeling disappointed. Americans just don't treat it as seriously as they do hip-hop and pop, for example, there's still no support whatsoever from the radio stations nor the music industry, so for me it's become essential to travel and play abroad. The main objective of my new compilation, in fact, is to establish my name in Europe and other key territories around the world."

Skrufff: Josh Wink told Skrufff recently that the US club scene is contracting, directly as a result of the RAVE Act, how do you view the scene in America and in New York right now-

Victor Calderone: "By passing all these laws the Government is certainly not helping the scene and this city (New York) is not helping either. You've just mentioned the RAVE act, which, to me, is just insanity, I can't believe what they're doing. Now that we have the RAVE Act and on top if that the smoking laws, and it's like, why not end it all, and stop playing music all together- These laws make no sense to me and they've had a really big impact on the scene, which was already suffering since (Rudolph) Giuliani was mayor when he created this whole task force to close all the big nightclubs, as he believed they encouraged drugs use. These laws make no sense to me at all."

Skrufff: How much does New York remain an 'anything-goes' kind of place, if you know where to look-

Victor Calderone: "I think you really need to know where to look these days, and I surely don't. New York is definitely not an 'anything goes' place the way it was in the past, but maybe we'll see an uprising of underground, secretive places as a reaction to what's happening. I think that would be great, because if it goes back to that situation, then the scene will come back. But, I personally don't know where those anything-goes places are."

Skrufff: It'll go back to individuals throwing private parties perhaps…

Victor Calderone: "Definitely. I think some have started already, surprisingly here in Brooklyn, my neighbourhood. There's a loft party they do once a month down the street, which has become this cult kind of event. It's very underground, it's not on that often, they Tags