"It sounds crazy, but I always had older people around me. I was one of the youngest in my crew of guys that I came up with, and they got into it, and that got me into it. Also, that’s another genre of music that was kind of around us, it was in the air, it was big. It was underground, but there were records that managed to cross over into mainstream radio. You heard it, it wasn’t like some thing that came out of nowhere, it evolved from disco, and I’m a disco kid, and all disco is sped up soul music. They call music disco’s revenge because they tried to kill disco off in ’79 [The “disco sucks” demolition night when thousands of, mostly white, people burned disco records in a huge bonfire at Comiskey Park in Chicago before a White Sox game], house music became the way for people to express themselves all over again.It was sonically a little different, but it all came from a foundation of soul and disco music. And then I got a chance to experience the Paradise Garage [the legendary New York dance music club where house music evangelist Larry Levan DJ’ed] when I was 16 years old. They didn’t serve liquor, so I was able to get in as a member. It was magical for me, that was probably my first real club experience. I got to hear the best sound system, and the best DJ in the world, which was Larry Levan. Also, Larry played hip hop in the club." - DJ Spinna