Founder of the Night Thieves, DJ/Producer Zachary J (aka DWNTWN) doesn’t sleep. Splitting his time between a slew of regular Arizona dance parties, such as the new discohouse Saturday hot spot, “White Rabbit“, hosting/producing a weekly FM radio show on KWSS 106.7, DJing events,  and producing his & other artist’s tracks, the man literally never rests.  With a catalog of remixes, edits, and bootlegs, spanning a diverse spread of artists such as Interpol, Marvin Gaye, Blondie, Gossip, Pink Floyd, Air, Billy Joel and more, plus original tracks featuring elements of everything from disco and electro-funk, to dubstep, when Zachary J is behind the tables, fans have come to expect a genre-bending celebration of the nightlife, and the music that gives it texture. Known for high-energy performances, most of his shows feature live percussion, plus cameos from other DJs in the Night Thieves collective.  2010 promises monumental things for Zachary J and crew, with the launch of the new Night Thieves record label, clothing line and artist management. According to the Phoenix New Times: “…the Night Thieves collective is slowly taking over the Valley’s electronic music landscape.”

INTERVIEW FROM THE GET DOWNNN.COM:

Valley-based DJ/Producer and Party-Thrower, Sir Zachary J, is helping establish the desert dance scene in a big way.

The guy’s got a busy schedule, splitting time between a regular radio gig:(Night Thieves Radio, via Arizona’s Alternative Radio 106.7 KWSS), 2 weekly residencies (Electrostatic [Tuesdays @ Sanctum] & White Rabbit [Saturdays @ The Hotel San Carlos Ghost Lounge]) and a Phoenix-focused collective (The Night Theives).

Somehow, he still finds time to produce tracks, quality ones, and that’s why we caught up with him to ask a few questions–as well as post some of his work.

Check out our interview below:

First and foremost thanks for taking the time to sit down and answer a few questions for us at The Get Downnn, we really appreciate it! To kick things off, could you tell us a little bit about your music background? And to be more specific, what’d you grow up listening to, what instruments do you play and how does that all come together to influence your production and DJing now?

Hey! Thank you! I’m a huge fan of The Get Downnn, so the pleasure’s all mine, man!

I’ve been a music fanatic since I can remember, like as a kid I can remember opting for MTV over Sesame Street 100% of the time! I’ve been making music since early grade school when I started in band. I wanted to express myself outside such a rigid format, so I started taking guitar lessons. I didn’t have the patience or desire to learn other people’s music, and always had melodies in my head, so I quickly abandoned lessons in favor of doing things my way.

At the age of 12 I was living in San Diego playing in a thrash/punk band called LOT with the old “Soma Live” manager Jerm (that’s a reference for all you old SD punks out there!). Admittedly, as I got better at my instruments, punk rock started to lose its appeal, so I found myself progressively getting more into metal. From my teens to my early twenties, I played in a variety of doom and black metal bands, but unlike most metalheads, I always loved synths and sequencers in the music. Bands like, Limbonic Art, Ulver, Dimmu and the like, that combined musicality with brutality made a lot of sense to me. However, I’d always loved old disco, pop, oldies, industrial, ebm, etc. and as I matured I eventually grew to love the electronic elements more than the metal ones; as a result, the transition to becoming an electronic music producer and DJ seemed very natural.

Nowadays, I play guitar, piano, bass, drums and anything else I can get my hands on! Over the years I’ve used tons of different hosts, but as of now I primarily use Logic and Ableton.

As for how all of this plays into my DJing, I guess the main thing is that I’m not scared to play ANY type of music. I’d always been open minded to all genres of music, and still am, so I think that shines through when people catch one of my sets; that, and the fact that I’ve never stopped LOVING listening to music so you’ll always find me dancing behind the booth!

One of your multiple residencies is Electrostatic, one of the longest running club nights here in the Valley…could you give us a little bit of background on how it started, and then tell us why you think it has continued to succeed, always bringing out great acts, playing good tracks and having such a solid base of party people?

ELECTROSTATIC has moved multiple times. The resident lineup has changed as has the music format to an extent, but I think that’s actually part of its appeal. Our team is dedicated to keeping it fresh and continually improving. In the beginning, it was more of an industry night; now, three years later, its at the Club Sanctum, which features a top of the line Funktion1 Soundsystem and each week our live mixes are broadcasted on FM radio! One of the other reasons I like to believe ELECTROSTATIC has remained successful is because our team is in it for the “right reasons.” By that, I mean that each one of us is involved because we love the music, the art of DJing and the culture; I hold my head high because I believe this is one of the things that set the Night Thieves apart from the other party crews more focused on status and vanity.

We have to ask this one: What’re you listening to on your ipod right now? And to add to that, are there any albums you’re really stoked for in the coming weeks and months?

Lately, Two Door Cinema Club, Sleigh Bells, Golden Filter, Miami Horror, Roisin Murphy and the Twelves. That’s just stuff I can put on and let play but candidly I’m searching for new music every day so nothing stays in rotation for too long!

You just kicked off a new night at Hotel San Carlos downtown, entitled White Rabbit for all of the Nu-disco lovers here in the Valley…where do you see that going? Are you happy with how it has worked out so far and why did you choose Nu-disco?

Oh man, I’m super excited about WHITE RABBIT! I had a few reasons for labeling it a nu-disco/indie remix party. One, lately ELECTROSTATIC has been more and more about electro, fidget, dustup, d&b, and other more hard electronic dance music; I love all that stuff but still am sometimes just in the mood to hear some Holy Ghost! or Shazam. On top of that, WHITE RABBIT is being held inside the historic Hotel San Carlos. The lounge there, “The Ghost Lounge” just seemed like the perfect spot to host something a little funkier. Also, there are a lot of other Saturday dance parties, so we had to find something that we were passionate about that would still set our’s apart from the rest.

The future of WHITE RABBIT looks amazing! As I mentioned, it’s being held every Saturday at Hotel San Carlos. This spot is so great; there’s room to dance, a lounge for mingling, a smoking patio with misters and on top of all that, we’ve gotten Hotel San Carlos to agree to hook our guests up with discounted hotel rooms! They’re going to reserve the entire third floor for us, so that means that only the people from WHITE RABBIT will be on the third floor! It also means that after the party stops in the bar we can take the after-hours up to the third floor and enjoy also the rooftop pool! BUT, if that’s not enough, one of Phoenix’s most infamously fun pool parties, Adult Swim is the very next day, so when you wake up there’s a whole new party just beginning!

The tracks that you’ve taken on for remixes are really unique, an Interpol remix sounds like an awesome idea, but (as far as we know) not many people have even attempted. Where did you get the inspiration, and how do you go about making a great track, even better?

Like many, I absolutely LOVE Interpol. Also, I should say, I think they did it perfect the first time. However, I was booked to play with CLASSIXX on the rooftop of FUSE FRIDAYS and wanted to have something special to bring to the table so I figured a club friendly version of Obstable1 was just the thing! But to your point, yeah, I love remixing or editing tracks I’m nostalgic about or ones you wouldn’t necessarily be expecting to hear in a club setting. To that point, I’ve also included an exclusive edit for The Get Downnnn of Billy Joel’s Uptown Girl!

The scene here in the Valley always seems a little fragmented, and spread out…do you see this changing and becoming more expansive in the future? Are we in the middle of the change right now? And to make this question even more complicated where do you want to see the scene here in the Valley go?

Yeah, I totally agree the scene right now is very fragmented here in Phoenix. I think that’s what happens when egos start taking precedence over the music. I get frustrated because Phoenix is the 5th largest city and yet in terms of having a thriving scene it feels very small sometimes. I hope things are changing for the better; I know I try very hard to help influence this when I can. I don’t see other promoters, producers or DJs as threats because I know that the Night Thieve and I offer something that is uniquely ours. I would hope that everyone in our industry could view their offering the same way. If so, instead of trying to downplay each other’s accomplishments and goals, we could comfortably cross-promote. I think the end result would be a flourishing scene with tons to offer, as well as greater visibility worldwide.

This is kind of tied in to our last question, but you’ve recently founded a collective entitled Night Thieves. Where do you want to take that, and what was the inspiration for it?

The Night Thieves collective has been taking shape for a while now without name. Basically, a group of us had been working together throwing/DJing dance parties, designing promotional materials, doing event photography, producing tracks, blogging, working on the radio show etc. We realized that we all shared common goals and that though each of us individually could stand out on their own as an solo artist, as a team we could be unstoppable. Currently we’re responsible for a handful of weekly dance nights in AZ and a weekly radio show. In the future we plan to continue along this path but to also start releasing tracks on our Night Thieves label. There’s more, but I don’t want to give it all away now. Basically, just expect big things to come!

When you start producing a track, how do you go about breaking it down? It seems like everyone who makes tunes does it differently, what’s your approach?

The initial inspiration always comes from different places and in different ways. I’ll often get a beat or melody in my head and will work from there. Most of the time once I’m in the studio though, I tend to start with percussion and bass and then add the rest on top of it. If I’m doing an original composition, or a complex remix, I’m all about Logic, but for a quick edits Ableton can’t be beat.

How long have you been DJing? And at what point did you decide to start producing too?

I was producing and making music way before DJing. I know in a lot of cases it’s the opposite, but for me the love of making music was definitely the gateway into the love of DJing. I think I got my first residency three years ago.

What you’re doing with Night Thieves Radio, on 106.7 KWSS is pretty rad! We’re honored to be a part of it! Could you give us (and our readers) a little background information on how you launched on FM in the first place?

Man, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: on behalf of the Night Thieves we are thrilled to have you join the team!

A great friend of mine Tondra Dene of Citydive.net had interned at the radio station KWSS 106.7FM and had told me she thought my ideas would be a great fit for the station so she got me in touch with the station manager and everything just fell right into place!

Initially, Night Thieves Radio started out as a way for us to promote our DJs and the guest DJs that came through ELECTROSTATIC by recording their live mixes and then playing them on the radio. The idea was to create something akin to Pete Tong’s Essential Mix, but with a primary focus on working DJ’s and producers here in AZ. Since the beginning we’ve featured a lot of talented acts and the show has been well-received. Now that you’ve joined the team and we’ve added the feature, “Sit Down with the Get Downnn” the show’s better than it’s ever been!

Next month you’re opening (along with Benni Beatnik) for Trouble & Bass’ AC Slater…that’s gotta feel pretty awesome! Are you excited? Can you give us any previews of your set, or information regarding how you want to perform that night?

Benni and I are stupid excited about the AC Slater show at FUSE FRIDAYS! Mara and Dom, have always been great to us so I have to take a moment to give a huge shout out to them! Much love!

As far as previews for the set, I’ll just say this: We’ll be featuring new original tracks, some live percussion, more energy than the rooftop may be able to handle and a few special surprises as well!

What else do you see for the remainder of this year? Any tracks that you are planning on releasing or mix tapes?

Big things, man, big things. I’ll be putting out Absinthe Disco Volume II, which will be pressed and distributed by Night Thieves and will feature a slew of original tracks, remixes, and edits, plus a bunch of my favorite tracks to play out. I’ll be doing a big CD release party for that. Also the first Burn, Baby, Burn EP should be out in the fall. In addition to that, I’ll by pushing the team hard to get their tracks ready to be released as well. So yeah, lots in that arena for sure!

Hopefully, I’ll have some time to do some touring in the fall too!

And finally, is there anything that we missed, that you’d like to say?

First off, thanks very much for the interview!

Secondly, I just want to take a moment to tell anyone that wants to pursue their dreams whether it’s music or otherwise, that life is to short not to go for it. One of the huge differences between those that achieve success doing what they love as opposed to those who do not, is making the decision to go after it with all you’ve got and to believe whole-heartedly in what you’re doing. It tons of work, but if you love what you’re doing it will always be rewarding.

Lastly, to all my fellow hustlers out there, get at me! Let’s work together!