Danny Tenaglia – Just ‘Be Yourself’

With Black & Blue celebrating 15 years this October, the team at BBCM was faced with a rather daunting challenge. Who do you ask to headline the biggest and most significant event to date for the foundation? Danny Tenaglia of course! NYC’s very own Danny Tenaglia returns this October to headline the Extreme Ball at Olympic Stadium and Klublife was able to catch up with the man behind “Be Yourself.”

KLUBLIFE: Is there a Danny Tenaglia full-length album in the works? From a production standpoint, where are you heading?

DT: Well I don’t think I will ever do a full-length production album again. Never say never, but considering how time consuming it is to complete a full-length LP and the way genres just change so much, with all the categories by the time the LP is ready for the shelf, a whole new category has flooded the market, and people might be on to the next thing. It might be two years from when your CD hit the shelf from when you had the first idea that you conceived. Since I am a type of consumer, producer, DJ, that likes everything from deep house to techno, I guess my point is it would be much easier for me to do one single at a time. That alone, because I am so anal about some studio projects, that alone could take six months. Organizing it altogether and featuring different artists and singers is much easier to do. But never say never, ’cause I do have my own studio now. I don’t have to be at the mercy of a studio owner waiting for me to get out of the room so the next artist can get in, the high cost, etc. So in regards to me as an artist making full LPs, that might come again, but I don’t see it in the near future. What I do see is singles, maybe collaborations with other producers, as well as definitely compilation series.

KLUBLIFE: Speaking of compilations, you did one in 2003, the collection of classics. That must have been one of the biggest challenges from a compilation perspective, because you were picking things that influenced your career—how long did it take to compile that?

DT:It probably took a very long time, because I started collecting records in the early ’70s. I can’t say I was a professional DJ since ’72, ’cause I was only 11 or 12 years old. It was something I decided I would focus more on leaning towards in the ’80s and ’90s, as opposed to the disco era or the pre-disco era, because I knew the market of people who were interested in hearing me the most were the people that were familiar with my Global Underground series. The people I was entertaining overseas, in Ibiza, at the Conference, was more in the age range between 20 and 30. This is going to be informative and educational this is not necessarily, well these are my deep roots, this is more like an evolution of house from my perspective, so I try to keep it more electronic as opposed to hitting the Motown shelf. So it still took an incredible amount of thought, because there is still so many tracks to choose from. We are talking about only 2 CDs, total about 12 songs per CD, SO easily it could have been 240 songs, narrowing it down to 24.

KLUBLIFE: Weren’t you nominated for a Grammy for the Depeche Mode remix?

DT: Yeah, you can call me a Grammy loser.

KLUBLIFE: No, it is nominations…as far as I am concerned, an award is an award, but getting nominated is actually better than winning an award because winning is just a bunch of peers picking their favourite. The nomination is what really stands out for a lot of people, because they recognize the quality and gets peer recognition.

DT: That’s why I said that I agree it doesn’t matter if I have the plaque over here with the metal on it or the actual Grammy symbol, because I still put the same amount of love, energy and effort that could come out of me. On the flipside of that, as far as awards go, I look at myself as a person with two careers. I am a DJ first, always have been, and the love and amount of achievement I have received from my peers carries over the years, to be given awards of that caliber, like Lifetime Achievement Dance Star, the DJ’s DJ, the Best Set of the Season in Ibiza. Although the Grammy is wonderful, I didn’t write the Depeche Mode song, I didn’t produce them, I only remixed them. That was wonderful, but not what I set out to do…as a little boy, I didn’t say “Mom and Dad, one day you are going to be proud of me winning a Grammy.” All of a sudden my DJ career took off, and I am being awarded for it never even knowing there would be such awards.

KLUBLIFE: Where do you sit right now? What do you have coming out in the fall that people can look forward to? Are there some remixes or are there any specific titles that you know of that labels have slotted for release in September, October, November or December that people should be looking for?

DT: Yes. I have not made a single as myself, as an artist since “Elements,” which was part of the Tourism album. Finally, I have been in the studio completing something I started a couple of years ago. I had not gone to Ibiza until 2000, and I just got very inspired by the whole island, so I did a track that was very tribalist that I called “Dibiza,” and I kept on putting it on the shelf. I knew I had something new and fun and different. Of course, remixes were coming knocking at my door, and with gigs and my weekly residency, I just was never able to finish “Dibiza.” As we speak, I have an engineer right now in the other room in my studio, and I am going to be completing it this weekend and it will be coming out on Stereo Records. So I am really happy about that. I am friends and fans of the guy and vice versa, and we motivate and inspire each other. I think it is going to be great thing, and we are going to play together in Madrid on October 2. I have never played Madrid before, I have done Barcelona, and many times back to Ibiza. They are going to be celebrating the five-year anniversary of Stereo Records. The same night we will play together it will be Danny’s release of “Dibiza” on Stereo Records…I think it will be a really big event.

KLUBLIFE: It sounds like it will be the anniversary for everyone this year in some way, shape or form—it’s the Black and Blue anniversary as well.

DT: Really? How many years?

KLUBLIFE: Fifteen years now!

DT: Wow, I did it two years in a row…I can’t remember, I think it was ’96 to ’97!

2005 marks the 15th anniversary of BBCM foundation in Montreal. BBCM is a volunteer-based, non-profit, gay organization giving financial support to groups providing direct care to people living with HIV/AIDS, and to gay & lesbian community groups. Since 1992, economic and tourism spin-offs generated by BBCM have been evaluated at more than $500 Million! This will be Danny’s third headline appearance at the Extreme Ball on Sunday, October 9, and judging by the early figures it will be the biggest and most exciting BBCM to date!