Dances With White Girls, known to friends simply as Frog, was bitten by the dance music bug at a young age. The 25-year-old, Philadelphia-born musician became inspired as a teenager, after watching a 10-hour Danny Teneglia set. “Watching Tenaglia,” says Dances on his Myspace page, “I saw a DJ moving people at the top of his game. I was making music and I wanted the power to move people on that level.” Dances became compelled to make dance music while still in high school and began teaching himself production. After eventually coming up to NYC, he began working with acts like Kudu, the Rapture, Team Facelift, Hail Social and the Dead Kids as well as doing DJ sets with artists like DJ. T, Felix Da Housecat, Busy P. and MSTRKRFT.
In early 2007, Dances with White Girls began work on his first EP entitled New Crack Swing (Throne of Blood), which blends a raw house sound with a party anthem mentality. As Dances says himself, “From the projects to Pacha, this is thug house.” ’SUP caught up with Dances right before the EP’s release.
How long have you been working on producing music? How did you get started?
I’ve been making beats in some way shape or form since I was 13 or 14 years old. I got started when I got a MIDI keyboard and I had a computer. I started with Cakewalk and a version of Cubase. Then a year later I got Fruity Loops and I’ve just been going at it since. I got a few breaks CDs and just was making hip-hop.
Your new album New Crack Swing is coming out on The Rapture’s label, Throne of Blood. How did you connect with them?
I connected with them because of the good work of my friend Bushy [Steve Bush] who is my boy and got my music in Mattie’s [Mattie Safer of the Rapture] hands.
What made you want to put the album out with Throne of Blood?
Well, after meeting them I became friends with the team and they seemed to believe and be into doing something different. And I mean I like the Rapture a lot, and to be able to put out something with them is a totally full circle thing to me that is so amazing and crazy and fucks with me. This is the last time I’ll say this ‘cause I’m going to have to stare those dudes in the face and I don’t want to seem like a fan but I totally am.
I noticed you post on the Hollerboard a lot. For those that don’t know, what is the Hollerboard, and how did you get involved on there?
The Hollerboard is a message board that DJ Low Bee started and a lot of DJs and people into music and all sorts of things post on it. I got involved because I was bored and had some tracks and started posting tracks. Then I started posting my views and that may be a good or bad thing.
Do you like blog house? What is blog house in your eyes?
I play blog house so I like some of it. I also hate a lot of it. Blog house is hard distorted electro that basically exists on the Internet for kids who don’t want to wait for the next Justice album. You can say that Justice or MSTRKRFT or whatever is blog house and it might be, but the shit that some of these kids are playing, it’s just whatever. It’s like when I liked underground hip-hop. I liked Mos Def and Talib, but there was a whole bunch of college kids back then who were happy to listen to anything average that had somebody talking about keeping it real. That’s what blog house is. It’s just a way for people to hop on a trend and get some shit. If it’s just some distorted electro or whatever, I mean that is a whole other thing. I like that but when it’s the fake you can tell. You know what it is when you hear it.
What’s thug house?
Hard-edged, street-influenced, electro tech house, whatever. It’s about me and my boys. Taking this shit away from the angular haircuts. Or better yet, here’s a lyric from my new song “This Is Thug House”: ‘here come drums, here comes the pain, here comes the sun, out go the rain, I look at you and how you’ve changed, but I remain, so what’s the name, this is thug house, I told you, this is thug house, I told you. A lot of people want to know, about the bass about the rolls, about girls, about the blow, let the music take control, of your body, of your soul, it’s every ghetto every city, every street, that has a beat, you can hear it, but can you feel it, this is thug house, I’m a give you thug house.’
You spend a lot of time online, what do you do on the web mostly?
I check Twitter, play Flash video games and add people on Myspace.
What’s the best stuff you’ve found online lately?
I found a really ill girl named Ashleesoflyy, who has amazingly dope Youtube videos. So fetch.
Where did the name Dances With White Girls come from?
From the movie Dances With Wolves, which is my favorite overly hyped, early ’90s movie besides A River Runs Through It. In it, Kevin Costner plays a soldier who has assimilated with the Native Americans and becomes one of them. They name him “Dances With Wolves”. The metaphor is that they are the uncivilized – the wolves – which plays into the whole classic white man learns culture thing. So in electro today you have people who look at me and go, ‘Oh you do house music, like not just B-more house, weird.’ And it’s like niggas started this. So it’s like I’m just dancing with some electro hipster culture, but really, it’s not.
How do you describe your style? What’s your favorite article of clothing that you wear?
My style is keeping it hip-hop, but just doing me. I’m trying to make Puerto Rican girls double take on the J train like they feel me. It seems comfortable but also like, ‘Yo will my brother think I’m with a gay dude?’ That’s my steez. My favorite article of clothing is whatever Pegleg has out for the new season, whatever Lola has popping, and whatever weird stuff I can get girls to give me.
Where did your sound develop?
My sound is hard dark tech pop. It develops from always wanting to push the party to the next level to get to that place. It developed from me always peeping how dope producers would flip samples. Then about watching DJs and seeing how good tracks just don’t make people, good DJs set vibes.
Who is the ideal person for you to work with?
One thing I don’t want to do is work with any random rappers. Can I just say that real quick? I love rappers, I’ve worked with them all my life, but about 85 percent of them suck because they don’t know how to work with people. It’s just, ‘Give me a beat and let me be God.’ That’s not how it works. So who I want to work with is anybody young who isn’t trying to blow up, but wants to make music that is different, yet accessible. And anyone who is willing to sit down with me, and a sandwich, and talk about bringing tracks to that level. I totally want to develop an artist. Probably a girl or maybe some dude from the streets who wants to see where it goes.
Where are you from, live, want to live? Will you be touring?
At this point I live between Philly and New York. Where do I want to live? I don’t even care at this point because I assume I will be touring.
What’s a night out normally consist of for you? Who do you roll with, where do you go and what do you do?
I usually pick up phone, text my boy OJ, randomly text some chicks, see what Twitter tells me, then make plans using what happens. Then me, OJ, and crew usually hit the street and hit up a few parties. Or sometimes, I just do my set at a party and then afterwards leave and go hit a few other parties. Then at 4AM, I start getting more texts and making texts to see what’s popping. By then it’s usually me and OJ and whatever, maybe some [Team] Facelift kids, and we’ll end up at some girl’s house with crew, and chill there for a minute, and hopefully have her order us food to eat. And maybe somebody can sleep there for the night.
What’s your favorite party in NYC? Do you have any regular nights where you DJ?
I don’t have a favorite party in NYC. There are lots of good ones but things are up and down. And with me being banned from clubs and just the fact that I DJ a lot, I don’t have any favorite party per se. Any party I DJ at though for that night is my favorite party. And I don’t have any regular nights, but I DJ a lot. Check my Twitter to find out when I’m spinning.
What’s the deal with getting banned from clubs?
I’m banned because I have, and my boys have, definitely been involved in a series of fights. And after a while people get fed up. I am not a lot of bouncers’ favorite people.
What’s coming up next for Dances?
What’s coming up next for Dances is a second EP with bass drop regular version and hopefully a Drop The Lime vocal, and a few other tracks with me doing vocals on it. Then I’m planning on a mixtape with me doing vocals. Working on a live techno/rap project with my mans Nick Hook on 909 and 303 and me rapping. Then there’s a third EP. And also I hope to start a short-term relationship in the ’09 maybe like four or five months with a lucky lady
