Interview with LA's DJ Paparazzi

In a city known for cut throat vicious cameramen, one specific Paparazzi stands out, leading the nightlife scene of Los Angeles, the supposed new hub of electronic music, this is no photographer, but 24 year old Cesar Rios, DJ Paparazzi.

With his own club (Dance), management company, and city-wide reputation, Paparazzi is part of a new breed of DJ who knows just as much about the business as they do about the music. Paparazzi has graced the lineups of festivals such as Coachella and San Francisco's BFD and is constantly traveling for gigs. Dance is notorious for a two hour line to get in and draws in a crowd from all over Southern California. Unlike many trying to make it big, Rios is no mid-west transplant, he was born and raised in Los Angeles and is taking over clubs, concerts, and events, with confidence 14 years in the making.

How did you get involved with Club Dance? What do you think about Dance has led to it's success?

Well Dance is my club and it's being going for almost two years now. Basically I have 2 partners. Jason Lavvitt and Shalyce Benfell who are both legendary club promoters within LA. They both did a summer club about three years ago at the knitting factory every Friday called System. They hired me to be the resident DJ. For the closing party they asked me to organize it and book it. So I booked the Glamour from the Midwest, Royal Rumble, LA Riots, and a few other local DJs. That night ended up being the best night of the entire clubs existence. Then it closed. A few months passed and my two partners and I saw that there was a need for this new type of DJ concert in a big venue because the music was just getting bigger and reaching more people. So we venue hunted and found the Arena. And the rest is history.

How long have you been DJing for?

I started DJin when I was about 10 or 11ish. There was a record shop between my school and my house. I lived at that record shop everyday and just became obsessed with dance music. I'm 24 now so about 14 years DJing.

What's your favorite thing about being a DJ?

My favorite thing about DJing is simply being able to expose people to new music and spreading the word of it.

When do you think the electro scene blew up and why do you think it happened

There's a few things but I think the main thing is when parties and events changed where they put the DJ tables at the club. Before electro blew up DJs in America were put in the corner of the club disconnected from the dancers or some random area. The 1st time I remember DJs being put front and center on stage was for a club I was a resident DJ at called Check Yo Ponytail. It was Halloween about 4 years ago and we had Justice and Mstrkrft. It was their first time DJing in LA and it was the first time our club sold out. After that every club I did or was apart of we stuck the DJs front and center. Basically, electro blew up when the DJ and/or performer was front and center and treated like a rock show. Other specific things that lead to it were Daft Punk's return with The Pyramid, and blogs.

What genre do you categorize yourself as and what are some characteristics of that genre?

I just categorize myself as dance music. I play a wide spectrum of dance music sub genres. I sprinkle a lil' of everything and mix it all together. Good music is good music so as a DJ I think you have to do that and not just stick to one genre. Things can get a little boring that way. Besides, dance music changes just as fast as technology so if you just do one genre you might get left behind.

What do you love about LA and what makes you choose it over any other city to live in?

Well unlike a lot of people living in LA I was actually born and raised here. I have so much LA pride it's ridiculous. I chose to stay here because no matter what night of the week you can pretty much go to an amazing party. There's so many different types of people, the energy of people and just everything about LA makes for an amazing clubbing experience.

Who are some artists on the rise to look out for?

I think LA is the new Paris and all the LA heads are on the rise right now. Acid girls, Classixx, Harvard Bass, Deathface, LA riots... I mean there's a reason every dance label is looking into moving to LA

What do you see yourself doing within the next few years?

A bunch of things, I have an events, marketing, and artist management company called 1107 and that's almost a year old now and things are awesome! I'm also working on my own record with all original material.

DJ Paparazzi can be seen every Tuesday at Dance at the Area in Hollywood, CA.

His music can also be heard on his www.myspace.com/paparazzi.