Dirty Disco

DIRTY DISCO

By Steve Tsepelis

GED Magazine sat down with Houston bar owner and one half of the popular DJ duo DIRTY DISCO, Mark De Lange, to find out some more about these two and the DIRTY DISCO signature sound.

Hello Mark…..you are a very busy guy wearing many hats.   You own “The Eagle” a premier nightclub, and Hamburger Mary’s. You also have a family. Tell us about all that you do and how do you juggle everything?

I own a total of 3 bars here in Houston: Hamburger Mary’s, Houston Eagle and Alibi.  I’ve owned bars and nightclubs for almost 20 years now, so I’m used to the rigors of the business.  I used to specialize in really big dance clubs, but since the big room is out of style currently, I’ve moved more into smaller bars and now a restaurant with the addition of Mary’s.  I have 2 kids, a 5 yr old boy and 6 yr old girl.  Scheduling was much easier prior to them arriving lol, but I’d never trade my time with them.  I just have to make sure I’m up super early and manage my time accordingly.  The only tough part is when I’m out at the bars checking on things, that sometimes puts me at home at 4am – only to wake up again at 7, ouch!

Tell us a bit about the Houston gay scene. I know it’s a popular place but for anyone who has not been there, what’s it like?

Houston is a unique place in its mentality here.  Despite having over 5 million people in the metropolitan (and surrounding areas) inner city and now becoming market #3 (surpassing Chicago), it still has a very small town mentality.  I love the fact our community (Gay) is very tight knit.  Our scene used to be quite circuit in music, but that ship has sailed and it seems that smaller bars playing more tech and deeper oriented tracks prevail.  I’m sure this is the case all around the country, but the Gay scene has taken a hit over the gentrifying of us as a community.  Gay people no longer just have to go to Gay bars anymore, so many long-time Gay nightclub/bar operators are being put out of business due to decreased traffic counts through their venues.  Today’s Gay venue must really strive to stay fresh and relevant.  When we think about our music, we always think of a dancefloor of shirtless guys, muscled up and in harnesses lol!  When we get that picture in our heads we know we’re on the right track.

Let’s talk about music. You are part of a remix team called Dirty Disco. Tell us how all that started, including the name “Dirty Disco” and your partner?

My partner in Dirty Disco is JD Arnold, a veteran DJ not only from Houston, but also the UK, along with various other places in the US and Europe.  JD and I were Billboard DJs and both of us have probably

50 years combined standing behind turntables spinning at nightclubs.

We are obsessed with the music from the era of The Saint (NYC) and to some degree Studio 54 – the good Gay high energy stuff, not Straight boy trash disco.  So we started doing a series of parties around town and would use the name Dirty Disco.  We thought this would be fitting as these events started at the Houston Eagle, which was a very dark, masculine environment – seemed fitting!  Around the time that Donna Summer passed, we did a remix to honor her memory called “I Feel Dirty” where we replayed the classic Georgio Moroder synth riff (we replayed it to not infringe on any copyright).  That track really got us noticed and the result was us writing “Lift” together and hiring Debby Holiday to be our vocalist.  We just love her!  Since that was the first song we have ever attempted to write, Debby was instrumental in helping us “clean” it up and to deliver a better melody than what we originally had envisioned (that’s why she’s credited on the song writing).  The result was our first Billboard #5 track!  So what started as just a couple of guys throwing a series of parties launched Dirty Disco to a national stage.  We are so thrilled to be able to give back to the dance community!

The remix world is very competitive these days. I see the name Dirty Disco on many remixes including Cher, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, Diana Ross, and several others. You have established a signature sound that is your own and become very popular. Tell us about your sound?

When JD and I planned out the strategic direction for Dirty Disco, our goal was to produce uplifting music that creates dance floor memories.

For a time, we noticed dance music was a tad depressing and not motivational, so we really wanted to produce music that would have the same energy and positivity as the tracks that came out of the late 90s as well as being well-constructed enough to deliver that wonderful, soulful music journey. To date I think we’ve really succeeded in that mission.  We have been afforded the luxury of being able to audience our tracks weekly at the Houston Eagle.  If the guys don’t have their hands in the air we go back to the studio and re-tool the track.  I think that really helps us produce relevant sounds that are dance floor proven and make it easy for DJs in other markets to include our material in their sets – to which we are very thankful for!  We also pay attention to everyone that contacts us via any of the socials asking for songs to be remixed or produced.

What producers or artists inspire you and who would you like to work with that you have not yet done?

Our bucket list was Cher, and Warner Bros hired us to be on the Gimme Gimme single from her, which we hope will encompass the rest of that fib album!  The producers that really get our juices flowing are numerous, but include Eric Morillo, Purple Disco Machine, Joey Negro and many more.

Thanks for your time Mark. Any final comments on anything you would like to make?

We are a full-fledged Gay music production group.  I’m proud to say we’ve broadened our production skills to include our signature Mainroom remixes, NuDisco, Deep Tech and Deep House.  We also use several monikers along with Dirty Disco like Space City, Eagle Houston and Pillow Biters (Depending on the sound of the remix).  We are a definite part of our community and it’s such a gratifying feeling to be able to contribute to something we have enjoyed over the years – Gay dance music.

It’s our tradition to always do a track for Pride and the holidays yearly.  Our holiday track this year is “Last Christmas”, Dirty Disco Feat Brenda Reed.

Then we have Dirty Disco Feat Antoinette Roberson “Sense Of Danger” and re-tooled mixes of Celeda “The Underground” coming!

Dirty Disco online:

Web: dirtydiscomusic.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/Dirty-Disco-146960758812933/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtydiscoremixes/