PAPER <3s NY and PAPER <3s the DJs that keep us moving. That’s why we’re proud to present The Tear, our mix series highlighting the best DJs spinning in the city we call home. Last month, we shared a mix by Ladiez Drink Free, a light-hearted carry featuring acid, hard house and funk. Today, we share a mix from none other than NYC legend, Nita Aviance.
You surely know her. Whether it’s as one-half of legendary duo The Carry Nation (with Will Automagic), as her own spinning force, or as the producer behind memorable remixes for the likes of Beyoncé and Scissor Sisters — Nita Aviance is an undeniable staple of the city’s dance music community. She’s the kind of DJ who knows bone deep that the dance floor is more than a mere place to move your body. “Spiritually speaking, the dance floor is where I get all of my life,” Aviance tells PAPER. “Hence the beatdown and the lifting you up. You know she love a hard drum.” Anyone who’s danced to a set from Aviance knows exactly how that spiritual catharsis sounds in practice. It’s bold and joyful and jittery and relentless.
An artist who has seen many iterations of NYC nightlife’s ebb and flow, Aviance brings years of gags and stories to her work, like nights spent dancing in the financial district when transportation to the afters came via a flagged down bread truck. Or one memorable evening, when the fire department shut down the now closed-TWILO, and Aviance and her crew loitered in the back until the club was empty. “We started hearing the sinister synth stabs of Tim Rex’s ‘Relentless’… Junior [Vasquez] turned the music back on and was raring to go,” she remembers. “I can’t recall how many more hours we carried in the club that day, but to me that represented everything I loved about nightlife: the stunts, the gags and that everything can change in a heartbeat and turn into the night of your life.”
For Aviance’s The Tear set, she weaves in those nights, those joyous, bleary memories. We begin with the aforementioned “hard drum,” a minimalist, hard-edged breakdown that builds piece by piece. As the frenetic skitters of 808 cowbells come in, we encounter synths that raise our blood pressure, tense and ominous, carrying into a devious march, all drums and breath. The mix that follows, in many ways, mirrors that of a late weekend night dancing in our beloved metropolis. The jitters of the early eve morph into something more light and lifted as memories of the week fade into the smoke machine’s mist. Midway through Aviance’s set, Loleatta Hollway’s “Catch Me On The Rebound” comes in with a grin. Its titular refrain feels like a late-night affirmation before we head down the rabbit hole once again to a Baile Funk number that shakes you. The rest of the mix keeps the energy high and the BPM raised. It’s acid synths, cowbells, calls from afar, trumpets, synth stabs, and at one point, roboticized, heartbroken vocals by way of iiO’s early 2000s hit “Rapture.” Before we know it, we end where we began, at another breakdown. Heavy drums serve as the backdrop for synths that veer lower until the music stops. When the silence hits, you realize it may be time to hop on the bread truck and keep the night alive.
Catch Nita this Friday night (2/21) at Earthly Delights.
The prompt for the mix was “the past, present and future of NYC nightlife.” What sounds inspired you for this mix?
I came to the middle of the club once and the entire dancefloor was on fire. Mind you this was a long time ago. I was candy-flipping regularly at that time, with a heavy side of ket… it was all one big trip back then. I blinked twice and realized, No the club is not actually on fire. But in that moment I had a vision that still inspires how I play today: Those are my kinds of nights — you get put through hell and then you have a revelation that brings you to the gates of heaven.
Now I’m not a religious girl, but spiritually speaking, the dance floor is where I get all of my life. Hence the beatdown and the lifting you up. You know she love a hard drum. The intensely rhythmic, cut with luscious melodies. Time is a construct. The past, present, and future all exist right now. I learned on the dance floors of New York, where genres and release date are not important, that as long as your ass is shaking.
To run from late ‘90s progressive DJ Escape, into disco legend Loleatta Holloway, all the way to Doctor Jeep and DJ Split’s recent release on our label Major Records — is the reason why there are no rules.
Where was the first set you played in NYC?
It was September 2002 at a party called John Street held Friday nights in the depths of Manhattan — the Financial District. This area was so desolate back then that there was rarely a cab in sight when we left the club, so on more than one occasion our sister Koko would flag down a bread truck to drive us all to the afters.
Favorite NYC nightlife memory?
I mean the bread truck rides were pretty legendary, but inside the club? I’m gonna say that time the fire department came through a packed TWILO one Sunday morning. The music stopped and the lights came on and everyone was ushered to coat check. Something, or more likely someone, told us to mill about at the back of the coat check line while everyone else got dressed in their winter coats and left the club.
What felt like an hour later, after over half the club had already left, we start hearing the sinister synth stabs of Tim Rex’s “Relentless.” Could it be? Was this really happening? It most certainly was. Junior turned the music back on and was raring to go. I can’t recall how many more hours we carried in the club that day but to me that represented everything I loved about nightlife: the stunts, the gags and that everything can change in a heartbeat and turn into the night of your life.
Favorite set you’ve ever played?
Oh that’s easy, it was last month at the 12-and-a-half-hour b2b with Will Automagic at They Went On Forever. But in some sense, the last set you played is always the best one — if you’re allowing yourself to constantly grow as an artist.
Biggest nightlife pet peeve?
Disrespect in the club. We all know how privilege runs rampant in our day-to-day lives, and when I see that played out in the club it’s infuriating. Be aware and check yourself, boo, cuz if you don’t, I certainly will!
Biggest DJ inspo?
The next generation, always. It’s the kids that constantly turn me out. I’m inspired by hearing something new. But it could also be a deep dive into 90’s indie rock, or as always, the female rap game.
I live for the stunts and shows of nostalgia, but I live in the stunts and shows of now.
What makes NYC nightlife unique?
New York City, of course.
Biggest hope for the future of NYC nightlife?
It’s the same things I wish for the world at large: more diversity, more awareness, more intention, and more compassion. Or maybe it’s just more love.
Photography: Ganem Haiek
Post-production: SPRKLBB
Location: Earthly Delights