Do you ever meet someone with so much drive, passion and talent, that you just know that they are going to make it big one day? The first time I met Joe Bermudez at the Winter Music Conference in 2000, I knew he was going to be a big force in the future of dance music in the United States. As a writer for DJ Times, an in-demand touring DJ across the US, and a remixer and programmer for Open House Party, he educates and entertains a growing legion of fans.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: How did you get started as a DJ?


Joe Bermudez: I got started in radio when I was 18. The short story is I had just been kicked out of my house and had no job, so I really had nothing to lose. I drove by this radio station on the way home from another job interview and thought it might be fun to do. I literally went up to the station and demanded that they hire me so I could pay my rent. Luckily for me, they did, and the rest is history.

RS: How did you make the move from the radio to spinning clubs?
Joe Bermudez: I guess it was just a natural progression. Locally, people had heard me on the air so my name was familiar and eventually I was asked to DJ a club. The first time I spun a club was actually the first time I was ever stepped foot inside one though. I was pretty nervous, but I guess it all worked out.

RS: What song or songs inspired your love of dance music?
Joe Bermudez: Rollo & Sister Bliss were huge influences early on. Their remixes of Kristine W - Feel What You Want, Faithless - Insomnia, and the OT Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down really made me take notice of the genre.

RS: How is spinning mixshows different than spinning clubs?
Joe Bermudez: When you are spinning a mixshow, you don't get to see your audience like when you do at a club. Also, the people listening are usually at home or in their car so there are no fancy lightshows, go-go dancers or ecstasy to keep them interested. You can't play beats all night long or you will lose them to another radio station or Saturday Night Live. You have to play songs with hooks.

RS: What's it like programming one of the most influential radio shows - Open House Party?
Joe Bermudez: OHP has really helped me learn how to program. It is the largest live syndicated show on the planet, airing on over 150 radio stations every Saturday night all over the US. Basically, that meant I had over 150 program directors to deal with every Monday morning if we played something they didn't like so I had to learn real quickly how to keep a large scale diverse audience happy.

RS: How many different mixshows do you do each week?
Joe Bermudez: I do ones for Kiss in Cleveland and Youngstown, OH plus KRNJ in Phoenix, AZ. Then there's Rotation on XM, Resident Nation on Music Choice, and I still fill in from time to time doing the top of the hour mixes on OHP.

RS: What effect have you noticed satellite radio has had on dance music?
Joe Bermudez: For the first time, everyone in the country is on the same page. Before, you would have regional hits. Miami wouldn't play the same record as San Francisco because they didn't feel it was their sound. That has always been one of my issues with dance music. That there is no unity. A hit is a hit no matter where it's played. Now, we finally have a national broadcast playing one record that reaches all the markets slowly unifying the dance community.