Speaking with Kidd Madonny was a surreal adventure, comparable to journeying down the rabbit hole after Alice and winding up on the Planet Krypton in pursuit of Superman. Known for his compelling and capturing productions while performing, DJ Kidd Madonny stands alone as one of a kind.
About to embark on his Super Party Tour in August, Kidd Madonny will be appearing at XL in New York City on September 18.
Are you in Miami now?
Yes.
So when are you coming to New York, and where can we find you?
I’ll be coming to New York on September 18 at XL, bringing The Super Party Tour, and I’m so excited. The Super Party is a concept of everything I do, with a whole theme behind it, kind of a brand for my parties. It’s the whole Kidd Madonny show, with elaborate decor and costumes, that I’ve been putting on for the last few years.
How did you come up with this unique concept?
Back in 1995 me and my ex-partner started costume design, theatrical design, so we were traveling all over the circuit, from Japan to Montreal to Amsterdam doing club kid shows. Me being in the clubs, I got to work with many great DJs: Junior Vasquez, Peter Rauhofer and DJ Abel. I told Junior Vasquez I was interested in DJing one day, and he gave me one of his turntables and said, “Take it home. Learn how to play.” This was in 2000, and I said, OK. I had one turn table, so I’ll just buy another one. I bought another turntable, and I started to learn how to play. I learned for six years. Anyway, I was still doing club show costumes and décor for many clubs. I did The Babylon Tour. I did productions for them. I was doing all the visuals for the DJs. So that’s how I did the performance side. I did that for 20 years. Then in 2006, I got ready to start DJing. So I asked one of the clubs that I did performances for, “Can I DJ?”
Wow.
I was so nervous. There was no computers, still vinyls, still old school. Even today, I don’t use a computer. I use a hard drive. I have three CD players. I’m very old school. I learned how to play old school, so I have my old school roots.
Do you still use vinyls?
No, I use a USB, a memory card. I don’t use any software. I don’t use Serato. I feel like you are very disconnected when you are behind a computer, and when I DJ I never know what I’m playing.
Really?
Really, yeah. I don’t know what song I’m going to play next. A lot of DJs will have their set list, but I want to know what I’m playing for the crowd. I’ve been traveling to many different cities, and their audiences are so big, their music clarity is so different. Some like house music, some like vocals, so you have to be ready to change your style to really cater to a good party. If you start to play tribal production and the crowd wants to hear vocals, they’re not going to like you, and if you’re playing lots of vocals and they want to hear progressive stuff, guess what.. They’re not going to like you. From playing with so many DJs and going on tour, I got to listen to so many different sounds that I really appreciate how to learn how to read the crowds, gay crowds, straight crowds, progressive crowds. I think that the time you are playing is really important and really has an impact on the music you play. That’s how my Kidd show was created. All the years of performing, when I got in the booth and started DJing, I didn’t start the show right away. I really wanted people to realize that I knew how to DJ. I didn’t do the theatres right away. I built my name as a DJ. I gave it a few years, and then I got a residency in Fort Lauderdale, and then decided to take it up and on.
You are very refreshing.
So I went into the club and started decorating the whole club, and I hired a bunch of dancers, and I was like, “Now it’s ready.” It pretty much made me different from any other DJ. People knew that was the Kidd Madonny show!
Were you ever at XL before?
Yeah, I played for Pride, and I’m pretty happy that they like me, and so happy that they wanted me to come back. It’s so exciting, and we’re doing a Friday night. I’m doing the first Super Party in D.C. in Town on August 1. So pretty much every weekend starting in August. There will be D.C., Dallas, Vegas, Canada, Seattle…a lot of places.
I’ll be at XL on September 18.
Until you see it live, you don’t believe that all that is going on. The whole night, from beginning to end, something is virtually going on.
How did you get your name, “Kidd Madonny”?
When I started go-go dancing. I worked in a nightclub in Miami, so I was a performing dancer, and they asked me to come up with a name. They knew I was underage in the club, so I thought, “Can I be Kidd?” They said I couldn’t just be Kidd, so I decided to be Kidd Madonny. That’s how it all started. I was 18 years old, and I did theatrical dance numbers. I was still in high school, and then I’d go to practice in a night club. That was my senior year, that last two or three months till I graduated. Then I went to school for dance. Dance was my major.
So you do it all. You are just a whole big package.
Yeah, dancing, theatrics.
Do you also produce your own songs?
I’ve been going into the studio. I want to get more into that, but I want to do it correctly. I don’t want to just put anything out there. I worked 20 years to get where I am; I don’t want to just put out stuff. I want to learn it. I think with technology, people just remix and don’t really learn it. People are like, “I remixed that song,” and I’m like, “Yeah you remixed it, but who’s playing it?” Just because you remix for an artist doesn’t mean you’re a remixer. Junior, Peter Rauhofer, they were remixers! Everybody in the clubs were playing their music. I get music every weekend, and I’m like, “Who are these people?” I do remix stuff live. I’m here for the long haul. I mean, I produce the show, I do everything. When the time comes and my song comes out, it’s going to make people go, “Oh, wow, that’s really good.” I just don’t want to rush it and put garbage out. You work so hard to build your name, your band, your trademark. Why would you suddenly put out music that doesn’t make sense?
Like your whole philosophy. Everyone wants to be a DJ and a producer.
They pick up a laptop, and then a month later they want to be playing the big rooms. They have no experience. I was flying around the world, producing the biggest DJs’ shows. Of course I wanted to DJ, but I said I’d take my time learning. Kids now, they take a laptop and say, “Now I’m a DJ!” It doesn’t come overnight! I have a big library of music, and that’s really helpful. I can go in there and play disco, funk, house, out of nowhere. People are like, “How did you pull that out?” It comes from having a big library! I have a good 20 years of music that I’ve been collecting, that I’ve transferred to my hard drive, and I take it always with me. I’ll make that person right on the dance floor happy. Suddenly I pull an old track, and they will be like, “OMG!” I knew that would make them happy. That’s a great feeling when you make someone happy with an old-school track.
I can tell you really love to DJ. Do you take requests?
I do if I have it. I have a hard drive. It’s not like a computer where you can just type in the song. So I have to figure out when I downloaded the song. That’s if it’s a good request. If it’s a bad request, I’ll be really nice and say I have to look for it. Now if I do have it, I won’t play it right away. I want you to wait for it. Sometimes I’m so busy DJing and doing a show, I tell people, “I’m not being rude.” I have three CD players going on, I’m shooting confetti, changing my outfit, putting a pair of wings on – it’s a handful. On top of that, I’m trying to keep the crowd happy. At the end of the day, you’re working for the club owner. The club owner wants to see the dance floor hopping and people happy. That’s the business. You can’t be there and be selfish. Everyone has their own style, but for me, I like everything. I just want them to have a good time. At the end of the day, that makes me happier than anything else. I get nervous a lot of times.
Yeah?
Yeah, but I like the challenge. That’s what made me a better DJ I think. I like playing to the smaller crowd, because when I go to a big room, I know what they want already.
What’s the biggest party you’ve ever played?
I’ve played a couple of big parties. I played for the Gay Games in Germany two years ago. But the parties in the gay scene have gotten really smaller now. The straight scene has gotten really big, but the gay clubs, the only big weekends we have is Pride week or a circuit weekend. I’m actually starting in San Francisco my new residency. It’s called Empire Ballroom, and it holds about a thousand people. It’s going to be a weekly party, starting actually next Saturday. I’m really excited. It’s a really big room, and it’s nice to see the big rooms coming back to the gay nightlife. Lately a big room is only about 500 people. Town in D.C. is a big room. It’s very rare to see a big gay nightclub anymore.
And that’s so sad… but you know what? You’re a blast!
I always have to have a new show. With social media, everybody’s seeing a new picture instantly as soon as you put it up. I always try to make new things, new costumes and new wings, at my warehouse. Even at the Super Party show, the décor might be the same, but I’m going to bring a lot of different elements to the show. I want people to be, “Wow, this is all new stuff.” That’s what makes the Super Party super! Don’t think you know what’s going to happen, because you don’t. I can be very spontaneous. That’s what makes Kidd Madonny different.
And you are different!
I just want to be one of a kind. I’m a one-man show. It’s energy. It’s everything that I bring to the club. Club owners, when they meet me, they are blown away. I try to be very humble. I’ve worked with the top dog. I know what it takes. I literally get to the club a few hours early to set up. When the party is finished, guess what, everyone gets to go home. I have to pack up my stuff, and then jump on a ladder and take everything down by myself. I give you one day in my shoes and you won’t survive. I work about 10 to 12 hours instead of the usual four hours. I set it up, play, then I got to break it all down, jump on a plane and go to another city all over again. Then I’m ready to sleep. That’s what I do on Monday and Tuesday. My husband says, “Are you going to sleep all day?” I say, “Yes!”
