Paul DeLorenzo & Steve Sims

A Brand New Concept in Party Promotion: The Mars Parties

New York nightlife has many party promoters, all respected and all doing a great job; however, new to the scene but no strangers to promotion are the “PS” team of Paul DeLorenzo and Steve Sims,  who are unveiling a brand-new party.

Although their concept is refreshing, it isn’t exactly new. It stems from the days of The Limelight, when parties were simply for everyone: gay, straight, whomever.

These guys are a blast! They have a certain vibe between them that just seems right. So much so that they are bringing DJ Paulo back to New York for their very first Mars party at XL on Friday, February 26, starting at 10 p.m. Get Out! was fortunate enough to speak with the pair first hand about their new, exciting party.

Tell me about yourselves and exactly what it is the two of you do.
DeLorenzo: Our company is PS Productions (Paul/Steve). We do events throughout New York City. We do The Mars Events, specifically Men Are From Mars, gay events. We got started at Space, and we are now going to be working with XL. Steve has a lot of nightlife experience previously doing a lot of mixed events throughout New York City and New Jersey. He’s had experience with festivals as well.

So one of you is straight, and the other is gay?
Sims: Yes. I’m straight…Steve.

For your next event, you’ve called upon one of my favorite DJs in the whole world.
DeLorenzo: It’s going to be our first event with XL, and it’s with DJ Paulo. This party is actually The White Party Palm Spring pre-party event. We are really lucky to have them on the team with us. Plus we have Paulo, so this definitely will be a big one that night.

So Paul, do you wish Steve was gay?
DeLorenzo: No. He’s like my brother. He could come out to me today, but he’s still more brother material.

Steve, how did you become involved with Paul?
Sims: I did mixed events for a long time. Paul actually came up with the idea to do some gay events. We’ve been friends for a long, long time. So it’s turning out really well.

DeLorenzo: We’re like a baby company at this point, comparatively, in the New York scene. We bring a different flavor, a different vibe. Usually 20 minutes into a conversation we get “We like your vibe” from people we talk to. “We love how you guys vibe together.” It really does bring a cool mix to the scene that’s been missing, I feel, for a long time. A lot of people we speak with about the nightlife, specifically the gay nightlife, say it never used to be like that. It used to be a very mixed crowd. People used to go to a party because they just wanted to go, whether it was a straight event or a gay event. I’m usually the token gay, so now, basically, he’s the token straight. It’s cool to turn the table a little bit. We have been growing exponentially because of the uniqueness. We bring that flavor of blending. Blending the two worlds together again, because that’s what New York City’s nightlife was built upon when it was at its peak, when it was at its heyday, it’s Limelight days. There was no such thing as separating venues. Drag queens were coming to mixed events. I feel that over the years everything became very segregated. It’s either a circuit party or a drag queen party. They all have labels. We don’t wanna be labeled. We are trying to stay away from the politics of it all.

What can people expect at this party? The fact that you have Paulo is major in itself, but what else can people look forward to?
Sims: we are bringing in dancers, our own lighting team. Will be a full on production.
DeLorenzo: It’s going to be an all-encompassing experience. We want to create a whole experience. We want to pull everything together, rather than just walking into a bar and grabbing a drink. Many costume changes. Paulo himself is working with his graphics guy to blend the brands together.
Sims: He’s going to have a space-like introduction.
DeLorenzo: He’s basically customizing his set with the party. It’s his first time back to New York in three months. It’s definitely getting a lot of notoriety already.

Sounds like a fabulous party. I’ll see you there!