There are achievements in a musician’s career that define them forever. Whether its a genre they’re known to play or people they work with, but if your Victor Calderone, you’ve smashed all of these stereotypes and evolved into something much greater than a singularly defined artist.
Growing up in Brooklyn, Victor started DJing at an early age in the 1980’s. A decade later, he found himself apart of a techno duo called “Program 2” and signed to his first record label. Although the group disbanded shortly after their first release, Victor went on by himself to produce a chart hit with Deborah Cooper, play high profile events and hold massive club residencies in NYC and Miami Beach.
Victor would then meet Madonna and be chosen to officially remix “Frozen” when she released “Ray of Light”. It was so successful, he went on to remix nine other Madonna tracks. From there, he became a pop remix sensation, working with power house artists such as Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Beyonce.
Although he was quite successful in the pop remix world, his true love was techno. Years after the 1990’s diva sensations faded, Calderone kept relevant in the underground techno scene. It’s truly fascinating to see an artist be popularized in polar opposite music scenes, but Victor Calderone gave them all what they yearned for: the beat.
Recently, Victor flew into Houston to spin one of the most successful parties in the city: Kinda Super Disco. Wasting no time at all, he delved right into his renowned New York House and Techno sounds.
*Photography by Mike Victorick
Although Victor has been around for years, he is still very tech savvy, as he used “stems” of master tracks, something that has been popularized by other DJ’s such as Carl Cox. This gave him the ability to bolster the sound of his set with 3-4 decks rather than just the traditional 2 decks, as well as create his own remix live.
Now, I have seen my fair share of house and techno sets, but when I say this set was everything I had been waiting for, I meant it. Playing a 3+ hour set, he decimated the 2 story club with his dark grooves and jackin hi-hat beats. The bass was veluptuous, the lasers were commanding and everyone brought their dancing shoes (My fitbit says I danced 7 miles O_O).
Victor Calderone is NOT your average headliner. He showed just how seasoned of a player he is and is much more in tune with mixing than most of these new artists playing the festival circuit making quick transitions to their radio edit hits. I can comfortably say that his set was definitely a personal favorite.
Chris Zane is a DOD contributor and DJ, who has held club residencies at Rich's, Fbar and renowned techno club, Gravity . Zane also hosts the house & Techno Podcast "The Zephyr Lounge" which you can catch on The Department of Dance Radio, Friday's at 2pm.
