Promoter / Casual Encounters, Manifest Destitute
Join local house heads Brenden Wesley, Alex From Queens and Alfredo Rico as they welcome special guest My Cousin Roy (Wurst Music/NYC) back to Boston for the first time in several years. Back then he went by Roy Dank FYI.
My Cousin Roy is that cool distant relation you're always looking forward to seeing. Roy's the life of the party, endlessly entertaining with seemingly boundless energy. Certainly not bad traits for any of the roles he assumes, from the Wurst label boss to globe-trotting DJ to one-half of production outfit Beg to Differ (with Nick Chacona). Roy's remixes, edits and his label's stellar output have lit up dancefloors the world over, with support from dance music luminaries such as Carl Craig, 2Many DJs, Harvey, James Murphy, Aeroplane, and Tiga, amongst others.
From childhood b-boying to teenage ‘zine publishing, Roy had always been enmeshed in music but it wasn’t until university that he fell in love with modern electronic music, from deep house to drum & bass. Living in London exposed Roy to all manner of amazing club nights and upon his return to New York, he immediately started producing parties and honing his production and DJ’ing craft.
Originally focused on drum & bass, Roy was part of the acclaimed Mathematics trio, releasing records on such respected labels as Hospital, Renegade, and Frontline in the early 2000s. However, Roy grew tired of the genre’s limitations, and left the group in 2004 to put the focus on playing music he was passionate about.
In 2003, Roy teamed up with contemporary disco hero Brennan Green to produce the Pop Your Funk monthly at the now-legendary New York venue, APT. The duo were responsible for bringing such luminaries as Andrew Weatherall, Maurice Fulton, and Martin Moscrop from A Certain Ratio to New York, as well as playing host to Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas' stateside debut. In the process, Roy and Brennan introduced the city to the burgeoning sounds of what is now called "nu-disco", not to mention expertly mixing up these new records with classic no wave, disco, electrofunk, rock, house and the odd industrial record. A no holds barred attitude that has since become a new eclectic style championed in many a discerning club the world over.
Shortly after Pop Your Funk went out with a bang - the aforementioned Norwegian disco blowout - Roy launched the Wurst Edits series, first with his own takes on lost disco unclassics, and subsequently introducing his friends Runaway and Eamon Harkin to the masses. These early releases were featured on Optimo's much ballyhooed Pitchfork mix, the epic Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1, and The Glimmers last proper mix, Eskimo V, all in 2007. By the end of the following year, Roy ended the Wurst Edits series in favor of releasing original music on the newly minted The Wurst Music Co imprint.
Kicking off in the summer of 2009 with Brennan Green's monster house opus, "My First House", a firm favorite of Harvey and Hell, and coincidentally the very first house song Brennan worked on over a decade ago. By that Fall, the label released a bonafide anthem with Neurotic Drum Band's "Robotic Hypnotic Adventure", and has since gone from strength to strength with a steady output of disco, house and even some leftfield techno for good measure. Summer 2009 also marked the beginning of Roy's production work with longtime friend and accomplished disco and house producer Nick Chacona. Operating under the Beg to Differ moniker, the duo have been tapped by labels such as Warp, Moodmusic, Thisisnotanexit, and Under the Shade for remix work, and are set to debut their original work later this year.
2010 has already proven to be a big year for My Cousin Roy, having toured nonstop in Europe and all over the US, mixing a highly coveted podcast for XLR8R Magazine, and playing any chance he gets when back home in New York. And there seems to be no letting up, what with plenty more Beg to Differ remixes and original productions to come, and of course, the growing profile of his Wurst label. The Wurst has yet to come, indeed.
 
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