Mark Ronson on His Front Row Seat to 90s Hip-Hop History

Summary

The Run-Through with Vogue

Episode: Mark Ronson on His Front Row Seat to 90s Hip-Hop History
Date: September 22, 2025
Hosts: Chloe Malle & Corey Seymour
Guest: Mark Ronson

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Episode Overview

This episode features a deep-dive conversation between Vogue’s Senior Editor and Music Editor-in-Chief Corey Seymour and acclaimed DJ/producer Mark Ronson, focused on Ronson’s new memoir, Night: How to Be a DJ in 90s New York City. The discussion uncovers the immersive, gritty, and sometimes lonely realities of New York nightlife in the 1990s. Ronson offers frank reflections on his gilded yet chaotic upbringing, the intoxicating—and sometimes destructive—energy of DJing, and being at the epicenter of a cultural moment that defined hip-hop.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Mark Ronson’s New Memoir: Not Your Typical DJ Book

• Ronson’s intent: The memoir is “about my teens and early 20s...specifically New York City nightclubs in the 90s. And it’s about DJing, but like, in a specific way. Not just the skills, but the emotional drivers and the intense highs and extreme loneliness...” (Mark Ronson, 04:21).
• Tone: Honest, “warts and all” (04:21). Ronson is forthright about his compulsions, addictions, ambition, and the duality of nightlife.
• Energy: The book aims to capture both the thrill of “a kid in New York City finding his people...and hitting some fucking speed bumps along the way.” (04:41)

Sensory Memory & Reconstructing the Past

• Recollection through music:
  • “If I hear Busta Rhymes ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See,’ I can picture and smell the inside of a club called Rebar on 16th Street.” (Mark Ronson, 06:01)
  • Music acts as a visceral trigger—“Music memories carry in a different way because the music literally resonates in your bones...” (06:19)
• Historical details: Ronson interviewed “hundreds of people” to faithfully reconstruct events (06:56), offering a unique, DJ’s-perspective ‘front row seat’ on hip-hop’s golden era.

Upbringing, Family, and Nightlife DNA

• Grew up with music industry parents, including a stepfather in Foreigner and a family home full of musical culture—“My dad played only like Sly & the Family Stone...my stepdad Mick from Foreigner came back at three in the morning and played me the latest mixes.” (09:57)
• Nighttime was alluring: “Night was this time with all this possibility. Daytime was school and pretty unpleasant in my household, so I gravitated to the night.” (11:11)
• Reflection on mothers: “Moms, parents, but especially mothers, get the least gratitude for the most amount of work.” (11:52)

Friendship with Sean Lennon and Surreal Adventures

• Ronson’s “three musketeers” bond with Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon & Yoko Ono) gave him a peek into a wild and privileged New York childhood—rubbing elbows with the likes of Michael Jackson and Keith Haring.
• “Crazy shit happened. Michael Jackson came and had a sleepover one time. Then we went to see Michael’s show and went to an after party at the St. Regis where we were throwing soggies (giant mounds of wet toilet paper) out of his penthouse suite window.” (Mark Ronson, 15:20)
• Ronson is careful about not letting the memoir become mere “name-dropping”—stories are included only with emotional or cultural significance (16:26).

The “Shadow Side” of Nightlife

• On nightlife’s loneliness:
  • “You only love the night when there’s a lot of people around...being alone in the night...carrying crates of records down some rickety stairs...can be lonely and you don’t shy away from it.” (Corey Seymour, 16:49)
  • “You're out rocking a room...when it’s over...you want to go out to the party...sometimes you just go home alone and you have all this energy and adrenaline and the whole night is flashing in your head...there’s no way to fall asleep for hours.” (Mark Ronson, 18:14)
• Parallels between DJs and stand-up comics:
  • “We were both at clubs, obsessed with craft, only hang out with other DJs or comics. Both called it killing.” (19:08)

Becoming a DJ—Origins and Inspirations

• Sparked by discovering underground hip-hop on Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito’s radio show.
• Mesmerized by watching local DJs mixing hip-hop live, Ronson persistently begged his mother for turntables until she gave in—“I just became an incessant nuisance to my mother for six months, asking her for turntables...” (Mark Ronson, 23:03)
• DJ names: From “DJ Old English” to “Mark the Spark” to finally settling on his own name—“Honestly, there were parties...where you could see my identity crisis in real time...” (Mark Ronson, 24:09)

The Role of the DJ—From Invisible to Headliner

• In the ‘90s New York hip-hop scene, the DJ booth was not always front and center—“I did not love being on display...so awkward and uncomfortable with the attention...” (Mark Ronson, 26:03)
• Comparison to the rise of EDM “superstar DJs”: “Your booth says ‘God is a DJ’. Our booth, as the hip hop DJ, says ‘God is a janitor.’” (Mark Ronson, 26:58)
• Reflects on being part of the cultural shift that saw DJs become central performers, especially in the U.K.

No Phones, No Social Media, Just Presence

• “People were more free...they were present...there wasn’t this VIP thing and people weren’t checking their phones or filming.” (Mark Ronson, 31:07)
• The club experience was about being there, in the moment, not performing for social media.

Breaking Rules and Career Milestones

• Crossover moment: Dropping AC/DC’s “Back in Black” into a hip-hop set at Cheetah was “potentially career suicide”—but it worked and set him apart (32:34).
  • “The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward...everybody just lost their minds...that was an important moment in my career.” (Mark Ronson, 34:30)

Getting Validation and Sharing the Stage with Heroes

• “One moment you’re clamoring for Stretch’s approval...a year or two later, you’re playing and Jay Z is bringing 100 people to see you DJ...” (Corey Seymour, 35:29)
• On DJing with Q-Tip: “What life lottery did I win to be standing next to my hero sharing turntables?” (Mark Ronson, 36:34)

Current Projects and Reflections on Aging

• Still composing and collaborating, developing film scores and music projects (“I never like to say what it is because what if I get fired...”), and loving working with artists like Ray (37:27–38:19).
• On physical realities of aging as a veteran DJ: “My back is all fucked up from carrying these crates of records...not 26 anymore...” (Mark Ronson, 38:06)

Funny DJ Booth Requests

• On repeated song requests: “People would just come up to you and be like, can you play the birthday song by 50 Cent? That would happen a lot.” (Mark Ronson, 39:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If I hear Busta Rhymes ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See,’ I can picture and smell the inside of a club called Rebar on 16th Street.” —Mark Ronson (06:01)
• “You have to talk about getting fucked up. You have to talk about my own compulsions and addictions. But I don’t want to make it sound too dark—still wanted to have the energy of a kid in New York finding his people, and hitting some fucking speed bumps along the way.” —Mark Ronson (04:21)
• “There’s nothing better than the feeling when you play something that’s a risk, and it works...the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.” —Mark Ronson (34:30)
• “I'm a night person, just like my parents before me.” —Mark Ronson (10:41, referencing the book’s opening)
• “Our booth, as the hip-hop DJ, says ‘God is a janitor.’” —Mark Ronson (26:58)
• “You don’t want just people to be like, ‘Oh, it’s just a name-dropping exercise.’” —Mark Ronson (16:26)
• “People were present...there was no camera phones, not a lot of documenting of it, and all the music being made in New York at that time was kind of like the biggest music, at least in hip-hop.” —Mark Ronson (07:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:16 — Ronson’s approach to fatherhood and introducing music to his kids
• 04:21 — What the memoir is really about (“mini memoir,” emotional highs/lows, 90s nightlife)
• 05:57 — On reconstructing detail from 30 years ago through music, interviews
• 09:40 — How musical family background shaped his tastes and passion for nighttime
• 13:51 — Friendship with Sean Lennon and surreal celebrity childhood adventures
• 16:49 — Exploring loneliness and “the shadow side” of being out at night
• 18:14 — Parallels between DJs and stand-up comics
• 21:47 — First steps toward becoming a DJ; relentless pursuit of turntables
• 24:09 — DJ identity crises and finding his “name”
• 26:03 — Discomfort with fame/attention; DJ booth as central focus
• 31:07 — Clubs before cell phones—“present, not performing”
• 32:34 — Blending rock and hip-hop—pivotal “Back in Black” moment
• 35:29 — Getting validation from idols to sharing the stage with them
• 37:27–38:19 — Current projects, collaborations, realities of aging DJ life
• 39:22 — Funniest recurring DJ booth requests

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Summary

This episode is an atmospheric, revealing look at the 1990s New York DJ scene, featuring Mark Ronson’s reflections on music, ambition, family, and nightlife’s complexities. The conversation balances cultural history with personal vulnerability, interspersed with Ronson’s characteristic wit and memorable first-hand stories from the front lines of hip-hop’s golden age. Essential listening—or reading—for anyone fascinated by music, nightlife, or the messy beauty of creative coming-of-age.

Transcript

[A]

This episode of the Run through is brought to you by Bumble. I love seeing my friends get excited about meeting someone new. And I have to say I have a lot of friends who have met their partners or friends on Bumble. And I always, whenever I am introducing two friends to each other who I know they both met their partner on Bubble, I'm very excited to lead with that. You both met on Bumble other people and it sounds confusing but everyone's excited about it. Bumble is designed to bring people closer with updated features such as verification tools, an advice hub and more in depth profiles helping to make dating a fun and empowering experience. So if you or one of your friends are looking to make a connection, download Bumble today. This is the Run Through. I'm Chloe Mel and today we are joined by my colleague, Senior editor and music Editor in chief, Corey Seymour. Hi Corey.

[B]

Hi, Chloe.

[A]

Corey, you got a chance to talk to New York's favorite DJ and producer, Mark Ronson, about his new memoir, Night how to be a DJ in 90s New York City. I love Mark and I think that he always has such a thoughtful way of thinking about life and music. What was it like chatting with him?

[B]

We had a really good time. His book is great. I really didn't know that I would love it as much as I ended up loving it. And it kind of turned out that he and I were sort of on opposite sides of the 90s. We were both night people, but I was in rock and roll clubs and he was in hip hop clubs and dance clubs every now and then.

[A]

These were your Rolling Stone years?

[B]

My Rolling Stone years. And he was an intern at Rolling Stone. We were not there at the same time. You were an intern at Rolling Stone? I was. Were you there with Mark or.

[A]

No, I was not.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

He's a bit older than me.

[B]

A lot of ships in the night, but we had a really nice time. He has such a kind of fascinating childhood. His father was in the music industry. His stepfather was in a legendary band from the 70s and 80s called Foreigner. His mom was sort of this woman about town and he was best friends with Sean Ono Lennon and spent a lot of time hanging out in the Dakota. And it was a sort of like gilded childhood. But also the other side of that was him running free around downtown New York and all these clubs, legal or not legal at the time and getting into some trouble, but maybe not as much as he should have or could, but was also, he's quite frank in the book and in our chat about how ambitious he was, while also sort of being on this kind of dark side of 90s nightlife. He really, really busted himself to gain these skills as a DJ and just work every room and haul up crates of records and learn what it took to just hold a room and to command a dance floor. And it's not an easy thing to do. I think we all know Mark later in life as like the sort of like Lady Gaga whisperer or working with Bruno Mars and things. This book is not really about that. It's about him really, really working his butt off to become who he is today.

[A]

Well, I'm excited. I also read the book and really enjoyed it. My husband listened to it in one day. I recently ran into Mark at a children's birthday party and his toddler is similar in age to Alice Albert. And he was very proud because his daughter, two years old, started singing every word of the Hanukkah song. And you could see he had real investment in her musical future.

[B]

I can't wait to see what happens. Like now. It'll be the third generation of being steeped in music.

[A]

Yes, exactly.

[B]

Will be fascinating to witness.

[A]

Well, Corey, I'm very excited to hear you guys get into it. Two real night hounds.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Hey, Mark, welcome. Thanks for being here on the run through. We're very excited to have you here. Thank you. And thank you for writing this book. It's not what I thought it was going to be. I don't know what I thought it was going to be. Given book by Mark Ronson.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I wanted to ask you first, could you just describe what this book is? What's the general M.O. on the book?

[C]

This book, I call it a mini memoir because it's really just about my teens and early 20s. It's about New York City in the 90s. It's about specifically New York City nightclubs in the 90s. And it's about DJing, but, like, in a specific way. I think a lot of DJs have written memoirs. I haven't read many, but something more about the emotional drivers and the kind of like intense highs and like extreme loneliness of DJing as well. As I got deeper into the book, I didn't mean to write such a kind of honest or warts and all book, but I realized that you're writing about night. You have to talk about getting fucked up. And I had to talk about my own compulsions and addictions. So it's kind of all those things. But I don't want to make it sound too dark, like it's Still, I still wanted to have the energy of, like a kid in New York City finding his people, finding his way, and hitting some fucking speed bumps along the way. And that's what it was for sure.

[B]

And we're going to get into a fair amount of that. I want to know, for someone who lived largely nocturnally in a very alternative world you were living in, how did you remember or report or recall all of the detail in this book? Because it's not really an atmospheric book. It is a very specific book. You talk about what song you played that went into this song that went into that song, and then something happened and then you walked down these stairs. How did all that recall from someone who was altered in an altered state through a lot of this?

[C]

And it was 30 years ago, a lot of it. Well, my greatest asset in writing the book was how visceral memories of music were. So, like, there's things I couldn't tell you that happened to me last week, but, like, if I hear Busta Rhymes. Put your hands where my eyes can see. I can picture and smell the inside of a club called rebar on 16th Street. That's just like, I remember the way I dropped it the one night that the crowd went crazy. So music is such an amazing memory because there's also music. I can't scientifically prove this, but music memories carry in a different way because the music literally resonates in your bones, like music actually vibrates through your body as you're experiencing it. So there was definitely. Music was a big help. And then I interviewed hundreds of people for this book. It's not an oral history, it's a first person memoir. But as the dj, of course, I remember the night when I was in the DJ booth and there was a huge fuss because Biggie came into our club for the first time and it was like a visit from the Pope. But, you know, I was in the corner with this weird angle of Only the dance floor. I don't remember exactly what happened at the door when he came in. You know, he usually came with like 40 people. So I had to interview Big Frank, who was at the door that night. Like, what was that story again? How did Biggie. And he's like, yeah, Biggie came and he stood there and just kept giving me $100 bill after $100 bill as I let all those guys in. And then he just finally came in and hung out. So all those things that I thought were really fascinating and the thing about the 90s that I thought might make an interesting book is nobody realizes when you're living in the time that you're in the time. You know, we were always looking to thinking how cool the 80s must have been at the Roxy and Danceateria. But you know, a lot of kids were coming up to me just being like Gen Z kids. Like, yo, you were in New York in the 90s and this was even five, six years. We all know there's like a crazy 90s fixation going on. And I understand why, because it was this era that there was no camera phones, there's not a lot of documenting of it. And all the music being made in New York at that time was kind of like the biggest music, at least in hip hop. So you had Jay Z, Biggie, Lil Kim Tribe, and then you had Missy and Timbaland and people from other places that were all in New York making their records and they would all come to the club and there I am with this sort of front row seat to it. So I thought for other reasons like that it would be fun to get as much of that, to paint it as vividly as I could. And obviously like you said, my brain is foggy as hell with some of the memories because I was getting fucked up. But luckily there's nights that really stood out and music was this trigger.

[B]

And you make a really good point with this sort of sensory memory of music being this very particular thing. I want to talk a little bit about your upbringing. Your born in London. Yeah. Grew up largely in New York from a young age.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Your father was in the music industry, your mother was around the music industry a lot. Your stepfather was a member of the band Foreigner and certainly a big part of the music industry. There's something I read in the book where you talked about the difference between like a groove and pounding techno in kind of obscured disco with a filthy bass. But you're like 12 at the time or something. And I don't know that a lot of like 12 or like 14 year old kids would really understand the difference between that other than being like, I like this or I don't like this. And is that because you grew up in this music industry family or two families?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And was that a part of your life the whole time? And did being a night person come more naturally to you because of that?

[C]

I think that definitely I know the story you're talking about. I was probably maybe 16 at a rave called NASA. I remember going to this little side room called the Chill Out Room because just, you know, I grew to appreciate techno. It just like wasn't my thing. And in the chill out room, DJ Dimitri from D Light was playing and he would play disco classics and all these like 15 year old kids like just Ecstasy, like rolling off their faces. And he's playing like pretty obscure stuff. And he was playing Funking for Jamaica by Thom Browne, which is a song now I've played a thousand million times in my DJ sets, but it just happened. Had this bass line and I played in a band and I played. Some of the guys in my band were really excellent musicians and could play that kind of stuff and turned me onto a lot of funk and jazz and acid jazz and things. So I had enough of the language and the words to know the difference between these things. But certainly growing up as a very young kid in London with my dad before my parents split, he played only like Sly in the Family Stone and Graham Central Station. So there was this sort of like horns and groove and all that stuff that I was exposed to and really loved from an early age. And then when my mom married my stepdad Mick from Foreigner, then it was a much more like seeing the insides of the recording studios and him coming back at three in the morning and me waking up and him playing me like the latest mixes and you know, showing me the difference between a vocal up mix and a bass up mix and these things. So I think all that from a very early age I saw that night was this time with all this possibility. Daytime was great, but it was school and whatever else. And then with my parents, they had a pretty volatile marriage. So nighttime for them was like fun and people around and a lot of partings. And then daytime was this sort of pretty unpleasant place to be in my household. So I think for many reasons I sort of gravitated to it. But there was a point in the book that I just, the opening paragraph just said like, I'm a night person, just like my parents before me. And I go straight into this story about Robin Williams waking me up when I was a kid. And my editor, I had this fantastic editor, Colin. And then this editor named Hannah Willlentz, who's a brilliant editor from the New Yorker, came and helped me in the last few months finish. And she's like, you can't just say like, I'm a night person. You have to justify, clarify, like, why were you a night person? Why were your parents night people? And this was like really towards the end of the book and the last thing I wanted to do was like, go interview my parents again. Like I turned into literally like a 16 year old, like, I don't want to clean my room, you know, like, I don't want to talk to my mom anymore. I have to talk to her three times a day as it is. But I was so glad I did. And she really. People care so much when you ask them about themselves and their lives and that moms, parents, but especially mothers get the least gratitude for the most amount of work. Kind of get a bit of a more free ride and just to ask her, like, what was it like for you as a girl? Why did you love the night? So yeah, I found out that my mom loved that because she grew up in a raucous household and her mom died when she was 11 and there were six kids and she was. The night was the only time that was quiet and she could paint in her room. My dad just liked to be out at night because that was music and partying and he was a rebel. His parents are very straight laced, very strict, tough love, North London Jews. His father was a hardcore boxer fighting fascists in the streets of East London. Like they came from tough childhoods and night was something that was an escape for them.

[B]

You went to collegiate, you grew up on the Upper west side. Yeah. You befriended early on Sean Lennon. You ran with a pretty interesting crew. How did you meet Sean and was he instrumental in you entering the music world or were you guys just great friends?

[C]

Sean I met at a party. My parents were friends with Jan and Jane Wenner, you know, started Rolling Stone. And I even. I was such an obsessive music nerd and would hassle Jan every time he came over to the house. And he actually gave me an internship when I was 12, 13, 14.

[B]

I'd be, I'm sorry I missed you there. I missed you. I came around two years later or something like that.

[C]

Yeah, I was answering the phone and my voice hadn't even broken. I'd be like, hi, Rolling Stone. You know, like with this massive PBX switchboard routing calls. And Sean and Yoko were very close with them as well. So one time I just met them at this party and I think we were both 12 and I was dressed like I was in Duran Duran in some like pint sized members Only black leather jacket and saw Sean who looked so cool and probably went over and was like, do you like inxs? Like whatever the hell. We started talking, it just got on so good fast so quickly about music and started jamming and teaching each other little riffs and you know, a few years later, Sean just became an exponentially more talented musician. Than I did. But yeah, we really had our formative years. Those sort of, you know, listening to Zeppelin and Hendrix and all the cliches. And we never really played in a band together. But Sean and I and our other best friend, Max Leroy, who no longer with us, we were like this three Musketeers thing. And Sean, because he was Sean Lennon and he was such like a mountain of charm even at that age. He sort of had his, like, dad's sharp wit somehow at 12. And his mom's cool avant garde ness. Like, we. Crazy shit happened. Like, we had. He was friends with Michael Jackson and we. Michael Jackson came and had a sleepover one time. And then we went to see Michael's show and went to an after party at the St. Regis where we were throwing soggies, which are like giant mounds of wet toilet paper out of his, like, penthouse suite window. And like just smashing into the sidewalk on the street below. I mean, obviously we made sure nobody was gonna get hurt.

[B]

This is Michael's idea.

[C]

Yeah, Michael loved to throw soggies. Keith Haring, you know, was friends with Yoko. And I remember getting smuggled into a area, the club area, when we were 12. And just like being like, whoa. Like nightclubs, like, cool. And even the feeling that knowing we weren't supposed to be there made it probably even more exciting. Other crazy shit happened with Sean as well. But I. In the book, I wanted to toe the line between, like, anecdotes and not being like, just piling on stories with famous names in it to like, look like they're hooks. Like if there wasn't something that sort of a learning moment or something important or pivotal. I sort of tried to be sparing because I didn't want just people to be like, oh, it's just like a name dropping exercise.

[B]

You do a really nice job in this book, obviously celebrating the party, the scene, the cool place to be. And you're very honest about these other feelings of the night. That maybe you only love the night when there's a lot of people around. And that being alone in the night and the party's over and you're by yourself and you're carrying crates of records down some rickety stairs and taking a cab by yourself back home where you're awake by yourself. It can be lonely and you don't shy away from. I guess I don't know if you can say the shadow side of the night. Cause there's no shadow. But is that something that came naturally you to write about or did you struggle to include this kind of 360 version of the night.

[C]

I started to think Night People. And the book is dedicated to this amazing person and DJ Blue Gems, who's no longer with us. And he had a label called Night People because he really was one of those people that came alive at night. The mischievous Glint, the leader of the party, the leader of the after, after party, all of it. And I realized that if I was going to get into some of these things and talk about the night and why we go out, and I had to talk about the other things. And yes, I was out mostly because I love DJing so much, and I love to rock a room and build it to this, like, intensity. And then the lights come on, and you've got this, like, sort of like conqueror's energy and sometimes half a liter of vodka flowing through your veins. And you want to go out to party, and you look around and the whole room's empty. So what do you do? You maybe, like, go to the after party. You call a dealer. You know, there were nights, sometimes I'd be, like, texting the dealer before, as I put my last record on. Like, I was really compartmentalized. I could really keep it together for the gig because I always wanted to do the killer job. But then once it was over, I was looking for the party. And sometimes you find it. And sometimes you just go home alone and you kind of like, you have all this energy and adrenaline and nerves, and the whole night is flashing in your head, and you're just lying there, and there's no way to fall asleep for hours. Your ears are kind of ringing. Cause you've been in a club in one chapter. I compare it. Cause we were really close with a lot of the standup comics of that time. Because it was this time in New York in the 90s, where Dave Attell and Dave Chappelle and my good friend Jordan Rubin were doing sets at the Cellar, and we were all hanging out at each other's gigs. There's very. A lot of similarities between DJs and comics to me. Like, we both were at clubs. We both, you know, one is called timing, one's called rhythm. We both call it killing. You know, they're obsessed with the craft. Usually only hang out with other DJs or other comics. So there's nothing.

[B]

None of this occurred to me until I read your book. And it made so much sense. It's like comics and DJs. You have the crowd in the palm of your hand, and you have to keep it there, and you can lose them. And you can get them back. And yeah, it makes so much sense.

[C]

Yeah. I talk about this one story in the book where I was outside the cellar and Dave Chappelle comes out and he's like, hey, like just in even, you know, at 22 or however old he was, he just had that like Pied Piper life of the party energy. He said, well, I'm going to this club life. Who wants to come? And I, you know, he snuck us into life. And then that's how I ended up bugging Steve Lewis, the manager, to give me a gig that then became the gig that became my sort of, you know, big platform in the late 90s. That was the Studio 54 almost of our era. Except instead of like, you know, 60 foot ceilings and Bianca Jagger coming in on a white horse, this was just like a basement club at, you know, Prince and Chris Rock and Mariah Carey and Jay Z and everybody was sort of in there.

[B]

Time for a break. More from Mark Ronson on his new book, Night People in just a moment.

[A]

This episode of the Run through is brought to you by Bumble. I love seeing my friends get excited about meeting someone new. It is so much fun to help them pick a great first date outfit and location and then hear all about it over coffee the next day. There is nothing better than watching people find their perfect match. And recently it feels like so many people I know have found their partners through Bumblebee. So mazel tov to Bumble and those finding people. Bumble is designed to bring people closer with updated features such as verification tools and advice hub and more in depth profiles helping to make dating a fun and empowering experience. So if you or one of your friends are looking to make a connection, download Bumble today.

[B]

Do you remember when you first decided that you wanted to be a dj? What was the first kind of baby step you took toward doing that?

[C]

It was really. I was always, you know, a fan of hip hop from the periphery. So I knew the, you know, the commercial shit and stuff that was on mtv, LL Cool, jbc, Boys, Public Enemy. And then I discovered Stretch Armstrong on Bobbito's radio show in the early 90s. That was this amazing underground radio show on Columbia and they were the first people to play the earliest demos from Eminem and Biggie and Wu Tang. They broke everything. And so I started to hear records like Black Moon, who Got the Props or Dwick by Gangstar that you couldn't just like go into HMV and find you had to sort of dig. And they were only available on 12 inches. So I was sort of going down the rabbit hole of this music. And then I went out one night to the rave where I used to go and went into the chill out room. And after DJ Dimitri from D Light played this disco set, this other DJ came on the set, this kid named Ani. And he had just. It was the first time I saw in person someone cutting up two copies, like, going back and forth on these records that I was, like, falling in love with. So, like gangstar and, you know, more obscure records like the Double X Posse and whatever, and just watching Ani do his thing. And so at that point I was like. I mean, I was flying off my face on ecstasy and acid, but I was like, this is just incredible. I watched him all night. And then I just became an incessant nuisance to my mother for six months, asking her for turntables or five months or something. And that's how I got my turntables.

[B]

And your first DJ name?

[C]

Terrible DJ names I had. At first I picked DJ Old English because it was the name of a malt liquor that we drank and it was like referenced in hip hop. And I thought, like, oh, this has been a little bit of this albatross around my neck, being English and speaking with this funny accent, and I'm going to kind of reclaim it. But it just didn't suit me. Then I changed it to Mark the Spark because, like a lot of nicknames you get when you're starting out, they're usually hand me downs. There was a guy in Brand Nubian called Mark the Spark that my friends all listen to, and they just started calling me that. That. Then I met the real Mark the Spark and it was very embarrassing to have his name. And then I just changed it to Spark Ronson briefly. You could. Honestly, there were parties that I was doing that the same party week to week. You could see my identity crisis in real time. Just every week there's a different DJ name on the DJ flyer. And then I just settled with Mark Ronson. I'm like, it's not. It doesn't have, like crazy razzle dazzle, but it is what it is. I'm still jealous to this day. Like, when I became friends with Danger Mouse Like 20 years ago, you know, because we were sort of kindred spirits. He was making really interesting music. It was even before the Gray Album. And I remember just being like, man, it's so cool. He's like, so cool and he has such a cool name and he does all these different projects and they've all got different names that are cool. Gnarls Barkley, you know, But I'm just Mark Ronson. It can sometimes help when you're trying to get a reservation at a restaurant. But you know, it is what it.

[B]

Is as a dj. And you're famous, you're not famous. You're still largely front and center. Whether you are physically or sort of like whatever, spiritually, like you're the person leading the party. Did that scare you at a young age? Is that where you wanted to be? Did you want to be this sort of the God up there on stage?

[C]

Well, when I started, especially in the 90s, there was no, like the only people that were like godlike DJs were like Armand Van Helden and like the Big Room, you know, Junior Vasquez and those like real big name DJs you know, on the main floor. But in the hip hop scene, Stretch Armstrong was the legend. Like I said, Flex, Kid Capri. But most of the rest of us, like we were playing in clubs where the DJ booth wasn't a point of focus for anyone. Like people were psyched to see a DJ they liked. You dropped a great mix, heads would swivel to the booth like, oh, like whatever it was. But I didn't mind being the spiritual leader of the party, but I did not love being on display when DJing sort of turned to that when DJing became like. And as I became, just use plain words became more famous. Cause I put out records that people love. Like, of course it's so exciting that people are suddenly coming because they love music that you've made. But I was so awkward and uncomfortable with the attention of people staring at me.

[B]

The advent of the superstar dj. Some of this has maybe existed on a sidetrack to what you're doing in hip hop with like Tiesto or David Guetta or something like that. The EDM guys are a little different from what you're. There's some very funny stuff that you write about in the book where like their booth screams God is a dj. And there are these like superstars at the front your booth. As the hip hop DJ says. Also, maybe God is a janitor.

[C]

Yeah. Because you're DJing in this like glass walled booth that you're like, I'm sure this was the mop closet. Like. Cause we're at the top of the thing. It's the only thing that really makes sense.

[B]

But are you comfortable with the advent of the superstar dj?

[C]

People like Calvin and Diplo and they make incredible music and you know, they are now the headliners of festivals. And because house and techno and EDM has such a bigger, broader audience than, you know, any of the music that we are playing. And I always thought it was so cool that Roger Sanchez and Armand Van Helden would come down to our parties to hang out. Cause even I knew they were like, oh, those are the guys that make massive records and, like, play in Ibiza, you know. That music wasn't necessarily for me, although I loved a lot of the French Touch and disco house and the records Armand was making. But I appreciated, and I appreciated the production of it. It just kind of wasn't my thing. I remember one night going to Armand's loft in, like, Flatiron, and there were these two French guys, Daft Punk Guy and Tomas. And they were sitting there because they were friends with Armand, hanging out, but they were programming their helmets, the gold Daft Punk helmets. And it was like hooked up to a keyboard. And they were. I was like, what are you guys doing? And they're like, oh, we have press interviews tomorrow with cnn. So we're pre programming the answers that will come across our helmets when we do it. Daft. I remember them even coming one night when I was DJing. Daft Punk came when I played at this club called Spa. And I think, like Mariah Carey, like blew into the booth. Cause she would always come and like, request a song, you know. And I think like the door slammed, like D Punk, like, they're like in the corner. But I just. Yes, being around those guys was incredibly exciting because it wasn't my music, but I knew how big they were. And then occasionally they would have me come and open for them, like when they would be playing, and like, their crowd would go for what I was doing for like an hour. But, you know, the EDM thing is when it really blew up in the late 2000s or like sort of early 2010s, like, I certainly reaped some sort of benefit of it, at least in this country, because it wasn't my music. But I remember when I put out Valerie the first time, and it had been a big hit. You know, the Amy Winehouse. It was on my album and it says, Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse. And I remember the guy at the American record label saying, it'll never work here. Because no, they don't understand that thing of the DJ's name before the artist's name. It's never going to happen on American radio. And I remember when Calvin just started smashing it it. I was like, I Have to thank you for paving the way for us to put a DJ's name for the artist. Like, because in England that was sort of par for the course. England's got a history of embracing dance music and rave, but here it really was an unusual thing.

[B]

The Run Through. We'll be back in a moment with more from Mark Ronson.

[A]

This episode of the Run through is brought to you by Bumble. I love seeing my friends get excited about meeting someone new. And I have to say I have a lot of friends who have met their partners or friends on Bumble. And I always, whenever I am introducing two friends to each other who I know they both met their partner on Bubble. I'm very excited to lead with that. You both met on Bumble other people and it sounds confusing, but everyone's excited about it. Bumble is designed to bring people closer with updated features such as verification tools, an advice hub and more in depth profiles, helping to make dating a fun and empowering experience. So if you or one of your friends are looking to make a connection, download Bumble today.

[B]

You also Talked about the 90s, this notion where people didn't have phones, there was no social media. It's a different thing now. Did things feel more free then?

[C]

Yes, absolutely there was. People were more free. I mean, you see people filming shit in the club where people are acting stupid still today. So it doesn't mean like everybody's sort of like suddenly button up behavior. But listen, I'm just as guilty as being a product of this modern age and my attention span is split in half what it used to be. But people were present. I feel like there was a couple reasons, like people on the dance floor and they were there all night. Like I would rate my night and how well it was going by, like making sure, like this crew of girls hadn't left the floor for three, four hours. And part of that was like people weren't going outside to smoke cigarettes, you know, there were no people were hanging in the club. There wasn't this VIP thing and people weren't checking their phones or filming like, and you know, listen. And it's fun to drop a song, everybody loves a song you've made and everyone wants to take their phone out and film you doing it. I'm grateful for all that shit as well, but it was people and it's kind of like it just feels like they were more present.

[B]

I wanted to ask you about a very specific moment on page 166 of this book when you are DJing the cheetah party at Spy Bar in Soho. And you're playing It's all about the Benjamins. And you, you broke a kind of unwritten rule by dropping something into that. What was it? Why did you think of doing that? And what was the reaction?

[C]

Yeah, so Cheetah was the biggest hip hop night for like a good few years in downtown New York. There was the Tunnel, but that was Funkmaster Flex. And that was like, really rowdy. I mean, that was the craziest night Mecca on Sundays. But Monday at Cheetah was thrown by these two promoters, Bonnie and Belinda, and it was the Studio 54 of the Hip hop world. It was Missy and Janet Jackson and Prince and Mace and Aaliyah. And the music was really great. And the club was beautiful. It was a mirrored room. And I would fill in there sometimes when the DJ Jules is away. So, you know, I would love going in there. It was like having that glory, getting to play that room for a night, you know, once every couple months was amazing. And. And a few nights before I was due to be playing, I was at this other club called Spy Bar. And Spy was where they played all the rock and roll. And it was mostly just like rock and roll people and, you know, just people dancing on the fucking sofas, acting crazy. And the DJ played Back in Black. And of course I knew Back in Black, but it wasn't something I'd thought about since I was, you know, 15s legendary song. Yeah, it just sounded so incredible on the speakers Bow and everybody losing their minds dancing to it. And I was like, this sounds so good. I wonder if I could play this at Cheetah on a Monday. Which was sort of the idea of it. It was potentially career suicide. No one played anything like that at that club. It's not like I was the regular dj. You're just stepping in. You could never play there again. Someone could even throw a bottle at the booth, like, you know, shit would go down there. So I worked out this whole set all week because I was like determined to do it. And I played the Benjamins, which was the biggest of that time. And there was a rock and roll remix of the Benjamins. It was kind of cheesy, but I just thought it's a means to an end. So I'm going to switch to the rock and roll version right on Biggie's verse. No one will have a chance to stop dancing now. There's guitars and it's Biggie. And then right as he ended his verse, you know, it's all about the Benji Bounch and the whole place, for a second, maybe just in my mind, just froze. It was like a split second of people looking around the room like, what the fuck is going on? But because I dropped it on beat, there was no time for feet to stop moving and everybody was kind of into it. And then by the time the beat came around or the guitar riff came around the second time, like, people just lost their minds. And it was just such a wonderful moment because obviously the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Like, I was really taking a big risk playing this song, but it went down so well. And then it suddenly set me apart for the first time. It was like my own thing as a DJ that then everybody was like, oh, I want the kid that plays Biggie and AC DC and Rufus and Chaka Khan and blah, blah, blah. So it was an important moment in my career and sort of from there really set me apart.

[B]

Did you have a moment or a time when you're a DJ to appreciate this journey you had where, like, you start out and you're very honest in the book about how sort of desperate and eager you were for a nod of approval from someone like Stretch Armstrong and you don't quite get it, or you think you did, then you say something dumb in the way that you do when you're young and kind of like these self recriminating thoughts. And one moment you're clamoring for Stretch's approval and a year or two later or something, you're playing and Jay Z is bringing an entourage of 100 people in to see you DJ and other major people, you're DJing for prince. And did that happen in a way that you could digest?

[C]

I remember growing up, Q Tip was a hero, absolute hero. And then I met him one night at a club three or four years into DJing. And then six months later, we're DJing together and he's rocking the mic and he sounds like Q, like it's such an iconic voice. And I'm like thinking to myself, like, what life lottery did I win to be standing next to my hero sharing turntables? And so there were these moments and then there were also. I was just so wrapped up in it that it was just. It was just work, it was just happening. It was like there were. And I don't have. I don't have that, like, tendency to reflect or enjoy a moment. It's always like, the shoe's gonna drop tomorrow or whatever it is. So there were highs and the rush of being around these people who were so Sparkly and impressive to me because of the art that they made. And then at the same time, I was just kind of like, just with the blinders on.

[B]

What are you working on now, aside from raising a couple of very young kids?

[C]

Yeah, I'm working on a score for a film with the director that I love. I never like to say the what it is because I'm like, what if I get fired and I have an egg on my face? A bunch of movie things, some music, and then this book has sort of made me fall in love with DJing a bit again. The only thing is, like, I have, like, tinnitus on a level that I've never had before. When I wrote this book, there's all these things that, like, my back is all fucked up from carrying these crates of records. You know, I'm not 26 anymore, carrying them up and down flights of stairs at places like New Blue. So it's funny to really feel the joy of reliving the thing of this book with the harsh realities of what my body can manage at 49 years old. But, yeah.

[B]

Have you been working with Ray?

[C]

I have been working with Ray. We did a song together, Suzanne, that came out a few months back that I love, and I love working with her. Even though I spent most of my life in New York, I still am English. And to see somebody from England break through the way that she has this past year, it makes me excited. And she's just raw and she's so talented.

[B]

Any other artists that you are loving right now, or whether or not you're working with them?

[C]

There are. I do love the Tyler album. I mean, of course, this is a book about the 90s. He's obviously quite fascinated with the 90s and the 2000s, but I really like Don't Tap the Glass. It's a good album.

[B]

Maybe. Last question. But you write also about the DJ's existential nightmare of seeing some earnest chump approaching the DJ booth. And you just know they're going to ask for, like, the dumbest song ever. Is there an award or something of the worst or most embarrassing song that someone has ever asked you to play?

[C]

Well, all through the 2000s, I don't think anybody knew that the 50 Cent Club, or half of the people didn't know 50 Cent song was called in the Club. So they would just come up to you and be like, can you play the birthday song by 50 Cent? That would happen a lot.

[B]

Thank you so much for being here.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

That's it for this episode of the Run Through. See you tomorrow. The Run through is produced by Chelsea Daniel, Alex DePalma and Stephanie Kariuki with help from Emily Elias. It's engineered by Pran Bandy and James Yost. It is mixed by Mike Kutchman. Chris Bannon is Conde Nast's Head of Global Audio. This episode of the Run through is brought to you by Bumble. I love seeing my friends get excited about meeting someone new. It is so much fun to help them pick a great first date outfit and location and then hear all about it over coffee the next day. There is nothing better than watching people find their perfect match and recently it feels like so many people I know have found their partners through Bumble. So mazel tov to Bumble and those finding people. Bumble is designed to bring people closer with updated features such as verification tools and advice hub and more in depth profiles helping to make dating a fun and empowering experience. So if you or one of your friends are looking to make a connection, download Bumble today.

[C]

From PRX.