Name, Location, What You Do:

Greg Caz, Brooklyn (Formerly Queens), DJ/music writer

Influences:
I’d be hard-pressed to name any particular influences as a DJ. I will say that I was inspired by what guys like Gilles Peterson were doing in London.

Favorite Records at the Moment:
Hmm…favorite records right now? Current releases or just in general? My life is a flood of records I’m always adding to. Lately I seem to always be playing “Space Circus” by Return To Forever and a bunch of tracks off Roy Head’s “Same People” album. And the new Arthur Verocai album is really nice too.  My favorite album of 2017 is “Sintetizamor” by João Donato & Donatinho.

Best Digging Story:
I have a great many digging stories. The most recent one involves a $1200 African-spiritual-jazz record I found…among my MOM’S records!

Favorite Mix and Why. Any Genre, Any DJ.
Without really naming any specific ones, I used to LOVE buying those almost-weekly sound-system mix tapes from reggae shops in Brooklyn and Queens back in the day. Stone Love and Stur-Gav were two particularly reliable sound systems for that.

LP, 12”, or 7” format?
All three are part of my life, obviously, but I’m largely an LP guy. Always have been.

Junk Food You Can’t Live Without:
I used to be a lot more into junk food than I am now. I guess we all were as kids. There’s a 24-hour deli by my subway stop that makes the most mouth-watering $5 cheeseburger that crushes any of the trendy expensive burgers people line up for elsewhere.

Most Memorable Gig Played:
Wow. Just one memorable gig? Maybe the time I was rocking the house alongside the esteemed Patrick Forge in London while the hottest Brazilian girl was sticking her tongue way down my throat and making out with me throughout the whole set…and she vanished the second I was done and I never even got her name. Packed dance floor and Japanese trainspotters peeping every record I was playing the whole while.

Record That Never Leaves Your Record Box:
The record that never leaves my box has changed a lot through the years and it also depends on the genre since I play so many different ones. Years ago I pressed up a limited EP of non-vinyl-available heat with, among other things, a mashup of 50’s “In Da Club” a cappella over a samba groove. That’s still in my box more often than not.

Shout Outs, Last Remarks, and Gig Info:
Shout out to my longtime Brazilian Beat partner Sean Marquand and all who used to work at the old Black Betty, and also to the whole Nublu family. I still play at Nublu every Wednesday and also some other nights, and I’m bringing back Brazilian Beat at a new venue, Our Wicked Lady, in Bushwick every other Saturday on their rooftop.

Dig Deeper!