Do you have a formula for how to break in a new song?

Usually if I break in something new, if I'm really into the record, I'll set it up I'll play a record that they really know and that they really get off of, and then I'll play the new record after that. And that sets it up. And I might try it two or three times in a night - four or five times in a night, even.

How did you meet Mel Cheren and how did you hook up with West End Records?

I used to be part of a nightclub organization called Shelter - I was actually the financial guy for that. I used to do the operating and the managing. Timmy Regisford was the main DJ. How I got to spinning there was that when Timmy went away, I would try to fill in. Mel would come because he was a Garage head, and Shelter was the heir to the Garage throne in New York. And from there we just became friends.

He started West End in 1976. I didn't become a co-owner until 2002. Mel liked the productions that I did, and he thought that I was a fairly good businessman, so he invited me to be a part of it. He allowed me to buy 50 percent of the copyrights.

Not as much as one would think because my goal with a record company was not to make it a production label. I didn't want to turn West End Records into Blaze Records. I really wanted to find new talent and let them break. And some of the new talent is exciting, from Steal Vybe to Ian Friday to Manchild Black to even some of Chicago's finest, like DJ Pierre, have come through here. I'm excited to know that we put out music from those guys that helped their careers get going.

Do you scout for talent or do you find that they come to you now?

It depends. Sometimes you get solicited or sometimes you'll be in a nightclub, you're a DJ and people want their music exposed and bring it to you, and you hear it and go "Wow!"

That must be such a headache to have people always coming up to you, harassing you to play their music. How do you deal with that?

Well, I remember when I was them. That's what makes it wonderful. I really don't want the new producers trying to break in to have the same kind of struggle that I had when I would go to the Larry Levans or the big DJs of that time and try to at least speak to them. My goal is to make it easier for them.

I wanted to touch on a little bit about Blaze. How did you and Josh connect musically and who does what in terms of production?

Well Josh and I were introduced by the other partner in Blaze, Chris Herbert. We started recording in my bedroom. Literally, I would play drumbeat tracks off vinyl and Josh would sit there and play keyboards with the drumbeats. That's how we started. This was in 1984. From there it turned into wanting to emulate my heroes of the time which were Levan, Paul Simpson, Norman Harris, Earth, Wind & Fire. We just wanted to emulate our heroes.

Did you think you were going to blow up to be as big as you are now?

I don't care about that. I don't consider myself that big.

You are!

I don't think so! See, it's not my music. What myself and my partner Josh do... we're really just terminals. The music comes from the universe, from the cosmos. This is what we all really believe. And we just happen to be the terminal through which that music is passing. We're tools that the universe is using to present these messages, these lyrics, these melodies to the people. We're just the tools. We're not the creators of it. When we sit down to write, it's not like we're doing anything. We just allow our souls and minds to be open.