Don't you feel that they also like harder tracks sometimes?

They do, the black gay market is extremely tracky. They're almost borderline tribal. It's a double-edged sword: you're either playing hip-hop remixes or you're borderline circuit. You can't be in between. The only way we can go to a softer track is it has to be something that they know. They're not open like we used to be. Because the minute we heard a good song, we'd give it a chance just to feel it, because we never heard it before.

It's a really big difference in dealing with straight and gay. At a straight club with the Househeads, you could actually get away with playing new tracks and they'll accept it and embrace it. In the black gay market, you have to be really, really creative in how you sneak it in to them. Two of the biggest tracks that I have out right now are "Mary Mary" and "Mixdown". I wrote those tracks by looking at the response of the crowds at the Prophouse and seeing what instrument progressions made them move. I went back to my house and put them all together.

"Mary Mary" really became a staple in the gay market. It was being played in Atlanta, DC - all the hot gay clubs. All the key DJs had it. And then it branched out from there. When I finally released it, the week before the Winter Music Conference, it became the dominant song at the WMC.

How did "Mary Mary" come about?

I have a very strong gospel background. My family is very religious. I was actually going to be a priest. I went to a Catholic grammar school, Catholic high school and Catholic college.

But your lifestyle is not conducive to being a priest!

Oh c'mon, yes it is now! [laughs]

Were you still going to church while you were DJing? Isn't that sometimes a conflict?

No, because if you really look at it, House Music is church. A House party is church. The strongest songs that are in House Music are religious based and all about spiritual love. That's what House Music is. And that's why I know House Music is never going to die because it preaches a good message. I believe in the spiritual message of the music.

So how long did it take you to write "Mary Mary"?

Believe it or not, it took us two years to promote it the right way. That was all part of the promotions strategy. It was all planned.

But you've written music before...

I've written several things before!

...but none have been as big a hit as this.

None. What's ironic is that it took it to come out as "Grand High Priest" and not "Craig Loftis" to get the recognition.

Why is that you think?

I don't know, but what's really interesting is that I thought it would be a problem, and that everybody who knows "Grand High Priest" wouldn't know who Craig Loftis is. But when I look at my MySpace account, I get hits from all over the world and they all know that Grand HIgh Priest is me.

Where did you come up with that pseudonym?

It was given to me by Nu Bang Clan. I'm a member of the Nu Bang Clan, the Grand High Priest. The way that came about was the succession. Alan King is the Grand Sensei, who is the head of the Nu Bang Clan. Alan has been spinning longer than I have. When I was inducted, I was the second highest ranking. There are about twenty of us now. We're based all over the US. It actually started off as a joke when all these DJs would be talking on Deep House Page.