I came across an article from a magazine called The Face from September 1986, when the Chicago producers began getting a lot of attention. At the end, the reporter asks you how long you can keep doing this "before people get bored", and you reply, "I'd say about the next 20 years." It's now exactly 20 years later. How do you feel about that?

Surprisingly, they're not bored yet! But it still hasn't taken off to where I think it can, where it could and should.

Why do you think that is?

That's a good question. I don't know, I'd say that early on, part of the reason was so many of the people involved in House Music were too smart for their own good. They were more worried about protecting their own interests - myself included. We were more interested in making sure no one was taking advantage of us instead of realizing the value in being exploited. I think that's where the hip-hop genre really leapfrogged us. In the early days, in the '80s, hip-hop and House were side-by-side. It could have gone either way. The hip-hop artists were smart enough to sign on the dotted line without asking a lot of questions. It was "Fine, exploit me. Let's go. Let's make a record. Exploit me worldwide, make it commercial."

The House artists - again, myself included - we had reservations. We were like, "Why are you going to get 20%? I did all the work." Hindsight is 20/20, and we should have been more open and let it be exploited.

Now it's a little late. Now it's been exploited without us. Chicago created the dance music that's going on. Just as Chicago killed Disco music, Chicago re-invented it as House Music. And now you've got Justin Timberlake coming out now with "Sexy Back" - clearly, clearly a House song - and they're promoting it as "a combination of club music with funk and rock'n'roll"!

I think for us to go forward, we got to break this through video. We've got to break this to the youth, because we're gettin' old. We go out to clubs occasionally but we're not the clubgoers of today and we need to make it attractive to youth. Video is a big part of that. We've got two really good special features on the DVD: one is a music video we did for Cassioware with almost a hip-hop-type theme. We didn't just do him singing. We gave him a little bling, had a few women around. We also have Rawkshow in a special feature. They're actually from San Francisco and they do more of the electronica, more with computers to enliven it into more of an audio/video show. It's going to take those sorts of things to make it go forward and bring kids into it, because right now there's nothing really attractive for the kids in House Music, except for the feeling if they get into it. There's just so much that's more attractive for them in hip-hop. It's the bling! [laughs] We're still a culture that's very much attracted to the bling.

On the subject of where House Music is today, I have to ask you your thoughts as a performer at this year's SummerDance.

Oh God . . . Bryan, don't kill me for this! [laughs] I was rather disappointed by the changes in venue. I think it caused a lot of confusion because people didn't know where it was going to be and when it was going to be. It used to be every Wednesday on Michigan Avenue by Harrison. The 'Heads knew where to go and that they'd hear some good House Music. By changing it around, I think they lost a lot of 'Heads because they couldn't plan for it or they couldn't find it.

With my particular event, I was a little disappointed. I thought it would be a benefit with it being at the Taste of Chicago, but it was really more of a detriment. Typically, I'm used to playing to crowds that are Househeads or at least music lovers in general, people who want to come out and have a good time. Taste of Chicago unfortunately isn't about that. It's about going out and wanting to get cheap or free stuff. It was really draining for me. I'm the kind of DJ - honestly, I feed off the crowd. When they're sending me energy, I can send it back. But when all they're doing is pulling and saying "Whatcha got? Ya got some free CDs? t-shirts? posters? Whatcha got?" And they didn't care what it was! If it was a "Time 2 Jack" record or a Pirates of the Caribbean t-shirt, they didn't care.

And it's not Bryan's fault. It's just what happens with growth. They outgrew the old location and the reality is that it's Michigan Avenue, there's a lot of people there who pay residential and business taxes and don't want people hangin' out there. Metro is a great location but it's not easy for people to get to, and it's indoors, and it doesn't cater to all ages and all people. In the past at SummerDance, I've seen homeless people come out and get their jack on. It's a beautiful thing. I've said it before and I'll say it again: House Music doesn't care about economics or race or gender or religion. House Music is dance music - it's pure, spiritual music.