What was the first gig that you were paid for?

The first gig I got paid for in real $$ was in Boston, at a legendary underground club called "The Loft". It was in the mid-'80s and a great start for my career. This place was awesome - it was a members-only club with a wicked Richard Long sound system and crossover.

Did you consider your experience as a young DJ as an "apprenticeship" to your mentors? (and do you think that technology has taken some of the "poetry" out of DJing?)

Absolutely... from my brother, to the legends I mentioned before. Their ability to move the crowd with just two turntables was phenomenal. For me personally, 12'' vinyl is something I will always embrace. At the same time, I am a tech head so I love using new gadgets in my studio and for DJing. I use Ableton Live at the moment and just got Serato so I think it's wise to go with the flow in this business and be happy, because without this new technology we would still be carrying those heavy record boxes that sometimes didn't show up at baggage claim...

You moved from NYC to Miami in 1992. Why?

Particularly in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, guns and drugs were making life pretty dangerous so I decided to get away from it all for a while and moved to Miami. I've been here since.

Tell me about the Cleptomaniacs, your production/remix moniker with Brian Tappert of Soulfuric Records and Traxsource fame.

When I moved to Miami as a hungry young DJ (and somewhat producer), I was looking for a place to buy vinyl and came across a specialist store in Ft Lauderdale. The person hustling the most in the store was Brian and we got talking. In the beginning I rented his studio and at one stage he stopped charging me and we began working together.

The first projects we worked on (but not as Cleptomaniacs) came out on Bassline Records, AM:PM and Strictly Rhythm. We started working under the Cleptomaniacs moniker in the late '90s when we were doing a lot of sample tracks together.

I'd say we clicked at a very early stage. We both come from the New York/New Jersey area so we grew up with similar sounds. We produced under the Clepto moniker and traveled the world for a couple of years but other projects and Brian's dedication to launching and running Traxsource have kept us from being in the studio. Saying that, we're planning some new Cleptomaniacs projects for the future, so watch this space!

"All I Do" is such a beautiful song and I really think it did justice to the Stevie Wonder original. It was done again a couple of years ago by Jay-J and Julius Paap, and is still getting played and showing up on compilations. What is it about this song that first attracted you and has made it so enduring?

Thanks for the compliment! Stevie Wonder's original was huge when I was growing up and as time went on I always wanted to use the track in my sets as a more upbeat version of the original. Prior to the WMC in 2000, I pitched the idea to Brian for us to lay some drums over Stevie's original version and speed up the tempo. A couple of days before the conference started, we locked ourselves into the studio, came up with our interpretation of the track and the rest is history.

I think the part of our mix that really stands out and gets people hooked is the breakdown, which we decided to have right at the beginning of the track. Stevie's lyrics just hit the nail on the head and the track as a whole is just full of feel-good vibes, which I guess have made it such a timeless classic.

We wrote about your Trax for My Head EP back in March. Since then I noticed it crossed over and that a lot of Hip-Hop DJs as well as House Music purists love this. Were you surprised to see it embraced by such a diverse audience?

Really!? That's great to hear! The bottom line is, I try to make beats that rock the crowd and get people moving. I believe this is something music lovers from different scenes appreciate and can relate to, which I guess makes my sound unique and interesting for non-Househeads as well as members of our scene. House Music is about bringing people together and having a good time, so if my music does that, I know I am doing something right.