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jon cutler
A rising star puts the “class”
in classic house.
Words: rob geary photo: self-portrait
Brooklyn has always loved to dance,
whether it’s disco, hip-hop, rock, or
the sometimes-ignored streak of house
in the borough. DJ and producer Jon
Cutler belongs in the last camp, spinning
smooth-yet-relentless deep house
that calls to mind the soulful, funky
disco that spanned the city in the ‘70s.
While his 12”, “It’s Yours,” is a bona
fide house classic–still getting played
three years on and even mashed up
with Usher’s “Yeah” by an anonymous
white-label bandit–Cutler came to
house almost by chance.
“I hung out in all the clubs, I knew
all the guys there who kept pushing me
towards the house side,” he recalls. “I
was doing some DJ stuff in the neighborhood
and it went from there. I was
playing everything back in the day–hiphop,
reggae, all that stuff. When I
started doing the production in ’96, I
just started running towards house.”
Cutler’s love of house manifested
itself in his Distant Music label, formed
the same year he got behind the mixing
desk. The label’s been quiet in the
past year as Cutler engaged in jet-set
touring and released 12”s for labels like
Nervous and Milk ‘N 2 Sugars; no
fear, Distant’s now on its 30th release
and back with a banging compilation
called Planet. And the excitement of
dropping his own tunes in his trademark
diva-laced mixes has got Cutler
back in the swing of production. “It’s
a love and hate thing with traveling,”
he confesses. “But the thing with
DJing [is] when you run into a guy
where you know his records, you just
always seem to hit it off. There’s a
family community in it. Now I know
the majority of the [international DJs
and producers] around the world,
and the ones I don’t, when we play
together it just takes like a half an
hour before you’re bonding.”
When DJs congregate, the talk
naturally turns to records old and
new and Cutler flies the flag of the
‘70s, both in the mellow keys and
soul vocals shot through his tunes
and the dusty vinyl on his stereo.
“I try to bring the most pumped
stuff but still on a soulful vibe,” he
explains. “I still haven’t gone past
the point of just totally banging
it out. I listen to all the ‘70s stuff:
Barry White, Crown Heights Affair,
Chic. I was always drawn toward
them–[but now it’s] for different purposes–for
arrangements. Beat-wise,
I’m always listening to the classics.”
Planet: A Distant Music Compilation is out now.
www.distantusa.com
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