From Boston to New York, Steve Porter has evolved from record store clerk to New England rave DJ. Steve Porter was discovered by Chris Fortier when Chris heard a CDR of his productions in 1999. Chris quickly signed him to FADE Records. He began touring across the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia, Asia and Europe and has today a hectic schedule of national and international DJ dates.

Over the last six years, Porterhouse has amassed a collection of over 50 singles and 28 remixes under his name and the many aliases (Agent 001, HDF & Bons) used to suit the mood of the song. His myriad of tracks have been dominating dancefloors globally with Porterhouse finding its way into the record boxes of everyone from Sasha, Lee Burridge, Derrick Carter, Carl Cox, Sander Kleinenberg and Paul van Dyk. He currently is in the 5th year of a residency at RISE, the long-running and only afterhours club in Boston.

His sound is known to his fans as “Porterhouse,” an eclectic range of funked-up house beats with a techy-edge and twisted jams induced by his own re-edits and mixes that molds his DJ sets. He has just released his debut album “Homegrown” and we got in touch with Steve to get the latest.

“Music for your car, or while you're vacuuming, or if you're pre-partying”
You have just finished your new album "Homegrown" released on the FDS label (Sub label to FADE) - tell me a bit about the process in making the album - I understand it was produced over some time?
- The Homegrown project took just under a year to complete. I spent most of my weekdays between weekend gigs working on it so I always had the opportunity to road test freshly completed music. I didn't really have a set plan of where I wanted the tracks to fit in the album mix, but I was able to get a good idea of the energy of each tune while I blended them into my sets along with other music. After I had about 16 tracks completed, I looked at the group of music objectively and mixed them together just as I might as a DJ. It was quite a challenging yet entertaining project.
On the album we also find tracks like "Vodka Cranberries" that was released on NuRepublic and "Definite Form" on Sander Kleinenberg's Little Mountain Records that has been released - wasn't it a problem for you to obtain the rights to release the tracks on your album?
- All the labels involved with signing tunes off of Homegrown were aware of my plans to compile the body of work. They were all really cool with the idea and they still retain the rights to the singles.
You have made the album like a mix album - can you tell me about the background for this? - Do you see the album as a listening album or a going out album?
- I see Homegrown as music for life experiences. Music for your car, or while you're vacuuming, or if you're pre-partying. The very reason I got into electronic music is for its classical nature, music that was just there with you, almost like a teddy bear. Homegrown was my attempt to soundscape energetic music with the hope that it can be there for anyone's everyday applications.
What are your feelings about the album - now it's done and released?
- It serves as a book mark, a point of reference for me to expand my art further. As with any project I do, it's easy to see the blemishes in the rear view mirror. How you would have done things differently, been more of this or less of that. I'm glad to have this album to refer to, it's a yearbook and looking back in 20 years I'll be able to see where I've come from.
“Porterhouse is a capsulation of everything dance music”
In 2004 producers like Matthew Dekay and you made a name for yourself - When I listen to your music - it's very uplifting - I feel that you have put the melody back into house music. Tell me about your sound.
- Expanding myself melodically is what challenges me most. I feel that rhythm is much more instinctive, something that has always been there for me. I love pushing my personal boundaries of notation, it really gives me a sense of composition. I'm a fairly upbeat, optimistic, and light hearted person so I'd say that my music tends to reflect that. Melodic and funky music is where I thrive, but who knows, maybe some demons will come along to shed some darkness in the studio some day.
How would describe your sound - it isn't typical east or west coast music? Your fans call it "Porterhouse"?
- My sound stems from the diverse crew of music friends and family I have. I don't discriminate against any type of music, and I'm probably one of the only producers out there that is in Mark Farina's AND Paul Van Dyk's record box at the same time. Porterhouse is a capsulation of everything dance music, you may not hear it all in one night, but I do my best to paint a rainbow of music throughout my DJ sets. I'm really open to everything.
What is your musical background and where do you draw your inspiration from?
- I don't have much of a musical background beyond my career. I didn't play instruments nor did I ever take classes for music. I had friends who influenced me heavily along the way, as all friends do, but the music making process for me began slowly and technically thru recording burps into 8 bit Macintosh microphones and on into dabbling with 1996 shareware production programs. Humble beginnings.
- Inspiration is everything to me. It usually comes naturally to me if I take enough time off from producing, also hearing what my friends are up to production wise is always a driving force. If I have something to keep pace with production wise, then I'm usually inspired.
What did you do before Chris signed you to Fade in 1999?
- I delivered pizza, worked odd jobs, all while perusing DJing and production. I graduated from high school in 97'

"The market has become flooded with DJ Joe Shmo mega mixes in the last few years”

How do you decide on what to remix? And are you offered many projects?
- I listen to see if I can compliment the original piece of music with an original sounding remix. It's all about how you can play off of what has been done before, adding to the entire package. I receive a pretty consistent flow of offers to do remixes and I'd say that I accept most of them, as long as time allows.
Do you approach a remix differently from an original track by Steve Porter?
- It depends on the criteria that the label has. Many times labels simply hand me over the parts and allow me to do my thing, which is nice. But there are many cases where revisions are made, and a common ground is met between what I was going for and what the label ultimately had in mind. Labels sometimes have a pre-notion as to how I might approach a remix, so we emphasize to labels ahead of time that we're interested in taking some experimental liberties.
You have also released under different alias like Agent001 - how come?
- Aliases are an easy way for me to step out of my skin, be it working with friends or side projects on my own. Music is very imaginative, and when you have an imaginary name thoughts tend to flow in mysterious ways.
Are you planning on doing other tracks with John Graham (Quivver)?
- We don't have any plans thus far, but we always have a blast together. He's one of my favourite people around.
How do you see the compilation marked?
- Compilations are a great platform for producers to become noticed though it seems the market has become flooded with DJ Joe Shmo mega mixes in the last few years. I think we're seeing DJs now taking more control of how they edit and mix records as to stand out more in the ever so more competitive market.

“Going to the record store, shopping for music anywhere for that matter, is a job”
As a DJ is it hard for you find records - and are there a specific style or labels that you go for?
- It's always hard to find records that I like, and I shuffle thru labels so quickly I couldn't name you one in particular that I gravitate to. I usually scope out everything from trance to house to breaks and beyond......going to the record store, shopping for music anywhere for that matter, is a job.
I understand that you have a residency at RISE in Boston - tell me about that and the US club scene - and how it has developed over the years?
- I'm proud to have had the Rise residency for 5 years now and I think my Friday night there has been an excellent example of how the club scene has progressed. In our early days it wouldn't be strange to see the dance floor filled with glowsticks but a lot of the negative raver clichés have left for a more mature 9-5 night life crowd. Dance music just seems to be more imbedded in our society now, more acceptable and thus more available. You don't have to travel to the outskirts of town to have a good event. Concerts and clubs have replaced raves.
You also had the pleasure of touring with Sasha and Sander Kleinenberg - tell me about that experience.
- It's an enormous growing experience to play in front of such audiences at their shows. It's a bigger sense of communication thru music and obviously wonderful exposure to play with these guys. Experience that most certainly takes you confidently forward.
What does the future holds for you - release etc.?
- I have another album that I'm working on right now, and I hope to have it done by the end of the year. I may release a DJ mix compilation, maybe start a Porterhouse mix series of sorts..... for comedy. Right now I'm in the middle of the tour and just handling a few remixes here and there. Looking forward to hitting the studio hard at the end of the summer.
Thanks to Steve Porter for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to us and thanks to Betty Kang for arranging the interview.
Interverview by: Christian Almind Steve Porter website
(C) Copyright Clubbing Magazine 2001-2004