By ALEX VAUGHN
Cire Citron, the Creative Director behind Johnny’s Nightclubs, is a name that keeps coming up in conversation. Most interestingly, many people don’t realize he has a rather long history as alter ego DJ TPROMIX. We dug a little deeper to uncover the secrets of his success and how reaching a milestone twenty-five years behind the turntables feels.
Where did you get your start?
Wow, many moons ago, I was just a young boy with a fake ID trying to befriend a DJ at the largest club in Washington DC called Tracks.
I got really lucky one night and was asked to fill in for the VJ room. It was a very bumpy ride. I learned in front of people and fast!
From there, I moved to New York City and eventually played every major venue available. Hey, did you hear that the legendary Limelight Disco (former church turned nightclub) was purchased by IHop to become its new 24-hour Manhattan location in 2012… times have changed!
DJing in New York at all those big clubs in the magic era of house music, you must have a good story or two?
It was a great time period, so much uninhibited dancing. I do miss people going out to actually hear music they don’t know! We used to love that. I mean if I just wanted to hear the radio, I already have a radio. That’s not why I go out!
Being able to DJ for Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Bette Midler, Lil’ Kim, Mary J. Blige, Janet Jackson… I have been blessed.
And you have remixed for many big names as well.
Everyone from Arthur Baker and Beyoncé to Michael Jackson and Niki Minaj.
I even worked on a couple of TV/Film Project remixes for the Celluloid Closet, MAD TV, Star Wars, and the one that started it all, Wonder Woman. Yes, that remix was me.
I get emails and requests daily for one particular track. My mix of Masters At Work’s The Ha Dance. That one’s still getting sampled.
The list is long, I plan on uploading a lot of the really rare tracks to Sound Cloud soon for my fans.
What brought you to Miami?
Having such great success in NY with my MILK party, which ran for eight years and then Cuchifrito at SPLASH, which ran for six years under my helm and is still running as OCEAN, there wasn’t really a way to top myself. I started traveling back and forth to Miami and Fort Lauderdale, DJing at Coliseum here for a couple of years before I finally moved in 2005, did several events for Score, Sizzle and Space… I just love the weather. The winters in Manhattan can be brutal.
How did you get the coveted position of directing all of the Johnny’s boys?
(Laughs) I kept crossing paths with owner Sean David. It turned out, we have similar nightclub visions and work well together. It is a dream job in many ways, like things have come full circle. I do love DJing, but creatively I have always done all of the photography, graphics and advertisements for my events as well. It feels good when someone desires your participation in making their venue a success.
But you know what feels best? Seeing the vision become reality. We are very grateful that so many people are loving Johnny’s as much as we do.
Are you ready for your birthday parties?
Always prepared for a party… and in this case, three!
You can catch up with DJ TPROMIX and join him in celebration at the following events:
Thursday, October 20 at Torpedo in Fort Lauderdale for the six year anniversary of Tastee.
Friday, October 21 at Johnny’s in Fort Lauderdale for the 2DayBday part 1.
Tuesday, October 25 at Johnny’s in Miami for the 2DayBday part 2.
To find DJ TPROMIX on the web, facebook or twitter, just search “TPROMIX.” There’s only one!