After last week’s Warm Up kickoff, you’d be surprised to hear that week two could bring the heat again. Luckily, though the weather was a few degrees cooler, the crowd and the performers were still on fire. New York–based label Long Island Electric System (aka L.I.E.S.) started the day off with two amazing electronic live sets by Professor Genius and Steve Summers, who got the crowd moving and grooving early. DJs Jeremie Delon and Ron Morelli served up little-known and rare tracks that proved to be obvious crowd-pleasers.

Next up, Detroit took over as Underground Resistance’s D3 blew the crowd away with an hour-and-a-half-long dance set that featured live saxophone and keyboards—a truly unique performance. Terrence Parker had the crowd getting down till the end, spinning up to four tracks at one time in a performance definitely worth phoning home about.

 

DeSean Jones of D3 was kind enough to speak with us about their performance:

MoMA PS1: It is rare to see dance music live, especially with instruments. How do you think this affects the dynamic between the performer and the audience?</strong>

D3: In D3, I think its safe to say that Mark Flash definitely spins tracks that will make you move regardless of what style you’re into. But when you talk about the dynamic between audience and performer, there has to be a common ground. Ultimately we’re all here to have a good time. Ya know people love seeing real musicians and people love to dance. So, from our perspective, we try to give the audience a thrilling experience with the visual and sonic additions to Mark’s set. Oftentimes the synergy between us and the audience is intensified because there is this unexpected element of live instrumentation and improv from Mark Flash, Jon, and myself.

MP: A lot of what you three do is improvised. You play so harmoniously together! Do you play mostly off each other or the audience?</strong>

D3: See, we never know what we’re going to play from one song to the next so we have to rely heavily on one another as well as feeding off of the crowd’s energy. It’s like this, Mark will surprise Jon and I by dropping some crazy track and then before you know it, we start creating melodies and adding effects in what not. So when the people see this and get hyped, then we get hyped off of the crowd energy, and so the vicious cycle continues.

MP: You are all clearly very talented at playing your instruments. How long have you been playing?</strong>

D3: I started playing saxophone when I was about 13. But I’ve had some great mentors coming up, mainly from Detroit trumpet legend Marcus Belgrave, and then after joining UR in 2007 I was mentored by “Mad” Mike Banks. In Detroit you learn music through the community elders, and I think me and Jon are fortunate to have access to such great life teachers.

MP: This was your first live New York performance together. Can we expect more?</strong>

D3: God willing, yes!!! We all had an exciting time in NYC and I want to thank MoMA and PS1 for hosting D3’s New York debut. At this point, let’s just hope that word gets out that D3 is the real deal. Represent Detroit!!!!

 

Coming up next week, Saturday, July 21:

Next week we’ve got quite a spectrum of dance genres. We’ll start the day off with New York party dons JDH and Dave P of Fixed, who are sure to start the day off with an eclectic mix of dance tracks. Next up, we’ll have DJ MikeQ, a New Jersey–based DJ and producer who combines traditional ballroom with new and old tech house.

To keep the ball rolling, New York rapper LE1F will take the stage. LE1F has produced beats for Das Racist and Spank Rock, and his recent mixtape Dark York has proved to the world that he is ready to do big things on his own.

Up next is Sepalcure, a collaboration between Brooklyn-based dance music veterans Praveen Sharma (Percussion Lab, Braille) and Travis Stewart (Machinedrum) who mix up dubstep, house, UK funky, and footwork. Check out this track and video from their 2011 self-titled album:

Finally, we’ll close the night out with a DJ set from a man who wears many musical hats: DJ, producer, experimental pop artist, and bandleader Matthew Dear. Check out his latest single:

 

As always, advance ticket holders avoid the lines. Get yours now. See you next Saturday!