Needle Exchange: A DJ Questionnaire with Ben Tactic

By Matthew Singer

Years DJing: Seventeen years—almost half my life, which is crazy to think about. My first gig was playing drum-and-bass at a house party in Lawrence, Kan.

Genre: I follow a lot of different genres, but as of late I'm mostly playing disco, Afrobeat, house, garage, acid and jacking techno.

Where you can catch me regularly: Third Fridays at the Liquor Store for my party Spend the Night with my bud Graintable, and random weekends at Holocene for Love in This Club with Nathan Detroit.

Craziest gig: In 2002, I played an incredibly illegal warehouse party in downtown St. Louis. The organizers had broken into a space that was occupied by a bunch of squatters and just set up this rave. The act before me was playing Cattle Decapitation records while running around with a ski mask on and waving what I hope was a fake gun at everyone. The worst part was when he set an American flag that had been soaked in kerosene on fire, creating a huge fireball. Everyone thought they were gonna die. I got to play one record before about 40 cops showed up to bust it.

My go-to records: Midland, "Final Credits"; Fela Kuti, "Shakara" (Ossie's Bump Edit); Gunnar Haslam, "Overcomplete"; Mouzon's Electric Band, "Everybody Get Down"; Marlon D, "Jesus Creates Sound."

Don't ever ask me to play…: I don't have a huge problem with requests, but chances are if I'm in the middle of a hands-in-the-air disco set I'm not gonna play Drake for you. And no, DJs don't care if it's you or your friends' birthday.

NEXT GIG: Ben Tactic spins at Spend the Night at the Liquor Store, 3341 SE Belmont St., on Friday, Aug. 19. 9 pm. $10. 21+.

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