New York's Keoki on Drugs, Death, Fame & Redemption

"Crystal Meth was probably the hardest drug to give up, because that physically got me. It wasn't hard to stop but for months and months after, I'd still fell 'icky', grouchy and depressed, I gained weight and was miserable."

Charming, charismatic and remarkably fresh faced and lucid, New York superstar DJ Keoki is a million miles away from the junkie casualty caricature he's sometimes been portrayed as in the press.

"The weirdest lies I've heard are reports that I've passed out on turntables, I've never done that, I was always on speed, you don't pass out on speed. I've even had people think that I'm tied in with the murder, that somehow I'm involved in that evil circle of monsters."

The murder he's referring to his ex-boyfriend Michael Alig's infamous slaughter of their drug dealer Angel Menendez, a tale recently immortalized in celluloid as Party Monster (Keoki's played by actor Wilmer Valdarrama). And as the film correctly depicts, the pair's 7 year romance had ended over 12 months before Alif finally crossed the line.

"During the period when I lost my friendship with Michael I wasn't in love with myself but rather the idea of myself," he suggests.

"I don't think you can truly love yourself when you're on drugs, it's not really possible. You can do all kind of things physically but it's not real love, you're actually hurting yourself because you're closing yourself down. I'm like a sponge; I can take everything in and absorb it but when I'm on drugs I can take things in but they don't stay, rather they rot me from the inside."

Keoki's chatting to Jonty Skrufff in the corner of a busy Bayswater pub, sitting next to his long term boyfriend Alfio.

"Fortunately I met my husband here, Alfio, who's been my rock, no pun intended," Keoki laughs, gesturing to his partner.

"He taught me to look in the mirror and really see myself. When I was fucked up on drugs, he wouldn't like me and treat me the way I wanted to be treated. It wasn't because he didn't like me, it was because he didn't like me on drugs. I'm a totally different person when I'm on drugs; I'm very selfish. Which is cool, I don't regret anything because if I hadn't been selfish I probably wouldn't have done any of the things that have made me who I am today. But I realise that life's a lot more fulfilling in other ways, that I didn't realise before."


Skrufff: Starting with your music, you were known throughout the 90s for playing hard four/ four house and techno, though both your new compilations (Kill The DJ and Keokiclash) are electro/ mash-up compilations, have you abandoned house altogether-

Keoki: "I've abandoned everything that's already been done, that same old DJ formula of build up, breakdown and trance out to washy synths. I'm too excited about what's happening right now with the return of vocals, melodies and songs with beginning middles and ends and I've recently realised that I'm right to have totally changed what I do. In America, though, I've had it easy because people almost expect not to know what to expect from me."

Skrufff: In practical terms, how did you do go about switching from house to electro-mash-up-

Keoki: "I started by completely changing my record box; I took everything out and started from scratch, and actually went to record stores again, listening to records and maybe buying two or three at a time, instead of 20, but knowing that those two or three are great records. It makes me feel like I'm 17 again, like I've just started DJing again, it feels fresh."

Skrufff: Do you feel a part of the whole electro-clash-synth scene, with your old associate Larry Tee-

Keoki: "Definitely, Larry Tee has always been in tune with everything that's happening and we've been friends for 16 years, we've always been around the same circle of friends. In New York City, it's rare that you have more than six or seven really good friends and Larry is one of them to me. We've evolved in the< Tags