American University
WASHINGTON – Vinny Barone is in the middle of his performance at the well renowned Washington club Abigail as he looks up and notices the entire crowd jumping at the song selection he has just made.
Barone, a 23-year-old American University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in health promotion and current Washington professional DJ, is known for playing many “deep house” tracks during his live performances at various clubs. Deep house is a genre that incorporates elements of percussion along with soulful vocals.
“College students don’t really appreciate the genre of deep house that much,” Barone said. “I’ve been trying to make it more mainstream, but people prefer popular tracks much more.”
Having been born and raised in Pittsburgh, Barone is accustomed to listening to deep house since Pennsylvania has a large electronic music scene. Barone also said that his parents had a large influence on him learning about deep house since that was their favorite genre while he was growing up.
During his days, Barone can be found being a health specialist for Aquila LTD, while spending the majority of his nights spinning the hottest tracks for college students at Washington’s most popular nightclubs.
While Barone has great appreciation for his current job as a DJ, he does not intend to make a full-time career out of the craft because it does not produce a steady enough salary.
Barone tries to incorporate as many genres as he can into his sets, but he feels as if popular club music has gotten much simpler over the years.
Barone said, “I started to mix back in 2013. The landscape of music has changed so much since my first live set, it has been really interesting to keep up with the new trends.”
Along with the musical trends having changed over time, Barone’s performance day rituals have also evolved since the first time he took the stage.
Before becoming an established DJ, Barone would take at least three hours before his performance to create the perfect set with the ideal tracks for the night ahead of him.
Barone said, “When I was first starting, I thought it was necessary to spend a while selecting your tracks for the night ahead. Now, I understand that the crowd is unpredictable every night so there isn’t much reason to prepare.”
Danny Welch, a professional DJ and Barone’s mentor, was integral in instructing Barone on how to become successful in the industry. Welch and Barone met each other through work two years ago at the Washington club The Gryphon after Barone had been the opening act for Welch.
After hearing Barone open for him, Welch wanted to begin working with Barone due to their shared taste in electronic music.
“I knew Vinny had a lot of potential,” Welch said. “He has basically the exact same musical style as me, I just needed to help him with the technicalities of the decks.”
Welch and Barone are still able to practice with each other weekly, and they often elect to play back-to-back at the same venue on the same night.
While Barone is confident in his song selection ability, he recognizes that it is a struggle for him to find well-known tracks that are remixed for the club. Since Barone believes that having exceptional track selection ability is the most important trait of a DJ, he has been working closely with Thomas Greenawalt to upgrade his abilities.
Greenawalt met Barone by approaching him during one of his performances at Washington venue St. Yves.
Greenawalt said, “I approached Vin that night because I had great respect for his abilities. He was having a killer set, and I wanted to see if he would be interested in using the tracks that I produce”
At first, Barone was reluctant to work with Greenawalt because he was in the early stages of his career and did not want to use underground tracks. After working with Greenawalt for a few weeks, Barone said that Greenwalt’s tracks were perfect for his performances.
Greenawalt provided Barone with tracks that were unknown by other Washington DJs, meaning that Barone’s crowds are constantly being serenaded with never before heard remixes to popular songs.
Barone is content with his current skillset, but he said that there is never a time where he is not thinking of improvements that he could make as a DJ.
“I’m happy at how far I’ve come through these past few years,” Barone said. “At the end of the day, I believe I have the best job in the world. That’s really all that matters.”