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Dimitri From Paris
Mssr. Yerasimos on being the resident DJ at the Playboy Mansion
By Dave Wedge
del.ico.us
reddit!
While most testosterone-fueled schlubs only dream of partying at the Playboy Mansion, throwback disco overlord Dimitri from Paris set out with a calculated plan to not only get himself past the iron gates but right into Hef's DJ booth. The ingenius plot was hatched shortly after Hef split from his last wife. The Greek born, French raised DJ/producer ran into some Playboy suits while spinning at a club in South Beach during the Miami Winter Music Conference a few years back. Little did Dimitri know, the chance meeting would change the course of his career.
"We just talked about the Playboy Mansion and how Hugh had started throwing parties again because he just got divorced," Dimitri told the Dig in a recent interview from his Paris studio. "It was kind of funny at the time." After the South Beach soiree, Dimitri recorded his first Playboy Mansion disc with the intention of getting Hef to invite him to play his Hollywood pad. The plan worked. Dimitri threw a launch party for his first Live at the Playboy Mansion at the storied estate. He's since become Hef's de facto house DJ and has released two more compilations paying homage to the retro vibe of the legendary softcore palace.
"It's like Boogie Nights. It looked like something out of that," Dimitri said, describing his first foray into Hef's domain. "Everything there is stuck in the past. You feel like you're getting into this Austin Powers/James Bond scene." The 44-year-old DJ, born Dimitris Yerasimos, threw himself completely into the surreal surroundings, donning a bathrobe and retiring to the "grotto" hot tub after wrapping his set. "The whole mix of that was pretty extraordinary for me," he recalled. "You didn't know if it was real or you were living in a movie. I really felt like I was going back in time. It was bizarre."
Anyone who caught Dimitri's set in Boston at Underbar in the fall can attest to the undeniable allure of his slinky cocktail disco. Those who missed that party get another chance to marinate in his martini-soaked mixes when he returns to the Theater District ultra-lounge this Saturday night. Since his first Playboy gig, Dimitri has embraced his inner Diggler, seducing the electronic music world with disco-lounge sets that meld classic tracks with the new wave of French dance music. His most recent two-disc offering, Return to the Playboy Mansion, includes a "Party" disc packed with loungey house from the likes of Jamiroquai, French soul/electro vocalist Mani Hoffman, '70s one-hit wonders Gary's Gang and vintage diva Lorraine Johnson. While the second disc, titled, yes, "Sexytime", is packed with bedroom jams that would get Jackie Moon's loins roiling, from a wide range of artists including Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White and obscure '80s Dutch band Blue Feather.
"I just wanted to capture what would be the vibe of this fantasy party at the Playboy Mansion," he explained. "The heyday of the Playboy Mansion was the '60s and '70s. I visualize a very disco-y atmosphere. The whole place is very stuck in the 70s." And when he's choosing his songs, he's keeping the love generation in mind and doing his part to help keep the world populated. "I've always had a lot of fans, clubbers coming into the DJ booth and talking to me, telling me, 'Me and my girl made out to your music,'" he said. "People took it as love-making, background music. So I just kind of wanted to put together all these guys who are responsible for making the world a more crowded place."
DIMITRI FROM PARIS
SAT. 3.29
UNDERBAR
275 TREMONT ST.
BOSTON
617.292.0080
9:30PM/21+/$40
UNDERBARSUPERLOUNGE.COM
