New York City and Dance Music Have Lost an Icon: Rob Fernandez Remembered

On Friday, July 10th, everyone in the dance community had to say their goodbyes to a true icon in the industry. The legendary nightlife promoter, the director of Pacha NYC, the King of New York, Rob Fernandez has passed away due to heart difficulties. Fernandez was one of the most influential human beings in the New York City nightlife scene, and it is a true shame to say goodbye to such a dominant figure.

Fernandez has never been behind the curve. With the amazing ability and talent to stay with what was hip, what was cool, what was the current trend, Fernandez was able to make a name for himself by crafting parties that had a sense of originality to them. While doing this, he remained very humble, inviting, and considerate toward everyone around him that he worked with and built relationships with. It is clear from a number of the twitter shout outs from some of the most prominent DJs in the business, what kind of effect Fernandez had on the industry and on these DJs’ careers. Talents like The Martinez Borthers, Seth Troxler, Gina Turner, Adventure Club, and Don Diablo, all took to social media to pay their regards to this tastemaker and grandmaster of nightlife.

ROB FERNANDEZ, A NEW YORK NIGHTLIFE LEGEND. RIP

However, Fernandez did not always have the influence that he is known for today, he worked for it. Starting out as a doorman and leaving his impression on the minds behind the New York club scene, Fernandez proved himself by demonstrating to the public that he knew what they wanted. He used his keen eye for upcoming trends to cater to an audience unaware of what to expect. By creating a number of long-running and immensely popular parties such as those from DJs Erick Morillo and Danny Tenaglia, Fernandez painted the picture of the New York Underground scene.

From there it was all uphill. The Underground scene in New York was huge within the dance music community, but as we all know, eventually electronic music became bigger than anyone expected. Anyone but Rob Fernandez that is. Fernandez seamlessly made the transition to a larger scale dance music industry. Having been the reason for festivals like Electric Daisy Carnival making its way to New York and various shows with some of the biggest name headliners in the business at venues like Central Park, Fernandez maintained the values he held so close within the electronic music underground and brought them out for the rest of the world to embrace.

We now say goodbye to a legend, but his legacy lives on through the lives he influenced, the clubs he built, the shows he made possible, and the music he held so dearly. Goodbye Rob and thank you for all of your contributions.