RB Exclusive Interview: DJ Tranzit – The Man Behind New Years Eve’s Best Afterparty, Afterglow

With all the hum and buzz that Decadence itself has been getting, it’s important to look at all the surrounding events that will be taking place because of it. From hotel packages and discounts, to day time activities in between the event, and even the events that will continue for those who want to party until the sun comes up! This week we take a look specifically into Afterglow, the afterparty that will be taking place until 9 am the night when Decadence ends. We got a chance to talk with the big man on top, DJ Tranzit and see how Afterglow has evolved from a simple apartment complex get together to a full blown event hosted by Relentless Beats.

Before we go ahead and dive into questions about Afterglow and the event itself, why don’t you go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and your history with the Arizona dance music scene?

Wow, where do I begin lol… Well, my name is DJ Tranzit and Im a DJ/Producer here in Arizona specializing in all things House Music. I started DJing in 1997 and started throwing my own parties at clubs, and warehouses in the mid 2000s. I was lucky enough to move to Arizona with my turntables and a few crates of House records in 2003 when the rave and club scenes were really gaining lots of steam out here. I held down residencies at places like Club Freedom in Tempe and played loads of guest spots at nights like Batucada for Senbad and Pete Salaz. Around that same time I was constantly playing underground warehouse parties for production companies like Be A Kid, Flock Ent, DTS, Outside World to name a few. Eventually I landed myself in Old Town Scottsdale after Freedom did its final party sometime around 2004. At that time the scene started to shift from tempe over to Scottsdale and I started playing a few venues in Old Town including Sanctuary/Myst, Axis Radius, E4, and Cream Nightclub. At that time I was also playing weekly on the radio on an all dance music station called Energy 92.7FM. Yes, there was an actual FM station that played nothing but dance music 24/7 out here. Sad it’s not around anymore, but I get my radio fix monthly now on Live 101.5 FM every 3rd Saturday of the month for “House Party Radio”.

How was it that you got started with Afterglow and where did the idea stem from originally?

After making a name for myself on the airwaves and both in the underground and club scenes, I started to host some of my own nights in Old Town and ran a night called “Switch Wednesdays” at a place called Cafe Carumba. I had a really nice run with the night for a year or so, and eventually moved the night to a place called Pussy Cat Lounge, now known as Cake Nightclub. The night took off from there and each week the party spilled over to my apartment for after-hours fun. Needless to say, my apartment complex wasn’t thrilled with these late nights and early mornings so I decided to pitch an after hours idea to Pussy Cat Lounge. Since no other venues in Old Town did any after hours parties at that time, the idea really caught the attention of the management and Scottsdale’s first New Years Eve after hours party was born.

Being that this is an afterparty for a New Years Eve event, what type of atmosphere do you try to create and how do you achieve that?

The original concept of the party was to create a whole different environment separate from what everyone just got done raging to for the past 5 hours. Everything from the music to the decor and the vibe had to be different. We even went down to making sure the entire staff was dressed in different costumes and attire for the party. I also wanted to try and program as much dance music into the party and eventually take the crowd into a nice deep underground vibe until the sun came out with non stop music the whole time from 3am-10am. This was the tricky part though… having done Old Town for so many years, and being that it was New Years, I wanted to make sure we didn’t scare anyone off. Not at least until the party got under way and there was no way anyone was leaving. So to do this, I had to get creative with the lineup of djs, and I always started the party off a bit watered down by inviting some of the biggest Old Town DJs who played open format to come start playing right before doors opened, so if you were standing in line, you were thinking you were going back into another raging mainstream party lol. Little did they know, two hours into the party the vibe and music was about to flip. It was a very risky move, but it worked and eventually we didn’t have to do that anymore as the years went by and the party started gaining popularity.

Are there any trademarks of Afterglow that you have kept consistent over the years?

Yes, a good sound system has always been a major priority for us. Since day one we have made sure to provide the best listening experience for the audience. We take extra measures to make sure we provide a good system for the listeners as well as the DJs. I think its very important to hear this music on the right sound system to get the full experience and to truly understand it. As far as decor and production, we started decorating the parties with loads of black lights and hanging lots of glow sticks from the ceiling at some of our first parties. Over the years we have switched things up and with bigger budgets we were able to do some crazy stuff with disco balls and cargo netting over the past couple years. We also always encouraged everyone bring sunglasses to the party. At one point in time we even gave discounts for having your shades on when you came to the party.

So last year was the first year you offered 3 rooms of music, did you ever envision Afterglow to be at the point where it is now?

Over the years we’ve done the parties in Old Town at single room venues with one DJ booth. At that time we usually wanted to keep the vibe intimate and underground so we tried to use venues that were along those lines. Some of the best parties I’ve DJed at and partied at have been smaller venues where the DJ was able to connect with the audience on a personal level. Afterhours is a very different beast, and creating the right vibe and feeling can make or break it. I honestly never thought the party would get to this level, at the time, I was just trying to have a place for me and my friends to party for after-hours without having to invite the whole city to my place lol. We’ve had to move venues multiple times throughout the years to accommodate for the amount of growth the party has gained, but even though we are now hosting it at Rawhide, and offering 3 different rooms, we work hard to make each room have a different and intimate feeling. A lot of this influence comes from my rave/warehouse days when I would throw illegal warehouse parties all over town in the mid 2000s. Some of the craziest times of my life lol.

Since Decadence itself has gained so much attention we can assume that Afterglow will as well, should any of the first timers know anything about coming to Afterglow?

Yes, first and foremost: get your presale tickets or risk standing in line in the freezing cold lol. I tell everyone this every year, and it never changes other than it getting colder and colder each year lol. I know a lot of people tend to “play it by ear”, but I say it again and again.. don’t leave it up to chance.. you’re just gonna end up going home and sitting on the couch staring at the wall wishing you stayed and kept partying lol. Secondly, we do another NYE style countdown when the bar reopens at 6am, so be prepared as soon as you see the countdown begin at 5am and get yourself a spot at the bar before it gets flooded with thirsty people. Oh… and most importantly.. don’t forget your SUNGLASSES! The sun is brutal at 9am when you get out of the party 😉

Over the years, I’m sure you’ve experienced lots of growth, but a lot of times growth comes from struggle. What have been some of the challenges you’ve faced through this event?

We’ve definitely had our share of hurdles when it comes to this party. I’m not even sure if we had the “OK” from the city for our first few years lol. I think one of the hardest things that we had to deal with before moving the party to Rawhide was having to reset the club at 2am and trying to reopen the club again at 3am. Since we try so hard to create this whole new environment for the party, this meant that we had to redecorate and setup before we opened the doors again. The entire club staff had to clean, sweep, and wiped down the entire club all while we were in there trying to setup decor, production, and get everyone into costumes and outfits. All this had to be done in 1 hour, because if you have ever been outside on New Years, you know how cold it gets. It’s FREEZING! So, knowing that we couldn’t risk having people try to go home and then return again, we wanted to make it as easy as possible by closing and reopening in that single hour. We would literally go in the venue weeks in advance and just practice setup and time ourselves to make sure we could get it done in that small window. Each part of my team had to know exactly what their job was and everyone had to work like a well oiled machine. I used to enlist a bunch of my friends to help with setting up the decor when we first started throwing these parties, but watching my drunk friends hanging off of ladders, and stringing glow sticks while trying to keep their balance was making my blood pressure rise lol. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy lol. I’ve been lucky enough to have some great support form the very first party. Without the help of some of my friends and support from the club and staff… none of these parties would have been possible. There’s so many small little things that come with trying to organize a party like this that not many people even realize.

Where do you see Afterglow going from this point on?

Who knows… the sky’s the limit! We have some big surprises for everyone and its looking like this years party will be the best one yet, the party just seems to continue to get bigger and better each year. Next year will be our 10th annual so you know we gotta go big, but this year will be a nice pre cursor to whats to come. I’m thankful I can continue to throw one of my favorite parties of the year on the biggest night of the year!

Now that you know, you’ll be sure to want to listen to our home boy DJ Tranzit’s advice and get those presales as soon as possible! Tickets can be found right here, and additionally don’t forget to follow our man Tranzit on all of his social media so you can stay up to date with any music or news as it comes out!