David Mancuso and Colleen Murphy produced two volumes of the David Mancuso Presents The Loft compilation for Nuphonic (Volume 1 in 1999 and Volume 2 in 2000). At that time, writer Chris Menist travelled to New York City to interview David for a documentary Colleen hosted on XFM’s ‘London Xpress’. Until now, the entire interview has never been made available. Colleen has produced the interviews into two podcasts with music and we are pleased to present the first episode below. But first a bit from Chris…

"As a teenage music fan growing up in the UK, the various sub-cultures of New York had always loomed large, starting with early hip-hop from the mid-80s onwards. I started going to clubs more and my music taste broadened outwards, so to hear about figures such as Larry Levan and David Mancuso seemed inevitable. What drew me towards David's story though was the communal ethos of his Loft parties, as well as his care towards his music choices. The diversity of what got played also intrigued me, so in the summer of 2000 as the Nuphonic label was preparing a second Loft compilation, I jumped at the chance to write the notes. Looking for a new approach to what had been published already, we agreed a tour around the original sites where David had hosted his parties, with David discussing his memories and feelings as we went to each place, could shed a new light on this pivotal time.

I hadn't listened to these interviews again until relatively recently, and in retrospect it feels like something more akin to an oral history. It's funny hearing my slightly awkward 20-something self, trying to navigate his first trip to New York! What is captured below is the full unedited recording of the two afternoons we went around New York together, complete with David's recollections and interactions with people in the neighbourhoods, some of whom remember the parties. It holds a lot of happy memories which feels good to share with you all now.”

Chris Menist