'I grew up in Brooklyn. For high school, I went to LaGuardia—the Fame school—for fine art. Art eventually turned into design, and I went to Parsons for that, which is when I met Jeremy Scott and Pablo Olea, who’s the head of Jeremy’s PR, just by chance. They hired me once I graduated, and it was like a dream come true because I so admired their work. At that point, I'd already started DJing. I got my first set by accident—a girl who was a host at Avenue heard me play some music at a girl's birthday party off my iPod and she asked me if I'd like to try a set at a club. I had no idea what that meant…I didn’t even know how to DJ! It was such a completely different language to me, and I was so nervous. But they kept asking me back. I was 18 at the time—not even old enough to be there. It was wild. I went from making no money to getting paid $150 for two hours and getting wasted for free. It just seemed like the perfect thing.
It’s funny because I was so scared of getting caught going out when I was younger. Everybody in high school who was cool was going to The MisShapes. I was way too scared to even try to go and get a fake ID. I’m a worrier—a Virgo just worries—and I always figured they'd stop me at the door. Now I’m good friends with Geordon [Nicol], Leigh [Lezark], and Greg [Krelenstein], and I know that everyone was underage...I'm just eight years too late. I did go to Goldbar on Broome Street when I was in high school, though. It’s still open. If you knew the right people, they wouldn’t even care. When you were that young, in that club, you were kind of on your best behavior because you don’t want to get caught. Now I DJ as MAZURBATE for Jeremy and all over New York and a bit internationally. I also do PR for Jeremy. My career has been a little bit of a surprise, but everything I do, I'm passionate about. Jeremy's in LA, but they let me stay in New York, which was important to me. In New York I can balance everything.
PRE-PARTY ROUTINE
I usually do a mask to get ready for a night out because it always relaxes me. The Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Mask is the secret that’s not-so-secret anymore. When I’m feeling that I need to really cleanse, I mix it with apple cider vinegar instead of water—it’s intense and not for everyone. Then I do one of those Korean face masks or some brightening one. There are so many brands, they’re kind of interchangeable to me. The Boscia Luminizing Black Mask hardens, and then you just peel it off, which is fun. And then another one I like is the Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. The most hydrating one is this Black Seed Total Anti-Aging Mask Sheet for Men one from The Face Shop which is right around the corner from my house. I’ll do masks six-out-of-seven days of the week. To wash my face, I like to use a scrub. I have multiple, but the Clinique Exfoliating Scrub is my favorite because it’s grainy, so you can really feel it working. Whenever I get acne, I put toothpaste on it because that's the only thing that works. My friend told me that when you get a bad cystic pimple, you should cut a potato slice and leave it on overnight with tape over it—the potato turns black, and all the toxins are absorbed. It works.
After that, I’ll shower and start working on my set. That’s how I relax—I put my headphones on and start listening to music, probably two hours before I go out. My music library is probably over 10,000 songs, and I always try to go through every single song—just to see it and relive something...so that takes a while. Right now, my most played song is ' CoCo.' The one that’s like, 'I’m in love with the Coco.' It’s so funny—it’s by O.T. Genasis, and it’s this really hardcore hip-hop song, but it sounds like a joke which I think is what rap is doing these days.
STYLE
Outfit is always per occasion. Comfort is definitely not a priority for me because if it looks good, it doesn't matter. Madonna, ‘89 to ‘95—that’s what I’m feeling like right now. Or Gwen Stefani. I do a lot of fake accessories, fake nose rings, my necklaces, and I have a thing for sweatbands on my wrists. I joke that I don't even know what basics are. My style goes from Jeremy Scott, to Moschino, to Dior by John Galliano—anything kitschy and gimmicky. They all do me so well.
HAIR
My hair has been every color—most recently blue. The other day, I just put on some Manic Panic Semi-Permanent Hair Dye in Cotton Candy Pink until it dried. The pink is nice because it doesn’t bleed as much. When I would go out with longer hair, I would blow dry it first so it would be huge, and then I would usually slick it back into a ponytail or a high bun. It used to be down to my shoulders, but all the damage has made it dry, and I got so frustrated with it that I just shaved it off. I’ve always wanted thin, pin-straight hair, like Olivier Theyskens—or even Kurt Cobain's kind of stringy, thin hair—but my hair’s so thick and wavy. My mom’s from Peru and my dad’s from Poland, so my hair’s curly-wavy. Mane 'n Tale has made it really manageable though. I've been using it for three years, partially because the bottle is so huge. Right now, I'm just using the conditioner because my hair is fried and I don't want to wash it as much. But I do think I’m going to bleach it again soon.
MUSIC & VENUE
When I’m DJing or just going out for myself, I like everything to be super high energy. I always want to dance. I don’t go out to meet dudes or meet people, I’m going out to dance with my friends and have a good time. Disco is the perfect music for that...I wish I could just play disco during all of my sets. It's disappointing because all the disco dance spots in New York are weird and aren’t really letting go of the past. But it’s the sound I grew up with! My mom and dad were listening to disco and then merengue, salsa, and then my cousin was listening to Ace of Base, La Bouche, and all this freestyle stuff. People think it’s corny, but it’s not. It’s just fun—ABBA is great. My favorite venues to DJ are actually parties. It used to be venues but now it’s turned into, 'who’s throwing the party,' and that’s it. I think DJing at Holy Mountain for Ladyfag has been one of the best ones that I’ve done so far. Also Alex Chapman’s Duh Friday's at Up & Down is really fun. I think those two are the funnest ones that I’m doing so far.
THE ULTIMATE HANGOVER CURE
This is worth a million dollars—when I go out I’ll take a vitamin B-complex. It’s the number one secret, and now I’m letting everyone know. You'll never get a hangover. B-complex flushes everything out, even after you’ve eaten a big meal—I try not to eat when I’m drunk, but when I do eat, it’s usually a taco binge from a taco truck to the point where I feel like I won’t ever want to eat again. But when that happens, I’ll take a B-complex and just feel light again. It’s fool proof, I’ve given it to everybody. You wake up the next day, and you feel fine. You just feel normal. You’re tired, but your head is not hurting.
After I take that—sometimes it’s before I go out, sometimes it’s when I get home—I try to drink a whole bottle of water, floss, brush my teeth, wash my face with my Clinique face wash again and then put Eucerin Intensive Repair Very Dry Skin Lotion. My skin is really sensitive, but when I use this, people tell me I’m glowing. And then I go to bed...I try to be careful about sleep these days. I'm fine with a couple hours, but I think I cherish it more now because I used to not sleep at all. I would just go out and get two hours or one hour and go to school and be brain dead, but I had so much fun doing it. I’ll still have fun doing it, but I know when something’s worth it—and not everything is. I remember I partied super hard once, two or three years ago at the Alexander Wang party, the one at South Street Seaport. It got beyond. I went to bed that night, woke up after two hours, and had to go to work—and the smell...I had to put on these fake glasses to try to hide my eyes, and everybody said I smelled like an open bar and Red Bull. I still had the Red Bull in me...it was so bad. [Laughs]'
—as told to ITG
Matt Mazur photographed by Tom Newton. Read more Top Shelf After Dark here.
