Raised on the pulse of New York nightlife and driven by relentless hustle, DJ Louie DeVito turned a blue-collar upbringing into a global dance music career spanning Ibiza, Monaco, and beyond. This summer, he’s heating up the NJ dance scene with a packed slate of high-energy shows.

BY EMMA FLOYD

Before DJ Louie DeVito ever touched a turntable, he was pouring concrete. Brooklyn-born and Staten Island-raised, DeVito began his professional career as a construction worker in the early ’90s, but with rhythm in his blood, he spent whatever downtime he had glued to the legendary radio station Hot 97, absorbing everything New York City’s eclectic dance scene had to offer. It was there that he first heard Scott Blackwell and Franco Iemmello mixing on air, and he was immediately struck with inspiration.

It took nearly a year of hustle to land his first club gig. He started building a following across New York City, Long Island, and the Jersey Shore, developing a sound that danced somewhere between gritty underground and radio-friendly mainstream. Fellow DJs raised their eyebrows, but the audiences kept coming back. A mix show on WKTU broadened his reach beyond the club scene, but the idea that changed everything arrived when he decided to put his most popular club mixes on CDs and release them himself. The NYC Underground Party series moved millions of copies, earning him a Guinness World Record for the best-selling DJ mix compilation of all time and opening the door to the international circuit. DeVito was suddenly spinning in Ibiza, Monaco, Dubai, and Russia.

The Pacha Tour cemented his status. With clubs in New York, Ibiza, Rio, and Madrid, Pacha was as prestigious as it got in the DJ world, and his mixes for the brand landed multiple top ten albums on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic chart. Two decades in, he still holds down the NY/NJ circuit, bringing his big, soaring sound to packed houses across the tri-state. His latest release, the Afro House thumper “Heat On My Skin,” is currently receiving airplay around the world.

He’s bringing the beat to the Garden State again this summer, with several notable shows on the horizon. On June 28, he headlines a Sunday afternoon Classic House Experience at Jenks in Point Pleasant Beach, followed by the Sandstorm Festival at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park on July 11 and Pier 13 in Hoboken on July 25 (with a special live performance from Chris Willis). August brings the biggest stage of the run, Live Nation’s Beatstock at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel on the 15th.

DJ Louie DeVito  —  louiedevito.net