JASON SNEAD, PETER RAUHOFER, & SUZANNE PALMER
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BO SHELL
| 10.11.2006
 
It may not be clear from his boyish looks and mild persona, but local producer Jason Snead is now a bona fide jetsetter.
From Miami and San Francisco to New York and Las Vegas, Snead, at just 21, hops cities like his target audience hops bars.
There’s a method to his madness. Snead’s collaboration with Star 69 records on his 2getha Productions debut in July with DJ Offer Nissim at the Woodruff grew into to a full-fledged, 13-stop national tour with the entire Star 69 roster at his disposal.
Atlanta’s leg of the tour features the founder of Star 69, DJ Peter Rauhofer and one of Rauhofer’s muses, singer Suzanne Palmer, at Jungle on Oct. 14.
“The first go-round is always harder, getting people to know and trust you,” says Snead, who’s also a senior at Georgia State. “I have enough friendships in Atlanta to get in with them. The other clubs we're going to -- they're going to have a crowd without us, so it's about convincing them we're valuable.”
There can’t be too much convincing involved when Rauhofer is on the bill.
First spinning in Europe for 10 years then hitting the States in the early '90s, Rauhofer built a name for himself under the moniker Club 69 on Twisted Records before starting his own label in 1999.
He’s since become one of the biggest DJs in the world, managing a list of successful artists. Now thanks to Snead, he and his army of DJs are on the road to places like Montreal, Houston, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and many more.
“When you look at our past releases, we weren’t DJ oriented,” Rauhofer says. “We were artist oriented, and now we realize that it’s turned around. DJs are more present around the country. It’s best when you team a DJ with an artist so they can do it together.”
The Austrian-born headliner himself and sPalmer first worked together years ago, producing several dance hits together. When Rauhofer created his own label, Palmer jumped on board, and they’ve been throwing it down ever sense.
“There a lot of girls with great voices, but have no personality and in most cases, they end up as backing singers,” Rauhofer says. “Suzanne comes from gospel choir, then went into to jazz, so she’s built a lot of experience and stage presence.”
IT SEEMS THE gods were smiling on Atlanta when Snead was scheduling the DJs for the Star 69 tour. A lot of the planning revolved around the performers’ busy schedules, so getting Rauhofer and Palmer is a stroke of luck for Atlanta fans.
Rauhofer says he plans a set to please the Atlanta crowd, which he says is surprisingly up to date considering the wrap “smaller” cities get up north.
“I’ve been to Atlanta a couple of times and always enjoyed it, because when you’re in New York City, people say other cities, except for maybe Miami and Los Angeles, don’t count,” says the DJ. “People in New York think other cities are behind, but Atlanta is pretty up to date. People enjoy the same records, and people are all dressed up and there’s truly a scene.”
For his part, Snead says he’s trying to build Atlanta’s party scene with even more special events, perhaps so that outsiders see local nightlife as even bigger than it is today.
“The music being brought there is fine, but the draws are being based on that alone, and we’re lacking on atmosphere,” Snead says. “There’s got to be something for those who don’t know the DJs… crazy stuff going on all the time, so people don’t just come to dance; they can sit back and watch.
“I want to do events that people walk away from and say ‘that was so much fun, this happened and that happened,’” he continues. “I want them to walk away with a memory, not just the music.”
Mixing Snead’s mission to enhance Atlanta’s nightlife and Rauhofer’s desire to play what his audiences want to hear can’t be a mistake when trying to reach the top.
“I think the general reputation is that Atlanta is content with mediocrity in its nightlife,” Snead says. “I am not.”
Jason Snead presents Peter Rauhofer and Suzanne Palmer as part of the Star 69 All-Stars tour on Saturday, Oct. 14, 10 p.m. at Jungle, 2115 Faulkner Road. www.jungleclub.net, www.2gethaproductions.com
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