Jacques Renault and JDH met in a bar and 13 years later they’re still friends. When they met they were both DJing in bars around NYC but what they went on to do changed the scene in NYC. Jacques Renault went on to form Let’s Play House Records with friend Nik Mercer and has put out countless dancefloor classics. JDH started the FIXED parties with Dave P and were the first promoters to bring acts like Simian Mobile Disco, Tensnake and Aeroplane to NYC. They were named Time Out’s No.1 party in NYC this year so you know they’re lots of fun.

The guys are getting back together on July 22 for a Let’s Play House x FIXED take over (It’s free! You can RSVP here) so we asked the boys to share a little bit of history ahead of the party.

JDH: So I think we met in NYC at Lit 13+ years or so is that right?

JR: We did! I remember going to see you every Friday at LIT for you AKTION with you, Cowboy Mark & Justine D. Easily one of my favorite nights in NYC back in the day, you and Mark would always kill it in that basement. What a different time, right? Where were you first DJing in NYC when you arrived?

JDH: Haha yeah that was fun times for sure, but yeah so crazy how much different things were. Always had a blast playing that basement cave though! I remember you gave me that “Italians Do It Better” mix you did. I had been DJing for a few years at that point, going back to when I lived in Austin, playing house parties. You moved to NYC from Chicago?

JR: That’s right! I made that mix CD right around when Mike Simonetti launched the label. I remember learning how you, Jeremy Chupacabras and Willie Burns were all from Texas!

Moving from Chicago in 2002 one of my first residencies in NYC was on Thursdays at Tribeca Grand with Will & Sam which our friend Chase put together. It was a fun weekday thing to do for sure but we didn’t have the line ups like you did on Saturdays! Was this sort of the beginning of FIXED?

JDH: Ah yes, the I.S.S. night that WT did with Sam and Chase? I remember they had people like Legowelt, Overdose, and The Bunker Records guys there. We were sorta simultaneously doing FIXED in the basement at Tribeca around that time. That’s where we started the party and lasted a little over a year. Pretty epic parties though considering.

So great to see how things have continued to grow for people like you, Will, and NYC in general. I always say it’s better and more fun to play parties here and the scene is stronger than it gets credit for. What do you think?

JR: That’s right! I.S.S. aka In School Suspension aka Intergalactic Space Station etc etc etc. We had some fun with that heh. Yeah your nights were pretty epic to say the least, complete takeover of the basement was super fun I’m happy I witnessed all that!

I think it’s been amazing to see everyone we know grow and also all the fresh people that have been contributing to the NYC scene! It’s stronger and still growing more than I’ve ever witnessed with all the DJs and genres these days.

With Good Room being such a central spot for all styles do you find it difficult to keep up with all the acts in the city or worldwide? I’m still a vinyl collector but I’ve been doing more and more digital digging, how about you?

JDH: Yeah aside from our nights at FIXED, it’s nice to be able to keep the music and bookings at Good Room diverse. I definitely try to go to as many other nights and shows as possible as there’s so much quality in NYC right now.

As for digging and buying music, I still buy and play vinyl, but I’ve definitely slowed down compared to how I used to be years ago. There’s still so many tracks that are vinyl only and I want to play, so I don’t think I’ll ever stop!