Page 93 - AVN March 2016

AVN: I saw you at the Cybersocket Awards,
but we couldn’t speak. You were up on your
perch.
PACIFICO: It’s an interesting space. I felt
separated from the room. The club was
redesigned. Normally the DJ is on the main
floor and a little bit more approachable. (With
the redesign) there was no way for people to
come up and say hello. But it was still good.
I like being able to be a little more intimate
with the crowd, if people want to come up
and take a picture and say hello. It makes it
more fun for them and more fun for me.
AVN: In your original “Fresh Off the Boat”
interview you were talking about music. Was
that something you did first, before porn?
PACIFICO: It was hand-in-hand. But I didn’t
really get called DJ Pornstar until maybe
2004. And that’s when I decided to just
run with the name and use it as a cross-
marketing angle. Originally I had more of a
passion for music and audio production and
I was using the money in porn to pay for
school. What eventually happened is when
I would be out deejaying in San Francisco,
people would recognize me. So they started
calling me “DJ Pornstar.” It took two or
three years but I (began) deejaying nationally
and internationally. I was building a work
portfolio and the confidence in people
wanting to work with that name. Some people
just did not want to work with me. They
didn’t see the name as professional or they
were just leery. And I wanted to play for a
specific style of club and event—I wanted to
do the circuit parties—and it was just a really,
really difficult scene to break into. After a
couple of years, when I was well established
in San Francisco, that’s when the work offers
throughout the country (happened).
AVN: And the name and your other career
wasn’t so much a problem for them?
PACIFICO: Right. It became what they were
seeking (out). They really liked the angle.
They liked the sexier, fun vibe. The sound
of music was changing, the club scene was
changing. And a lot of the gay parties will put
a picture of a hot guy on the flyer—usually
they’ll put porn stars—to sell the event. But
when they were able to put a hot DJ on there,
it made it a really good, easy sell. So I ran
with it from there.
AVN:Did you consider changing it to “DJ
Dominic” or “DJ Pacifico” just to make it
easier on yourself?
PACIFICO: It did cross my mind. But it was
already happening the way it was going to
happen. I just thought it would be more
interesting to own up to that name. If you
Google “DJ Pornstar,” you’re not going to get porn. You’re
going to get my events and my work history. If you Google
“Dominic Pacifico” you’re going to get straight-up cock pics
and a bunch of porn sites. Overall (promoters and audiences)
don’t really care about the porn. They want the music.
AVN: That’s interesting to see that evolution over the space of
just a few years.
PACIFICO: It’s true, it’s true. And, you know, the big thing that
went hand-in-hand with it at the time was social media. It was
very new. Before that, my struggle was that no one really got to
see the work or the popularity or follow anyone, a porn star or
a DJ, in that kind of trendy fashion. Social media evolved and it
really, really helped me as a platform to get my name out there.
Because of it, people have changed their mentality and attitude
towards adult entertainers doing other things or using it as a
platform for a different career.
AVN: I have to ask about an update to an answer you gave
in your original “Fresh Off the Boat” interview with AVN.
In response to a question about long-term goals, you said, “I
would like to work in the music industry for awhile, then teach
electronic-music classes on a college level and finally retire and
own a bed-and-breakfast.”
PACIFICO:(chuckles) You know, I still kind of feel that way.
Gosh, it’s so funny. I don’t imagine myself teaching, but
I do imagine working in a studio and collaborating with
other producers on that level, or doing some radio, which is
something I’ve been interested in lately. I was broadcasting
in college but I didn’t go that route; I went straight for the
DJ route. I guess as you get older you want to start settling
down with some of your ideas. The idea of me being 50 and
running around from city to city, club to club, doesn’t sound
that appealing. But, definitely, getting a coffee and heading into
the sound studio and working with other producers sounds
amazing.
DJ Pornstar headlines Cobalt in Washington, D.C., in March, followed
by gigs in London, Paris and Tel Aviv and Cleveland Pride in August.
His first original track with Pump Records was just released under the
moniker “Pacifico,” to be followed by a music video and
an EP of remixes. His Twitter handle is @DJPornstar.
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