OFF THE GRID (Event Over)

Raging against the dancing wasteland, OFF THE GRID is a once-a-month event which focuses on dance music that you won't hear on a typical Friday or Saturday night.  It will focus on a collage of Mutant Disco, Punk Funk, No Wave, Early Electro, New Romantics and rare B-Sides. 

Special guest DJs who have contributed, or continue to contribute to expanding the musical spectrum in NY will share the decks each month with the Resident NY DJs Chris Alker and Monica Sharp.

This month's special guest DJ is Sal P.

Salvatore Principato is best known as the vocalist and percussionist of seminal minimalist-funk band Liquid Liquid, but his nearly three-decade career actually spans a wide variety of genres. Raised in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Principato relocated to San Francisco in the late 1970’s, where he performed spoken word, composed songs, and created short films.

He soon returned to the New York area and joined Liquid Liquid with hometown friend Richard McGuire and Scott Hartley. After the band’s CBGB debut in August 1979, and the recruiting of new member Dennis Young, the band began recording for 99 Records and released three EPs: Liquid Liquid, Successive Reflexes (both 1981), and Optimo (1983). The group’s successes included massive club hits such as “Cavern,” “Bellhead,” and “Optimo,” in addition to sold-out concerts worldwide. “Cavern” became the basis of Grandmaster Flash’s rap classic, “White Lines (Don’t Do It).” Post-McGuire, the band released one final EP Dig We Must in 1984, before officially disbanding.

Before long, Principato returned to music and formed the industrial-dub outfit Fist of Facts, which toured Europe and released a 12-inch EP Fugitive Vesco in 1988 and recently another limited edition Fist Of Facts record has been released by Claremont 56 out of London. In the early 1990’s, Principato began producing words-and-music shows in downtown New York clubs and galleries, as well as an annual series of free outdoor shows and a cable TV program based on these shows. He also drummed with a rock band Liki Outhaus, collaborated with the late Zen Guitar author Phil Toshio Sudo in the experimental music project Avant Garbage, and ran a downtown rehearsal studio. For the past few years, under the “Uni-ver-SAL” and “New Africa Presents” banners, he has produced many African and Caribbean music concerts and is currently promoting Universal Sundays, a weekly event in New York City.

Principato’s DJ skills have been in great demand as of late and he has manned the turntables of top nightclubs in the U.S., Europe, and South Africa. Recent musical efforts include collaborations with Ectomorph’s BMG, with BMG on electronics and Principato on live vocals and percussion. A 12″on BMG’s Interdimensional Transmissions imprint is soon to be released. He has also been working with Kaos, the Berlin-based DJ and producer, and appeared with Kaos and Khan on the freshly minted Cerebral Tremolo (Rong/Kitsune) release. A Sal P./Kaos mix CD Collectors Series Pt 2 Danse, Gravite Zéro was released in 2007. Several remixes are in the the works or have been released most notably for the Rong Music label in collaboration with musicians and producers such as Dennis Young, Brennan Green & Citizen Kane. Upcoming releases are due out on the Still Music & Disques Sinthomme imprints