Scratching the Surface

While dance music has always been about exploring new sounds, it’s the hits that bring people to the clubs. Folks don’t generally go clubbing to hear some DJ strike an esoteric pose with his playlist; what they want to do is party and have a good time. Pete Tong plays to the crowd with sets full of hits that keep the dance floor packed and tunes that may become massive in the future. And Tong knows a hit when he hears one, his label, FFRR, has been a mainstay of the scene since the early ’90s and has released some of the biggest hits of the past ten years, like Orbital’s “The Saint.” Tong spends much of his time enjoying club residencies from Ibiza to Australia when he’s not running his radio show, Essential Selections, on BBC’s Radio One. Catch Tong at the Church this Thursday, November 4.