Timmy Regisford

There's electronica, and then there's dance music. "Don't confuse the two", says veteran New York house DJ Timmy Regisford. "It's computer-based but all live music," he says of the new tracks he's been producing for his Shelter Records imprint. "The drums may be sequenced, but everything else is played live. It's not electronic music," he adds emphatically. At a time when hitting a few keys on a laptop qualifies as 'live,' it's this determination to stick to an organic template for dance music that has kept Shelter busy for over a decade as one of New York's premier underground house parties. Launched in '91 as a follow-up to Regisford's popular radio sets. Shelter has staved off challenges from former mayor Rudolph Giuliani's campaign against nightclubs, the post-9/11 recession, and wave after wave of dance music du jour. Since last year, the club has been newly revitalized by moving its premises to Midtown.Trinidad-born Regisford's organic vision of dance music has also brought him a devoted following in Japan. "It's a place where you come and develop the marketplace," says the DJ, who first visited some 12 years ago. "People get educated to who you are. The crowd that I attract here, they know what Shelter's about. Every time I come I feel they are more and more into the vocal and soulful type of music that I play."This following has seen Regisford pick up the pace of his visits, with the first installment of a new event, Double Trouble, teaming him with fellow NYC house icon Joe Claussell. Regisford's DJing skills have earned him the moniker ' The Maestro,' and his marathon sets, which tour through anything from Afrobeat to Detroit techno to house classics, have seen him joined onstage by the likes of Chaka Khan and Mary J Blige. The imposing DJ says the skills he developed back in '80s radio help him as a club DJ. "What I learned from radio is you have to keep it moving," he says. "I would just play the best part of certain records, lift it up from 12-13 to 18-19 records an hour. At a club I do the same, because it keeps me working and keeps the crowd moving." Regisford has also more than many turntable jocks played a key role as a developer of talent. The one-time A&R man for Atlantic and Dreamworks, who nurtured hit acts like Eric B & Rakim, now has a gig with Universal in charge of its new Def Soul Classics imprint. "We signed Anita Baker, Patti Labelle... We're putting out records by those kinds of artists because for years record companies have forgotten that there are 85 million people in the United States over the age of 30 that don't want to hear Jay-Z or Beyonce."Meanwhile, Regisford also has similar plans afoot for Shelter. "We wanted a place that could house live music. Shelter has always been an underground club, and it's going to remain an underground club, but now that we have four floors I want to expand it to stuff like the Brand New Heavies. I want to create a place where people can come out to see bands like that perform, bands that don't have a place now to perform in New York."