Justin Strauss

House

HEADLINER

Justin Strauss is a foundational figure in the New York City dance music scene, with a DJ and production career spanning over four decades. Emerging in 1980 as a resident at the legendary Mudd Club, he subsequently held pivotal roles at iconic venues like Limelight, Area, and Tunnel. Strauss is widely recognized as a prolific remixer and producer, boasting over 200 credits for artists ranging from Depeche Mode and Skinny Puppy to LCD Soundsystem and Blood Orange. Operating as half of the production duos Whatever/Whatever and A/JUS/TED, he continues to release music and reinterpret tracks across the electronic spectrum. In recent years, he maintains a rigorous touring schedule with appearances at international institutions like Panorama Bar and Robert Johnson, alongside regular sets at New York spaces such as Public Records and Outer Heaven. His signature aesthetic seamlessly connects disparate eras of club culture, blending classic disco, new wave, and house with contemporary underground sounds.

Rissa Garcia

House

Rissa Garcia is a New York City-based DJ, producer, and label head who serves as a central figure in the local house music community. Raised in Staten Island, she developed her foundational sound on the dancefloors of Club Vinyl before launching her own imprint, NightChild Records, and the resident event series Dancing Room Only. Her production catalog bridges classic 1990s house rhythms with modern club utility, highlighted by projects like the 2023 Hazy Dreams EP and the 2024 Love Is Blind release on her own label. Garcia frequently shares bills with foundational artists like Danny Tenaglia and Todd Terry, bringing her deep, groove-focused selections to venues such as Good Room, Elsewhere, and Avant Gardner. In early 2026, she issued a new four-track EP on NightChild Records that further refined her signature blend of warm chord stabs and rolling low-end pressure. By prioritizing dancefloor mechanics over spectacle, Garcia maintains a vital link to the authentic roots of New York club culture while continually pushing its sound forward.

Ruez

House

Ruez is the house-music alias of Carlos Ruiz, a New York City DJ, producer and engineer active in the city's dance underground since the early 2000s. He learned studio craft at Manhattan's Cutting Room and held an early residency at the Sin Sin lounge, later playing New York rooms including Cielo, Sullivan Room and Santos Party House. In 2007 he co-founded NightChild Records with Rissa Garcia and built the Abyss studio in Brooklyn, releasing music as Rissidium and Excidium before launching his own imprint, Whatever., in 2016 with the EP Songs for Dreams. Behind the decks his sets move across the full range of house, from warm deep house to tech house and techno, shaped by a producer's ear for groove and atmosphere. He remains a fixture of the Brooklyn house circuit, with recent bookings at Good Room, Mood Ring and The Black Rose.