Long before he was an Oscar-winning hitmaker, Mark Ronson was a denizen of downtown New York City’s nightclubs, honing his talents as a DJ and securing his first gigs as a producer. It’s an era he’s set to reflect on in his upcoming memoir, Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City, out Sept. 16 via Grand Central Publishing.
Ronson was born in London, but moved to New York City with his family when he was still a kid. The book is a coming-of-age tale about a music obsessive who traversed the big city, digging through crates, hounding heroes like DJ Stretch Armstrong, and developing a distinct style over the course of countless late-night gigs. The narrative of Night People will be structured around the various venues that defined Ronson’s experience of the downtown music scene.
“DJing in Nineties New York City informed everything I ever did after, becoming the foundation for all my future work and creativity,” Ronson said in a statement. “In Night People, I wanted to capture that transformative period of my life and celebrate three of my great loves: the art of DJing, the thrilling energy of New York City after dark, and the wild and wonderful characters who populated our world and became my second family. This book is my love letter to a vanished era that shaped not just my career but my identity — a time when finding my craft put me on the path to finding myself.”
Cover for Mark Ronson’s Night People. Courtesy of Grand Central Publishing.
Colin Dickerman, senior vice president and editor-in-chief at Grand Central Publishing, described Night People as a book “about an obsession” that’s “filled with passion and humor, mistakes and triumphs.” He added: “Mark’s eye for the telling detail conjures a very specific time and place, but the emotions he taps into — the yearning to belong, to master a craft, to find your people — are absolutely universal.”
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In a 2016 “My Life in 10 Songs” interview for Rolling Stone, Ronson reflected on this period of his life while discussing one of his earliest songs, “Turntables,” a track with Debonair and Sha Stimuli.
“Back then I played at the Palladium — there was a party called ‘Planet Rock,’” he recalled. “Then I was playing around my own smaller parties in little downtown spots like New Music Café, which went on to become Shine. It was funny because those parties were a little more downtown-y: They had a mix of skateboarders, drug dealers, pretty girls, whatever, but it wasn’t quite as raw as the Tunnel crowd. Then Jay Z, Biggie, and Big Pun suddenly started coming to our little parties, which was pretty cool because, you know, I hero-worshiped these people.”
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