Allie Pacelli is a Brooklyn DJ, she spins under the moniker Treatz. For the most part these days she plays with her friends Tomie Marosy and Alex Mallis as part of the Pleasure Jams crew. They play disco, house, and all around pleasurable jams.

“I wish I had realized how much you can accomplish just by putting yourself out there. I think I wasted some time being shy when I moved here and it took me a while to start playing regularly in Brooklyn.”
(c) sarah kjelleren

(c) sarah kjelleren

Josette asked Allie a few questions

What is your background in terms of music?

I grew up playing flute and piano, and I dabbled with guitar lessons a bit too.  Then I decided the band thing wasn’t cool anymore during my freshman year of high school (1999-ish?) and didn’t play anything until I started DJing in 2008.

What inspires you?

Hearing a great song that makes me stop what I’m doing and just want to listen to it over and over again.  Also, seeing other female DJs that are killing it and breaking all the dumb stereotypes about girls who DJ. 

I have such a girl crush on Nancy Whang, who is well-known as a member of LCD Soundsystem and also The Juan MacLean. She is an amazing DJ too, and she’s actually headlining our Pleasure Jams party at C’mon Everybody on April 29th! I love her voice, especially on the Classixx track “All You’re Waiting For” and The Juan Maclean’s “A Simple Design”.  I’m really excited about having her and I can’t wait to see her spin live at our show.

 

Are there recurring themes in your mixes, maybe a specific type of music you like to play with?

I’d say my mixes are all fairly upbeat and centered around house and disco.

How did you get started?

I’m pretty lucky in terms of how I got started. I met my friends Stefan Echo, Ryan Brennan, Tomie Marosy, and Travis Higgins (Kaviar Disco Club) back in 2008. Back then, they were all DJing together as Bonjour-Hi!, which I eventually became a part of too, and those boys have since become like brothers to me - it’s a super supportive crew.

My friend Ryan was probably the most instrumental in me learning how to DJ. I think he recognized my interest in music before I even did. Ryan taught me the basics over the summer of 2008 and then moved to South Korea for a year. He left me with all his DJ gear while he was away, so I spent the winter practicing and just messing around. He had all the coolest records of the moment - Hollertronix, Spank Rock, Uffie - I’d just play music in my bedroom for hours everyday. Once I figured out what I was doing, the boys invited me to come out and start playing with them. They were already pretty established in town and totally took me under their wing. Shout out to my friend Zack Johnson (Lazerdisk) for helping me learn Serato back in the day, too!

How has your style evolved since you started?

I probably play a lot more house and disco than I used to. When I first started, Hype Machine was where everyone got their music and mashups were huge. I also spent a lot of time on this music forum called Hollerboard that doesn’t exist anymore. Mostly I loved playing remixes of songs that people already knew. Now I’m more comfortable bringing new or less well-known music to the table. I still love catchy hooks though, and I probably listen to pop artists like Drake and Beyonce more now than I ever did before.

(c) EAMA Photography

(c) EAMA Photography

You recently played with Jacques Renault (Let’s Play House), who’s a well-known figure especially in NY, how did you guys meet and started working together?

This past summer, my friends Tomie, Alex and I decided that we wanted to start booking some bigger shows at our favorite venue, C’mon Everybody. We decided to officially start calling ourselves Pleasure Jams and start reaching out to DJs we were into to see if they’d be down to headline one of our shows. Jacques was one of the first DJs we thought of, so I got his email from my friend Travis. Jacques turned out to be one of the nicest, most fun DJs I’ve ever played with.  He has this energy that’s totally contagious. When he headlined our party this fall, we nearly sold out the venue and everyone was yelling and dancing on stage and just having the time of their lives.  It was a special night and probably our favorite party to date!  

How do you keep your fingers on the pulse of what is happening?

I spend a lot of time on SoundCloud and Spotify just clicking around and listening to different producers and bands. Finding new music is super fun and exciting to me and I love discovering a song and tracking it down.

How do you stay motivated?

Sometimes I get lazy and don’t do anything music related for a bit. But then I play a set out with friends or hear a song that I feel like I absolutely have to incorporate into a mixtape and I remember that playing music is my favorite thing to do. I think it will always be a part of my life in some form.

What would you like to learn?

Right now I’m working on getting better at DJing without a computer/Serato. I’d like to spend more time in Ableton learning how to produce original songs in the coming year too.

When is your next party? Can we come??

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I’d like to invite everybody to our upcoming Pleasure Jams shows, both at C’mon Everybody:

I want to thank Eric Sosa and Mike Zuco at C’mon Everybody for their support. They run a really wonderful venue and played a big part in Pleasure Jams becoming a real thing. The venue is pretty new and they’ve already been featured everywhere from NY Mag to Billboard for their music and design taste.

One last shout out to our amazing artist friend Andres Gomez, aka The Myno. Andres designed our logo and he makes all of our show posters now too! I own some of his work. I’m a huge fan. Thanks for the support, Andres!