JONATHAN TOUBIN

New York Night Train, Jonathan Toubin’s promotion company that presents, in addition to his stable of other parties, the Soul Clap, is a deliberate attempt to offer a higher quality, more unique approach to nightlife. While his concepts often include bands, performance, and visuals, his DJ’ing is typically the most vital component and the biggest draw. Toubin has managed to become one of the country’s best-known DJs by eschewing obvious hits, contemporary trends, and tinny mp3s to focus on high quality, mostly forgotten, but timeless, dance music—exclusively on authentic 45rpm records. Battling what he calls the “laziness, mediocrity, and predictable lack of originality” that makes up the formats of most current dance parties, he is out to shake up culture with a fresh approach to recordings from what he calls “the golden age of popular music.” Over the course of his career, he has stepped away from the constraints of typical DJ culture to have fun with a nightly museum of the most immediate “maximum rock and soul” recordings ever made, bringing a variety of cultures and subcultures together to get down to “the best music you’ve never heard.”