DJs Verde & Redant :: White Party 25 Gets 'Bent'

As if Carmen Electra as White Party Queen were not electrifying enough, Jeffrey Sanker is giving party-goers a full-throated performance of dynamic DJ duo Bent Collective at the White Party's 25th anniversary edition.

Bent Collective is made up of international master dance DJs, Danny Verde and Steven Redant.

As Sanker recently noted, Spain-based Redant started out with a popular house music radio show and "...then quickly moved beyond the airwaves and into the clubs."

In fact, he has spun dance music at Privilege, which claims to be the largest club on earth, not to mention Paris dance club, Queen; and he is a resident DJ at La Demence.

According to Redant's official bio, he has headlined gay pride gigs all over the world including Mexico City, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Berlin, Barcelona and Madrid, in addition to guest spots at legendary clubs Love Dance in Istanbul and Jump in Taipei.

Asked how the crowd on the dance floor figures into the collaborative mix when Bent Collective is in the booth, Redant invoked some interesting mathematics. "One plus one equals three," he said. "We hope that with our combined forces, like in the studio, we can give that little extra to the people. Playing live at the White Party will give us freedom to simply mix tracks on the one hand while the other is sampling and laying over loops. It gives a lot more freedom to play around with the music. See it as a quatre-mains in piano."(To be played as a duet at one keyboard.)

For his part, Verde told The Rage Monthly that playing the big"two-five" anniversary of the White Party represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make music and make people feel that music. "This is something completely new," he said. "Two different identities, which will mix together in order to merge into a unique and fresh new one. We are putting all our energy into creating a fresh touch to the beats and vibes crowds are used to listening to."

Still, Bent Collective has a tall order to make this year's 25th anniversary edition of the White Party the bash to end all bashes.

How will they live up to expectations?

"We are aiming to disappoint everybody from beginning to end by playing easy-listening and slamming on gongs while giving lessons in Ohm meditation... not anything to be remembered," Redant said, sounding completely unfazed by the task at hand. "No seriously, we don't have any expectations ourselves," he continued. "We just want to have a good time and share that with the people. Somebody famous said,'Never live up to the expectations, do something different'; that's the plan."

Verde, his Bent Collective counterpart concurs. "Last year when I was supposed to open for Peter Rauhofer, I discovered a sense of how special this desert party is," Verde said. "So this year we have the privilege of continuing this great tradition. A lot of surprises always happen on that stage, and this year will be no different."

According to Jeffrey Sanker, Danny Verde is a musical prodigy who has worked in all aspects of music, including house, dance-pop production, songwriting, as a DJ and as a keyboardist and vocalist. Verde is Italian, hailing from just outside of Milan.

Given the hotness factors for which both Italian and Spanish men are famous, we had to tease the members of Bent Collective just a little. Asked why Spaniards the hottest men around, Steven Redant was circumspect. "It's in their DNA to be sexy, I guess," he told The Rage Monthly. "They live for love and passion, always make you feel like you are the only love they've ever known and they make love like they dance the flamenco."

Then we asked Danny Verde if we had it wrong. Are Italians actually the hottest? He was unequivocal. "Sure they are!" Verde exclaimed. "And the brand 'Made in Italy' says it all. Italian is synonymous with beauty, creativity and genuineness. You can't ask for more than that."

Yet both agree their recent Bent Collective projects have all been very interesting and exciting. They're especially proud of"A Great Big World," featuring Christina Aguilera and Avicii. "But the one that jumps out is definitely, 'Time After Time,' by Cyndi Lauper," say Verde and Redant. "To be able to work on such a classic is not only an honor, it also gives you so much satisfaction when the result is appreciated by the original artist. For us, in the studio it was all about 'girls just wanting to have fun,' and we did."