Bear-favorite DJ James Anthony set to headline at WOOF Week in Key West
WOOF Week takes place in Key West this April (22nd-27th) and will feature pool parties, fetish & cruise nights, plus a Saturday club night with international headliner, DJ James Anthony, who’s making his Key West debut at the event.
As a DJ, James frequently tours across the United States, bringing his signature “big room” sound to bear & leather events including PTown Bear Week, Eagle NYC, IML Chicago and many more. He also hosts Into The Groove, a weekly mixshow airing on SiriusXM Studio 54.
WOOF Week is the second bear event in Key West to be organized by the same team that brings you the hugely popular Key West Bear Weekend and its similarly set to become an exciting new addition to the bear calendar!
I had the pleasure of sitting down with James to talk about his DJ style, his background and what attendees at WOOF Week can look forward to.
John Hernandez: Hi James, thanks for chatting with us ahead of your upcoming appearance at Woof Week. You have made quite the name for yourself on the bear circuit having DJ’ed at Megawoof, Furball, Ptown Bear Week, the Eagle NYC and now Woof Week Key West. How did that come to be?
James Anthony: I’m so excited to be coming to play for WOOF Week! Key West always has a special place in my heart. It was my husband and I’s first vacation together many years ago (it was soon after we met in an AOL chat room, for context) and one of our favorite spots to return to over the years. Key West has such a unique charm and I’m so happy that WOOF Week is setting out to become a destination weekend. This town deserves it!
I started playing bear events over the years as people started to come and hear me play in places like Palm Springs and Provincetown, where daddies and bears all naturally seem to congregate. Turns out, I get along really well with them. And I love playing music for energetic crowds, so I always jump at the chance to play a bear-centric event. It’s always so much fun.
JH: What do you love about the bear and leather communities?
JA: You said it. The word community. As I’ve gotten to attend these events over the years as a DJ and a patron, one thing I’m always struck by is the shared sense of community and camaraderie that both the bear and leather scene embody. They have their own distinct subcultures, social codes and even language. It really is a beautiful thing. The fact that I get to provide a space and a musical environment to bring that all together makes me feel very honored.
JH: You are very versatile in terms of the music you play. You’ve said that you gear it towards the crowd. What does a typical bear crowd want to hear on the dance floor?
JH: It depends more on the vibe of the party than anything. Daytime events like a pool party will always be heavy on disco, familiar vocals, and of course some great upbeat house music. Nighttime events tend to be more underground, tech house and tribal tracks. I still play a lot of familiar vocals, but the energy is much more raw and intense.
JH: What can bears expect from you at the WOOF Party on April 26th?
JA: Expect a night of great house music. That’s all I can say. You’ll be on a dance floor with a ton of beautiful people. I’ll give you the most perfect vibes. We’ll have the best time together. Maybe afterwards we can all get pizza. I love pizza after a long set. See….this is why I get along so well with the bears!
JH: What drew you to work in nightlife and what keeps you there?
JA: My roots with DJ’ing and dance music go back to my youngest years. The DJ and performer I am today is the same child forty years ago who would bring his records to pre-K (“Gloria” by Laura Branigan was a favorite) because I just wanted everyone to be as excited as I was about these songs. I’ve always been pretty singular in my purpose. Nightlife was always going to be a part of my life. I started working mobile DJ gigs when I was a young teenager and soon as I could legally get into those spaces, I graduated from catering halls to college bars to nightclubs. And I’ve been here ever since.
JH: Tell us about James Anthony’s House at the Eagle and Get Into the Groove on Sirius.
JA: James Anthony’s House is my monthly residency at the NYC Eagle. The first Saturday of the month. It’s really where I feel most at home as a DJ and a performer, where I’m able to craft my sound, try new things out, and pull out classics I haven’t played in years. It’s a solid six hours open to close, which really is a gift. I cover a lot of musical ground in those six hours, and what I’m doing has resonated really well. I like to attribute it to my NYC dance music roots. The Eagle has a storied history in New York gay culture, and the recent expansion and addition of the main dance floor in the past couple of years have just taken the space to a whole new level. The success of James Anthony’s House has opened a lot of doors for me professionally. I’m very proud of the work I do at the Eagle NYC.
Get Into the Groove is my weekly radio show which airs Friday nights on SiriusXM Studio 54. It’s an hourlong mixshow of all the best 80’s disco and dance music straight from my vinyl collection. I play a lot of fun remixes, custom edits and deep cuts. These records from my childhood era are really the foundation of the work I do today. So it’s really an honor to be able to give them new life on such a large platform and be a complete music nerd talking about obscure dance records I assume nobody else knows. But people do. I connect with a lot of listeners on social media and it’s so rewarding to hear how excited they get about these songs. It’s a lot of work to produce, but I live for making those connections.
JH: Any other projects to mention and where can our readers find you and listen to a sample set?
JA: You can check out my live sets from The Eagle NYC and many other events on my Soundcloud and listen to archived episodes of my SiriusXM show on my Mixcloud. Just follow my socials @djjamesanthony all the links are there! I’ve got a lot of great music for you to check out, whether it’s the classics or new house tracks.
For more information on WOOF Week, including James’ headlining party on the Saturday night, check out woof-week.com
