Fresh Beats: Meet Primal Disco DJ Michael V

By Sal Cataldi | October 26, 2025

For DJ Michael V, spinning tunes is a body-and-mind experience that explains the title of his long-running and best-known series of events, Primal Disco.

This Catskill resident cultivated his unique curation chops at Tasha Blank’s famed Powerhouse DJ School in New York City before launching his DJing career in 2022. His events focus on liberating people of all identities, featuring a brand of house music-heavy sounds at area hot spots like Hutton Brickyards and the renowned Speigeltent at Bard.

Read the interview below to learn more about his “mind cleansing, chakra-igniting” dance parties.

Primal Disco DJ Michael V

INSIDE+OUT: When did you first become interested in music, and how did you start your DJ career?

Michael V: House music has been a constant source of pleasure and motivation since I was a teenager in the 90s, and it became a true obsession in my early thirties. DJing was an unintentional outcome of my relentless desire to build businesses and experiences with the same depth of heart and humanness that my mentor, DJ Tasha Blank, brought to her dance events in New York City and abroad. I joined the first year of her school, Powerhouse DJ School (PhDJ), to build music sets for fitness classes. Tasha, however, knew I had more in me than that. In 2022, she hired me while I was still in her program to perform an opening set at her party, “The Drop” (previously known as The Get Down). I cried on stage, knowing this was the new me. A few months later, I created my own party, Primal Disco.

Describe what makes you unique in the DJ space, your favorite music to spin, and your favorite kind of place or event to work.

I often hear the feedback: “Michael, we can feel you the entire time; the energy between you and us on the dance floor flows so easily.”

My unique ability to deeply connect with people without words is amplified by moments on the mic, where I guide dancers to connect with their bodies, the room’s energy, and their own aliveness. We don’t waste time on my dance floors or settle for one-dimensional experiences. My sets blend house, disco, afro house, Latin beats, brass instruments, and big release vocals, focusing on music for the body and chakras over quick brain-pleasure hits. I’m happiest playing at events like Primal Disco, where the focus is on movement and embodiment.

What have been some of your favorite experiences DJing in the Hudson Valley?

Less than a year into Primal Disco’s monthly slot at the Avalon Lounge, I looked out at the crowd and saw the most diverse group of people I’ve ever witnessed at a club. Moments later, I noticed a trans person remove the buttons of their shirt and expose their top surgery scars. I’m crying thinking about it. In such a short time, this party and its emphasis on physical and non-physical safety had reached a point where folks of all ages, identities, and physicalities were feeling brave as f*ck and having a damn good time. I have also immensely enjoyed DJing naked at a clothing-optional pool party, played six nights at Speigeltent at Bard (phenomenal!), and got to launch a raucous, bold, irreverent party called The Audacity with my friend Andy Monk. Also playing alongside two of my favorite DJs in the Hudson Valley, Jams Bond and Flared Bass.

Photo by Alex Murphy

What is your go-to song to spin when you need to pump up a crowd that’s not feeling it?

Easy. It’s one of the extended mixes of “Bateau Blanc” by Flush. Barely anyone knows this song, but the bodies in the room ignite when it’s played.

What are your three favorite desert island discs?

If stranded on an island, I would need Ani DiFranco’s Living in Clip album, the Best of The Doors album, and The Tourist, the remastered version of the album from St Germain.

Give us a mini-biography – where you were born, where you live now, and what you may do outside of DJing.

I was born in central New Jersey, lived in the NYC area from 2007 – 2020, arrived in Catskill in 2020, and have been here ever since. If I’m not working on my productions and DJing, you’ll find me working on my house, being distracted by my dog, complaining about being cold, working on my body and/or not following recipes in the kitchen.