Steve Porter
Written by: Katty Nguyen and Ciara Rae
Before Steve Porter created PorterHouse Media he was a globally known DJ. People can find his work on his website: porterhousemusic.com as well as on youtube: DJStevePorter, and his studio is in Holyoke, MA.
Porter started off as a college student making underground dance music in his dorm, trying to push the boundary of electronic music. His tracks slowly got noticed, where he landed gigs in Boston and New York. His tracks eventually were recognized on a global scale where he was charted in big magazines. His DJ/producer career blew up and travelled globally from 2000 to 2010. Two of those years, from 2008 to 2009, were spent in Holyoke where PorterHouse Media came about. Porter’s eagerness to try something new led him to remixing videos and experimenting with them. He struck it huge with his slap chop remix video where within a week he was on national TV. He recalls being on a limo in New York while on his way to FOX news and decided right there and then that he needed a logo and website, which is where Porterhouse Media came about. The media company and demand for mashups began to take over his DJ career. It was bittersweet when he had to choose between his DJ career that he had been working so hard on for the past 10 years and remixing videos. Porter is still trying to diversify his business, so it does not only focus on mashups, but is extremely proud of what he has achieved to date.Products from PorterHouse Media include remixed videos for the promotion of products. A few of his customers include ESPN and the NBA where he would remix videos for a certain sports program or event.
His influences first began with 2 DJ’s from the United Kingdom, Sasha and John Digweed, who were groundbreaking DJ’s at the time. He was also inspired by many late 90s underground music producers and DJ’s. All of this influenced his globally recognized style. His influences also changed as his music taste changed. Once he began to experiment with remixing videos, he began to be more influenced by youtube remixed videos, where he would use them to shape his own style as well as improve upon techniques.
His hopes in being a part of helping with the revitalization of Holyoke, MA include using Porter House Music as a source of inspiration for other companies that up and coming. Porter decided to settle in Holyoke, MA because he wanted to be closer to his parents, who were both professors at the University of Massachusetts, and his friends. It was also the fact that compared to downtown Manhattan, where he used to live, the prices of buildings in Holyoke were much more affordable.
Porter House Music is very different from other video promoting companies where they work extremely close with their customers in order to complete the assigned project. For instance, they pay attention to every little detail yet still have fun in the process of making the video. Their main goal, however, is to make sure their customers are satisfied with the end result.
Porter’s passion in life is to make other people around him better and happy. He also, reciprocally, wants to stay inspired by creating things that make him happy. Porter enjoys doing great things with his music and creative talents while seeing himself as an entrepreneur. He makes most of his talents while giving back at the same time and help others achieve their goals. Porter’s advice to anyone that is trying to become a DJ or producer is to never stop putting your work out there. You are only hurting yourself by not doing so, since it is always good to receive critical comments from others. If you don’t get any feedback, then you’ll never know what you need to improve on. It is also a numbers game, therefore you need to keep pushing and never stop.
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