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You started going to dance clubs as a kid?

Yeah, I started going when I was in high school. You know, begging for people who are older outside of 7-Eleven to buy me a 40-ouncer, and then heading up to the clubs in Tacoma and Seattle [from Olympia], and that's how I got introduced to mixing. I'd always been into dance music. Since I was a kid, I was always into anything alternative, like Devo or the B-52's, or even the early funk and soul stuff. ... There was a club that we used to go out to in Olympia called the Surf Club and there was a DJ there called Dr. Rob. That was a very important time in my youth, growing up and getting introduced to dance music. Dr. Rob was the main guy, and then after that, I heard Donald Glaude at a club in Tacoma. Then there was another club that he played at in Seattle, a gay club, that everyone used to go to. I was still in high school going to listen to Donald. It was so funny!

When he reads this, he's going to feel so old.

I know. Whatever. He knows it's true.

What was your epiphanous moment for deciding to become a DJ?

I'd always done it as a hobby, even through college. When I moved to LA, I went out one night to hear Frankie Bones and I think Barry Weaver was playing ... and I saw how much energy the DJ was creating on the turntables at the party, and it just hit me: "I have got to do this."

You produce as well as spin. What's a recent project of yours?

I just did a recording for Paris Hilton because she's got a new album coming out. I had a really hard time with this one. I didn't want to do it. I canceled the studio session three times. I finally said, "F--k it. If I'm going to do it, I have to do it." But it's weird, because we took her vocal, and it wasn't that, that bad. I did a club mix, which is what I would play, and then a vocal mix, which is what the more commercial DJs would play, and it came out really great. It's weird. I didn't feel like I really compromised at all. It came out really, really well.

You're often referred to as a celebrity DJ, and I understand Michael Jackson even helped you out once.

I was really good friends with Sean Lennon growing up, and he was good friends with Michael Jackson. I remember one time we were hanging out with Michael and we were like, "Michael, give us a song to make!" and he sung us a bass line. We went back to my stepdad's studio and made this whole song. [Later, we played it for Roberta Flack.] She was trying to be as polite as she could be. She said to us, "It's the same thing for seven minutes! But don't worry, James Brown used to do that."

Your stepfather is Foreigner's Mick Jones. Did his music have any influence on you?

I definitely went through a heavy metal phase, from 13 to 16. Going back to England, I would always hear these great English bands like Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. That definitely shaped my musical tastes, as well.

You're highly successful here in Vegas. How did that start?

I have to credit my friend Jonathan Schechter, who started The Source magazine from his dorm room at Harvard. He really championed bringing out great talent. When I started to realize how seriously [Vegas] takes their nightlife ... I started to really enjoy and appreciate it. ... Pure was the first place I played in that I felt like I was playing in a great club in New York. ... If it was a shitty club then I'd be a little upset, but the fact is that of all the places in Vegas, it's my favorite place to play.