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DJ Dave Fogg keeps the music coming from the booth to the office

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Photo: Christopher DeVargas
Jason R. Latham

Dave Fogg could be a history teacher, if the curriculum were a timeline of Las Vegas’ greatest nightclubs.

Ra at Luxor. Rain at the Palms. Whiskey Sky at Green Valley Ranch. Hit after hit after hit, and Fogg, one of the city’s longest tenured DJs, has had a hand in every one of them, though not always from behind the decks.

“About 20 percent [of my career] is DJing, [and] 80 percent is talent buying,” he explains. “DJing, though, without a doubt, is probably my favorite thing.”

Fogg, the talent buyer for Drai’s and a fixture on the Drai’s Beachclub stage, is a rarity on the Strip: a nightlife executive who has witnessed the club scene’s evolution dating back to the late ’80s, while still moonlighting—or daylighting, as it were—as a DJ.

When he’s not spinning, he’s introducing some of dance music’s biggest names to Las Vegas. “It’s kind of like bragging rights,” Fogg says of bringing high-end, often undiscovered talent to the city.

At Ra, where Pleasuredome was born, he was the first to sign Armin van Buuren, Jeff Mills and Timo Maas. At the Palms, Fogg gave Diplo his first Vegas residency.

“Electronic music wasn’t even called EDM back then,” he says, reflecting on his career in the midst of a busy Thursday at Drai’s Beachclub, where he’s still giving up-and-coming dance artists like TroyBoi and Anna Lunoe their first major exposure to Vegas club crowds.

“A DJ moving into the talent buyer lane is a very logical and seamless move, but it’s very unique [in Las Vegas],” Fogg says. “I think most talent buyers are coming from the office environment; maybe they worked as a tour manager or an agent.”

The artist’s mindset, and the knowledge and experience that comes with it, made Fogg the perfect candidate for the role. On days like this, he’s hustling behind the scenes, booking artists, arranging transportation and hotel accommodations and brainstorming marketing ideas with teams of managers and promoters. On other days he’s onstage in the sunlight, opening for Henry Fong or another artist on Drai’s daytime roster.

“I often have to make sure [artists] get in the venue,” Fogg explains. “But it’s very laid back here; if I’m opening for somebody I’ll text the guy and let them know, ‘I’m opening for you, I can’t come grab you.’”

In such a competitive market, Fogg resists the urge to name names on his wish list, but he has already added some personal favorites this season, Marc Kinchen and Green Velvet among them.

“These are guys that really influenced me being a DJ. This is 20 to 30 years that we’re talking about,” he says. “I love the opportunity to book someone like that, whose records I grew up playing. There’s definitely times where I can fanboy out, when it’s appropriate.”

Tags: Nightlife, DJ
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