“Rony Style” – An Interview With Producer and DJ Rony Seikaly
Back in Italy when I was a young teenager, I discovered basketball and the distant yet near-at-heart world of NBA – I became a Bulls fan and would later go on to move to Chicago for college.
Chicago was not only the home of the Bulls but also the birthplace of house music, and on a particular Saturday night in January 2013 Spybar was hosting a 6ft 10in DJ by the name of Rony Seikaly. I immediately recognized the name and how could I not? As a Lebanese-born American pro-basketball player, Seikaly was the Miami Heat’s first ever franchise draft pick back in 1988 and went on to set a series of team records, many of which still stand today. But that very cold winter night, three-hundred or so house fans cramped that dark powerful basement in Chicago to hear him play. He was our music selector for the night – and a fantastic selector at that. There was a flair about his music, a distinctive groove that hypnotized everyone present and kept them dancing late into the night. I was immediately a fan, and from that moment on I would take the opportunity to see Seikaly play any time he was in town or when I happened to travel to Miami Music Week.
