A Chat with: Kevin Beck, Kirill's Tour Manager
Recently I chatted with Kevin Beck, otherwise known as @Senna1 on Twitter. I have traded emails with Kevin throughout the years as he always seems to know what’s up with certain aspects of nightlife, whether it be DJs or new clubs opening. Lately, Kevin’s been acting as tour manager for KirillWasHere.com’s Kirill Bichutsky, so I decided to ask him a few questions about touring with Kirill, his thoughts on the upcoming Hamptons season and whether or not he writes some of Kirill’s slut-related tweets -- in turn, he gives some off-the-cuff responses.
Going on the road, you're exposed to nightlife in different cities across the country. Name a few cities and how they differ from the scene in New York. Each city has its own thing that makes it great. We have fun in every city we go to; no city has never been bad! Atlantic City (HAVEN in the Golden Nugget) is filled with Jersey girls and Philly hoes who love having their pictures taken and the shit they do to win a contest is next level -- pulling their skirts up and getting champagne poured on their ass (which is my personal favorite, as I am more of an ass guy). AC has the feel of NYC in the early 2000s; a lot of GA and people walking around the club and interacting with others, I personally like that. LA is more about people stayin’ in their table area, which happens in a lot of NYC clubs. Thank god Kirill’s job is not only to just take pictures but to make people interact with one another. He will walk over to a table and take some pics and next thing you know some girl who came to LA to be a actress is drenched in Champagne and now the whole table wants a facial. LA is definitely a lot of fun because they sell hot dogs outside the venue and I love hot dog burps at 3 a.m. (and blowing them in some slut's face back in the hotel room). When did you meet Kirill; how did you become his tour manager? I met Kirill 5-6 years ago in my Hamptons house. He was some kid who would sleep in the movie theater. He had a camera and would take pictures of us doing nonsense in the house. We hit it off and became fast friends. As time went on he would ask me advice on certain aspects of his business and I would give advice and also give ideas. I always tried to travel with him because Kirill is a really nice kid and club owners can be shit heads and not give what is promised. So I can be the dick and make sure shit gets done the way it was agreed to. So I pretty much fell into being his tour manager by being his best friend and watching after him as if he was my little brother, minus the one time some kid punched him in the face; I didn’t see that coming haha. Oh well, it made for good content! Talk a little bit about what you do as a tour manager that differs from a DJ tour manager? Most DJ tour managers I have met don’t have as much fun as I do. My job is to get drunk and put hot girls on my shoulders and make sure they are having fun and make sure the ugly ones don’t get in front of the camera. In all seriousness, I make sure all the alcohol we need is ready for us at the table and the Champagne is ready to be poured for the facials, which is usually 20-50 bottles. I introduce myself to every security guard in the club; just in case some boyfriend gets mad his girl is acting whorish and tries to kill Kirill. When we travel with a video guy I have to make sure he knows what to shoot. Once the club gets crowded I will walk around club with him and do recon. I have been going out for quite some time so I can sniff a slut out from a mile away. When he finds a girl to do a facial I look around and see which girls are smiling at this other girl getting a facial and then point him in the direction of that girl to do another facial. After this is done we will head back to table and drink some more. At which point the club is now aware of what this party is about and girls will come up asking for a facials or asking to sit at our table and hang out. I will choose who gets to come to our table. I usually kick out the ones who won’t do facials. I forget what happens after this point because I am usually black out drunk. Has touring with Kirill become a full-time gig or do you still work a “real job?” My family owns a hospital linen manufacturing plant on Long Island. We are a full cut-and-sew operation. I still work that 5 days a week. I travel with Kirill as much as I can. Are you seeing a change in the average club-goer's interest in DJs? Depends on the DJ. If it’s Tiesto or Afrojack, they are going for them. They both put on great shows so you know what you are getting when you see them, so I don't think the interest is dying out for the big boys. Same with the tech scene, as much as these kids in the scene want to think they are underground bopping in a corner to Seth Troxler with their black deep v-necks, they are one in the same with the kids in furry boots with pacifiers in their mouths at the main stage with Kaskade! Each scene has its heavy hitters and they will still draw. Any thoughts about the upcoming season in the Hamptons? Why drive 2 hours to see the same people you tried to avoid on Thursday night in the City! The Hamptons have seen better days. Nightlife has been shit since Dune pulled out, with no real competition, it just breeds mediocrity. I’ll be in LBI surfin’ at my buddy Joey’s place this summer and traveling with Kirill. If you were operating a club, what alternate types of entertainment would you book? That is a great question and the half Jew in me is telling me not to answer it, since I should be paid for my ideas! Do you help Kirill write any of his tweets? I noticed your tweets and his are similar at times, especially when it comes to girls. Nope. We have the same type of humor, so I understand how some may think that. It's like when two girls live together for a long time they start to have the same menstrual cycle. Same thing just without the blood and cuntiness (is that even a word?)