Danny Masterson: “It’s a Good Excuse for Some Debauchery!”
Spinning discs puts That ’70s Show’s Danny Masterson in the partying mood, whether he’s clubbing or home entertaining. “How can you not shag to Mick Jagger?” he shouts.
By Paul Semel
Blender, March 2003
“YOU HAVE TO watch out, being an actor who wants to DJ,” says Danny Masterson, the woolly headed, conspiracy theory–minded Steven Hyde from That ’70s Show, as he lounges in the courtyard of his funky Hollywood home.
This afternoon, he’s not thinking like his character but like his music-obsessed nocturnal alter ego, DJ Donkey Punch.
“I’m not trying to be something I’m not,” Masterson insists. “I just love music. And people have so much fun when I DJ, because I play stuff I want to hear.”
Masterson is turning 27 in March, which marks his twelfth year in town – he’s so L.A., he’s even a Scientologist! – and his twenty-second in showbiz, since his first early-’80s Twinkies commercial at age 5. “I did a lot of commercials when I was a kid,” Masterson says. Since then, he has suffered numerous onscreen indignities, such as when John Travolta kicked the crap out of him in Face/Off. But with That ’70s Show finishing up its fifth hit season on Fox (and returning in syndication), he’s become a nighttime fixture in L.A. clubs: notorious to both the bouncers guarding the velvet ropes and to the girls inside.
So who’s this Donkey Punch dude? Masterson, annoyed by hearing dull discs at party after party, took matters into his own hands four years ago (though he was wise enough to take lessons first from a pro). “It’s a good excuse for some debauchery,” Masterson says with a laugh. Which explains the two turntables (but no microphone) displayed prominently in his living room, as well as the eclectic mix of his favorite albums – very few of which, strangely, come from the decade that pays his bills.…”
N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton
Ruthless/Priority, 1988
“For me and my friends, living in New York and hearing this West Coast gangsta rap made us all wish we weren’t just stupid suburban white kids. It was obviously a very different life than ours; we were just a bunch of nerdy white kids who would recite every single lyric.”
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Cypress Hill, Cypress Hill
Ruffhouse/Columbia, 1991
“When I was 15, my parents left town for a month. They hid the keys to the car, but I found them. That month, I drove my stepdad’s Thunderbird Super Coupe into Manhattan every day, and I would crank Cypress Hill as I flew around the city, racing the taxis.”
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Jane's Addiction, Ritual De Lo Habitual
Warner Bros., 1990
“Also when I was 15, I lived with Giovanni Ribisi and his twin sister, Marissa. They’d just turned 16 and gotten this old Chevy Malibu, and they would drive me to all my auditions. This was the only thing playing in their car, so they knew every lyric.”
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Pearl Jam, No Code
Epic, 1996
“I’m obsessed with Pearl Jam. I bought every one of those live albums, and I’d already spent thousands of dollars on bootleg CDs over the years. You guys at Blender just reviewed the whole Pearl Jam catalog, and you gave No Code the worst rating! I think whoever wrote that was drunk.”
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The Rolling Stones, Beggars Banquet
Abcko, 1968
“If I’m reading scripts, I’ll listen to an old Rolling Stones album. I’m such a fanatic. I’ve definitely fucked a lot to Beggars Banquet, many times over. How can you not shag to Mick Jagger? That guy’s the ultimate pimp. You just throw this on and get your swerve on.”
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The Black Crowes, Amorica
American, 1994
“When I was 18, I did this one-hour drama for ABC called Extreme in Park City, Utah. I had a big Bronco with flames painted up the front of it, and the only thing I listened to was Amorica, 24/7. I had to go find the European version, with the bush popping out.”
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Radiohead, Kid A
Capitol, 2000
“I got to hear a bunch of songs from Kid A before it came out. I definitely like Kid A better than Amnesiac, but I also got to hear four songs that aren’t on either album, and they’re just as great as the ones that are. Though if I ever meet those guys, I don’t plan on telling them that.”
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Nas, Stillmatic
Columbia, 2001
“Nas’s song ‘Ether’ just kills me – it’s the most disturbing, hysterical, shit-on–Jay-Z song of all time. Wilmer [Valderrama, That ’70s Show’s Fez] and I love all the same hip-hop, so some nights before the show, he and I will listen to it full blast in our dressing rooms and do every lyric.”
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Kid Loco, A Grand Love Story
Yellow/East West – France, 1997
“I got [the French import] from Aron’s Records, which is this great record store in Hollywood. Jason Lee introduced me to the song ‘Love Me Sweet’ off this, and it instantly became one of my favorite singles. I don’t know anything about Kid Loco, just that his albums are insane.”
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The White Stripes, De Stijl
V2, 2000
“My friend Ben Foster, who’s the best young actor in Hollywood – he and I were sitting in his apartment drinking beers, and he was like, ‘You’ve gotta listen to this new record I got.’ And it killed me. It’s one of those albums: You can listen to every song. It’s so simple.”
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― am0n, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 18:56 (sixteen years ago) link
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