Made in the Shade

Mike Bindra is a legend in New York nightlife: as general manager of Twilo around the turn of the decade, he was responsible for electrifying the club's Friday-night marquee with superstars like Sasha & Digweed, Carl Cox, Sven Väth, and Richie Hawtin. Today, he and Laura de Palma run the promotions company Made Event, booking just about every kind of electronic music in just about every club in New York. Last summer they brought the massively popular Paul van Dyk to the massively populated Central Park; at the opposite end of the spectrum, underground technorati Loco Dice and Josh Wink graced a Made Event night at Shelter in February. This year marks Made Event's sixth consecutive year producing parties at WMC.

What inspired the tabloid theme of this year's Made It Up parties?

Laura: We're trying to develop a cohesive theme to group our parties together, and we try to top ourselves every year. If we hit the streets with something that becomes familiar, something that can tie all the parties together into a whole, it makes each event bigger. As for the theme, we're just trying to come up with something funny. We always try to put humor into it. Now we're getting around to the process of thinking about decor and visuals.

You have a surprisingly broad talent base for your Miami lineups, covering techno, breaks, house, and trance. What's the philosophy behind that?

Mike: I think our mission statement is to work within the whole spectrum of electronic music, to put on quality events and to try to give vehicles for the artists to showcase themselves in as strong a way as possible.

Laura: We're presenting electronic-music events. It's not for us to choose which genre is more important; we're presenting the best of each end.

Mike: There are kids that want to see trance, kids that want to see techno — Well, I say kids, but they're growing up, they're all adults now. We just look for artists that we think are talented and have potential and are motivated, and that we believe there's a market for. Everyone we're working with, there's development potential.

Laura: Moving the scene forward isn't about segmenting it, but about presenting it in the best way possible.

Mike: From a business perspective, it makes sense to have a broad view of the market and the music. It may sound weird, but it's almost a sense of duty that we should support it all equally. We really feel that way.

How did the Sunday School for Degenerates party come together? For my money it's the best lineup of the week, if only because it's the most underground. It's certainly the most Berlin-centric.

Laura: With the Sunday party, the idea was that every year we want to present the newest of the new — the really cutting-edge artists. It's the party everyone wants to come to every year on Sunday. It's not about the big headliner; we want to give people an experience of some DJs they might not have heard before.

Mike: Like Laura said, Sunday School for Degenerates showcases people in Miami and the States that wouldn't otherwise get an opportunity to perform here. Within many genres, including techno, there's a group of artists that play a lot in the US already. Our whole concept with this party is to keep it fresh every year, rather than focus on repeating artists. This is where you'll hear the cool shit every year.

Laura: Ultimately we just wanted to make it about the fact that the party has the best music and a really interesting lineup, and not get stuck in a repetitive routine. Plus, it's 14 full hours of fun!

What's your favorite Miami attraction that's NOT a club, bar, or party?

Laura: Personally, mine is the Miami Design District, where there are a lot of design stores, modern-furniture places, and art galleries.

Mike: There's a restaurant called Creek 28. It's off the beaten path, up on 28th and Indian Creek Drive, which is one block west of Collins. It's in the Indian Creek Hotel, kind of undiscovered, and the food and wine list are really good.