MC 900 Ft. Jesus Lives

"A lot of it is so opposite from music and the music business—especially the business side," he says. "The music business is so predicated on hype and bullshit and people's nebulous aesthetic ideas that may or may not click with yours. Aviation business is the opposite. When you get a certain license, it means you've demonstrated that you can do certain particular things. And it's done in a real...technical way. And I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do all that."

The biweekly DJ gig at Lee Harvey's is proving almost too much for him, he says, and he finds himself wishing he had more new music to play. But he's not a music junkie the way he was in the '80s.

"I don't hardly ever buy anything that I'm not specifically getting for this gig," he says. "I'll buy a new CD and take it home and listen to the first few cuts, and then I'll put it on the shelf and never listen to it again.

"Burnout is a weird thing. I worked at the indie record store for eight years too, and I think that was part of it as well. Listening to the trendy new stuff all day, every day, you get kind of jaded, but you also get kinda burned out on music in general. Your ears get tired."

This isn't Griffin's first DJ job. Some 20 years ago, when he was working at VVV, he had a regular gig at the Inwood Theatre's bar. In a roundabout way, that led to his current DJ work.

"At one point, I was sitting at the bar talking with one of my buddies, and he said, 'We should get you over here DJing again.' I don't put myself out there as a DJ. But I said, 'That'd be cool.' Because I'm getting so old that it takes a team of horses to get me out of the house. But I didn't know if I wanted to take on the obligation. But I'm forced to get my ass out of the house. I get to see my friends, and I get to drink for free, and I get paid to do it."

Burned out or not, Griffin is thoughtful about the music he plays and seems to have a good time as he fades one song into the next. He relies heavily on the Blue Note catalog, favoring '60s jazz with some stuff from the '50s and '70s as well, featuring musicians such as Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery and Herbie Hancock. Griffin likes to play quieter, instrumental jazz for the first couple hours, so as to not overpower conversation. Later in the night, he may throw on some Miss Kitty, Amy Winehouse or LCD Soundsystem.

"Mostly vintage, real jazz," he says. "It just seems to go real well with the ambience of this place. And then, more toward midnight when everyone's getting a little bit sloppy, I turn it up a notch and play a little more contemporary indie-type stuff and turn up the volume a little bit."

He plays the music he wants to hear and, so far, hasn't had any complaints. Even Castrinos, the fan who expected an MC 900 Ft. Jesus concert, seems to be enjoying himself.