A Renaissance Man of Note

We couldn’t do what we do here at Detour without our paying members — all of you who support our work and inspire us to keep writing! This week, we caught up with Detour member Peter Croce. Peter’s a regular Renaissance man around town — and if you haven’t caught one of his sweaty dance sets, join us for our Detour x Marrow happy hour on Thursday, Aug. 8 to catch Peter on the decks! 

What neighborhood do you live in? West Village.

What’s your favorite thing about where you live? It’s one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Detroit, and there’s no high-speed main road running through it.

What do you do for a living? Deejay, record label owner, producer, multi-instrumentalist.

How do you give back? At risk of sounding ridiculous I try to give back by taking care of myself so that I can do my work most effectively. Music is spirit work and energy work. My job is to calibrate people’s vibrations. There are many vibrations we can choose to calibrate folks to, but I try to calibrate to a high life-fulfilling one.

What’s the most important change you’d like to see in the city?Ban the cars and ban the parking, give the wide streets road diets, increase public transit ridership and pass legislation to encourage immigration / refugee resettlement.

Why do you love living here? Detroit is a city where the serendipitous tends to happen quite frequently. It’s a metaphysical thing, but I’ve never experienced anything like it outside of Detroit. You can start your day at a coffee shop, and quickly meet someone there, and by the end of the day have a new friend with whom you’re riding bikes around town before you end up at a dance party with them.

What’s your favorite thing you learned or read in Detour? What I love about Detour is how it is simultaneously rigorous journalism, while also being quite cheeky and entertaining. Personally I’ve been really following the facial recognition / Green Light story quite intently. And I love the Google Calendar with free and cheap events to stay fit in Detroit. And your coverage on the FAST buses got me to start taking the bus to the airport.

Who is your community? My community is a ragtag bunch of folks who are resisting individualism by being emotionally vulnerable– folks who weep at injustice, help one another out, dance to the music of life, commune with the trees, to laugh at what needs laughed at and to speak truth to power. If I had to put it in 5 words it would be, “people who stumble along together.”

Favorite meals in the Detroit area: Craftwork, Brooklyn Street Local,Mudgie’s, Russell Street Deli.

Favorite independent-owned shop: All the ones above plusMotorCity Wine, the Nest Egg spots and Astro Coffee / Ochre Bakery.

Favorite Michigan-made products: Vinyl records pressed at Archerand Ace High pomade.

Favorite place for a fancy night out: Chartreuse for dinner + Lady Of The House for dessert

Favorite dive bar: Temple Bar.

Favorite place to watch live music:Northern Lights.

Favorite community organization:We The People of Detroit.

Favorite Detroit community leaders:Marsha Music and Grace Lee Boggs.

Favorite place to spend a lazy Sunday: My living room + a Chemex full of coffee + home-cooked brunch.

Local writing, music or art recommendation? Blair French is a musician you should know.

Who is a person in Detroit you consider a mentor or a source of inspiration? Lincoln and Alana Hoey Moore, and their incredible daughter.

In 10 years, Detroit will be… the American model on how to dismantle and heal from white supremacy.

You and a friend have less than $20 and a full day in the city, what do you do? Ride bikes to Taqueria El Rey, ride to Eastern Market, then take the Dequindre Cut to the RiverWalk before ending at Belle Isle

Follow Peter and his gigs:
Twitter: @rocksteadydisco
Facebook: petercroce and rocksteadydisco
Instagram: @petercroce_rsd and @rocksteadydisco
Spotify: spotify.petercroce.dance