Minimizing malaise has always amounted to a practice that produces financial profit, but what about recognizing the emotional compensation for countering discomfort and creating contentment? For Eric Bartello, nothing nixes negativity better than music, and he has found himself on a respected campaign to engender joy as a perpetually positive, constantly considerate disc jockey.
“It’s my supreme motivator,” the 41-year-old said outside South Philly Bar & Grill, 1235 E. Passyunk Ave., where on Saturday afternoon and evening he will help the business to mark its inclusion in the Italian Market Festival by spinning tunes, of his maturation through music. “I know what it is to have troubles and fears, and I believe songs help us to forget about our problems and disappear into the message, the beat, or a combination of the two.”
The resident of 11th Street and Oregon Avenue has enjoyed a residency at the Passyunk Square establishment since January, with Sunday night duties resulting in a 15 percent donation from food and beverage sales to participating Mummers clubs. Excited to assist its presence in the famous festival, Bartello believes his profession should promote enthusiasm at every turn, holding that enhancing happiness must be each practitioner’s purpose.
“You have to be versatile and have some kind of connection with the crowd, which you absolutely must read,” the Lower Moyamensing dweller opined. “People want to have a good time, and I love what I do to get them even more thrilled. I don’t want to sound too pretentious, but I feel like a shaman who’s helping to will them to feel better about themselves and the possibilities out there for them in this world.”
With “All Your Favorite Dance Music from the Throwbacks to the New Tracks” as his tagline, Bartello has beckoned thousands of groove thing shakers to dance their cares away, with 30 percent of his gigs generating funds for philanthropic endeavors. He loves channeling his charm for charitable causes, finding the ability to show compassion among the chief beneficiaries of his vocation.
“I don’t place limitations on what I want to involve myself with,” he said of his allegiance to such projects as Team Theresa, a 13-year-old Alex’s Lemonade Stand-supporting brainchild that he has assisted since 2011 and that will receive funds for its annual softball tournament through a July 16 South Philly Bar & Grill gathering. “Those opportunities to spread a message and alleviate someone’s worries are always going to be close to my heart. I’m a very family-oriented guy, so anything that brings people together, which music certainly does, is going to have my admiration for as long as I live.”
Bartello credits his South Philly upbringing for inspiring so many enduring lessons on life. Growing up on Seventh Street and Oregon Avenue, he benefited from belonging to a family that supported talent and creative thinking. With brother Michael as his disc jockey mentor, he began to become fascinated with the discipline, as well as visual arts and computers, with the trinity leading to the July 7, 1999 creation of Projekt Studios, with the “k” mainly serving as an homage to the German electronic music band Kraftwerk.
“My brother gave me great training,” he said of the introduction to his infatuation. “I have loved my time in this business, especially since I became fully invested in applying myself to it, and through Projekt Studios, I feel really accomplished and am especially proud of my mixes.”
Bartello has regularly found himself in the mix as a touter of tunes and noted his presence in Philadelphia prompts him to become a tireless studier of local tastes, holding that fostering euphoria empowers him to feel enraptured, too.
“This is, without a doubt, the ultimate high for me,” the captivated individual, who often lends his services to the South Philly Review for its functions, said of his sojourn. “Nothing brings people together in a more inclusive way than music. I don’t care what I’m doing or where I am. You’re going to get the best out of me.”
Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St., received his devotion in an educational sense, as he graduated as his class valedictorian from the Pennsport institution. In a professional sense, Bartello had been working for Aramark through the Wells Fargo Center, 3601 S. Broad St., in 2009 when the death of his mother and a change in his marital status prompted him to alter his life’s course.
“Aside from my daughters (Alexandria, a future Widener University registrant, and Julia, a student at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, 901 S. Broad St.), I needed to start to think about myself,” Bartello said. “Music registered as the obvious choice for me because on a subconscious level, I think music appeals to everyone, and I knew I could use it to help people to feel good. There have certainly been some times where everything hasn’t gone according to plan, but I wouldn’t wish for any other set of experiences.”
Along with his South Philly Bar & Grill relationship and Mummers association, the latter yielding particularly strong ties with the Fancy Brigades, the mirthful mixer has established connections with Casablanca in Warrington, will bring excitement to a crescendo at Cherry Hill’s Vera beginning May 27, foresees having a show on either the airwaves or the Internet by July, and is hoping to have Tate Publishing issue “Still Your Dad,” basically a children’s book with first-person narration from a single father, by the end of the year.
“My philosophy is that every human being was put on this earth to serve a purpose,” Bartello said. “The way I look at employment and that sort of thing is that whatever you pick, you have to let it be something that you absolutely love to do,” Bartello confided. “When I come here for the Italian Market Festival and when I go anywhere, frankly, I will feel like a very fortunate guy because that’s just what I am, and I’ll never lose sight of that.” ■
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Visit facebook.com/ProjektStudios/.
Contact Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
Photo by Tina Garceau
