Interview: How To Get Past New York's Toughest Bouncers

No. 8: Disco

Meeting Disco is intimidating at first. Almost every club-goer, celebrity, and member of New York's nightlife elite has shaken hands with Disco. The man towers over you with a stoic expression; perhaps the most realized of the archetypal doorman image. Don Hill's, Life, Mister H, the legendary Bungalow 8 and now it's reincarnation No. 8 have all found that image valuable. However, the most telling aspect of his presence is his careful selection of words, never giving away too much and always keeping the listener guessing. He's seen it all, and though he's notoriously silent about his work, I managed to get a few words out of him. Tell me about your background. Born and raised in New York. I was at Mister H, Travertine, Bungalow 8...look up the rest. What do you look for in people? There's a certain look, that's all I can say. A certain energy. What do people offer you? Everything. Whats the hardest you've had to work to keep someone out? Just getting a lot of drunk people. You're telling them no, they're hearing everything but no. They're hearing drunk language. What's your tipping point? You're going to always get to that breaking point. That's why you go inside and do a shot.