Since 1996, A-1 Records on Sixth Street has attracted countless vinyl enthusiasts to its bins of hip-hop, jazz, soul, disco, and house music. On any given afternoon, disc diggers discuss what white-label 12-inches they’re going to DJ, tossing out obscure names that are foreign even to the other die-hards flipping through the stacks.

Ron Morelli, one of the four employees at A-1, has seen dramatic changes in the city’s electronic music scene during his ten years of spinning vinyl. The DJ, whose discovery of punk and hardcore started him on his journey into underground music and culture, started the DIY dance music label, Long Island Electrical Systems, in 2009 to showcase gritty, analog-based techno and house. He’s also used L.I.E.S. as a vehicle to release his own music (along with co-conspirators Jason Letkiewicz and Steve Summers) under the moniker Two Dogs In a House.

The small-run 12” records that Mr. Morelli releases (many of which feature hand-stamped track listings on the dust jacket) feel intimate: it’s clear they’ve been lovingly assembled by hand. Early releases by Steve Moore and Professor Genius started the buzz that has collectors rushing to buy the releases before they hit Discogs for quadruple their initial price.

Despite the sold-out events Mr. Morelli DJs in New York and Brooklyn and the label’s success in Europe, there’s a low-key presence to L.I.E.S. Rather than a lavish release party, L.I.E.S. artist Professor Genius first spun his latest 12″, “Hassan,” at Heathers Bar on a Thursday night. Recently, Mr. Morelli shared his thoughts on the changing face of New York’s electronic music scene and the state of record stores.

Courtesy Ron Morelli.

Is there a hub or go-to place for underground house and techno currently in Manhattan or Brooklyn?

I don’t really think there is a hub for underground electronic music in New York City. The closest thing you’ll get to that is the Bunker parties as they are run very professionally and have the most current and popular international guests coming in to play their parties. Really though, I think the interest in this kind of music is very concentrated and not too widely recognized, at least the real underground stuff.

What was the most interesting project you’ve worked on or released?

I would say working on the end-of-the-year “American Noise” double CD was definitely a learning experience — from compiling it, to getting the artwork together, to learning about the specifics of how lame the wholesale CD distribution game across the world is. Talk about a pathetic business market with people sneaking behind each other’s back to make peanuts over the next guy….that was weird for sure.

Will there always be a demand and need for stores like A1 that cater to the DJ community, or will digital continue to grow and phase out vinyl loyalists?

I don’t know if there is necessarily a demand for a shop like A1, but it does serve an important role in the neiborhood and to the individuals who come to the store. You see at this point, A1 has been around since 1996. It’s more of an institution and community meeting place or cultural center for music aficionados to mix and mingle. That aspect comes first and foremost and it’s almost more important than the fact that records are being sold here. The “regulars” that come to the shop, it’s their home; they feel comfortable hanging out, talking, cracking jokes and what not. You get alot of different people from alot of different walks of life under one roof to check out music. In the end everyone ends up interacting with everyone else which makes for a lot of interesting conversations and stories.

So yeah, it’s not a matter of vinyl vs. digital, but more-so the question is will the socio-economic climate of the city allow a shop like ours to survive? So far so good, but one never knows what the future will bring.

It’s obvious by the successful events at Cameo and the label itself that there’s a huge interest in house/techno, yet it’s not being covered or picked up in the way DFA was ten-plus years ago. Is house/techno more underground now or are things just more saturated now?

Well, there are a lot of people doing a lot of things. If you’re specifically referring to the interest in underground dance music in New York and the United States now vs. 10 to 12 years ago. I can’t really say I have an answer, I live in my own bubble. Generally speaking it doesn’t seem like there is as much interest in underground subversive club electronic music here in the States as opposed to Europe.

I also don’t think you can compare something like DFA Records to what I do or what WT Records does or Golf Channel. DFA came along at a very weird and transitional time in New York City history and in the scope of U.S. dance music in general. They were the starting point for a lot of people and opened a lot of people up to different styles of music. I think when they had people like Black Dice and Delia and Gavin they were in a good place and could have really pushed forward into a more experimental realm, but it didn’t go that way, it went the easy pop route give or take a release or remix here or there. So yeah, the press is going to always give pop music attention. I mean the underground is always going to be the underground; it’s always been that way and it will always stay that way.

What have been your best experiences DJing and is there a significant difference between the US and Europe in your experience?

All of my best DJing experiences have been in Europe. I have had many good times playing at screwed up bars in NYC over the last 12 years with friends like Porkchop, Speculator, Chupacabras, Scott Z, Pete Leonard, just wilding out throwing beer all over and whatnot. But the professional or unprofessional club experiences overseas have been generally more rewarding crowd-wise and sound system-wise, shall we say.