If you don't know where you came from,
you don't know where you're going.
(disco music)
From the kids and the people who came
from where I came from,
they did not do Fire Island.
Even for being LG and that's it.
And I'm saying to myself,
"Are they even going to get this?"
I was that first, you know.
Being a woman, being mixed race,
and also having good taste in music.
From that first song to that last song,
I'm taking you on a journey, you know.
We're going there together.
And if I'm not going to get off,
you're not going to get off.
So, that's how I do it.
- [Javier] This is Lina Bradford.
In the 80s and 90s,
New York City nightclubs provided a safe space
for the queer and trans community.
Not only a space to have fun
but a space to be authentic in the freeist possible way.
Amongst the sea of fabulous
sequins, feathers, and glitter coated attire,
was Lina Bradford.
Busy building a soundtrack of a city that never sleeps.
Under the moniker Girlina,
her extraordinary performances
invigorated crowds and attracted other DJ legends
like Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, and Junior Vasquez,
who later convinced Lina to begin her own DJing career.
On a dare.
Now, as DJ Lina, she's just finished
a 10 year residency at the iconic
Fire Island Pines in New York
and continues to tour all over the US and Europe
creating spaces for others to explore their truest selves.
With no end to the party in sight,
Lina Bradford continues to make her mark on the world.
I'm Javier Muñoz, and this isn't just our history,
this is Legendary.
- Growing up in Manhattan back in the day was everything.
It was basically like a walking museum.
And also for knowledgement.
It was an encyclopedia.
54, and Garage, and Saint, and Loft, and Danceteria,
and all these things.
Each one of these places was this underground jungle
of music and fashion and it was a home for everyone.
Whatever it was that they were trying to escape,
they found it and they had brothers and sisters
that they would see every week
or whatever night that they went out.
Performing back in the day as Girlina
was very easy because I had always been dancing.
So, when I had started working in the clubs
then later on performing,
I felt like I had been always doing this my whole life.
Now I was getting paid for it
and I was getting a whole different homage and visual
that I would've never gotten as a quote unquote
professional dancer.
It was that kind of feeling.
It was amazing and New York was the best
that it could've possibly ever been.
For fashion, for music.
We were in a recession
which has always been a great time for New York
back in the day.
The underground had this beautiful wave
of bringing you to all these others things
because again, like I said, everybody was there.
Everybody was melting as one.
It was art.
I never thought of becoming a DJ,
I just knew that I knew music inside and out
being a dancer.
For me, getting on that dance floor, is everything for me.
It's a very male dominated industry.
Brothers of mine who I was coming up in the clubs with,
were all up in the booths and we started talking
and then Frankie's like, "Lina, you would be an amazing DJ."
I was like, "What?"
I was like, "Please."
And then everybody went down the room like this,
they're like, "Lina, you would turn it out."
"It would be amazing for you."
I was like, "Oh, well okay."
"Hold on y'all."
They're like, "Your birthday's coming up,
do it on your birthday."
"We dare you."
I was like, "Oh, come on."
"You know I'm going to take a dare."
I literally had one lesson.
And I literally made it a tossed salad of
all the different music that it is that I love.
Really, really fun stuff.
So, I just made it a eclectic tossed salad
my first night DJing.
And everybody was living and it was really fun.
And then after that, it was like,
"Okay, we want you to do every Sunday."
And then from there,
it just started building, and building, and building.
And then next thing you know,
I'm seeing my brothers and sisters in airports
and we're going to similar gigs.
And I was like, "Holy sh*t, I'm actually a f*cking DJ."
(waves)
What a beautiful morning.
This is so special to have.
This is my ten year anniversary here in Fire Island
and it is always one of my favorite places.
The relationships, the family that I've made out here
they're unprecedented.
It's unlike any kind of relationship I've ever made
with anyone else in my life.
When Fire Island started, it was in 2005.
I had gone to Fire Island back in the day,
but it was always quick thing.
I'd probably been going since the 70s,
but it was never one of those things
where it was consistent for me
because it just didn't speak to me at the time.
Because it was also very, very white.
If there was ever any color,
it was coming in and it was going out.
I was that first.
Being a woman, being mixed race,
and also having good taste in music.
That was never something that
Fire Island was ever known for.
Homage to all my brothers and sisters out there
who played Fire Island,
but it was a particular sound.
So, if you weren't into that sound,
you did not see that music.
And I'm saying from the kids
and the people who came from where I came from,
they did not do Fire Island.
Because the music was not for them.
They spoke to a demographic, so it wasn't broadened.
Even for being LG and that's it.
The island gave me so much more
than I could have ever imagined.
Relationships.
Most importantly, myself.
I said to myself,
I was like, "You know what, there's..."
And I'm very spiritual.
I was like, "There's a reason why this is coming to me."
My first night, it was pretty crowded
and I'm saying to myself,
I was like, "Are they even going to get this?"
The following week, it was even bigger.
And by the third week,
there was a line all the way down the block.
And I was like,
"Whoa, these kids really are ready for it."
"And they want it."
By probably a month, the word got across the river.
And people are like,
"Yo, Lina's doing a residency out on Fire Island."
And then I just started seeing all this coco.
It was full on a Benetton ad.
And not just color,
but age demographic too.
That's one thing that was amazing about the community.
I wasn't trying to push anyone out.
I wanted everyone to come up in
and get schooled and to have a good time.
Because at the end of the day,
the music that I play
with lyrics, and percussions, and sounds,
makes people happy.
That goes down in history.
That's bigger than I could have ever imagined
from a gig on a Saturday that became something so much more.
And then on my ten year anniversary, I was like,
"You know what, I think I'm done here."
So, now to see all the color
that's going on over there is amazing.
They might not have the music right,
but at least they got color.
I mean you can't do everything.
(laughing)
I've only ever felt like I'm more
solidified and dipped in chocolate
with where I am right now.
And I feel like my momentum
is higher than it ever is before.
There's something so special about maturity
that just teaches you one, not to sweat the bullshit
and not to look at the Joneses and try to keep up with them.
You know what I mean?
I need to keep up and I need to stay up
with what Lina is saying.
I've always done things for
the pureness, and the rightness, and the artistry of it.
And also to learn from it.
Not about the coin.
Not about the accolades.
For me.
And I think that that is my real New Yorker edge,
is that I've always stayed 100 too myself.
And I've never pimped myself out for a coin.
Listen, at the end of the day,
we all sit on the toilet and shit and pay bills.
And maybe one day those bills won't be so high.
Maybe one day they'll be low, but at the end of the day,
you're doing it on your terms.
(cheering)
- [Javier] Hi everyone.
Thank you so much for watching this episode of Legendary.
If you want more, check out the full Legendary playlist
and be sure to subscribe to Now This Entertainment.
See you next time.