White Russian

The plan backfired. Initially, I plotted to drag the local hard-techno DJ the Devious One (a.k.a. DVS1 or Zak Khutoretsky) to one of the cheesiest nightclubs in town and document him squirming amid shiny shirts and epic trance remixes of Top 40 numbers. But somehow, he turned the tables. Now I'm conducting my interview in unfamiliar territory--at Nye's Polonaise Room during Polka Night--standing out as a raver among the regular barflies. Meanwhile, my khaki-clad, all-too-adaptable companion spouts off about techno and the Nye's snare player's turkey-gobbler neck. I am shamefully unequipped to combat DVSness with deviousness.

Over mozzarella sticks, onion rings, and what sounds like a smashing polka rendition of "My Girl," Russian-born Khutoretsky--who planned the art-and-techno party Ascension, which will take place at Theatre de la Jeune Lune this Saturday--talks elatedly about organizing shows. He just came off a mini-tour of Europe, where he debuted his self-described "dark, nasty techno" at several clubs, including Berlin's Tresor.

"The one time I can really play the techno I wanna play [here in the States] is on Halloween at 2:00 a.m.," he says. "But at Tresor, they absolutely loved it. I've never had a crowd scream for an encore record before. It was the coolest thing." Apparently, Germans are Khutoretsky's ideal kind of fans: They like it rough. (See also: Rammstein).

The combination of his bald head, narrow eyes, and gruff voice gives Khutoretsky an aura that matches his brooding musical style. But he can't say it enough: "I'm a nice guy." His mother, however, took some convincing to believe this "nice guy" claim.

"When I told my mom I was changing my [alias] to DVS1, she started crying because she's religious and she believed it was an evil-tainted name," he says. "I explained to her that it's the style of music I play, and she backed off." He pauses, for dramatic purposes, to recall the predecessor to Ascension: last year's Resurrection party. "Now my mom carries my Resurrection flyer and my first A List in her purse," he says. The party flyer he speaks of, featuring a Medusa-meets-Xena-in-bondage cartoon, is as sinister aesthetically as techno is aurally--if not more so.

As the frontman of Hush Productions, Khutoretsky threw Resurrection last August with the intent of hosting one party a year thereafter. He also wanted to hold the event in a warehouse, but as our Nye's visit illustrates, plans often change. Two days before the show, authorities turned up and Hush was forced to relocate Resurrection from a Minneapolis warehouse to a dirt lot under a highway bridge in St. Paul. Khutoretsky's identity was cemented in a moment that night: Who could forget his skinny silhouette perched atop a huge bass bin, shouting for 1,300 ravers to thank the sergeant? As the party ended at 5:30 a.m., he passed the mic to headliner DJ Traxx, who sealed the night when he explained, "This ain't no rave, man. This is love."

This Saturday, Ascension features Traxx and 8fatfat8 returning from last year and techno heavy hitters DJ Bone and Steve Stoll headlining. Keeping with the theme of unconventional venues, the Theatre de la Jeune Lune will be turned upside down on its gorgeous French head to accommodate the techno turmoil.

"We're going to make it so that when you walk in, you step into a whole different realm," Khutoretsky explains with bright eyes. "And when you leave at 3:00 a.m., you get to go back to the real world."

After this Nye's interview, it's safe to assume that it won't be "polka time" at the party that is Khutoretsky's alternate reality.