Austin's Roland Belmares--Circuit DJ Extradinaire
by Eric A. Crabtree
DJ Roland Belmares (27) is Austin's and fast becoming the nation's best up and coming circuit DJ. DJ Ro, as he likes to be called, has spun professionally since Nov. 1996. He is a resident DJ found most weekends at the Forum Nightclub located at 408 Congress in Austin. What makes Ro a circuit DJ is his past music-making for all the circuit boys. He has spun at the last Meltdown and RIP'D '98 after hours parties, Pride '98 in San Francisco, and occasionally as a guest DJ at the Brick in Dallas. He has plans to spin in Minneapolis for their Tea Dance Dec. 12, the Red and Green Party in Austin on Dec. 19 and at the Winter Party in South Beach in March, 1999. Besides the many circuit parties, Ro books private parties as a DJ, for which he has been in demand this past year. Bookings may be obtained by contacting Ro at 512.626-2418, or E-mail toDJRO1@aol.com.
Ben Parsley/Splash Productions gave Ro his first break as a circuit DJ when he was hired for San Francisco's Pride earlier in June with over 700 circuit boys in attendance. Ro also attributes his success to supporters like headliner circuit DJs Julian Marsh and Mark Tarbox. " Mark is currently assisting me by spreading my name and talents to other promoters like Jeffery Sanker Productions," stated Ro. I discovered that it was his friend Karl who gave him his start in the business. " Karl is the one that forced me to bring a tape to the Forum to get hired," commented Ro. Recently, Ro performed his talents along with the talents of local DJ Michael Tank at the RIP'D 98 CD Release Party held at the Forum.
Ro's now lays claim to having produced his first CD sponsored by good friend Ben Parsley. The CD is entitled Splash SF 2 (San Francisco Pride) which is a compilation CD of 11 mixtures of various artists complied by DJ Ro who spun this music at San Francisco's Pride. Music features ranges from "Endless Wind" to "Beautiful Day" to "Love Is In The Air," to the theme song from TV's Alley McBeal entitled "Searching My Soul." Other titles include "If you Could Read My Mind" and "Angels." The CD sponsored by Ben Parsley/Splash Productions is now available locally at N8 Wear, Lobo Bookstore Austin and Alien Records. The CD is also available across the country at your favorite Gay store. Among his favorite circuit songs, Ro favors the current hit, "Believe" by Cher.
