In a sweeping chronicle of turntables, transformed warehouse spaces, and the twilight rhythms of a city that never slept, Mark Ronson’s forthcoming memoir, “Night People: How to Be a DJ in ’90s New York City,” offers readers an intimate portal into the gritty, electric nightlife that shaped one of music’s most influential producers.
The 256-page hardcover, set for release on September 16, 2025, by Grand Central Publishing, meticulously documents Ronson’s formative experiences maneuvering New York’s legendary club scene with nothing but two Technics turntables and an obsessive passion for vinyl.
Ronson, who came of age during a pre-Giuliani era marked by creative freedom and relative lawlessness, details his relentless pursuit of unique records across the city’s eclectic neighborhoods. His memoir chronicles countless late-night gigs at iconic venues like The Tunnel, Roxy, and Palladium, where fashion mavens mingled with rappers, club kids, and professionals in a heady atmosphere of ambition and artistic expression.
The producer credits DJ Stretch Armstrong as a significant influence, whose techniques he studied and emulated while developing his distinctive style. These nighttime haunts became Ronson’s classroom, where he perfected the art of blending diverse genres—a skill that would later define his production work with artists like Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars.
Beyond technical mastery, “Night People” explores the vibrant social ecology that flourished after dark, where Ronson found what he describes as his “second family” among “wild and wonderful characters” of the downtown scene. The memoir serves as a heartfelt love letter to a bygone era when creativity flowed freely through New York’s pulsing nightlife.
The memoir is organized around these pivotal venues, each chapter capturing the unique energy that defined Manhattan’s nightlife before commercialization and digital surveillance transformed club culture. As the former host of The FADER podcast, Ronson brings his sharp storytelling abilities to recreate the atmospheric intensity of these legendary spaces.
Long before his lucrative career creating sync deals for films and commercials, Ronson was honing his ear for the perfect beat in smoke-filled rooms across the city. Many of the production techniques he developed during this period would eventually inform his approach to creating professional audio interfaces for home studios years later.
As both personal history and cultural time capsule, Ronson’s account preserves an era when DJs served as musical curators and community influencers. His journey from late-night spinner to Grammy-winning producer illustrates how the gritty, creative ferment of ’90s New York nightlife provided not just entertainment but a transformative incubator for artistic innovation and personal identity.
