My word, who IS that woman? Roxy stops em cold in Brooklyn (photo courtesy of Roxy's Myspace)

For the most part, promoters tend to get looked down on in the club universe. The thinking goes that they belong in, and should remain in, the lower rungs of the food chain. They shouldn't be DJing, or designing clothes, or making music, or doing anything, really. The only problem with this thinking is that Roxy Cottontail does all of those things, and she does them well. Just a few years ago, she was doing promo for her then-roommate Justine D. for Motherfucker. And just this past October, she won Paper Magazine's Nightlife Award for Best DJ of 2007, her weekly events at Sway and Room Service are always among the week's best options, and her career path seems enviably wide and well-paved.

But before you let that bile rise up in her general direction, it bears mentioning that Roxy's just a regular girl in most respects. She's shy on the phone, she's got an easy and sincere laugh, and she's a little grossed out by sex that involves spit and shit. I didn't press her for details on that one, but here's what happened...

So first off, I love the spread in URB. Those photos are fucking amazing...
Thank you!

Do you get to keep prints, or are you gonna have to buy em off Phil (Knott) in 20 years for hundreds of dollars?
Um, I don't know. I talked to Phil about getting some of the images, and I think once it's out, it's fine if I use it for press or whatever.

What about the clothes? Do you get to keep those Cazals and stuff?
Some of them were mine. I brought a bag of stuff, like some of the accessories are mine. But I got to keep a pair of sneakers that were in one of the shots, by Supra, and I think that's it. Oh, and the Skullcandy headphones, they've always been really good to me.

I was semi-surprised you weren't decked out in like, just an Oxy line, cuz you've got belt buckles, Air Force Ones which are really sweet, lots of stuff. Is there anything left you wanna do with that? Sunglasses, grills? Panties? Buttplugs?
I'm gonna be launching a clothing line in 2009. So I'm starting the production of samples and stuff. It's mostly just t-shirts to start with. The Air Force Ones are from Nike, and limited, but um, the clothing line that I'm doing is just gonna be for girls to start, and it'll be basic, but I wanna build it up big one day.

I'll tell all my friends to start saving now.
[laughs]

This is crazy though, cuz the first party you ever promoted was with Justine D back when you were going to Pratt, right?
Yeah. Motherfucker. I would promote her parties anyway, and loved them, and she kind of got me going in the right direction, I think. I would just promote her shit anyway, and she was like, "You know, I could get you a guest list, Roxy, you know a lot of people from Pratt," and yadda yadda, and I was just like, "Okay, cool!" And around that time we started going to APT a lot and I made friends with that whole crew and eventually, I dunno. Then, after, I did maybe three or four Motherfuckers, maybe three, not that many, 9/11 happened and I moved.

Out to Philly, which is where all that shit started to pop off for you.
Dave P, who does Making Time, and Justine, I just met them and was like, "Ohh these DJs are SO DOPE, I wanna do this party in New York, I think it would go off so hard!" and the two of them were like such cheerleaders. "Do it Roxy! Do it, do it!" So they helped me a lot, starting out.

So from humble beginnings, to all this. Tell me about this Le Royale thing you've got coming up with us.
Know what? We have to name it still! [giggles] It's very new. It's gonna be very disco and electro heavy.

This is a random question that a friend of mine wanted me to ask, so here goes: If you and Amanda Blank got into a fight, who would win and why?
[laughs] Ummm, I dunno, that's a good question. I'm a little bit bigger but she's a little bit crazier, so we'd probably...I dunno, it's a hard question. [laughs] I guess I would win, probably.

Cuz you want it more?
Yeah! [laughs]

Let's talk about Blonde Ambition for a second. This is a mixtape you mentioned in URB; and you're trying to get that released in the next few months, or is it still coming together, or...?
Yeah yeah I'm finishing up a couple songs on it, and actually Low B is mixing it.

Oh wow, nice.
So yeah, it's gonna be Madonna sample-heavy. There's some other songs, that aren't all Madonna, but I dunno it's maybe six originals of mine, and it's gonna be a mix of her music, mine...I'm not exactly sure what Low B's worked out specifically, but it'll be out sometime in February.

It's amazing, this foray into music for you's really recent, but you've already worked with a crazy list of people! Armand van Helden, Drop the Lime, Melo X. And that's impressive in and of itself, but are there other producers out there you want to work with?
I don't know, that's a good question. I think eventually I want to have a band. But I'm not sure what band that would be, right now

Wow, that's interesting. But a band with you, singing? Everything of yours that I've heard has involved you rapping? I didn't realize you were a singer...
Well, i do this sing-song rap thing, and it would be that, y'know. I feel like I'm still developing a sound, y'know. I feel like it's still really new, and it's coming together.

Well, tell me about those collaborations, though.
With every producer it's different. Armand van Helden was just like, "Do your thing, ma!" [laughs] He met me at that GBH show I did at Hiro with Mickey Avalon, last year. And he was like, "My album's coming out in the spring," it must've been 2006? It was one of my first shows, and he was like, "Yo would you wanna be on my album?" and I was like, "Are you the witch doctor? i'm gonna faint right now!" [laughs] but he asked me, "Can you write something in a week?" and I was like, "I'ma go home and start it tonight!" And so I went into the studio and laid it down. But then with Luca, Drop the Lime, we collaborate. We're in the studio developing the songs, which is, I think, much more special. I can't wait for people to hear what we're doing, it's fucking crazy. It's like gospel music and disco, and rap, it's fucking out of this world. It's a sound that's definitely not out there right now. He's amazing. and Melo X and i, we collaborate as well.

Is he in Philly or New York?
New York, he's in Brooklyn.

Arright, another change of pace. We've always been fans of yours, but now with this cover story, America gets in on the secret, so you're in a position to make pronouncements, and we're gonna do best and worsts. What's the best place to get food at six o'clock in the morning?
Uh, i like 7A. And Mamoun's. I think it's still open at that hour? I've definitely been there at like four in the morning, so I would imagine they're 24 hours.

Best place to do it in the club?
[laughs] Uh, I've done that once, but I'm not gonna say where. But I would like to probably, at Love.

Oh YEAH, in that little grotto?
I wanna have sex there, but it hasn't happened yet.

What about at one of your parties, though, have you ever walked down a hallway or something and just been like, "Oooh, naaawww.." The worst place, I guess.
Umm, yeah, actually, I have seen that once before, but I didn't stop it. I let security take care of it when they found it.

Grossest thing you've ever seen on jawn doe.
[laughs] Ummmmmm. Oh God, there was something I deleted one time, I forget what it was, ugh, it was so gross..[pauses]...I can't remember. It had something to do with shit, and spit, and sex, and I just can't remember cuz I've blocked it out of my memory. [laughs]

Favorite sex music?
Probably Portishead.

total deal-breaker sex music.
Umm...oh man. I dunno, I'm going blank on that one..

Worst thing to be seen wearing this year.
CROCS! I saw them a lot in hawaii, so I think they're just embedded in my memory. I don't think they're trendy here, just on kids maybe, but in Hawaii everyone wears them.

Gah. Well, I agree. Crocs must be stopped.
[laughs]

Is there anything you've wanted to blurt out since this started?
No, I don't think so. Thanks, Max!

Thank you. See you soon!

Roxy Cottontail hosts weekly parties at Sway and Room Service, and her upcoming night at Le Royale will be the hottest thing out there, as soon as it has a name. Her wares and business moves are all available at http://www.oxycottontail.com.