This article originally ran in the March 2016 issue of AVN magazine.
It’s a statement of fact that the shelf life for a modern-day skin star is brief. But Dominic Pacifico has defied the odds with a career in adult entertainment that stretches all the way back to a J.O. snippet he filmed for Titan Media’s Brian Mills in 1998. Sixteen years later, he’s witnessed the dramatic evolution of adult entertainment — VHS to DVD to VOD, the demise of skin magazines, the rise of social media—and has successfully parlayed his fame in the erotic realm into a busy, lucrative career as a DJ and remixer, where he is known as DJ Pornstar.
AVN spoke to Pacifico shortly after he spun records for the Cybersocket Web Awards in West Hollywood in January. He was traveling between gigs (“I’m driving through an overpass area in the mountains,” he explained as the line frequently dropped out) and was amused to be reminded about a “Fresh Off the Boat” interview he’d given to AVN over a decade earlier. Even then, he was already talking about his love for music and working as a DJ.
AVN: I saw you at the Cybersocket Awards, but we couldn’t speak. You were up on your perch.
Dominic Pacifico: It’s an interesting space. I felt separated from the room. The club was redesigned. Normally the DJ is on the main floor and a little bit more approachable. (With the redesign) there was no way for people to come up and say hello. But it was still good. I like being able to be a little more intimate with the crowd, if people want to come up and take a picture and say hello. It makes it more fun for them and more fun for me.
In your original “Fresh Off the Boat” interview you were talking about music. Was that something you did first, before porn?
It was hand-in-hand. But I didn’t really get called DJ Pornstar until maybe 2004. And that’s when I decided to just run with the name and use it as a cross-marketing angle. Originally I had more of a passion for music and audio production and I was using the money in porn to pay for school. What eventually happened is when I would be out deejaying in San Francisco, people would recognize me. So they started calling me “DJ Pornstar.” It took two or three years but I (began) deejaying nationally and internationally. I was building a work portfolio and the confidence in people wanting to work with that name. Some people just did not want to work with me. They didn’t see the name as professional or they were just leery. And I wanted to play for a specific style of club and event—I wanted to do the circuit parties—and it was just a really, really difficult scene to break into. After a couple of years, when I was well established in San Francisco, that’s when the work offers throughout the country (happened).
And the name and your other career wasn’t so much a problem for them?
Right. It became what they were seeking (out). They really liked the angle. They liked the sexier, fun vibe. The sound of music was changing, the club scene was changing. And a lot of the gay parties will put a picture of a hot guy on the flyer—usually they’ll put porn stars—to sell the event. But when they were able to put a hot DJ on there, it made it a really good, easy sell. So I ran with it from there.
Did you consider changing it to “DJ Dominic” or “DJ Pacifico” just to make it easier on yourself?
It did cross my mind. But it was already happening the way it was going to happen. I just thought it would be more interesting to own up to that name. If you Google “DJ Pornstar,” you’re not going to get porn. You’re going to get my events and my work history. If you Google “Dominic Pacifico” you’re going to get straight-up cock pics and a bunch of porn sites. Overall (promoters and audiences) don’t really care about the porn. They want the music.
That’s interesting to see that evolution over the space of just a few years.
It’s true, it’s true. And, you know, the big thing that went hand-in-hand with it at the time was social media. It was very new. Before that, my struggle was that no one really got to see the work or the popularity or follow anyone, a porn star or a DJ, in that kind of trendy fashion. Social media evolved and it really, really helped me as a platform to get my name out there. Because of it, people have changed their mentality and attitude towards adult entertainers doing other things or using it as a platform for a different career.
I have to ask about an update to an answer you gave in your original “Fresh Off the Boat” interview with AVN. In response to a question about long-term goals, you said, “I would like to work in the music industry for awhile, then teach electronic-music classes on a college level and finally retire and own a bed-and-breakfast.”
You know, I still kind of feel that way. Gosh, it’s so funny. I don’t imagine myself teaching, but I do imagine working in a studio and collaborating with other producers on that level, or doing some radio, which is something I’ve been interested in lately. I was broadcasting in college but I didn’t go that route; I went straight for the DJ route. I guess as you get older you want to start settling down with some of your ideas. The idea of me being 50 and running around from city to city, club to club, doesn’t sound that appealing. But, definitely, getting a coffee and heading into the sound studio and working with other producers sounds amazing.
DJ Pornstar headlines Cobalt in Washington, D.C., in March, followed by gigs in London, Paris and Tel Aviv and Cleveland Pride in August. His first original track with Pump Records was just released under the moniker “Pacifico,” to be followed by a music video and an EP of remixes. His Twitter handle is @DJPornstar.
