Musician, DJ, amateur historian and all around tech nerd, Geoffrey Hudson is a modest, soft spoken kind of guy. A hipster jack of all trades, he is guy in the background, never calling much attention to himself at the show or party. But during my conversation with him, layer after layer is unfurled, revealing a passionate artist and archivist who has done much to foster and promote the indie cultural scene in Grand Rapids.
But most importantly, Geoffrey Hudson loves the '80s. He likes the '70s and '90s, too, and probably a little of the 2000s. But definitely, the '80s.
“Nostalgia might just be this weird brain disease that kicks in once you are in your thirties," Hudson says. "I fell into it, but now it's getting worse and worse.”
Hudson has managed to turn his nostalgia obsession into fun and profit. Perhaps most prominently, he is known as DJ Jef Leppard, host of the popular retro-themed dance night, Retro D’Luxe.
“I got into DJing not on purpose," says Hudson. “I just kind of hogged the stereo at parties. The people liked what I was playing and kind of expected me to play music. So I went, ‘well, I’ll buy some equipment.'"
He started Retro D’Luxe in 2004 at The Drink Ultralounge, where it took off almost immediately, occuring every Thursday night until the nightclub closed. A year ago, after a short hiatus and a few brief stints at other clubs, he found a new monthly homebase in
The Pyramid Scheme. This month, Retro D'Luxe will see its eight-year anniversary.
“I think people coming to my dance night now are getting nostalgic for the nostalgia of Retro D’Luxe at the Drink in the early 2000s. I think it’s turning into a meta-nostalgia," he jokes.
Further evidence of Hudson's nostalgia-passion is contained in his vast collection of memorabilia, as well as the '77 Pinto and '76 Dodge van he owns. The Pinto is frequently seen parked outside of Wealthy Theatre where Hudson works as a A/V technician.
A couple years ago, he started up a blog called
GR Retro, which documents this obsession on a local level.
“It’s hard to find memorabilia. It is hard to even find a photo for these places that once existed," Hudson says. "I have obsessively hoarded this stuff. I have 12 crates of VHS tapes, cassettes and photos. I’ve become known as the go-to guy if you are looking for this stuff. It turns out there are a lot of people in Grand Rapids who are looking for this stuff. It’s turned in my weird little niche.”
Recent entries to the blog include a pitch for his own screenprinted Mr. Fables T-shirts and an interview with Danny Douglas, former host of ancient local TV dance show, "Pepsi Dance Trax." But a large chunk of the content is based around photos from his personal collection.
“Nowadays, you can document every stupid mundane thing," Hudson says. "Back in those days, it was harder. The average person had really [bad] cameras, but that was all we had to work with back then. Video cameras were pretty cumbersome. They weren’t just in your phone. Just to get any little piece of anything back then is like a luxury, because there isn’t that much.”
After graduating from Vermontville High School in rural Michigan, Hudson came to Grand Rapids in 1986. He roomed at the YMCA next the public library, where he stumbled upon public access station GRTV, which he though was "the coolest thing ever." He has essentially been there ever since, producing shows, and seeing the transition of GRTV to the
Community Media Center and the acquisition and restoration of Wealthy Theater. During the early '90s, he came up with the concept of a show called "Nothing TV," a freeform call-in show featuring local musicians, performers and eccentrics. The show was based around video clips, manipulated graphics, skits and the uncensored commentary of anonymous callers.
“Nothing TV started around '95, when I decided that there was a name and a concept. Before that, since 1987, it was just whatever. You would just get a camera and do whatever you decided. I thought it was cool to take phone calls on the air, so the first show was called "Geoff’s Night Time Phone Thing."
Hudson's local TV ventures have caused him to brush up against fame a few times. In the early '80s, Hudson produced a show for a band called Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty. The band was fronted by Grand Rapidian Maynard James Keenan before Keenan went on to form the band Tool. But perhaps closer to the hearts of fans of GRTV, Hudson was the man behind the camera for eccentric and reclusive local musician The Great Daryl Nathan, producing his show, "The Great Daryl Nathan Entertainment Show" starting in 1996.
“He was the closest thing to a celebrity that we had. Everyone knew about him. If anyone knew that I worked for GRTV, people would say, 'What’s Daryl Nathan like?' Everyone knew about that guy and they still do," he says. "I’m running the Facebook group, and there are 2000 people on there. It’s a bit like being John Malkovich because I get to be Daryl Nathan on Facebook.”
Hudson was contacted by Black Entertainment Television (BET) in the mid-2000s for use of Nathan’s clips. So what made Daryl Nathan so special?
“His songs and visual presence," Hudson explains. "If you flip the channels and see Daryl Nathan, you’ve gotta stop and see what’s going on. “
Nathan was easy to spot. Clad in a white tuxedo, perched behind a portable keyboard, Nathan would sing in a high-pitched lilt, occasionally smoothing his long, curly wig. Nathan's catalog of original compositions included "She Put a Napkin on my Plate," "International Lover," and "Spinning Wheel." A lot of people wondered if it was all a gag.
“That was part of the fascination," Hudson recalls. "People always ask me, 'is he serious?' I got that question more than anything. They wanted to know if he was a normal guy putting on a character. But he wasn’t a character. He was dead serious about his whole act. That’s what is so great about it. I don’t know if you could just put on an act like that. He was the real deal.”
In addition to his day job at the theatre and documentation of nostalgia, Hudson is also a founding member of local video game obsessed, underground electronica band The LSDudes. Hudson has also started a side business making replica signs of old Grand Rapids businesses like The Clock, the popular 24-hour diner that burned down in 2005. He is presently working on a Studio 28 sign.
So what does this grizzled veteran of the GR culture wars think of the scene today?
“The '80s and '90s that I grew up with, we didn’t have anything to do. That’s why we created the stuff that we did," he says. "Now there’s so much going on, it’s hard to pick where you are going to go on a Friday or Saturday. We’ve come a long way. I imagine it's just going to keep growing. Part of the growing is that you lose all the history."
But maybe not as long as there are retro hipsters like DJ Jef Leppard around to archive and remind us.
Retro D’Luxe will celebrate its eight-year anniversary at The Pyramid Scheme (68 Commerce SW) on July 26 starting at 9 p.m. There is a $2 cover. Rumor has it that Hudson recently won an '80s-themed scavenger hunt put on by the Grand Rapids Public Library, scoring his team a vintage Nintendo system that may or may not be plugged in during the event.
Joseph Charles McIntosh is a local poet and an original cast member of Super Happy Funtime Burlesque. He was also a cabdriver in Grand Rapids for 12 years.