Brent Nuro has been in the KC club scene for twenty years, experimenting with different house and techno styles to bring music that you’d be more likely to hear in Berlin than in Johnny Kaw’s.
Nuro’s passion for music has been lifelong, but his DJing career really began when he used his high school graduation money from his family to buy records instead of a laptop. Nuro admits this probably wasn’t the wisest decision, but it put him on “a path that has led to a lot of good times.”
Nuro went to high school at Blue Valley and didn’t always fit in with the trends at the time. “I was always the guy that was taking my hard-earned lawn mowing money and going to the record store, buying new CDs and finding music that wasn’t necessarily the stuff that normal high school kids from Overland Park were maybe listening to at the time,” he says.
Starting out, Nuro was playing at house parties or field parties out in places like Lawrence or Gardner. He came up through the rave community, playing in warehouses, which led to more connections and eventually bigger gigs, where he now plays a mix of different genres like house, disco and funk. Nuro views his craft like he does cooking: “Anything can go in the pot. I’m not afraid of mixing different flavors.”
Now, he’s settled into a more relaxed lifestyle, slinging pastries at Blackhole Bakery on Troost and mixing tunes at night in some of KC’s favorite venues like miniBar and The Ship.
We talked to KC native Nuro about some of his favorite spots around the city.
GO: Brent Nuro DJs at miniBar on September 10, Woody’s on September 17, and The Ship on September 24.
Perfect Day
Brunch: I’m very community-oriented, and it’s the same with the places that I try to go to. Usually, if I’m going to go to a restaurant, I go there because I want to see a person, but I also want to have the food. If I’m going out for breakfast, my partner and I will go to You Say Tomato because I love their quiche—and Annie. She’s amazing and always makes me feel really good when I come in. They always have a rotating quiche. So I get that for breakfast and usually have tea.
Late Night: I usually go to the Peanut on Main and see Jessie or Camille because they’re my favorite bartenders. I love their tenderloins and I love their BLTs. Obviously, everybody likes the wings. But you know, sometimes you gotta branch out and get a pork tenderloin. They do it in-house—it’s all hand-breaded. It is just a great sandwich. You can put your own toppings on it—lettuce, tomato, all that stuff. They hate when I ask for this, but I usually ask them to dip the tenderloin in the wing sauce. Then I get it with a side of blue cheese. I love trashy food, but like, in the best way. I’ll get that with some chili cheese fries, and then I’ll go home and probably pass out.
Something Sweet: I’m gonna go get ice cream from High Hopes on Troost across from Blackhole. Ice cream is like my poison. If I’m going to get in trouble, it’s because I’m going to eat the whole pint. If I don’t have to DJ, I will go get some ice cream, sit at home and have a quiet night watching TV. My favorite flavor is probably Caught in the Rain based on that song called “Escape”—you know, the Pina Colada song. They also have a Mango Chamoy Sherbert which is fantastic. Put a little bit of that Tajin spice on top? Out of this world.
Blackhole: My current favorite at Blackhole Bakery is the everything bagel with dill pickle cream cheese. It is so freaking good. People think it’s going to be like biting into a pickle, but the cream cheese subdues its dill pickle-ness, you know? That is top-notch. When customers come in for the first time, I always tell people if it looks good, go for it, because if I’ve learned anything in the last few years, it’s that tomorrow is not guaranteed and neither are pastries.
