Profile - Preston Craig:

Preston Craig, 28, is one of the forces behind *KISS*, a weekly Friday night happening at Lenny’s on Memorial Drive.

Why Lenny’s? “I love dives. I chose to approach Lenny’s with the idea for *KISS* in June because it is an absolute rat-trap. Practically no one went there. Within two months, we’d built to a strong crowd, and by Halloween 2003, we were selling out every week. ”

The rock ‘n’ roll dance party’s music tends to mix rock’s greatest hits (everything from Journey to Madonna) and cutting-edge new indie bands.

“Before *KISS* I’d been DJ’ing techno and drum’n’bass in the rave scene for six years. I dropped out of that scene after a nasty breakup with a girl. I went back to my roots of rock and indie rock when I realized that people wanted to go out and dance to rock, not just electronica.”

Craig and his cohorts have started a new night (same format as *KISS*) in Midtown: the Midtown Revolt, Saturdays at the Crescent Lounge.

“We play universal music that almost everyone can identify with. We really do reach out to different people. I’ve never wanted too many of one type of group. Our patrons are generally 18-30 years old.”

Craig’s day job is network engineer for the state department of motor vehicles. “I designed and built the network that runs the department. You can thank me for making it the most reliable network in state government.”

He also manages the indie rock band Snowden.

“I have muscular dystrophy, so I’ve used a wheelchair since I was 19. It’s funny: I’ve been in the dance club industry for eight years, but I’ve never been able to dance. I get drunk and run people over, that’s as close as I get.”

“I can’t dance, but I can make dance music, and I can make other people dance for four straight hours. I pride myself on watching my crowd and getting huge reactions from them. There’s nothing better than that feeling.”