WILLIAMS/ NIXON
Tdoorman in New York City — and maybe all of America — has trademarked his infamous “Not tonight, bro” rejection line and turned it into a video and a merchandise line.
slogan is hardly music to the ears of disappointed clubgoers whom the veteran doorman has turned away from the venues he’s guarded over the past 20 years, which includes hotspots Suite 16, Marquee and Avenue. But “Not Tonight Bro” is the name of the song Stevens’ band D.O.G. will debut Sunday in a music video expected to play on MTV and VH1. Stevens, born
also says he has a deal with DKNY to slap the expression onto a clothing line that’s in the works.
“I’ve been saying that for decades. It may have started at Suite 16,” said Stevens. He worked at that Chelsea club just after the turn of the century. “It became an easy way to turn people away — it’s very succinct. It doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen, but it does mean tonight it’s not going to happen.” “Not tonight bro” is so familiar to night owls in New York and Los Angeles that would-be patrons frequently walk up to Stevens (photo) when he’s working a door and when he says nothing, will rhetorically ask “Not tonight, bro?” and walk away on their own.
Stevens, whose contacts in the nightclub scene have helped score acting gigs in films including “The Wrestler” and “World Trade Center,” started toying around with his band at the urging of his business partner who owns clubs all around the world. When the Brooklyn native started taking songwriting seriously last year, he found his brain drifting into clubland. “I sat down and said ‘What do I know?’ Write what you know,” he said.
Even if the band and merchandise make a fortune, Stevens has no plans to quit his 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. “day job” behind the velvet ropes. “It hasn’t been ‘a job’ for many years as much as it’s been a major aspect of my social life,” according to Stevens. He reasons that his friends always know where to find him at night. Being a doorman is also good for material.
“As an actor or as a musician, you can get very sequestered,” he said. “It’s a way to keep myself in tune and on the pulse of what’s going on.” It’s must-see morning TV when gubernatorial wannabe visits “The Show” on Wednesday. This will be the former “Sex and the City” star’s first national interview since announcing on March 19 that she wanted job. Williams (photo), who’s been known to put guests on the hot seat, also had Nixon on her show in 2012, but the conversation was about acting. Expect things to get serious at 10 a.m.