MY INTERVIEW WITH A GRAND, CREATIVE AND DOWN TO EARTH PARTY THROWER

I first met model manager/party thrower Chris Greyer, I was captivated by his classy attire, and the positive energy he displayed. After we chatted, he gave me an invitation (an actual invitation in a golden envelope) to a party he was throwing the following week, and I decided to check it out, and when I attened the following week, I was impressed with how well and grand the party was planned. Floral decorations, and sexy men serving appetizers to the guest, who were there to network and party without being shady towards each other, but what really impressed me the most was how Greyer, a native of Long Island arrived wearing a nice suit and greeting the guest and making sure they were having a good time and feeling great about themselves.
"This is the first time I ever attened a gay party and didn't have anyone throw shade at me" I said after I left.
Gay men are known for having a grand aura about them and unfortnatley, sometimes have the tendency to throw shade at many who don't have the material items they have. That's what seperate Chris from the rest. Though he loves to look nice, he's a cool, mature, humble and down to earth man who likes for people to feel good about themselves, including his personal assitant, who joined us for beverages and that's how I felt when I interviewed him at the Madirian Oriential Hotel near Columbus Circle where we spoke over drinks about his career, the importance of making having class, feeling good about yourself and Whitney Houston.

SHAWN: THIS IS RASHAWN WITH CHRIS GREYER AT THE MADRIAN ORIENTIAL HOTEL ON THE 35 FLOOR. TELL SOME OF THE VIWERS SOMETHINGS ABOUT YOURSELF. WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?
CHRIS: I manage male models. That's my primary ocupation. One of them is the face of Ralph Lauren.

SHAWN: HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY?
CHRIS: Being related to fashion moguls, you're kind of propeled to go into the industry. You know what I'm saying> You're kind of propelled to go into it.

SHAWN: WHAT ARE YOU JOB DUTIES AS MANAGER OF THE MODELS?
CHRIS: Primary to groom my models; send them on jobs. Make sure they're able to give the best of them (you know) continiously branding them. Setting them aside from other models. New York is very saturated with models, so finding key things about them that seperate them from other models. Name changing. Teaching them how to walk. How to speak. How to think like a model. It's not just having a cute fance and sexy body, and you just go out ther and model. It's about knowing how to speak. How to model

SHAWN: CHRIS, YOU MADE AN IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT TRAINING MODELS TO BE PROFESSIONAL. THERE ARE MANY WHO THINK THAT 'I HAVE A NICE FACE, CHEST AND ABS SO I CAN STRUT' YET THEY DON'T KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A PRESENCE.
CHRIS: You definelty have to. I think that's what made Tyson Beckford such a big personality. Not only did he have the look, he walked the walk.

SHAWN: YOU ALSO THROW PARTIES AS WELL. WHAT PROPELLED YOU TO DO THAT?
CHRIS: I'm a lover of fabulousity. I love big things and everything that's grand and fabulous, so I wanted to create a party that personfy opulence. That allows Gay people to come out and feel grand abut themselves. As Gay people, we idolize the Kimoras and Beyonces, you know these women that are over the top. So why not create a party that's over the top? I had flowers flown in from Egypt. Big floral arrangements on the bar. You remember that. Sexy ment that served oderbs, I think people love that. There isn't any Gay party that like it and that's what makes lux hot. Lux's acycrnim is Luxary. Everything about lux has to be luxary.

SHAWN: THE THING I LOVED ABOUT YOUR PARTY WAS THE FEELING THAT YOU CAN BE GRAND AND THAT THROWING SHADE ISN'T TOLERATED.
CHRIS: Right. You can be grand. You can befabulous. Like Kimora is amazingly grand. We all know that, but she's very humble and down to earty. She's like 'What's going on? How you doing?' You know, but she's very grand, and that's what I want people to get. I want people to come and lffe like there is no shade. You can come, you can party, you can be sexy, you can do your thang and you're not gonna have to worry about people throwing shade at you. It's not that type of party. It's an exclusive party. You have to have a certain way and have a jenijour to even get a invitation to a Lux party. It's not a hot boys party.

SHAWN: WHAT WAS IT LIKE THROWING YOUR FIRST PARTY?
CHRIS: It was alot because I had to set a mark. I had to set a standard, and that was important to me. I had to find a way to set myself part from other party; from other promoters. The first thing I didn't want to do flyers when you have a naked guy on the flyer; that's so cliche. Let's step it up. We're grown successful men and we're creative so let's tap into our creativity, so I wanted to do invitations tht were sexy. I'm branding this word that exemplifies opulence, and that's what I did. When they saw the invitation, they were like wow! This is hot! I like that.

SHAWN: THIS WAS THE FIRST PARTY I ATTENDED WHERE I DIDN'T FEEL ANYBODY THROWING SHADE AT ME
CHRIS: And that's what I want. I can't emphisize that enough. Where people come, I want people to come and feel great about themselves. They feel like 'Wow! I have arrived!" Alot of these gay parties, they're in boxes. They look like these dungeons like Langstons. Not to put anybody on blast, but it is what it is. The next party I'm havng is gonna be at Nikki's Beach. It's Miami themed. They'r gonna feel it when they walk in.

SHAWN: IN ADDITION TO THE MANAGING AND PARTIES, WHAT OTHER PROJECTS ARE YOU WORKING ON?
CHRIS: I'm working on a Liqour pattern that I Can't discuss right now becaue it's in the beginning stages. I'm creating something for our people and we also have the reality show.

SHAWN: WITHOUT GIVING TOOMANY DETAILS, WHAT IS THE REALITY SHOW GONNA BE BASED ON?
CHRIS: The reality show is primarly based on five gay young executives that work within the industry. Showing how they're Rock stars by night and mostly aspiring moguls by day. I think people gonna like it because people, I think at the end of the day, everybody wants to be the next Russell Simmons and Donald Trump.

SHAWN: EARLIER YOU MENTIONED GROWING UP AROUND MOGULS. WHAT WAS THAT LIKE GROWING UP IN THAT ENVIORMENT AS A CHILD?
CHRIS: Itimidating. Very itmidating. When you grow up around moguls, that sets a standard; it sets a bar. It's very hard to keep up with that because people expect so much of you likr you're expected to be at a certain level. Always, so when you don't get to that level or if you're a little slower, it's alot of pressure.

SHAWN: IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO THORW A PARTY FOR A FAMOUS PERSON, WHO WOULD IT BE?
CHRIS: Whitney Houston.

SHAWN: Me too.
CHRIS: You too.
SHAWN: Yes.
CHRIS: I'm the biggest Whitney Houston fan. I'm waiting for her album to drop. My mentor/slash brother is her publicist.

SHAWN: IT SEEMS THAT SHE STARTED GETTING BAD PRESS WHEN SHE DECIDED TO DO THE TYPE OF MUSIC SHE WANTED INSTEAD OF BEING PIGEONHOLED AS A POP DIVA HOW THAT MAKE YOU FEEL AND HOW DO YOU FEEL THE PUBLIC REACTED WHEN SHE STARTED TO RECORD MORE R&B, DANCE AND ROCK MUSIC?
CHRIS: Well unfortantely, in the industry, you're given an image and Whitney got the point in her career where she said 'I'm tired of living for people. I wanna live for me!' Whintey's from the bricks. She's from Newark. She's from the hood, It wasn't to so far fetch for her to date a Bobby Brown. That's what she likes. She likes dudes; she doesn't like the Princes of the world. She likes dudes, so when she king of took a left turn with the music what was Whitney expressing who her really is and I think with the new record, that's gonna be coming out, it's a little bit of the old Whitney along with the new revitalized Whitney.

SHAWN: HOW HAS SHE INPSIRED YOU AS A PERSON?
CHRIS: Wow. She taught me everything. Just wathcing her. Her grace. Her poise. Her mannerism in some sense. I love that about her. That's my main goal to remain classy and to stay on top of myself.

SHAWN: ANOTHER GREAT POINT. IT SEEMS LIKE BLACK MEN WHO ARE ARTICULATE AND CLASSY ARE LOOKED DOWN UPON AS BEING NERDS, BOUGIE AND NOT MANLY. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR MAN WHO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE AN URBAN SWAGGER TO HAVE CLASS?
CHRIS: It's very important, you know. We have to set the standard. We have to set the bar. As Gay men,, we already have negatives against us because we're Gay Black Men so that's two strikes against us already, so impre imerative that we stay on top of our game. Gay men are very creative, and I'm suprised that nobody has though of this idead before me. Gay men are very crative. You have to push the bar and to push ourselves to greater heights.