The only thing more powerful than DJ Brett Henrichsen’s spins are his abs. The 38-year-old head of Masterbeat.com performs at Rich’s this month, as part of San Diego Pride. The Gay & Lesbian Times spoke with Henrichsen about his grueling tour schedule, his new retail dance site – and the making of a great beat.

Gay & Lesbian Times: What makes a good beat? What one ingredient does every dance-floor hit have?

Brett Henrichsen: A melody and a hook. It doesn’t have to be a vocal. There have been some incredible dance floor anthems with no vocals, but they all have some kind of melody and journey. A build and climax. Something that drives the floor crazy. Of course a diva vocal screaming about joy, happiness or breakup doesn’t hurt either!

GLT: Where do you find your beats? Do you spend hours scouring record shops or the Internet?

BH: Um, Masterbeat.com of course. Duh. I try to devote a few hours a week to going through all of the new music that pours in each week.

GLT: It used to be that DJs introduced hits to the dance floor. These days it seems that Top 40 radio is introducing the hits, and DJs then remix the songs.

BH: I think Top 40 radio is playing a big part in introducing new songs to the mainstream, and remixing them has become quite popular. But there is an equal, if not greater, percentage of dance floor hits that never make it to the radio that are still broken by DJs.

GLT: What’s an example of a track that is blazing up dance floors right now that isn’t also playing on radio?

BH: “Drop That Beat” by Twisted Dee

GLT: What do DJs need to do to reclaim dance floors?

BH: Kill the Internet. People don’t go out to dance as much anymore; we need to get people off their computers and back into social life, or we’re all going to end up like the blobs in Wall-E.

GLT: Speaking of the Internet, last year you introduced Masterbeat.com – essentially an i-Tunes for dance music. Why did the dance music need its own i-Tunes?

BH: iTunes is very mainstream consumer oriented. They don’t carry all of the extended remixes that are released by the labels for every title or artist (usually only carrying the shorter radio edits), and they also carry a rather low-quality audio file. Even though they just upgraded their audio, Masterbeat carries full 320kbps MP3s and will soon have WAV (completely lossless) files from the major labels – being the first DSP to carry lossless. This is important for DJs and audiophiles who want the best sounding file they can get.

GLT: What tracks are available on Masterbeat that are not available on iTunes?

BH: Great examples are recent remix packages from U2 and Lady Gaga. iTunes will have three or four remixes, usually the radio edits, and we have 10-12 remixes of each release, and they are the full, extended (8-11 minute) DJ versions you hear in the club.

GLT: How does it work?

BH: You download the file from the site, save it, then add it to your iTunes. We’re working on a download manager application now that will be done soon, so that this can be automated for you.

GLT: What’s the hottest track right now?

BH: Currently the best-selling track is Kristine W’s new single “Be Alright” with 14 different remixes. The best selling one is by Offer Nissim. A close second is U2’s “Magnificent,” where we have another 14 remixes to choose from.

GLT: What remixer dominates on Masterbeat?

BH: No single remixer currently dominates the site, but lately we’re seeing Dave Aude, Ralphi Rosario, Motoblanco and Freemasons remixes consistently in our Top 10.

GLT: How many cities will you be touring this summer?

BH: I’ll be in a different city every weekend from now until October, so about 20 cities, everywhere from Madrid and Barcelona to Sao Paulo, DC and Chicago.

GLT: How do you run Masterbeat and maintain your grueling tour schedule?

BH: There are actually three of me. I wish! I spend the weeks working 15 hours a day at Masterbeat and the weekends traveling.

GLT: You also manage to squeeze in a few hours at the gym.

BH: I try to make it in there when I can, but it’s getting difficult! I usually work out three days a week, carefully and hard, breaking up body parts into each of those three days.

GLT: Do you give yourself one day a week to be naughty?

BH: Sunday. No gym, Dominos or McDonald’s, ice cream, movies, popcorn.

GLT: What’s one thing your fans would be surprised to learn about you?

BH: I was always going to be an attorney when I grew up.

GLT: Do you ever throw down your headphones and head bang to heavy metal music?

BH: Not since I was 16.

GLT: Real Housewives of New York or Real Housewives of New Jersey?

BH: I can honestly say the only TV shows I make time for are “Lost” and “True Blood.”

GLT: Will Whitney make a comeback?

BH: I think so. I sure hope so. So many still love her and want this comeback to work.

GLT: Is there a dance artist we should be paying more attention to?

BH: Kaci Battaglia – formerly just known as “Kaci.” I had the opportunity to meet her recently. What a wonderful person and voice. She’s on the rise, working hard and has some great tracks coming out.

GLT: You are the master of house music, Brett, and we are at your command. What do you order us to do?

BH: Check out Masterbeat.com, even if you’re looking for a Broadway tune or the Jonas Brothers. It’s not just dance music – we carry everything iTunes has. I’d love to see people get used to hearing music again the way it was produced. The music on iTunes is so compressed, the new generation doesn’t know what music is supposed to sound like. I hope all the services soon carry lossless files.