In the latest interview here on Heavy Hits we head to the Caribbean, to speak to Jamaica’s DJ Chemics!

Could you tell the Heavy Hits readers a little bit about who you are, and what you do?

I am Roland Stennett, stage name DJ Chemics. I am a DJ by night, I work in the shipping and logistics field by day, and I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. I started DJing from the tender age of 16 years old, where I was playing at family events and house parties, then I moved on to doing clubs and started playing on the radio, and later on started building beats and producing my own music.

You started out pretty young – how were your early gigs, what sort of crowds were you playing to, and how were you received?

I started playing at family events and private house parties where I got a good reception from my family members and close friends, that’s where I took on the courage to start playing clubs and lounges.

Jamaica is famous for its musical exports, with reggae being at the heart of that. What is the music scene like on the island, and how much variety is there in terms of musical styles?

Jamaicans are very open to all types of music, not only reggae and dancehall, so our music scenes vary from R&B, Hip Hop, Soul to even EDM. We have attracted a lot collaborations with hip-hop artists in the 90s from Shabba Ranks to Beenie Man up to even now. We are lovers of all music genres. Our motto is “Out of many, one people”.

I noticed that many of your remixes and mixtapes feature electronic dance music styles that are not traditionally associated with Jamaica – was that a deliberate choice, or something that just emerged over time? How do people react to this sound and approach?

Remixes are a strong part of our music culture, so I started out doing hip hop dancehall remixes and then I started developing a love for EDM and House, David Guetta travel to Jamaica in the 2000s and started blending EDM with Dancehall Acts, and then after Major Lazer came along which influenced me to start doing EDM Style Remixes on my own, and then I further did some collaboration with my musical brother Erinski Easy.

You’ve been involved with radio a lot – how did you go about building that side of your career?

The first radio station I played on was Mediazone Radio which was an internet radio station, and then I started working on Tambareen radio which was more commercial radio, providing the latest music and showcasing new artists on my radio show, which helped me build relationships with some of those artists over the years.

With being into so many varied styles of music – how do you go about searching for new sounds and songs?

I am constantly listening to other mixtapes and keeping up with music charts and trending music from different genres, of late Heavy Hits, who have been a great source for me to get new music and edits. Shoutouts to my musical brother Serg Sniper who introduced me to Heavy Hits.

Can you tell us some of the most exciting new acts that you are playing songs by?

The latest acts I have been playing in dancehall now are Skillibeng & Lila Ike, for hip hop Jack Harlow and DaBaby, afrobeat Burna Boy, and Serani which is also a great dancehall act and producer. Reggaeton Bad Bunny & Ozuna. EDM – Major Lazer & Marshmello.

Whats the one piece of advice you wish you had been given at the start of your career?

As a young DJ, start producing your own music and content from early. Branding yourself as an artist is very important in your early days.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about or speak on?

I have just collab with Heavy Hits to bring a Dancehall Sound FX pack that I think would be so great for DJs wanting some new effects in their set, and also we just dropped the HH93 Podcast episode featuring some of my favorite tracks for 2021 and the previous years mixed in my unique style, and there are new productions coming this year from me. I also just collaborated with female house music duo from Australia House of Low Key to release our House Party House Mixtape and I also just dropped my new Merch for DJ Chemics, DJ inspired clothing –  a collab with Teespring.

You can find DJ Chemics on Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Instagram as well as his official website.

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