I sat down with this California DJ, for I had questions. Many questions. Here are the answers.

Be patient.

The post Meet the Overturned Big Rig and the Derailed Freight Train appeared first on Heavy Hits.

Okay, you can’t actually call them. But you can visit them on Facebook. You can even join them if you have a talent and passion for unearthing the arcane samples that are used to create hip hop tracks.

The Sample Spotters group was created in 2016 by Omar Lopez, initially as an a way to replicate the chat about samples, and the identification of samples, he’d enjoyed on a site called The Breaks. That site had sort of died down, so he put together a Facebook group to take its place. He had no idea it would blow up as it did, and after minimal promotion the site grew to its present-day size of nearly 20,000 users.

Group members post links to songs containing samples they hope others can help them identify, as well as songs whose samples they have cracked themselves. They are extremely good at what they do. You may be familiar with the site Who Sampled, but you may not know that a large number of the samples identified there were originally discovered by the Sample Spotters group.

It’s rare that the artists whose work is being dissected take notice, or if they do they don’t let it be known, but there have been two notable exceptions. In one case, a producer (who will remain nameless) reached out to the group and asked them to take down a post identifying a record he’d sampled. It seems he hadn’t cleared the sample, and didn’t want to face the legal repercussions if the sampled artist found out. The Sample Spotters aren’t out to get anyone in trouble, and the post was quietly deleted.

On another occasion, the famous hip hop producer Easy Mo Bee contacted the group and told them they had misidentified the sample he’d used. It wasn’t what they thought it was! Needless to say, that post was also removed, and cubhats were worn all around the group that day.

When asked about some of the more difficult samples the group has spotted, Omar told me, “Agallah – Man of the House was a search which ended up with us finding an incredibly obscure soul 45 from an either unreleased or lost blaxploitation film that there was almost no information for online.” It turned out to be a song originally written for Michael Jackson, but one he never sang. Instead, Motown turned it over to an unknown label, to be sung by an unknown kid. The record only recently surface, long after the sample had been spotted. The fruits of that labor can be seen in this old post from the group.

Another great search involved KMD, MF Doom, and Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. That quest was so epic that it ended up being the topic of an online article!

The group keeps an ever-changing Most Wanted list of 20 samples they are most keen to unearth. When a user cracks a song on the list, he’s allowed to choose its replacement. The current list of 20 songs can be found here. Perhaps YOU can ID one?? You’ll have to join the group to see it, but if you are crate-digger, sample head, producer, or even just a hip hop fan, you will probably find it quite interesting. Be sure to say hi to Omar if you join. Tell him Heavy Hits sent you!

The post Bring on the Sample Spotters appeared first on Heavy Hits.

When I was asked about my perspective as a female DJ in this male dominated field, I was happy to offer up some advice, and to call upon some of my friends and colleagues for their input. I wanted to make this a community piece that transcends gender, and hopefully is of help to anyone who wants to become a DJ. Many of the obstacles females face in the industry will also ring true for everyone.

The very first thought that came to my mind was “believe in yourself.” Everything seems to revolve around that in one way or the other. When you look around the room, and you are the only female on the stage or even at the venue – it can be intimidating, but if you truly believe in your talent and have a passion for what you are doing, you will succeed.

The second thought I had is related to this, but a little different: be brave. If you are brave enough, you will conquer your fears. These fears could be related to stage fright, feeling intimidated to put yourself out to the public on social media, feeling nervous to promote your shows to all your contacts via DM or whatever is the case. A lot of success boils down to your daily internal dialogue.

I feel if you have self-love and appreciation, you can believe in yourself and be brave. These are the most important ingredients I feel will carry through in your DJ performances and allow you to have the confidence to even begin your journey.

Beyond those mental barriers, DJing comes down to musical taste, training, and practice. If you put in the time, get coaching from experienced DJs, or utilize the vast number of online tutorials available – you can bring your skills up to a high level and be competitive in the field of DJing. Invest in good equipment as well, so you can be ready for your big opportunity. If you do not have the funds to do this now, you may be able to rent the proper equipment by the hour to hone your skills. You want to be ready for your first real club gig, and know exactly how to operate the equipment they have at the location. If you are prepared, you will be ready for success!

Now let’s hear what some others have to say!

Miss Nine (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

I have a book of advice The most important tip is to not copy anyone, find your signature sound, and be true to yourself. Look for what brings you joy. Let inspiration guide you. Choose a DJ name, have the basic socials up and running so people can find more about you. Build a record collection with the sound you like. Network, practice, and have a thick skin in this male dominated industry. Always remain professional and be prepared for the unexpected. 
For example, a DJ from the line up could show up late, so make sure to have music with you to play longer. Expect feedback from others and be ready if/when a record stops playing because the link cable was disconnected. Imagine standing in front of a crowd with no sound coming out! Be ready for these circumstances.

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?

Oeff, there are so many. I like the ’80s a lot and created some mashups I always play in my sets. As well as edits from oldskool songs with a meaningful hook. One that stands out and what made me continue with what I’m doing today is “ONE MORE TIME” from Daft Punk.  As humans we need to try at least one more time to understand someone or something better, one more time to try that difficult task and one more time to talk to someone to level up. This record, which comes in many remixes, lifts my mood up and is perfect at the end of a DJ set, esp. when you don’t want to stop playing

-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?

I like to work with Pioneer DJ gear. They are the leading brand, up to date and perfect with all the integrated features and effects to level up the mixing and create climaxes with the mixers’ features. It’s essential to also have good quality headphones. I have tried many brands and the Sennheiser HD 25 has a nice warm sound, and it what fits my ears the best for now. For productions, I work mostly with Ableton and use different plug ins.

DJ Haze (Auckland, New Zealand):

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

Main advice is be prepared to put in the work. Unfortunately, as it is a male dominated society you have to be prepared for some setbacks – a lot of the time they won’t hire you because a guy has a bigger name or title. But eventually if you persevere and have the dedication to succeed you will eventually get a gig and then from their keep going for the next gig. It definitely isn’t the easiest industry but if you have the skill level and are able to adapt to different DJ styles then you have more of a chance to be booked.

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?

At the moment my go to track is still and will always be Danza Kuduro as no matter where you play it everyone loves the beat and vibes.

-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?

I started learning on turntables so my favourite is definitely that and at the moment the Rane 12 has upgraded to a whole new level, so this is by far my favourite along with the Rane 70 mixer.

-Anything else?

It’s more about being versatile. I’ve found being able to DJ all genres has given me a better chance at getting gigs as I’m not solely a house DJ or solely a hip hop DJ; I can DJ anything. 

Czechmate (Sacramento, CA)

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

My advice to other female DJs, aside from being able to mix harmonically, is to always read the crowd (which comes with time & practice), and have your branding on point (remain professional), and to stick with what you love. By this I mean play the genre that sets your soul on fire. While it’s great to experiment and be versatile, finding your sound and sticking to it to further establish yourself as a performer and overall brand is important in my opinion.

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?


Honestly, there are probably a few ‘go to’ tracks every DJs goes to when there is a time of need! My favorites are usually remixes of classics that everyone knows the words to. These create nice breaks/storytelling within sets. 


-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?


Preferred DJ gear is pioneer all the way! Give me a pair of CDJs, DJM-900 and I’m set!

Kuhteeuh (Sacramento, CA)

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

For female DJ just getting started, I think just practice DJing a lot. Record your mixes and listen to them, so you can see how it sounds. Take lots of videos and post them. From being a female DJ, you automatically stand out, but you also automatically get criticized. Honestly, just ignore the people talking negatively about you. They’re only bringing you more attention, so you will gain fans that actually like you. Also, make as many DJ friends as possible by mixing with them!

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?


My go to song would be “Murda Sound” by Snails.

-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?


I use anything Pioneer that I can plug my flash drive into. Preferably CDJs, but I have a Pioneer XDJ-RX at my house that works about the same, but for a quarter of the price.

DJ Romily (Estonia)

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

My suggestion is to take live DJ lessons from a DJ school or some experienced DJ you like. This will take less time to get the skills etc. you need to start DJing compared with searching from the web for the right videos.

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?

Faithless – “Insomnia”

-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?

Pioneer XDJ-RX1 mixer or the newest version. It is very easy to start with and you have all the features you need. Also, I suggest to have quality headphones & USBs.

Dialjess (Los Angeles, Chicago)

-Do you have any advice or tips for other female DJs just getting started?

Figure out *your* taste. You can always tailor it to your gig, but you’ll have a lot more fun if you’re doing what you love. I don’t often take top 40 gigs, but I do enjoy the challenge of making it palatable for myself by peppering in some left field choices. Explore every genre if you can – there are gems to be found everywhere and a little switch up can add a fresh element of surprise to a set.

Also, learn the gear inside and out, so you can trouble shoot and be your own tech support!

-What is your “go to” track that you know the crowd will always vibe to?

Anything by Green Velvet/Cajemere. Any decade of his will work from classics like Percolator and La La Land to a throwback like Shake and Pop, or something newer like Jolean.

-Do you have any preferred DJ gear?

Though I play vinyl, Serato, and on controllers, I prefer the club standard Pioneer CDJ/DJM mixer setup so there’s less to carry. I played a last-minute set at a party recently that was on the fly, but I had my USB sticks in my purse and was ready to go. Headphones are personal, but I’ve been using Sennheiser HD-25 for years. They’re lightweight, and I like that each component is individual and easily replaceable.

The post Being a DJ, Told From the Perspective of Female DJs appeared first on Heavy Hits.

Today we have the tremendous pleasure of speaking with DJ Irie – and he has a hell of a career to tell us about. Lets jump right in!

Can you tell our readers a little bit about yourself, and what you do

Born in the U.S. Virgin Islands and raised in Miami, Florida. Music has been my life for as long as I can remember. I started my DJ career at the local skating rink, then on to college parties, to nightclubs, to radio, to being the first official DJ of a major sports team (Miami HEAT), and on to tour the globe.

How did you first get started as a DJ, and who were your early inspirations?

I actually started as a record collector. I was just infatuated with the feel and sound of vinyl records so I amassed a huge collection before I even graduated high school. I never thought I had it in me to actually DJ in front of people, but by a freak circumstance the opportunity came up and most of my ability just came so natural. I knew this was what I wanted to do! My biggest early inspiration was Q from Juice!! Yes Omar Epps had me mesmerized in that DJ battle scene… shout out to the originator DJ Scratch!

You’re a pretty experienced DJ – what have been the biggest changes you’ve seen in your time behind the decks?

Hands down the biggest change has been the digital revolution. The MP3 changed EVERYTHING! Not only did it revolutionize our equipment and approach to DJing, but also almost all aspects of the economics of DJing. From eliminating the cost of buying records, to lowering the barrier to entry into the profession, ushering in a whole new slate of “discount” DJs.

One of the most eye-catching achievements on your career has been your position as the DJ for the Miami Heat NBA team – how did that come about?

I joined the Miami HEAT back in the fall of 1999 not only as the first official DJ of the Miami HEAT but the first official DJ of any major sports team. The idea was concocted by the marketing department at the HEAT as a new entertainment attraction for the fans as the team made the transition to the brand new American Airlines Arena at the time.

Many of the people in the dept were familiar with my work from radio and the local club scene, and felt I was the right guy to give it a shot with. After I met with them I actually thought I was the wrong guy, and nearly passed on the opportunity.  It wasn’t until I realized this had never been done before I thought I had to give it a shot to at least see how the fans would receive me. It was almost an instant hit!

Now I look back – 3 World Championships and 21 years later, and it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! The Miami HEAT is truly a world class organization in every sense of the word.

The experience of working on such a big stage, and around such superstars must have been an incredible boost for your status and reputation – how did you utilise that to develop other aspects of your career?

It absolutely was a big boost for my rep, especially in the more corporate and family circles. Up until joining the HEAT people only knew me if they were in the club scene or listened to my radio mixshow. After my first season with the HEAT I was being recognized by 6 year old kids and their moms walking down the street, and getting hired by companies like Microsoft to perform at their annual conference.

You have created The Irie Foundation – can you tell us a bit about that, and the work it does?

The Irie Foundation is very near and dear to my heart because of the mission and work we do.  It’s all about bridging the opportunity gap. We have soo many truly brilliant and talented youth not able to develop to their true potential because of serious lack of access to opportunity. Our mission at the Irie Foundation is to provide access to those experiences and resources, to help them realize their true full potential.

Do you see music as playing a big role in helping young people from difficult backgrounds find a way towards a better life?

There’s no question about it that many times MUSIC is the answer! Music can be such a great driving force for young people to express their creativity and a constructive and productive way. I see it all the time.

If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice at the start of your career, what would it be?

That’s easy.. LEARN MUSIC PRODUCTION!! Learning music production would have been the perfect complement to my DJ career, and I know I could have done something really special with it.

What’s the one most important thing you would tell a young DJ starting out today?

The one most important thing is to do it because you absolutely love it! If you can honestly say to yourself. If I never made a nickel doing this would I still want to do it? If your answer is yes then this DJ life is for you!

Do you have anything else you would like to mention or promote?

I just recently closed on the biggest business deal of my life! I bought an ownership stake in a new champagne brand called Provocativo. I can’t divulge all the details right now but some amazing announcements are coming soon and I’ve never been more excited about a new project.

A huge thank you to DJ Irie for his time! A real lesson in the value of seizing the opportunities that come your way!

If you want to be ready for action when things tip off in your home town, get to the Heavy Hits Pool and download the best new music. And check out our socials at Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You can follow me over here on Instagram.

The post DJ Irie – Bringing The Heat! appeared first on Heavy Hits.

Unless you have been buried in a cave for the last 20 years, you will have heard his biggest hit, Be Faithful – created alongside Sizzahandz as one half of Crooklyn Clan, the world famous production duo. But there’s a LOT more to him than that monster hit, and we get into it below. Lets go!

Can you give our readers a quick introduction to who you are, and what you do?

My name is DJ Riz. I’m a DJ/producer for over 35 years. I’ve played many clubs & special events around the world. I have done radio as well for many years, and presently do a show on Shade 45 (Sirius Xm) with my partner DJ Eclipse. I am 1/2 of Crooklyn Clan which made a bunch of classic party breaks in the mid 90’s – mid 2000’s. I also have a few aliases for making house music as well.

You’ve got a career spanning multiple decades, right back to what many call the “Golden Age” of hip-hop – what is the recipe for your longevity, in a business that many don’t last in?

I’ve always tried to stay well rounded between underground hip hop radio, commercial radio, and a little bit of turntablism. DJing for MCs, playing underground & commercial clubs & special events. I find it important to be able to know your situation & adapt to it as well as being prepared as best as possible. You have to stay in touch with what is going on as best as possible I’ve been playing a long time and have seen changes in music & the scene constantly. I’m a lot older now, so the current gigs I do aren’t as fun to me being that the music is way different today. I still enjoy it sometimes, but just have more fun these days playing the gigs where I can play what I want (mainly the old school parties), where the crowd comes to hear just that.

How did you first get interested in DJing? And what were your first steps – how did you get gigs/shows, what did they look like?

I was an avid radio listener. I used to tape Mr. Magic & Red Alert every weekend. I also used to tape The Latin Rascals who used to play their reel-to-reel super mixes, which were incredible! I learned a lot from listening to them, and started doing block parties around the way. Then started doing small lounges & clubs after that. I also started doing college radio in 1990, which led to many opportunities going forward.

You must have seen a lot change in your time in the booth – from the way the business operates, to the size of the market globally, and of course the many technological changes for DJs and producers. What do you think has been the most profound, important changes? And if there was one change you could undo, what would that be?

I always say technology is the “gift & the curse.” It’s amazing what it can do, but it also made a lot more people do it as well. I think the digital era is great on one hand because it makes things easier to use with a ton of capabilities. On the other hand it also makes the pool of people a lot bigger to where in the DJ game it affected the pay rates of gigs in general for the majority of DJ’s.

Your Live From Brooklyn mixes are essential listening for any student of hip-hop – how much value do you place on that sort of knowledge? The heritage of the music, the sample lineage, and so on?

I made Live from Brooklyn because of my friend Emz, who worked at Interscope Records at the time, heard me do a few guest spots playing samples on major NY radio station mix shows (Hot 97, 98.7 Kiss & 107.5 Wbls) He was also A&R at Stimulated Records which Dante Ross owned. We wound up putting out a 12” version of 2 different mixes which were a medley of original songs that were used to sample in a bunch of hip hop records. I think it’s real important to know the history of music, where it came from and how it impacts the music of today, etc…especially as a DJ.

You’ve spoken in other interviews about how you would pick up other DJs record collections when they sold up when they stopped spinning, and how you really value having an extensive music collection. Do you still collect vinyl? And in the digital era, what do you see as the pros and cons of that way of distributing and consuming music?

I used to go record digging all over the world, I’d have a select few friends that were into it just as hard as I was. I’ve accumulated tens of thousands of records over the years from people’s collections, to getting tons of promo servicing, to thrift shops, record stores with secret basements, you name it! I’ve recently started selling my collection & turning it into a lossless collection. I’m at the point where all I really need is a dope digital collection. I’ve moved locations several times and it gets harder and harder moving whatever I have left (which is still around 20k of records) It’s hard to part with the vinyl but at this point I’m ok with it. I have great memories that are priceless because of them as they have for sure been a huge part of my career.

Crooklyn Clan are truly legendary in the DJ world – there’s not many DJs from the hip-hop, R&B or open format world that haven’t played tunes from you. Which aspects of your output there are you proudest of – the radio shows, the tracks you put out, or something else? And what aspect of your career has been the most fun?

We had a lot of fun making those party breaks in the 90’s/2000’s. I enjoyed hearing them on radio mix shows as well as in the clubs. A lot of the DJs used to look forward to getting these as they would serve the purpose of “party bangers” or “transition records” as I used to like calling them. It came to a point that we had our own section on the walls of record stores!

Your edits with Crooklyn Clan really helped set a template for the way people use music in DJ sets – mashup culture really exploded in the mid 00s in part because of what you were putting out. What benefits did you notice from both making these tracks, and also having these sorts of things for your own DJ sets, whether on radio or in clubs?

The mashups were big at one point, then it became oversaturated with a lot of mediocre stuff. Some people were making great stuff but there was also a lot more of the bad to mediocre stuff all over the place that it just burned out after that. Today there are a lot of dope people making their own personal edits which are great to use either in their own sets, which can help you stand out more because no one else has them, or just putting their signature stamp on it for all the DJs to rock it.

The last year has turned the music and DJ worlds upside down – how did you handle the situation, and do you have any thoughts about where we go from here, or predictions about what the next few years might be like?

It’s going to be interesting to see how things shape up as things start to open up again. I think in time it will get back to some sort of normalcy. I think the majority of people still like to go out to party & listen to music out so I think it will slowly get back to where it once was, or at least close to it. You also now have streaming to where people actually don’t have to go out to have a good time & listen to music, as evident from this past year’s long pandemic.

I know some DJs that love streaming and say they don’t care if they ever go back to playing clubs anymore. Some of them are earning some decent money doing it.

If you could give a DJ starting out now one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would say learn as much about the older music as you can. The artists, the songs, the genres, etc. That knowledge will help you become a more well rounded DJ. It’s easy to keep up with the top current stuff. Practice your craft & learn the business. The time you put into it will reflect in many ways. Aside from the music, always try to save some money for investment purposes. I can’t stress that enough. This DJ game doesn’t last forever & there are no guarantees or pension plans.

Can you tell us a bit about what plans you have in the coming months and years?

Once things start opening up I will get back to playing. This time around I’ll probably play more of just the spots or parties I really enjoy. I’ll also probably get back into some producing as well.

So there you have it – straight from one of the legends of the DJ game! Now, get yourselves over to the Heavy Hits pool to check out this awesome playlist by DJ Riz, and get ready to rock your crowd!

You can check out Heavy Hits’ socials on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And you can catch me streaming regularly on Twitch.

The post DJ Riz – From Brooklyn To The World appeared first on Heavy Hits.

Hi Joe – can you tell our readers a little bit about who you are, and what you do?

I am a DJ at heart, and own a DJ Company called Bunn DJ Company (super catchy I know) but also the founder of The DJ’s Vault, which is a membership group for DJs to learn more about DJing. I also started Bunn Gear which builds aluminum DJ booths. And am one of the co-founders of Crate Hackers, a site to help DJs get their crates organized.

Is the white booth in your photo one of yours? How did you go about designing your products for Bunn Gear?

Yes. More can be seen on the Facebook Bunn Gear Fans page or Instagram. I bought a DJ booth from Germany that was gorgeous but not mobile friendly, and that’s when I went to work creating my own.

You started mixing pretty young – at age 13. How did you first get into it, and what did your early gigs look like?

I got into it because there weren’t many DJs in the small eastern North Carolina town I grew up in. Most of the stuff I did then were teen clubs at the local country club about once a quarter, and stuff for my parent’s friends.

At what stage in your career did you start focusing on playing primarily private events/weddings, and how did that transition come about?

After I graduated from UNC in ’94, I kind of thought DJing was over and started doing some other entrepreneurial things, but DJing kept calling me back. I finally realized it was what I was supposed to be doing all along.

DJing at a wedding is a real responsibility – you’re soundtracking the most important night of the couple’s life! What steps do you take to make sure you get it right?

I do a lot of prep work beforehand including calls with the couple and/or planner. I also redo the planner that they fill out online and make it more streamlined, and easier to read on the show day.

You’ve built a DJ agency with a formidable reputation, serving multiple cities. How did you find the transition from solely being solely a DJ to being behind placing multiple DJs on any given weekend? What skills did you find you needed to develop as you learned the trade and built your company?

It’s important to surround yourself with a team. I did the majority of everything for too long. You have to have the skills to wrangle a lot of egos, but you also have to be a book-keeper, marketer, salesman etc. Don’t be afraid to sub some of that work out.

How have you mentally handled that fact that your reputation now rests considerably on other DJs and their performances & presentation? Do you coach your team at all, and how much latitude do you give them to put their own spin on the weddings they play at?

I definitely train all of my DJs, even if they already arrive with experience. However, I do want them to shine at their events and show their personalities.

Are there any notable mistakes you have made that you’d like to be able to go back in time and warn yourself about – either as a performer or in business?

Yes, save your money. You never know what’s coming, like this pandemic. Luckily, as I got older, I got much better with handling the money we were making at Bunn DJ Company.

What advice would you give for a young DJ starting out today?

Practice a lot, stay humble, and if you don’t have good business sense then join a company like mine and work hard.

How are things looking in your industry in the forseeable future, after what must have been a really difficult 12 months?

It’s been a pretty horrendous 12 plus months, but things are turning around. We started last weekend doing 6 plus weddings on Saturday and it continues like that for the remainder of 2021. We are also getting tons of new contracts and checks for deposits in for new dates lately!

Can you tell us a bit more about Crate Hackers – one of the big gripes a lot of DJs talk about is the difficulties of managing a large and diverse digital music collection, so I think this will be very interesting to a lot of readers!

Crate Hackers helps DJs organize their library and save time finding music. It was started by Aaron Traylor, a DJ in Nashville TN. He had a great idea but it wasn’t being executed well. That’s where I stepped in along with my marketer, Dom Pirone. Now we have over 1500 paying members!

Awesome, thank you Joe! 

So there you have it! There will be a lot of weddings in the next 6 months after the year we just had – this should give you some ideas about how to do a good job there if you get booked for one!

In the meantime, head to Heavy Hits pool for all the best tracks, and hit up our socials on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. You can find me streaming regularly on Twitch!

The post Joe Bunn – Hustle Hard! appeared first on Heavy Hits.

Take it away DJ Excel!

Hi DJ Excel – can you quickly give our readers a short introduction to who you are, and what you do? 

No doubt! I am a student of the game. A Skratch Makanik. A self taught DJ, producer, and clothing designer. A vintage lover, motorcycle rider & dream chaser.

How did you first get into DJing, and what were your earliest steps into playing out in front of audiences? And how did that develop into something more serious?

I officialy started DJing in ’91. I was introduced to Hip Hop in ’88. From the moment I heard a scratch I was intrigued. Coincidently I used to mess with records and toys you could “scratch” with before I knew what it was. In ’91, me and my crew got turntables and began practicing. Scratching, mixing, juggling, etc. I didnt get my first nightclub gig until ’98-’99. So I spent the first 7 years just making mixtapes, playing house parties and having fun. To DJ without the concern of social media, money, and bookings. It’s so pure and it’s something alot of us lost as we progressed in our careers but the pandemic brought back; one of the few positves that came out of this terrible situation. Around ’98, I started to play bars around town on a weekly basis. That lead me to the city, and bigger clubs. I was still in college and working a part time job. Eventually, I made it to a point where I was able to quit my job and DJ full time. Very scary decision but that was the last job I worked.

You are from Philadelphia, a city with a rich musical heritage, and which has produced a lot of incredible DJs – how did the culture of Philly influence your approach to DJing? 

I was really spoiled in that sense. I didn’t even know it. I had all this amazing talent to use as my blueprint. In my eyes, that was just the standard. So I studied. That played a huge role in who I became as a DJ, behind the wheels and how I conducted business beyond music. I still listen to old tapes and radio recordings from back then. It blows my mind how dope the DJs were. Straight up, I still learn from those old mixes.

You’ve moved from Philly to LA – how did you find the transition from one city to another? I found the move from Nottingham to London quite challenging, even with a solid DJ CV behind me

The move was one of the toughest decisions I had to make. If you would’ve asked me a year prior, I would’ve swore to you I’d never leave Philly. I met a DJ, Gomez Warren IV, on a trip to LA. We became friends. He hounded me for a year about moving. I fought him and made every excuse possible to not move until I had no more excuses. Moving was really challenging, more so than I expected due to the nature of events to follow, but I’m stubborn and from Philly so I stuck it out, played my part, and eventually got a stable place. It was the best decision I made even though I tried my best to not make it.

You do quite a variety of DJing – from clubs to corporate gigs, and other stuff in between. How do you juggle the different demands of each, and what major differences do you take into account?

Around the time me and my crew were just getting into DJing, I saw early on that as much as I loved scratching and turntablism, I really loved music and playing it. Once the gigs started to happen, I really enjoyed the energy music makes people feel. I was raised on a variety of music like most of the DJs from my era.

Music was in the household. My mom liked ’80s pop, soul, disco, & my dad was into to ’50s, ’60s rock and soul. Before I found hip-hop, I listed to rock. All of those genres were already in my repertoire before I knew how useful they’d be. So as I progressed in my career, I was able to expand on my musical knowledge and find gigs that allowed me to play them. It’s a balancing act for sure. I need all of them as a whole to keep me sane. Too much of one or the other puts me back in a box I’m not ready to be in.

Corporate gigs are tricky to obtain without the right contacts, but great if you can move in a responsible manner. They can lack luster compared to the big international club gigs, but are still really fun, and great for your pockets.

You’ve had residencies in many cities – how do you stay healthy and well when travelling a lot for your shows?

My situation has been a little easier than some since I was never much of a drinker and never really got down with drugs. The traveling will wear on you. That’s a fact. Rest, water, physical activity, mental stimulation, all that plays a huge role in the longevitiy of your career. It really just depends on what your goals are. Mine has always been the long game. I love this so much that I don’t want it to end before I’m ready. So doing whatever I have to, to keep that possible is my #1.

What differences do you notice from city to city and country to country when you play to different crowds in those places? How much are you able to prepare for these in advance, or is it something you have to work out in the moment, on the job?

The internet has tied the world together in a way that I could never imagine. Playing in China isn’t much different than NYC. There’s definitely places around the US and the world that are unique, but some of that can’t be told, it has be seen in person. Playing in Japan, I noticed some of the crowds loved songs they can sing the words to. Even if they don’t know the words or the meaning, they can mimic the sound. Kinda how most of us do with reggae and reggaeton.

What changes do you expect to see in the post-Covid nightlife scene?

I’ve had this discussion with folks every which way you can flip it. It’s a little too early to tell but one interesting point was raised that it may go back to how it was in the ’80s-’90s, pre-club shit. Renting a YMCA or a warehouse, getting a soundsystem, hiring DJs, charging at the door and just rocking like that. Obviously, we’d love to back to plane hopping but I will tell you from personal experience, a lot of the venues I played in 2019 aren’t around in 2021. It’s going to be interesting for sure.

If you could give a new DJ one piece of advice, what would that be? 

I tell every young DJ to pick their name carefully. To go dig for a record they love and to build a collection of music they truly love. Worry about the other stuff later. However, I also do tell them to do their research and if they settle on a name, make sure they can secure the handles and domain even if they may never use it. When the day comes, you’ll be glad you got it.

Have you got anything else you want to tell our readers about?

If you haven’t already, take the time to get what you need. Re-invent your brand, clean up your social media, take a rest if you feel burnt out, learn a new trait or improve on what you know and most importantly, BACK UP YOUR MUSIC RIGHT NOW!

Great advice from a man who knows what he is talking about! 

Check out more from DJ Excel at his Mixcloud and Twitter.

And then go head over to the Heavy Hits pool and pick up the best new tracks, and then head over to our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to check out what’s going on! You can catch me streaming on Twitch.

 

The post DJ Excel – A Student Of The Game appeared first on Heavy Hits.

]]> https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-excel/feed/ 0 https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-chemics-jamaica/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dj-chemics-jamaica https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-chemics-jamaica/#respond Thu, 11 Mar 2021 17:32:36 +0000 https://heavyhits.com/?p=24261 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 […]

The post DJ Chemics – Jamaica appeared first on Heavy Hits.

]]> 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.

Follow Heavy Hits on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! And check me out over on Twitch.

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]]> https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-chemics-jamaica/feed/ 0 https://heavyhits.com/blog/patrick-hagenaar/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=patrick-hagenaar https://heavyhits.com/blog/patrick-hagenaar/#respond Fri, 18 Dec 2020 15:46:31 +0000 https://heavyhits.com/?p=23475 Today we feature an in-depth interview with a stalwart of the dance music scene, Patrick Hagenaar! He’s had some career so far! First up, can you tell our readers a bit about how long you’ve been in the music industry, and how you first got involved, and what you do these days? In 1999, when […]

The post Patrick Hagenaar appeared first on Heavy Hits.

]]> Today we feature an in-depth interview with a stalwart of the dance music scene, Patrick Hagenaar! He’s had some career so far!

First up, can you tell our readers a bit about how long you’ve been in the music industry, and how you first got involved, and what you do these days?

In 1999, when I was 17 years old, I moved from the Netherlands to London to study business at London Guildhall University. The first thing I did was buy my equipment with the money I made with my summer job.

I managed to get my first residency at a local pub in East London after DJing for 6 months. I also managed to bag a weekend job at a record shop close to Spitalfields market (which is now a fancy hair salon) and worked for the student radio station. So from early on I was trying to do whatever I could to get my foot in the industry. As I was so young and had no real knowledge of the club scene, but was adamant that I was going to play in a big club, I decided to send my mixtape to 200 bars and clubs I found in the Time Out and used the office of the student radio station to call them every week to see if they had listened to my tape and whether they would book me.

These people must have thought I was crazy, but I was surprised how quite a few people were willing to actually listen! Eventually, I got my first break through when Gavin at Turnmills let me play to 800 Japanese students in the main room on a Thursday night! I ended up becoming a rep for Turnmills and flyering at my halls of residence for them. In 2000, my mixtape was featured in IDJ magazine in the bedroom DJ section, which I was ecstatic about, only to realise they messed up my mobile number, so got nothing out of it!

As part of my degree, I was suppose to do work experience for 12 months at my company of choice. The music industry was the only way to go for me, so after some advice from my best friend, I put my suit on, took a load of CVs and went to both major and independent labels to hand in my CV in person, hoping that people would take notice. I remember some labels not even opening the door to me, but I still pushed my CV under the door anyway. Eventually I managed to get a placement at BMG in the club promotions department after being picked out of 200 applicants. It was both the best and the worst year for me, I made some great friends, but my boss was an absolute bully and everyone there just turned a blind eye – for example I was taken to HR, because I was talking to the DJ’s too long…? It made me realise what a toxic environment a major label was at that time, and I decided I would never work for a major label again.

Whilst at BMG, I managed to get my first residency at a major club in London, which at that time was my ultimate goal. Every Wednesday night I’d play at Heaven, which was amazing. I think I was the only non-gay guy who played there, which often frustrated a lot of clients haha! Thursdays at work were often a struggle to stay awake after 2 hours of sleep, and I remember nodding off a couple of times and my head hitting the computer screen. As I have never drunk or taken drugs, I never had to worry about hangovers, so my actual job didn’t get affected by it.

At BMG I used to sneak off to a separate building everyday where one of the small imprints (Obsessive Records) were located, who did really cool stuff (like an Ian Pooley compilation), so was really intrigued. Through one of the guys there I got introduced to his girlfriend who was working in events at Ministry of Sound at the time. She gave me the opportunity to do a 1 day a week work experience through my final year at uni. This led to a full-time job eventually and I worked in the mobile/digital department for 5 years.

One of the funniest highlights was that in 2008, we managed to get Basshunter with his xmas record ‘Jingle Bells’ into the Top 15 in the UK charts purely on mobile downloads. This forced the label to actual get cd singles made – everyone hated us for it haha!

In the meantime I started playing more in the London scene at The Egg, Pacha, The Cross etc. Even though Ministry of Sound didn’t like their staff being DJs, I managed to get a trial for their sub brand Housexy, which was supposed to compete against Hed Kandi (which MoS eventually bought) and started touring for them, whilst getting international requests myself as well.

At 2009, I left MoS to work for a digital marketing agency, but was still DJ-ing a lot abroad as myself, but also as Hagenaar & Albrecht with my friend Alistair as we had quite some success with our releases together. Back in 2007, Alistair ran a night at Pacha London and after hassling him for months, he let me play at his night and that is how our friendship/ partnership started.

By 2010, it became increasingly difficult to combine a full-time job, whilst DJing internationally. I remember flying on friday night, straight after work, to Singapore, do a gig, land back at 6am at Heathrow on Monday morning and arrive at my desk at 8.30 am. I decided to sack my day job and give myself 12 months to build a sustainable career.

After 3 months I got an email from MoS tours, who had been keeping an eye on what I had been doing as a DJ and producer and asked if I was interested to do some gigs here and there. Eventually this led to a tours and club residency for 4 years. In the meantime my productions were getting released on major labels and started to do official remixes for Kylie Minogue, HAIM, Route 94, Rudimental, A-Trak etc.

By 2015, due to changes internally with management at Ministry of Sound tours, my residency was coming to an end. At that stage I was still doing quite some gigs and productions, remixes etc, but I felt that I wasn’t making enough of an impact anymore even though my productions were played by the biggest DJs out there and on national radio. I remember meeting the old booker from MoS, who I considered a good friend and he suggested it was time to maybe switch things up as my brand was perhaps a bit tired and done. That was initially a hard thing to swallow as when you use your own name as the brand, it’s personal. But then I asked myself ‘If I stop tomorrow, would anyone care?’ And the answer was ‘no’…

So I decided to use my knowledge and experience and start a new project from scratch and keep it under wraps. This was initially hard, as you try to open doors again. Even though you might have the contacts, they don’t know who you are. I often see people trying this and eventually give up and tell the world they are behind the project, which completely defeats the object when you try to build hype. The industry is always about the next big thing/hype and I thought if my productions are good enough, they will eventually cut through. Something that I wanted to do different this time was actually getting a team around me as I always used to do everything myself, which limited me to a certain degree; there was not enough time in the day to make music, find gigs, sort deals etc.

It took some time to get the project going and find the right manager, but within a year I started to make waves, getting played by tastemakers, getting national radio support, starting to remix artists like Dua Lipa. It was only at the end of 2017 when I had my first release on Axtone that I decided to actually show my face in press pictures etc as I felt that by that point that if people would find out who I was that I had already earnt some stripes to gain the respect. For me it was really important that people wouldn’t look at it like ‘Oh look, here is Patrick again trying to stay afloat’.

To this day Im still going strong with the project; managed to accumulate over 100m Spotify streams, have remixed the likes of Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit, Kygo etc and played twice at Tomorrowland, so can’t complain! Although I’m still not shouting about the name…

Besides this I hooked up again with Alistair a couple of years ago to start a DJ promo company called Whoa! Promo. For years we have been discussing this and felt the time was right to launch it. With both our extensive knowledge on both sides of the industry and database we built up over the years, we felt there was a gap in the market to really offer value for money to clients and focus on real results by putting the DJ’s first. In the last 12 month, despite covid, we have been going from strength to strength, so 2021 is looking promising!

The music industry has changed an incredible amount in the last few decades – what are some important aspects of a modern music career that maybe weren’t a factor when you started?

Wow, I feel like an old man haha!

When I started DJing, I had to teach myself – there were no guidebooks, videos, YouTube etc. You were known for your skills as a DJ, and you didn’t have to be a producer. It took me years to even consider getting in production – it was around 2007 that this really started to get important. Even though I had dabbled with DAWs for a long time, I never considered it a real option. I learnt production by learning from pro’s – ie go in the studio with a basic idea and then learnt from what engineers did. I’m sure I used to annoy the hell out of them as I would constantly ask questions, trying to get my vision across to make sure it would get where it needed to be. Again there were no tutorials out there and it wasn’t super accessible.

When I started DJing, everyone played with vinyl. I didn’t as I couldn’t afford it, and played on CDs instead. In 1999/2000 people would put their nose up if they knew and most clubs obviously didn’t have them, so I had to ask promoters in a sly way what equipment there was and end up bringing my own very often with the knowledge that as long as I delivered, no one could complain. I ended up winning a major DJ competition in Holland whilst mixing on CDs.

Music is endlessly accessible now. You are not limited to what is in stock or the record shop is willing to sell to you. Unfortunately there is no filter anymore, so its tricky to find all the good stuff as there is not enough time in the day to listen to everything.

The attention span of your audience as a DJ is so different now. I used to just play what I thought would work well in a club, and the crowd would just be receptive and open to new music. This is more tricky to find now, unless you play at proper underground events.

Social media is king now, which is a good and a bad thing. Great to interact with fans and find out what is going and and build a following around the world. But you have to play the game and branding is everything now, music is sadly not enough.

As the barrier to entry is so much lower now, its an open playing field, which I think is a great thing. No matter where you are from, your music can be heard and if you have a laptop, you can make music! All information is readily available online and you can learn whatever you want! This is also reflected in the artists that are breaking through now – far more diverse and from all over the world.

Back in the day this was very different. In the same way you often hear people say ‘check the DJ top 100 from 1997 – that was a true reflection of the biggest DJs in the world’. What people forget is that DJ mag was mainly sold in UK, so it only really represented what the UK was into. So it wasn’t actually representing the world in any way, plus people abroad had to physically post their top 5 in!

Now the scene has become more mainstream and people can vote around the world, but again with everything being online, things can be manipulated easier as you often see with social numbers. But then again this has always happened in some way in the music industry – in the same way that labels used to buy their singles up in the record shop in order to chart higher. Its just happening in a different way now.

Ultimately the competition is so much more fierce now – you are essentially competing against artists from around the world for the attention span of the listener, which seems to get shorter and shorter, with so many distractions around online.

Anyway, it’s always good to have a challenge, right? And I still believe the old saying of ‘the cream always rises to the top’.

How do you balance your time as a producer, as a DJ, and then with other projects? Do you deliberately apportion X amount of hours per week/month to each, or is it something that changes depending on circumstances?

I don’t tend to play as much anymore as I used to, so my time is generally divided between Whoa! Promo and producing. In theory its split 50/50, but it fluctuates depending on how busy Whoa! Promo is and whether I have remix deadlines for instance. I tend to work a lot of evenings to keep both moving forward. There is never really enough time in the day. Its all about investing time to keep growing.

You’ve worked with some huge venues, labels and artists under your various aliases – how have you found dealing with those kinds of things? The music industry has a reputation for exploiting people with unfair contracts and so on – did you have professional help (lawyers/management etc), and what advice would you give people experiencing this for the first time?

Oh yeah, the industry has a bad rep and rightly so to be honest. Some people do try to pull a fast one left, right and centre and always throw it on ‘Do it for the exposure’ or just don’t pay you afterwards etc. I think its impossible to find anyone who hasn’t been screwed over at some point, but you live and learn. If I would have got a pound for every time I’ve been told ‘Well this is how the industry works!’ I would have been rich haha. A lot of stuff is deemed acceptable in this industry, that in any other industry would be totally unacceptable.

The dance music industry historically has always had a low barrier to entry and therefore attracted enough “Del Boys” or people from the underworld. Anyone can start a club night or run a label. All you need is capital, no qualifications needed.

I think, depending on the contract, get advice, even from friends. If its a serious long-term contract, get a lawyer – they know exactly what is fair and what is not. Labels, for example, often give you a standard contract with shitty terms, that you should never accept. If you don’t know what you are looking for, you will get fucked over. It is important for yourself to know what is worth a fight and what isn’t.

Also with one-off gigs – money speaks louder than a contract. I.e. get paid beforehand. If you have a gig abroad and you suppose to get paid afterwards, but you don’t. What are you really going to do about it?

When you are travelling as a DJ, how do you go about deciding what to play? And what are you hoping for from the local DJs you work with?

First and foremost I do research. Where do I play? How big is the venue? What do they normally play music wise? Who has played there recently? What does the promoter expect?

All this info will give me a rough idea and on the back of that I make a shortlist of tracks to potentially play. In addition I have lists with genres of house music that I can fall back on.

Sometimes it goes completely different than you anticipate, so you got to be prepped. I always make sure I arrive at the venue an hour before I play to get an idea of the vibe is and what to potentially play. Its harder and harder to find great warm up DJs, something I’ve always enjoyed doing btw, as it often feels that DJs dont always appreciate their role as part of the overall night, and seems to be more about making their own set count. I guess I’m old school like that.
Ideal warm up DJs sets the mood for the night: doesn’t play hits or my tunes, and finishes in a way where I can pick up with my sound. I hate stopping and starting and intros. I’m a DJ and play a set, I’m not a ‘DJ artist’ giving a DJ concert or something lol

PS I remember at Ministry of Sound many times when a headline act just rocks up, couldn’t give a shit what had been played so far, plays his/her/their intro and plays the same set for an hour. Then the next DJ was somehow delayed and they would freak out as their set was exactly 1 hour and couldn’t extend it for 10 mins, so then one of the residents had to jump on the decks to fill the gap – what a fucking embarrassment! Also once a famous DJ didn’t want to play at 3am, because he was spending time with his kids the next day…? Why are you a DJ then haha! It’s kind of part of the job, playing late, no?

Did your sets differ when representing a brand like Ministry of Sound, vs being booked solely on your own name? If so, how and why?

Not much to be honest, if I would adapt for a more commercial set, it would still have to be music I would stand for. It had to fit within my sound as I still am a DJ in my own right.

I remember one promoter once commented on all the Housexy residents back in the day as the Spice Girls lol, he said: you all represent the brand musically, but give it your own touch. That balance is key I guess.

Do you think its a good idea for DJs to try and work behind the scenes as well as in the DJ booth and studio?

Oh yeah, if you are serious about being part of it, you need to get experience on both sides to get a good understanding and become an all rounder. For example, I have too often seen people make stupid business decisions, because they decide to be the artist and stick their head in the sand when it comes to contracts etc. It’s a business at the end of the day when you like to or not. Otherwise just do it as a hobby and then you don’t have to worry too much!

How has the 2020 lockdowns experience impacted your work, and the music you make and release? What do you expect in 2021 and beyond?

Obviously no gigs. Spotify streams definitely have gone down and as with no clubs open, there hasn’t been as many remix requests, even though my remixes are played a lot on specialist radio and podcasts, but I think a lot of labels have been putting their budget elsewhere instead, which is totally understandable. Production wise, I have just been carrying on as normal, although not been able to do many writing sessions with songwriters this year. Done a couple through zoom, but just doesn’t work in the same way. With Whoa! Promo we had our busiest year as we very much focused on podcasts, live streams and specialist radio, which is where we have been able to make a real impact.

2021 will take some time to get going I reckon, I personally have no expectations gig wise.

Music wise, I’m just focused on making bigger and better songs with the hope one will break through, which is always a bit of a lottery!

For Whoa! Promo we aim to make it our biggest year yet and keep growing our database in new areas to offer even better value for our clients. Its all about being proactive.

Whats the one piece of advice you would give a new DJ starting out today?

Just have fun with it and do it because you love music. There is nothing more fun than sharing your passion for music with others and make them dance!

The moment its not about the music anymore, that is where it starts to go wrong.

Ps: be serious about what you do, but DON’T take yourself serious, you are just someone playing records at the end of the day; nothing more nothing less.

Check out Patrick at his Soundcloud, and DJs/labels – make sure to check out Whoa! Promo!

Go get the best new tunes at the Heavy Hits pool, and follow me over on Instagram!

The post Patrick Hagenaar appeared first on Heavy Hits.

]]> https://heavyhits.com/blog/patrick-hagenaar/feed/ 0 https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-transit/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dj-transit https://heavyhits.com/blog/dj-transit/#respond Mon, 31 Aug 2020 20:54:37 +0000 https://heavyhits.com/?p=22451 The latest Heavy Hits Podcast has been put together by the awesome DJ Transit – you may already know him from his excellent edits in the record pool. I caught up with him to find out a little bit more about him, and especially the livestreaming he’s been doing this year! First off, can you […]

The post Livestreaming with DJ Transit appeared first on Heavy Hits.

]]> The latest Heavy Hits Podcast has been put together by the awesome DJ Transit – you may already know him from his excellent edits in the record pool. I caught up with him to find out a little bit more about him, and especially the livestreaming he’s been doing this year!

First off, can you tell the readers a little bit your background and career so far? 

I’m a Philly-based, open-format DJ who started at the age of 14 years old. I spin at local bars and nightclubs as well as private events like weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs. DJing started as a hobby and way of making some additional income during high school. I saw a chance to DJ my grade school dances and from there, it became a passion and career. Currently, I’m one of the talented editors for Heavy Hits as well as a partner in several businesses including a “multi-op” entertainment company called Limelight Event Group.

You’ve just done a new mix for Heavy Hits, what sound have you gone for, and what were your reasons? Did the global lockdown situation influence your choices, and if so, how?

My new mix for Heavy Hits is a little bit of everything and include my edits that are available on the record pool. I also made sure I mixed in the Soulection/Future Beats tracks which I have been really into. The quarantine has definitely influenced this mix because this isn’t the typical party rock set I would normally do at a club. It’s more aligned with that I would I would play as an opening set with feel good grooves. Gotta love them vibes!

You’ve been a pretty early adopter of livestreaming DJ sets, with your Twitch – the visuals are pretty crazy, and very impressive! Were you already doing this before the lockdowns, or have you learnt in the last few months?

Appreciate it! I’ve put in a lot of time and work in making the visuals on my Twitch different than everyone else. I studied other DJs like Heavy and Apollo XO from Chicago and Aiden Scott from Philly for like a week straight. I took some elements from them along with a lot of research with OBS and equipment needed to put it all together.

Has DJing online, rather than in venues, changed the sort of sets/genres you play?

Yes, definitely. I get to play whatever I want and what I’m feeling instead of trying to please a whole crowd. There’s literally no one in front of me so the only responses I’m getting are people who are chatting. I take requests here and there but my viewers usually leave it up to me to do me, which I love.

Can you give a quick run through of your streaming set-up – software, and hardware?

I could do a whole YouTube tutorial video of everything, but here’s the simplified version of it

For video, I have my DJ laptop, a 2013 15″ Macbook Pro running Serato DJ Pro and MixEmergency for music videos with HDMI going out to one of the channels of my Roland V-02HD video mixer. I also have set up my Fujifilm X-T3 mirrorless camera to the other channel. The main HDMI program out of that video mixer is ran into a Elgato HD 60s+ capture card, which is USB connected to my streaming laptop (2015 15″ Macbook Pro). For audio, I spin on (2) Technics 1200s and a Pioneer DJM-S9 Mixer with my main outputs connected XLR to a Zoom H4N audio recorder, which is then USB connected to my streaming laptop. I have all of my different overlays and scenes built in OBS that I stream to Twitch. My streaming laptop is Ethernet connected to my router for stable internet upload speed.

There seems to be a bit of a gig ecosystem emerging online for those DJs who get streaming right – what have your experiences been with this, and what sort of gigs have you been getting?

I think DJs who make the switch to Twitch definitely have felt the benefits that streaming live to Facebook and/or Instagram. The biggest gain is there’s no audio interruptions. You won’t be taken down for playing copyrighted music. It’s only after the fact, that Twitch mutes certain parts of your past broadcasts. Another benefit to Twitch is seeing all of your favorite DJs you couldn’t see spin because you had to work or you’re in a different city/country. You’re also able to discover new dope DJs from around the world!

I haven’t necessarily received gigs from Twitch directly but it has helped me and my company provide virtual zoom parties to our clients. We have made lemonade out of lemons during this pandemic. We were contacted about doing one towards the end of April and it has skyrocketed ever since for us. We currently have 23 virtual events coming up!

Do you have any hints or tips for other DJs looking to get into live-streaming sets?

My biggest advice is to check out other DJs on Twitch who are your friends or you look up to and see what/how they stream. It doesn’t take too much to get up and running. I think if you have some sort of graphic visual overlay with a camera of you and your setup, that’s all that’s needed! Another big tip is to get your audio sounding crispy. I can’t stress that enough. Grabbing audio from the mic off your laptop just sounds terrible. You also don’t have to tell people to throw their hands up in the air or anything like that. I think people tune in more if you’re “interactive” and engaging with the viewers.

Nobody really knows quite what the next few years will look like, or when clubs will be open properly again – but what differences do you think there might be after this enforced period of change?

I think it could go two ways. The clubs will be jam packed because people are itching to be out or it could be a slow start with certain people waiting for COVID-19 to be completely “done.” I have already seen with clear acrylic frames and borders being made so it wouldn’t surprise me if those would be put all around the bar and DJ booth. I also think you’ll see people wear masks out even if the restrictions are lifted.

Do you have anything else you’d like to tell us about?

During this time, I believe as a DJ, you should be working on something whether it’s making edits, organizing crates, downloading new music on the regular or live streaming. It’s important to stay relevant and working on your craft because this time will pass over. Others will notice the work you put in and you won’t be left behind. If you’re doing this full-time, treat it like any other business. There’s always room for growth and improvement on your skills. If you don’t already have it, subscribe to Heavy Hits Pool!

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