You won the DMC World Championships in 2011, it doesn’t get much bigger than that for a DJ. What’s left to achieve?
I’ve been deejaying for Yelawolf for the past six months and I just signed a 12-month contract with him. We have 60 shows booked over 66 days this fall, and I’m going to be opening up as a solo act too, so the goal is to make new fans in different markets and areas, and to build my name as a DJ so I can continue to do bigger and better things. From a production standpoint, I’m going to release an album of instrumentals that’s more in the vibe of Pretty Lights and DJ Shadow.
Serato or vinyl?
I started out in 1996 so I’ll always have a special place in my heart for vinyl, but now Serato is just so much easier to use and I think it’s superior in nearly every way. I don’t have any desire to ever DJ on vinyl again, honestly. I can do everything I want to do with Serato and so much more.
What’s the biggest misconception about DJs?
That it’s easy. A lot of people think DJs just show up and play music, they don’t see the hours of downloading, sifting through tracks, practising, organising files and preparing new material that goes on.
How many records do you own?
I’ve got about 5,000 physical records at home. With digital, I had upwards of 80,000 tracks at one point and it was just a little too much so I’ve managed to narrow it down to about 60,000. I’ve been deleting more stuff than downloading, which is hard because I’m a hoarder.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t expect from a DMC world champion…
I listen to a lot classical music. 90 percent of my iPod is full of it, but I don’t ever check who the composer is, apart from Phillip Glass usually. I don’t incorporate classical music into what I do because it doesn’t really have a place, but if you ever see me walking around with a pair of headphones on you can guess that 99 percent of the time I’ll be listening to classical music.
What’s up with your name?
It’s a Sanskrit word that means lightening. I don’t really like it but I always wanted to be the fastest scratcher in the world so it’s appropriate in that respect.
