Are you working on any original productions?
My own production is super under wraps. In order to have any sort of long-term success as a DJ, it's almost mandatory that you jump into production. As such, I'm getting my feet wet, but only a choice few are hearing anything that I've done aside from made-for-the-club edits/remixes. Thankfully, with the friends I've made, I've got a great base for constructive and knowledgeable feedback and help. It's a great look to be able to just call up Switch or XXXChange, both producers I hugely respect, and ask him about a bass riff or more likely, "How do I...?"
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An accidental DJ goes global.
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You're a resident at two parties that play for a diverse crowd — Dirty Hairy at LIV on Wednesdays, and Chocolate Sundays at Purdy Lounge. How do you prepare for those gigs?
I don't think I've prepared for a gig since my first house parties, where I had to get those records perfectly in order ahead of time because I wanted to impress so-and-so. As far as Purdy and LIV, they are really on opposite sides of the spectrum as far as Miami clubs go, but I approach them the same way, which is basically just to make it up as I go.
Both parties allow you to get inventive as long as you play within their parameters. At a party like Dirty Hairy at LIV, it gets interesting when you've got a headliner who pretty much covers all the hits as opposed to a more focused guest artist/performer. A week or so ago, Lil Jon was the headliner, and being aware not to stray towards anything resembling a hit parade for fear I may step on his set, I ended up treading into not just nonhit land, but never-been-played-before-at-LIV land.
It's that fine line between getting the texts from the management telling me to "stop playing weird stuff" to having people freak out on the dance floor and telling me how much fun they had, which is ultimately the most rewarding. Granted, had that set flopped, I'd be right back at Gaga and Guetta. So as far as preparation goes, it never goes how you plan, so why not just make it up as you go?
When one witnesses a Contra set, it's clear that you know how to keep all the different groups in check, from the Kendall crowd to b-boys and hipsters. Any tips on how you do it?
Thank you for the compliment, but really I can't think of any sort of tips I could share. I suppose the only advice I can impart is learning what the balance can be for each night or every hour of your set. You know that if you play a Peter Gabriel song, you're targeting a semispecific sort of partygoer, and if you play the new Ludacris, you're usually targeting a different audience member.
The question becomes, how large is the scope of tunes you can get away with playing without detriment to the party's vibe. The hope is, of course, not to just play the happy medium of Top 40 anthems and über-pop hits that everybody may like, but instead to be able to play something that typically targets one group and having the other enjoy it as well — or alternatively, playing something new to both groups and having them enjoy it. Given that Miami is probably the most segregated city I've ever lived in, in some infinitesimally small part, I hope to bridge some of those divides through music.
