DJP on Winning Master of the Mix

Daniel James Phillips, aka DJP, is an award-winning DJ who grew up in Springfield and pioneered a style known as 'mashup' which takes two seemingly unrelated musical pieces and combines them into a creative synthesis of sound. I heard about DJP for years before I first met him for an interview into his sounds and style.

So, the last time that we spoke was in the Fall of 2011. When did the Master of the Mix come in?

Actually, I had a friend in Atlanta, Georgia call me and say ‘hey, my wife and I are watching this show. You should definitely be on this. I think you could win.' And he said it’s a reality show on DJing. And I was like ‘I’m not going on any reality show doing what I do. It’s just not gonna happen.’ And about 6 or 7 months later a friend in Portland, Oregon calls me and tells me the same thing.  “Hey you gotta check out this show. They’re having auditions for the second season of Master in the Mix. “And I kinda blew it off and forgot about my friend telling me about it six months prior.

When about was this?

Right at the beginning of 2011, somewhere in there. Before they were starting to shoot for the second season. And I said, “yeah I heard about it, and I’m not really interested in it.” And he said, “Kid Capri is the judge on there.” And I thought, “wait a minute.  Kid Capri’s a judge? If he’s a judge then it has to be somewhat legit.” Then I found out there were appearances by other people on the show like DJ Revolution was on the show. Then I got interested and flew out to Atlanta, Georgia for the auditions and the rest is history.

What was the audition process like?

A lot of long waiting. I know there were guys from like 8:30 or 9 in the morning til probably 5 in the evening to get an audition. Somehow, I was lucky. I showed up and I got in within an hour. They had two different rooms. Their first room, you had to go in and audition in the first room. And you had to be on a certain level to get to the second audition room, which is where Kid Capri, and guys like that were in there. I didn’t have to go to the first room. Apparently, someone knew who I was. I got recognized when I got out there. There were some other DJs who were like ‘whoa, that’s DJP.’ One guy came up to me and was like, ‘what are you doing here?’ I was like, ‘I’m here for the same reason that you’re here!’ So, I went right in front of Kid Capri. I guess the word was out, ‘hey this guy is here.’

You were pre-auditioned!

Yeah. Rock Steady Crew….Rich Medina happened to be in there that day, and he’s in Rock Steady. I never met Rich Medina-not like to make it sound like I had any favors cause it wasn’t like that at all. I only met Kid Capri once, and that had been years before. I don’t think that he even remembered me. It was just showing up there an getting to go in front of the judges and doing my two-minute set best I could. And it paid off.

And you got chosen for the show?

Yeah, they called about 2 months later and were like, ‘congratulations, you made the show.’ And I was like ‘awesome.’

How long was the show? Taping and stuff like that?

           

The show was, for me, on and off close to two months. It was a month and a week solid that we were on the road filming, and then I came back for a couple of more shoots after that. We were on a bus; we started in LA.. They split us into teams. The first challenge in Vegas. My team won, so we got to fly to Charlotte, North Carolina while the other team had to drive on a tour bus from LA to Charlotte, which is quite a haul! It started there in LA to Charlotte. From Charlotte to Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. to Chicago. Chicago to New York. New York to LA again.

Wow.

Yeah. When we all got to Charlotte, it was all bus from there.

I caught a few of the episodes. To someone not familiar with it at all, this was a reality competition to find the best DJ, right?

Exactly. It was putting DJs in an uncomfortable situation by taking them out of their own element to see if they could pull of these different challenges. And the weakest link would go home. Sometimes they would even send two people home. I know they did that on the second challenge. That’s basically what it was: if you were the weakest and you didn’t meet the challenge, you went bye-bye.

So, it had to be stressful!

Oh yeah, man. The most stressful thing that I ever did in my DJ career was that tv show. Cause you gotta remember that you’re on camera for a national tv show. You don’t know what they’re gonna make you look like. You don’t know what they’re gonna make you say. Not that they’re gonna make you say anything. But, it’s really easy to edit something. Just like this interview. You could make me answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to something that’s completely different…..than the actual moment that they were taping. But luckily things worked out for me. The only people that really looked like clowns were the people who were clowns.

And you had an advantage, from what I gathered, in that you had the true DJ artform down. You didn’t rely on electronic DJing.

The part that you have to remember is that, at a point, I had to use digital. They came to us and said, ‘hey, here’s a new list of longs we just approved. And these songs have to be the songs you use. ‘ Well, me and DJ Wicked who brought records were like, whoa. We’re in Charlotte, North Carolina going, ‘we don’t have this on vinyl.’ Coal-miner’s Daughter and Love you Down. So, we had to find these records. I thought, ‘there’s a reason why I brought my computer. ‘ I brought Serrato cause I knew it could go down. Wicked had brought his, too. So, it just ended up being one of those challenges where I had to use the computer. I got through it, you know. I got through it. Then, in Chicago, Illinois I had to use it again. And I didn’t like it. It’s just not the same. There’s a lag time in Serrato if you’re not careful. Like when I played in Chicago, for some reason when I was moving my pitches for the records to catch up, it wasn’t reading it quick enough. That was very irritating. I had a pretty rough set in Chicago. Everyone pretty much got booed in Chicago. But you know, they threw a song list at us 30 minutes before we went on. And it was like wow, man!

So when you played these competitions, you had somewhat of an audience? Or was it just the judges?

Oh no. We had a full-on audience. They had people there. Packed clubs.

Were these extras or do you think they were just people off the street? 

          

It was people off the street. It was real. And these people were there to dance and  hear us and boo us and cheer us. It was stressful, man. It was.

And you won that [Master of the Mix]. You won it! I saw the interview where they talked to your folks and your dad was like - it seemed like the very parental thing to say to prepare the son for a rejection or whatever. And they went back to you, and you were like ‘well, I think I got a pretty good chance of winning this.’ Were you confident at the point?

Well, my whole attitude towards the thing was I didn’t go on the show to win a quarter of a million dollars. I mean, yeah, the money’s nice. But I just wanted to get on national TV and get the publicity of what I do. Because there’s very, very, very few DJs who ever really did what I do: the live mixing with vinyl, before Serrato, before all the digital technology. We had to dig deep for all the accapellas and instrumentals. And for me to go on national tv and say ‘hey everybody, watch this. I’m not even gonna use a computer. I’m gonna use real records.’ Because everybody’s pretty much sold out to the digital world. That was what I much wanted to do. I wanted to say, ‘hey, this is it.’ I’m known for taking a style of mixing that’s now worldwide known as ‘mashups.’ That’s what I wanted. In my mind in my heart, I was like, ‘if it’s meant for me to win then I’ll win. ‘ And it paid off.

Cool! And the money, it was a contract more-or-less? You had to do performances for who?

Smirnoff. There the ones who sponsored the whole tv show. And I did very few things for them actually. They didn’t make me do much.

So it was pretty much one lump sum then?

Yeah, they just paid me that. Most of the stuff I did was appearances at Sam’s Club, just signing bottles. It was kinda odd. I didn’t do any major clubs or any stuff like that. It didn’t really bother me cause those gigs didn’t pay anyway. It didn’t really bother me cause you got the money, then you did whatever appearances that wanted you to do. So, the only thing that would have benefited me was more publicity through appearances. But, what’s that when you’re sitting at Sam’s Club and half the people who walk in there see the display don’t even know what it was?

I remember that a couple of the guys [contestants], you just gave them some money. Why was that important to you? You think those guys had the art….had the right attitude?

Yeah, they’re younger guys, coming up. And they’re good. I’m not trying to sound like I’m better. There’s things they can do that I can’t do. And there’s thing I can do that they can’t do. But they’re both good DJs[…] it was the fact that they were just real dudes. They were cool, pretty humble through most of it. Them being younger than me, I had already pretty much been there and done that. Going to Vegas then touring with MTV. I knew what it was to make a lot of money, and I knew what it was to spend a lot of money. Basically, I was just telling them, ‘if you win this, be careful cause it can go real fast.’ At the end of the day, money’s not everything. I didn’t get into this culture for money. That’s one of the things that I wanted to put out there, that this culture was never based on how much money you had. It came from the struggle. And so many people are just talking about how much money they make doing it now, you know, and it’s all about money. And those are the people who are just clowns in my book. Money’s great and all, but at the end of the day, where’s your heart at, man? Do you really love what you do or are you just doing it for the money? There’s a prime example, the people who are just doing it for the money. Go listen to them: they suck. They’re horrible DJs making big money. And that’s the thing we’ve come to. We’ve got Pauly D from Jersey Shore. You got Paris Hilton DJing. You got all these people on these reality shows, and they were already rich kids, and they were able to make themselves even more rich just from being rich, using our culture to spin music. Whether they’re using vinyl or CDs or Serrato, they’re getting what they don’t deserve. That’s not my opinion. That’s just the reality of it.

So, they’ve already filmed the third season? [Master of the Mix]. Did you make any guest appearances?

A lot of people thought I was gonna be on the third season. I thought I was, too. See, VH1 took it over from BET. And they just did it totally different. It was way more corporate this time. They filmed it all in one room. They filmed it in two weeks from what I was told.[…]As far as being on the actual show, I never got a call.

So, you weren’t a judge or anything like that?

No. I was not a judge or anything. It got totally […] more corporate.

Do you feel like the publicity did pay off in terms of the show?

Oh yeah. I mean […] I was already working a lot. I was already pretty well-known and established as a DJ. But, yeah definitely there were more things on my plate after the show.  And even now.

So, what’s next? You’re still doing quite a bit of touring. You’re still making quite a few appearances. I know that you’re traveling out to Portland via Seattle this week. Why don’t you talk about that a little bit just to get it on the record.

Right, my next gig is the day after tomorrow, up in Seattle, Washington-Tacoma area. We’ll play up there on Friday. Then I’m gonna play in Bend, Oregon on Saturday. Then on Sunday I’ll be in Portland, Oregon, which is my favorite city. I love it, the music culture; it’s just really awesome up there.  And just laid-back, great people.  I lived up there for two years.  So, I’m doing that then I’m just taking bookings here and there. I’ve got a thing coming up soon[…] it’s a kid’s show in the working. Then, really just producing. Making my own stuff and chopping up beats. The DJ thing has been cool, but I’m trying to take a different angle on it. Because it’s just becoming a joke. There’s too many quote-unquote DJs out there with their computers doing this for 50 bucks a night or cheaper. And I just think a lot of the newer music sucks anyway. Call me old. Call me whatever. I think it’s really time to focus on production and producing.

Do you have anyone that you work with, or are you talking about producing your own music?

Yeah. Producing my own. But also working with other guys making beats. I’ve got some friends here, local, that are doing pretty good, making stuff. So, it’s just a matter of getting it out there.  And that’s where I come in. I’ve got a lot of connections. If I’ve got a song that I feel like is something, I’ll call up the right people to get this marketed. I’ve got those connections. Knowing music and having the ear for it, I’m not just gonna make music and throw it out there. Cause that’s what a lot of people are doing. You’ve got to know that you’ve got something.

Roy Gullane of the Tannahill Weavers

The Fan

I’ve seen Bob Dylan perform live twice in my life: once at Memphis in May on Cinqo de Mayo on Beale Street along the Mississippi River in 2002 and the other at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia along the dirt racing track a few weeks later. Now, I've seen Roy Gullane twice in my life also: once in Tulsa at the performing arts center years ago and then in Forest Park in St. Louis at the 2007 St. Louis Highland Games. For me, both Dylan and Gullane have voices that have become symbols of two distinct genres of music: the American Folk and the Scottish Folk scenes. Both voices have been instrumental in my perception of what it takes to make a brilliant songwriter and vocalist.

My perception of songwriting and singing has, no doubt, become biased by many years of listening to the music of the Tannahill Weavers, who were formed almost forty years ago in Paisley, Scotland. (Paisley is a district know for weaving - think "Paisley Pattern" - and the Tannies take their first name from the Scottish Romantic poet Robert Tannahill.) I have learned many more of the songs performed by Roy Gullane over years of listening and singing along, but have only recently begun to appreciate Bob Dylan after seeing him live. Furthermore, Gullane's fantastic vocal range, powerful ethos and tender pathos would be enough to make Dylan envious even on his best days. Yet, both singers share the unique gift of being able to make a personal connection with the entire audience.

The Concert

The Tannies first performance of the highland games was a wonderful cross section of 40 years of music together: at least one sing along ("The Final Trawl"), lots of excellent piping, flute, fiddle and bouzouki instrumentals PLUS those fantastic bass pedals! I realize now how much Les Wilson's use of the drone-like bass pedals has influenced my idea of how a perfect folk-rock song is brought to a dramatic crescendo.

When I approached Gullane after the set, I fumbled with words – where do I begin to converse with a person whose songs have taught me more about Scottish history than my 20+ years of playing highland bagpipes? Finally, I was able to carefully enunciate words between mumbles "I would like to talk to you between sets tomorrow. Did you get the email from your manager?" He nodded and seemed agreeable to the idea. "See you tomorrow," he affirmed.

"I'll be here," I enthusiastically replied, and then I was compelled for some reason to add, "the hair really makes you look like Dylan!"

"We have the same hairdresser," he piped without missing a beat.

The Interview

B.B.: You were talking about your grandfather onstage. Is music in your family?

R.G.: Not really, when I mentioned my grandfather, it was more for his dialect. He spoke the language that we sing in.

B.B.: Broad Scots? Was music something that you did with your grandfather?

R.G.: No, but I learned the language through him, so I knew what I was singing about whereas people don't anymore, as if it's a dead thing. The younger kids speak what they learn on television.

B.B.: Would you consider yourself more of a songwriter, musician, or poet? Cause I know you've written a lot of songs.

R.G.: If anything, I'm not a poet. Anything I write that rhymes always ends up as a song!  In broad terms, I suppose that I'm more of a musician than a writer, because I don't write prolifically.

B.B.: In terms of poetry, is that something that you are familiar with?

R.G.: Not really. For me poetry was something that we had to learn in school. That said, I appreciate it, but not when it got too academic.

B.B.: Well, I'm thinking of this song Land of Light. That was one you wrote, right?

R.G.: That's right.

B.B.: Where did that come from?

R.G.: The origins of that were we had been asked to do music for a movie. I went to meet the producer in London, and I wrote Land of Light on the train on the way back. Just wrote it in my head. It was one I made for a movie.

B.B.: It seems like really a hopeful song.

R.G.: Yeah, it was kind of a finale. The story of the movie was it was about a guy named Sawney Bean, who was a factual Scottish character, and was the last person to be burnt for his crimes. He was a cannibal. He and his family lived in Ayrshire and they used to eat passersby. And the premise of the movie was that in the end, of course, they get caught and burned. And this was when the Land of Light came in.

B.B: So was it used in the movie?

R.G.: The movie never happened.  They never got the financing. But periodically, I see articles in the newspaper about people trying to revive this story and make a movie about it.

B.B.: It's sort of ironic that it's this hopeful, loving song but in terms of the context of the movie, it was a pretty dark subject! Maybe the light and dark go together.

R.G.: Yes, exactly! It's a song for the happy ending.

B.B.: Hollywood likes to do that!

R.G.: You've got to get an inspirational message at the end.

B.B.: A feature of your vocal-style is your range. I'm thinking of Mary Morrison where it goes way down and way up. Do you have a particular approach to your vocal style? Have you ever taken voice lessons?

R.G.: No, I just sing it and see what happens. It's trial-and-error. That's what I have and that's all I've got.

B.B.: Do you identify with the idea of being a troubadour? Like singing love songs and spreading good will?

R.G. Not really. But, I do think in another era, in a different time, maybe. I'm just born for the travelling and the public appearances. I don't entirely enjoy doing anything else.

B.B.: How has technology changed the way that you approach music?

R.G.: Not a great deal. It's just that you expect to sound better. The equipment is so much better than it used to be, but the way we do it is the way that we'd be doing it around the table or the way that we'd be doing it onstage. It doesn't make any difference to the way we'd approach it.

B.B.: I've been on your Myspace account and on a couple of different websites. Were those fans who set those up?

G.R: The websites are something that we don't always know about. The Myspace is something we set up. My girlfriend set that up and takes care of it. It's her baby.

B.B. It's very content rich.

R.G.: Figure that you've got the capabilities there, why not try to make it as interesting as possible? You know, stick video and music on it so that people will come and see what's happening. They come and visit it quite regularly. Good marketing, that's the idea.

B.B.: I saw that the Dixie Chicks were your friends.

R.G.: Ahhhhh. {Quietly} We don't know them. But it looks good, doesn't it {laughing}?

B.B.: It does! You've got friends in high places!

Originally published in The Tartan Telegraph in December 2007.

DJP Speaks of Turntabling Artistry

Having read for years about DJP's (aka Danny James Phillips) exploits as a competitive DJ, breakdancer and Las Vegas nightclub regular, I was excited to have the opportunity sit down and talk music with one of the coolest cats to ever come out of the Queen City of the Ozarks. DJP’s studio in downtown Springfield is like a museum of '80s pop culture with shelves upon shelves of vinyl plus various figurines, posters and props from his years as a touring DJ and performer.

Wow, I see you’ve got a lot of inspiration here!

DJP: Yeah, this is only a quarter of what I’ve owned. I had a hundred thousand records when I came back from Vegas.  One day I woke up and I was like, “Man, I don’t own any records; they all own me.” So I ended up selling a bunch of them at meets. I did a couple of record shows here recently. But the main majority of them, I sold to a guy in Portland, Oregon. He’s coming out here in a few days – finally – it’s been a year. So, I'm glad to have gotten him all those records. It was a lot of house and techno and electronic music, which I like, but I already had a lot of it. There’s probably tons of stuff in there I would've kept, but I couldn’t go thru and listen to every record.  So, I would just go thru and choose stuff at random and needle drop it, and if I liked it, I kept it [….] in a way, I'm glad that I unloaded it cause it was just too much stuff. Way too much stuff...

Are you going to Serato for your mixes?

I'm still on all vinyl, but I’m doing Serato in here (studio), cause I can do a lot of edits and stuff like that. I’m just not comfortable with it yet. Cause you've got so many people that know me as the guy that flips records, the showmanship of it, and they see what I’m doing. I’m not just up there pushing buttons or staring into a laptop checking my emails like everybody else. And that’s the problem that I have with it: everyone looks the same with this computer staring them in the face. And it's like, “Where’s your records, man? Do you own a record? Where’d you get that file from? Did you download it? Did you record it from a record? Did you own the record before?” It's an art for me, and that’s what killed the art for me. Call me a purist, I guess. That's what I am.  I loved the art form of what being a DJ is – or was. From having to go out and find the source on a vinyl record opposed to downloading or stealing it from a friend who gives it to you on his jump drive. That’s kind of what DJing has become: it’s just plastic, sugar-coated, microwaved DJing now.

So, where did you learn the art?

Back in the day, I started breakdancing in the ‘80s and the music that I was hearing was being mixed with turntables. I finally got my hands on the equipment when I was living up in Iowa. There was a guy up there called Les Vennard who had equipment and he showed me how to mix. I just took it from there and ran with it. Being a drummer, I think, is what really helped a lot. Because most DJs that I know who are good DJs were drummers. They know how to keep time and understand measures and phrasing and bars. So that’s pretty much how I got good at it.

What kind of drumming did you do?

I started off with snare drum in grade school. I think it was in fourth grade or fifth grade. I got pretty good with that. I took private lessons, and then I got a drum set finally in sixth or seventh grade. From there I started learning the trap set and got good at separating, you know, left hand and right hand, foot, pedal. Then that escalated into me getting into mixing and stuff, then I just kind of gave the drums up. Which I probably shouldn’t have done, but I could always buy another set. I'm rusty, that's for sure!

Did you ever play with a band?

No, I played with kids in high school. I had some friends up in Iowa back when Metallica was really hot, back in the 80s. They would all come to my house [...] and we would all be there just ripping it [...] I loved rock. I loved a lot of that kind of stuff, but I was more of a hip-hop and funk type. I just love all kinds of music from Kiss to Metallica to Run DMC to Miles Davis. All kinds of different stuff. I just love music.

Cool. Tell us about your Club Vegas gig.

Club Vegas, that’s a gig that's laid-back thing for me, where I’m not really doing what I do as a showcase DJ. It gives me the ability to go in and play records that I haven’t played in years. Because it’s not really a showcase gig where people are standing there watching me on stage – I’m in a DJ booth. Which is fine. I enjoy that because right now, I’m home for the holidays. I’m taking it easy. I’m not doing a lot of traveling, and I enjoy being able to go in and just have a laid back night [....] and the people in the club are an older crowd. So, they know the music, and I’m not being hounded by a bunch of kids to play the newest Lil Wayne or any of the new garbage, as I call it, that’s out now. But it’s a lot of fun over there. It’s really picked up [...] It’s a lot of older music, a lot of older R&B and hip-hop...new-wave stuff, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Metallica, AC/DC [...] I’ll even play some funk and soul, some salsa breaks cause it’s a laid back thing [...] Thursdays I’m doing disco and 80’s retro. Friday and Saturdays, just whatever, I read the crowd. We’re trying to build that club up for older people to come and enjoy it. I’ll cut loose a little bit cause people will come in and say, “hey, we want to hear you scratching and mixing....” And I’ll do it for a little bit, then I’ll go back and let it breathe. I usually play for 3 hours, from 10 to 1. I might rip it up the first hour, the second hour, and I usually smooth it out to the end of the night.

So that’s going to be a regular thing for the new year?

Yeah, we started it up and thought I was just going to do it thru the new year, but it looks like I’m going to be around for a little longer than I thought. I’ve had another opportunity. I think I’m going to start my own DJ school. But for right now, I am going to be playing over at Club Vegas on the weekends. I may not do Thursdays anymore. It just depends. We just really need to market it more. The place is kind of hidden, too. It’s behind Sonic on South Campbell.

Yeah, it is (former Mixology location). So, your DJ school: tell us about that.

I’ve had a lot of people in the Midwest come to me and just say, “Can you teach me?” And I’m like, “No, I don't teach it. I don’t really have time to do it. I don’t really want to do it.” But, the more I thought about it, I thought that while I’m here, maybe I should just start a school – do a DJ school. So I’ve decided that’s something I’m going to move on. I just got to figure out a location. I might even do it in here. Just clean this up, and I’m going to build an octagon-shaped table that will hold several different stations – at least four different stations. And just have turntables or CD mixers at each different station. Just teach kids, or parents the basics, whoever wants to learn it, the basics on how you mix music, the do’s and don’ts. I don’t know how big it would be here, but they’ve got a school in New York, Miami and California that does really well. Of course, I won't be that big, but for the Midwest and Springfield, I think it would really be.  I just need to think about how I would teach it.

I've heard about you for a long time, and I know that you’ve traveled all over. How has Springfield changed and how has traveling changed you?

As far as how Springfield has changed with the culture of music, I don’t think it’s just Springfield.  When you take music, I don’t want to be negative about it, but let’s go back to ’92 or ’93 in Springfield as far as the music scene goes. I think there was more support back then with local bands, and people going out were more cultured in wanting to hear a DJ or hear a band. The clubs were more popping, and we didn’t have as many clubs. Things just seemed to be a little more hip than it is now. To me now things are just a little bit more sugar-coated. You go to a bar, and it’s almost like you get the same thing. I think that’s why a lot of people got burned out on the whole dancing thing, the whole going out to hear a DJ. And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that every DJ plays the same music. The older crowd doesn’t really have a place they can go to hear older stuff mixed in. I don’t wanna hang out in a bar with a bunch of teeny boppers listening to Lil Wayne. The music doesn’t move me. It’s not fun, there’s more drama, there’s more fighting. To me, people go out to be seen and not just go out to be themselves and have a good time. And I’m not talking just in Springfield, to me that’s the way it is every city because of what the media has done to music and to what it stands for. They found out they can go into a studio and make music now in five minutes and sell it. They pour syrup on {expletive} and call it pancakes, to put it bluntly. (Sorry if you can't print that) and everybody's biting in to it. That's the one thing I've noticed, as far as me being from Springfield and being a DJ all my life and starting here, the energy in nightclubs and dancing is not what it used to be. It's just more people wanting to be seen and hear their favorite songs. It's not about the DJ on stage mixing records anymore. It's just not as cool. I hate to say that, but it's just not as cool anymore. But as far as touring, my first tour was in '99 with Garbage and Lit those two bands and that was on the MTV Campus Invasion tour. Left here in October and the tour lasted until the day before Thanksgiving. I did a lot of other things in between [...] I opened up for some underground hip-hop groups, The Pharcyde, Ice-T, Tone-Loc, some of those guys. The other big thing I did was with 311 in 2003. That was a couple of months that I was out on the road with them and that was really, really fun.

Do you think this was a result of your winning DJ competitions, getting your name out there, getting the reputation?

What really sparked my career was what they call a mashup now, which is where you'll hear a rock song or a jazz song or something totally different being mixed, taking hip-hop and mixing it with rock, taking jazz and mixing it with breakbeat. I was known for doing that onstage live with records. Of course, that's all there was then, so there was really no way to cheat or do it any other way. So, I did an album in 1999 with Z-Trip out of Phoenix, Arizona. The whole thing is what they now would call a mashup album. Back then, we never even heard of that...didn't know what mashup is. We termed it blending, we were mixing records. And that album made a bunch of noise, took off. Then next thing you know, it was cool to mix rock and 80's with hip-hop. There was a lot of so-called hip-hop heads that clowned it, that made fun of it at the time. And those same people today are trying to do it. You were talking bad about it. You didn't like Tears for Fears...but now you're trying to do it cause you knew we were onto something. To me, you just have too many clowns in the DJ game, there's some good stuff out there, but ninety-nine percent of it is garbage. It's like trying to put two pieces of the puzzle together and force 'em together. Either you have an ear for it or your don't [...] I miss Springfield because it's home.  My family's here. But as far as the music scene goes, I can't say much about the music scene. Probably the most hip thing going on in Springfield right now as far as music goes is the Black Box Review. Those guys have a following and they're playing different stuff. They're playing some decent stuff. I'd rather go hear them play than go hear top 40. I don't care for top 40 anymore cause it all sounds the same. Now, I have it and I play it, cause like tomorrow night I'll have a bag of it in case my stuff doesn't work.... 

Tell me about this gig, what you're doing tomorrow night. It's New Year's Eve in downtown Kansas City somewhere?

Yeah, it's the Crosstown Station in the Power and Light district.

So, how do you prepare for a gig?

Man, it's a lot of hours. I'll be up to 6 in the morning probably. When you leave, I'll go to the gym. I'll go home and eat, then I'll be back up here getting all my set ready. I mean, I know pretty much where my set's going.  It's this right here (grabs a stack of vinyl).

And you're headlining it?

Yeah. There's a band and then there's me. And I'll be doing whatever it is I want to do, basically. But the thing is, you never know what kind of people are going show up, so I always have that crate of records to save me if it's falling a part. Or depending on my mood, I can get on the mic and tell people, “there's the door you came in and you can leave out of....” {laughs} It just depends [...] you don't want to run the club dry. But that's the thing a lot of people don't realize: you're an artist.  You're not a DJ. This type of DJing, I can't even call it 'DJing.' We're not DJs. We're turntablists. We're artists. We manipulate music and we feel it in a certain way. A DJ is just someone who pushes buttons; it's like being a jukebox. That's what a lot of people don't understand when they're going into a nightclub: if you go into a nightclub and you're requesting songs, you're being a pest. Because half the people that do request songs, they already have the CD or they have it in their Ipod. Or it's been played on the radio twelve times or fifty million times a day. And you're just like “Yo! Just enjoy! If it's a hot song and you're in a top 40 club, you're going to hear it. But I'm not going to play it at 9:00 o'clock when no one's even here.” We used to complain about that in Vegas: like, requests are so lame! Just enjoy yourself; let the DJ bring the music to you. That's the thing now: those days are over. Now everyone is a robot. The industry has made them into robots. When you get these teeny-boppers in a club, they expect to hear what they know. You can't take 'em down a dirt road anymore with that record to make 'em go “oh, I remember back in the day!” As long as we had records that we know were good and records that we knew had energy, you could drop a record that no one in the club knew and they went crazy! THAT was what made DJing DJing. Because you're delivering, you’re educating and delivering a record to everyone that they'd never heard.

Ah, this is good stuff, man.  I like that...

DJP: You know what I'm saying. That's what being a DJ was: it was introducing that song or that record that no one knew and they would never known unless the DJ played it. But now, it's not about that. It's all about what's hot on the radio and what's hot on MTV and VH1 and BET, and to me, most of that's garbage. Lemma drop a record for you that just came out by a group called “People Under the Stairs,” which is a good, underground hip-hop group[...] And the thing that I love is when someone will come up and say, “hey, what is that last track you played?” See? And you tell 'em...

So it's the reverse!

And you tell 'em it was the People Under the Stairs. They take notes and find out who that band is. And to me, that's the love of music. It's to be able to share it with people who get it.

Thanks again to DJP for giving some insight into his DJ artistry. Best of luck in all your future projects.

First published for EatSpringfield.com in January 2011.