1. Nightmares on Wax – Nights Introlude
2. Shin-ski – Rigel
3. Jazz Liberators – Muic Makes the World Go Round(Instrumental)
4. Photek – Modus Operandi
5. Stephane Pompougnac – Pour Faire Le Portrait dun Oiseau
6. Basement Freaks – Mission Jazz (Renegades of Jazz)
7. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth -They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)
8. The Mighty Bop – Feeling Good
9. Digable Planets – Where I’m From (Remix)
10. Simple E – Play My Funk
11. Gare Du Nord – Come On Everybody
12. Christian Prommer’s Drumlessons – Hear Us Now
13. LTJ Bukem – Unconditional Love
14. Big Bud – Stinkweed
15. Afternoons in Stereo – Architexture
16. Dust – Donna Jane
17. Ingrid Schroeder – Paint You Blue (Peshay Remix)
18. Galliano – Freefall
19. DG Pulse & Jazz Cartel – U Down (Off the Wall Mix)
20. Swell Session – One Man Show
21. Rupert Sparks – Not Another Jazz

Link: http://www.facebook.com/ksabroso

There are DJs and then there are DJs; DJs who play music and DJs who become a part of the music. For K. Sabroso, he is the latter. Sutiweyu Sandoval, his birth name, has worn many hats: one-time graffiti artist and current dancer and DJ, he is one who pays close attention to style, name-dropping bands on his FaceBook that mean a lot to him as he will recommend that they should mean a lot to you, as well. Everything is for a reason, and it all has an influence on Sabroso’s varied style. Many days you will find Sabroso spending an afternoon exploring the music that surrounds a track and days concentrating on a mix with relations to how each song relates to each other be it Hip Hop, Surf, Tropicalia, Jazz, Downtempo, Electro Tango and the list goes on. K. Sabroso is one of the more diverse DJs in the city.

“I don’t see a point to restrict myself,” he said. “I love to spin all different music because I see room for it all.”

Gentle in persuasion, but big in results, Sabroso blends sub genres so subtle that they sneak up on you. Whatever the musical style he explores, he studies up on it like a textbook. And if his mixes are the exam, then expect nothing but an open mind and a heaping pile of music education.

“My work is unintentional when it comes to a degree of craftsmanship,” he said. “I bring in a kind of mindset that as I continue to spin a style, I try to bring more and more into it. So many songs I felt have a context. It’s taking that context and gently surrounding it with other similar styles that compliment the mood.

“I go through a continual revision process, starting with a somewhat vague concept of texture. When I craft a mix, the mix shapes itself.”

Moving to Indianapolis from a West Coast mindset, Sabroso looks to people like DJ Shadow and various turntablists, as well as graffiti artists as the culture for his inspiration. Even locals like Seamonkey, G, Kyle Long and Kyle Hodges (who now resides in Baltimore), have helped shape who he is.

But the basis for what he does and his single most influence comes from his love for film scores.

“Normally a story follows the three-part structure of Character Development, Introduction of the Conflict, and finally Conflict resolution. A great score has to not only enhance each particular scene with the right emotion; it also has to develop as the story does.

I approach my sets in the same way. I gather all the songs that fit the style and then examine what emotional patterns emerge. Then I put them in an order that carries the listener through the story that I’m trying to tell. Sea Monkey was the first person that I heard apply this technique which is why I still think of him as the finest turntable artist in the city.”

Aside from that… my life as a dancer is an important influence. I play a lot of music that is geared towards creating a chill atmosphere but my favorite stuff to spin are the kind of Breaks, Hip-Hop, and House that make me want to hop over the turntables and join the other dancers. A lot of my sensibilities in terms of drum structure, tempo preference, and arrangement as bot a DJ and producer came from the years that I studied the music through my movement in order to rock the beat harder.”

Sandoval is a curious individual, picking a DJ’s brain at a show or giving mad props to those who deserve it. And if you see him at one of his shows, he will be just as curious about those who attend as you are to his music. Conversation is an unconditional reaction to his work because for him, it helps continually become a better DJ and a better person. All of this also goes into helping his production skills in which he has done a number of remixing and song re-workings.

“When it comes to my production work, I listen to a lot of harmonies looped up and then I add the melodies. It allows me wiggle room, and I can throw in a bit of free styling that way.”

All of this is not easy, Sandoval admits. He is not a paint-by-numbers DJ. He cannot be easily classified in a certain clique. When you step into his world, expect fringe atmosphere and constant experimentation.

“I’m creating my own game. I look at my motivations. I may have to work harder but it gives me more pleasure spinning unique and interesting styles. Sure it takes more time to develop a following, but it’s been worth it. At the end of the day, a lot of creative types are in a search for our voice. I feel like I’m starting to find that voice and through electronic music, I can communicate with others and find that balance.”

Already seeing airplay from Columbia to the Bahamas, the United Kingdom and Holland, K. Sabroso is on his way to becoming a world-renowned DJ. Classy and sophisticated, keep your eyes peeled for his first release in the near future.

Photo by Kimberly Duncan.

1. Intro
2. Codes – What You Gonna Do?
3. Codes – Dying
4. DJ Kue – Last Night
5. Sandro Silva – Hands High
6. Armand Van Helden ft Christian Rich – Ski Hard
7. Swivel Hips – Party Time
8. Cassius – Feeling For You
9. Slap In The Bass – Biass
10. Codes – God Bless
11. Criminal Vibes – San Salvador
12. Jed Harper – Rock Our World
13. Klever – Let The Music Play
14. Maya Jane Coles – What They Say
15. The Loops Of Fury – Rack Em
16. Boys Noize – Yeah
17. The Aikiu – Just Can’t Sleep (Egyptrixx Remix)
18. Green Velvet – La La Land (Bingo Players Remix)
19. Cajmere ft Dajae – Brighter Days
20. Joe & Will Ask – Clive Onion
21. Dario Nuñez & DJ Fist – Pajaros Del Monte
22. Circle Children – Zulu (MastikSoul Remix)
23. Señor Stereo – Hot Damn! (Nadastrom Remix)
24. Rampage & Nader – Get Up
25. Manaré – Blitzkrieg Riddim
26. Treasure Fingers – It’s Love
27. Rishi Romero – African Forest
28. Miguel ft J. Cole – All I Want Is You (Codes Remix)
29. Will Gold – Swing Time (David Jones Edit)
30. David Jones & Ron May – Drinking Piano (Jones Mix)
31. F. Physical – Ke Ke
32. Codes – Guzzlin’ Champagne

Brooklyn DJ Codes (aka Cody Murray) looks back to the golden days of Hip Hop and House culture while keeping a firm grounding in current day skill and technique. Part DJ, part turntablist and part producer, Codes joined the Slow Roast roster to recently release his Codes House EP. Expect nothing but a lot of love and devotion into his mixes as he will take you beyond the stratosphere of crazy and bring you back down right in the middle of the intensity of the dance floor. If you have not heard of Codes by now, now you have. Expect his talent and popularity to become a household name in the genre.

Links:

Codes on SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/codeshouse
Slow Roast Records: http://slowroastrecs.com/artists/codes/

What took precedence for you starting out, House music or Hip Hop? How did you begin using these two genres to develop your style? What were some of the albums and artists that got you into developing your style as a DJ? And what is it about these genres of music that appeals to you?

I got the DJ bug when I was about 14 and started out playing Hip Hop and Jungle records. I did’t really get into House music until I was about 17.  It was the funky and soulful House that grabbed my attention so it was natural to kinda take all my favorite sounds and weld them together. I’m all about being able to play different styles of music and go back and forth with some creativity and skill. A lot like Craze was doing when I was going out to parties pretty young. The appeal for me is the feeling. I love the way good House or Hip Hop makes me feel when I listen to it or play it and especially create it.

Charmingly, your mixes are like a history lesson. You use classic sources to blend a modern perspective into your mix. How important are the classics to you? What do you find thrilling about the early genres of House? You treat Hip Hop a little differently. Why the difference in the two and what does it take for you to make these styles work?

That definitely goes back to the feeling thing. There are few tracks out these days that give you the same vibe or thrill you get from a classic House record. I think it’s important to include a few classics in my mixes. It gives a nostalgic effect for people that know them and also opens up a new appreciation for younger kids that have never heard those records. The art of taking samples from different places, new or old, and welding them together to make something completely new is what really does it for me. There is a lot of trial and error but also a lot of saying to myself “Oh shit, I could put that clip I sampled about guzzling champagne along with a clip of Jim Jones saying ‘Pop Champagne’.”

What do you think is most important to being a DJ?

It’s very important to keep an open mind. You should be playing music that you like and not because it’s popular or it’s “the next new shit”.

How important do you feel being a turntablist and a producer has helped your career as a DJ?

For me, it’s very important. Growing up, the DJs I looked up to and the mixtapes I listened to daily had scratching on them. I think there is a serious absence of that in dance music today. So much of the DJ process and set up has become automatic. I’ve spent a lot of time scratching over the years, for me it’s just natural to incorporate a little of it into my sets. It’s almost like paying homage to the more manual beginnings of dance music. If anything it’s added to my skill set as a DJ, and makes things more fun.

What I find intriguing is that you like to throw in subtle nods to various styles and genres in your mixes, and it flows so naturally.

Good that’s the goal. It’s like crafting my lunch. I’ll never eat a plain turkey sandwich. I’ve got to toast my tuscan bread, add a little provolone, slice some avocado and tomato, mayo, olive oil, pickles, you name it, it’s the same with a mix.

You hear a lot of house DJs like to use a lot of fade outs and then use that as a build up back to the main construct of the song or a segway into another mix. You, on the other hand, like to use a lot of fade ins that eliminates you from having to do a build up or speedy drum roll into a climactic portion. It makes your mixes always “on.” What led to you keeping the intensity high throughout?

I’m all about keeping it fun and exciting.

How did you get involved with Slow Roast?

Initially, the “Dying” record was the first track that grabbed the attention of Kill The Noise and Craze. Once I finished up the other four tracks on the EP it was a wrap.

What was the reason behind the Codes EP?

I wanted to make a collection of records you could play anywhere.

With the advancement of technology you still bring everything all back to the basic skills of what it is to be a DJ.

That’s how I was brought up. I’m a DJ before a producer and as a DJ your level of skill is really all you have.

What do you have coming up and what are your goals for the rest of the year?

I have a handful of remixes I just finished up. Been in the studio with Treasure Fingers working on some new material. Also just finished up a remix with Tommie Sunshine for a track the Disco Fries & Clinton Sparks did. Right now I’m just focusing on my production and the process of my production. I want it to have all the elements of me, what’s in my head, and most of all I just want to have fun doing it.

MOTIONGRAFF Episode 15 : CODES HOUSE from MOTIONGRAFF on Vimeo.

1. Sunchase – Keyring
2. Bop – Skeptikos
3. Ultracode – Santa Cloud
4. Liquilade – Oneironaut
5. Bulb – Mental Universe
6. Format None – Lullaby
7. Synkro – In Transit
8. Subwave & Stop Thinking – Plastic Heart
9. Alix Perez – 1984
10. Dissident – Evolution Leaps Forward
11. Stray – Timbre
12. Asc – Focus Inwards
13. Ultracode & Stereotype – More More
14. Ultracode & Kor – Dear Deer
15. Ultracode – Manoo
16, Nuage – Diaries of the World Exchange
17. D.Bridge – Detuned Heart
18. Muted – Terror
19. D.Bridge, Instra:mental & Skream – Acacia Avenue
20. Sunchase – Away from Here
21. Ultracode & Stereotype – Touch the Pain
22. Bop – Tears of a Lonely Metaphysician
23. Getz & Nuage – Her Dreams Her Fears
24. Digital – Weatherman
25. Loxy – Gabriel Gray
26. Calibre – Acid Hands
27. Genotype – Dub Drive
28. Sabre ft Alix Perez – Javelin
29. CJ Weaver – 6,000 Degrees
30. Escher – Minimal Bounce
31. Calibre – Steptoe
32. Genotype – Dubwiser
33. Mixmaster D.O.C. – Gangsta Down
34. Calibre – Thirst Dub
35. Genotype – Red Energy
36. Morphy – Warren Dub
37. S.T. Files – Crackden
38. Friske & Re:sound – Kill at Will
39. Instra:mental – Watching You

-G-
FMRL/dnbradio.com

A sucker for nuance & subtlety, -G- has spent the past fifteen years trainspotting & compiling a massive mental archive of the best music of our time. Focusing on break beats & eclectic electronic music, -G- often explores deep sonic terrains that other DJs ignore. Dance floor savvy yet high-brow enough to keep the audiophile’s head bobbin’; -G- takes the listener to a level untouched by most yet craved by all. A co-founder of the Indy weekly Juxtapoze, -G-’s dedication to being an ambassador of underground sounds is apparent. His “FMRL-FM” side-project every sunday night on www.dnbradio.com is further evidence of his dedication to the dj craft. Whether in the studio or in the club, rest assured, -G- will always rinse the diverse spectrum of electronic music onto the masses.

-G- Talks about his Mix for ZapTown

Drum & Bass has always been geared towards audiophiles and breakbeat junkies, this much is true. After 20 years of evolution and exposure to the mainstream via raves, MTV, advertisements,etc.,most forget that Drum & Bass is a genuine art form as opposed to its popular dance-floor incarnations.

Considering the advent of dubstep, future-garage and U.K. bass-music has focused the attention of electronic music fans into the realms of 70-140 bpm, it’s no surprise the best that drum & bass has to offer is nowadays overlooked. The prescription for this amnesia is of course best administered by the DJ…and more often than not your average drum & bass DJ is dialed in to what’s moving the dance floor rather than the progressive contemporary sounds in this mix. This unfortunately leaves you, the listener, in the dark.
The dancefloor is not the audience I had in mind while crafting this 105 minute clinic of contemporary drum & bass. This mix is for those who appreciate the cerebral sounds most DJ’s ignore in exchange for high-energy fist-pumping anthems. If you like your breakbeats fast, dark, atmospheric & dubby with a touch of IDM then look no further…and embark on a cosmic mind-trip through “Synaesthetics in -G- Minor”.

(Photo by Jedediah Johnson.)

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Slater Hogan. Hogan, aka Kid Delicious, is not just a celebrated Indianapolis DJ, but a world-renowned DJ who is constantly active and in tune with electronic culture to bring the city closer to the music and the world closer to Indianapolis. You can often see him in diverse musical manners, be it on stage at The Vogue, spinning and promoting shows at Blu Nightclub, working Bodywork — a growing event in the city — and the list goes on. He also co-runs two labels, is a producer and one of the hardest working individuals in this city. Your dance moves owe everything to this man.

The MixDown
All tracks on this mix represents either releases on Hogan and John Larner’s two labels, or their own production from other labels.


1. White Lotus Society- “Space Cadillac” (Cubase Dan unreleased mix) (Muzique Boutique)
2. Slater Hogan and John Larner- “Music Box” (Muzique Boutique)
3. Tommy Largo-” Chacaron” (Herbal Essence)
4. John Larner and Slater Hogan-” Living Loosely” (Hu Hu Music)
5. John Larner and Slater Hogan- “Top of The World” (Lowdown Music)
6. John Larner and Slater Hogan- “Betrayed One” (Muzique Boutique)
7. Slater Hogan and John Larner- “Freak The Beat” (Herbal Essence)
8. John Larner and Slater Hogan- “Getting Ready” (Muzique Boutique)
9. John Larner and Slater Hogan- “A.D.D. Acid”  (Mouthful)
10. Slater Hogan and John Larner- “Caught Out” (Hip Therapy)
11. Bonde Fumagante- “Bonde Fumagante” (John Larner remix) (Muzique Boutique)
12.John Larner and Slater Hogan- “Don’t Stop”  (Hu Hu Music)
13. John Larner and Slater Hogan- “N.O.L.A. House”  (Aroma)
14. JohnLarner and Slater Hogan- “Keep Steppin” (Dot Bleep)
15. Greenskeepers- “Pink” John Larner Remix” (Muzique Boutique)
16. Bernard Jones and Jon Milsom Feat. Aren B- “Thirst” (Muzique Boutique)

Songs are available on itunes, Beatport and stompy.com

Link: http://www.myspace.com/slaterhogan

As Kid Delicious, you have the freedom to get wilder with track and genre selection. Did you create an alter-ego for the satisfaction of playing your off-genre favorites, to open up even more bookings, or for another reason?

Kid Delicious came about for a variety of reasons. I love all style of music, and this alter ego allowed me to play a more “open” format. It also opened up more bookings. I can remember one particular tour in Belgium, where I would perform as myself, playing house music for a club, and then play the same club the following night as Kid Delicious. When Girl Talk was starting to come up, I really enjoyed listening to mash-ups, so Kid Delicious also became a mash-up producer. You can buy them at www.gigawax.com

In many places Trance, Techno, or Breaks have a strong presence. Does our proximity to Chicago have anything to do with House having a more solid foothold here than many other forms of EDM?

It really does, but Detroit is also very close, and is the home of techno. Being so close to the birthplace of house and techno, forced a lot of Indy DJ’s to be very versatile during the early party days. I think that most EDM fans that grew up in the midwest scene during the 90′s can appreciate both house and techno.

EDM’s commercial presence, here, is still small compared to mainstream music. Is that changing at all with the rise of Dubstep and Electro?

I don’t think that those genres are the reason you are seeing more EDM in the clubs. The pop music on the radio has a lot to do with it. With artists like Lady Gaga, Flo Rida, Usher, Kesha and Rihanna all releasing singles in the 125-130 BPM range, it allows the club DJ’s to drop more unknown House Music records. The record labels have started to hire artists like Deadmau5, Kaskade, Laidback Luke and Dilpo to remix Top 40 artists.

I would assume that actively playing multiple roles as DJ, Producer, Label Owner, and Promoter would create a nice synergy. Is that the case or is being so active even more complicated than it sounds?

It actually is very hectic. Sometimes I have to slow down in certain areas so that I can give my full attention to an important project. However, with so many different creative veins to pull from, I do not get bored.

I’m extremely fond of how different places around the world tend to create regional variations of music that was often pioneered here. Having traveled globally with your music, have you found any favorite sub-styles which are specific to a certain region?

One of my favorite off shoots of house music is Kwaito, from South Africa. It came about in the early 90′s in Johannesburg and uses many sounds that can found in early House Music tracks by artists such as Crystal Waters. If you want to check it out, I recommend listening to Brenda Fassie.

House dancing developed directly from the music and has grown into an internationally recognized style with competitions held as far away as France and Japan. Can you tell me about some of the dancing or dance-based events you’ve gotten to see throughout your career?

OMG! The Melbourne Shuffle!! When John and I first played in Australia, everyone was talking about this dance called The Melbourne Shuffle. We, of course had not heard of this, but could not wait to see what our show in Melbourne had in store. As it turns out, we did not see this dance at our event, because it is performed to a faster pace style of music like Trance or Breakbeat. It wasn’t until I played a New Years Day party with Carl Cox that I saw The Melbourne Shuffle in all it’s glory. It’s hard for me to explain, but you should definitely check it out on YouTube. I think they even have competitions for it.

Tell me a little about the current state of House in Indy and where you see it going over the next few years. Is it reflective of what’s going on globally?

House Music is doing okay right now. It’s not great, but it’s much better that it used to be. Blu Lounge has been great in letting us host a weekly Thursday night party where we get to bring in international talent such as Mark Farina and Derrick Carter. These events have been very successful and have caught the eye of other club owners in town. We were able to host The Jumpsmokers at Subterra on a Friday night, and we have a few events scheduled for Friday’s at The Vogue as well.

Anything amazing coming up that the readers should know about?

We have a lot of stuff coming up. John Larner and I have a new EP coming out on a Chicago label called Flapjack Recordings. We also have remixes coming out on Mimosa (Seattle), Sampled (Detroit) and a couple new releases for Muzique Boutique. You can grab most of this stuff on Beatport or iTunes. Here is a list of upcoming events we are excited about.

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Kyle Long, someone who has always been in tune with the essence and soul of this city. The person behind the decks for Bollywood Bhangra, Brazilian Night, and more (see the bottom of this article for upcoming events), Long is not afraid to combine a broad spectrum of International culture with the contemporary and the classics, a true artist worth getting to know be it in person or on the dance floor.

Link: http://culturalcannibals.blogspot.com/

Exclusive ZapTown Mixdown: Kyle Long (29:18)

What is it that first attracted you to world music? Tell me about 
your music collection? What are some of your personal gems and why do
 you consider them essential?

I’m happy to address the question, but first I have to say I’m not really into the term world music.  At best, I think it’s meaningless – how can this one word adequately represent the output of a classical Indonesian Gamelan ensemble, the mystic sufi chants of Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the pop-tripe of Ricky Martin? At worst I think it’s divisive and dismissive in the way it implies that artistic creations outside of the Western-European tradition are inherently different.

Around the age of 16, I randomly picked up a recording of Tito Puente’s mid 1950′s work on the RCA label. I was expecting to hear some cheesey lounge music, but as soon as I dropped the needle I was blown away. The music was raw and brutal. Puente was beating the drums with a violent fury while the band played dark, tense, abstract arrangements… somehow it was both visceral and cerebral simultaneously. To my surprise, it was every bit as intense as the Public Enemy and Black Flag records I had grown up listening to.

After that experience, I began obsessively searching for new sounds and new rhythms… I would soon find out about artists like Jorge Ben, Fela, Serge Gainsbourg, Erkin Koray, Os Mutantes, King Tubby, Sun Ra, Kraftwerk, Ananda Shankar, Mulatu Astatke etc. This search for new sounds is what fuels my work as a DJ today, to paraphrase Afrika Bambaataa I’m “Looking for the Perfect Beat”. That’s why for me it makes perfect sense to mix Benga and Flying Lotus with Amadou et Mariam and Congotronics, these are all artists trying to expand the boundaries of rhythm oriented music.

My music collection, both digital and vinyl is out of control. My house is totally overrun with records and I own half a dozen large hard drives filled to capacity with mp3 and wav files. There’s a little bit of everything in my vinyl collection, if I were to point out some highlights I would mention my massive collection of Indian LP’s – 100′s of Bollywood film soundtracks and Punjabi folk LP’s. I would also point out my collection of Peruvian music, I seriously collected Afro-Peruvian LP’s for awhile and have some rarities by artists like Peru Negro and Nicomedes Santa Cruz. I also have some great Peruvian psych and funk LP’s. As for my digital collection a standout area would be my library of Arabic music, I’ve got a deep assortment of tracks from Iraq and Saudi Arabia to Algeria and Tunisia.

I have many gems in my collection, but some of my favorites are the local Indianapolis records I’ve collected: The Rhythm Machine, Wooden Glass, The Highlighters, Uncle Funkenstein, The Zero Boys, Sir Winston and the Commons etc. I consider them essential because I believe it’s important to preserve local culture and history to pass on to future generations.

When did you decide to become a DJ and what kind of music were you
 first spinning? How did that transcend to what you do now?

I never intended to become a DJ. A friend (thanks Marco Spada) pushed me to do it. In the back of my head it was always something I considered, but  I didn’t think I had the talent for it. I would watch someone with crazy skills like DJ Topspeed and get discouraged real fast. My friend Marco convinced me that because of my interest and knowledge in music, I had basically been preparing to be a DJ my whole life. I gave it a shot and after my first performance I was offered a chance to play a show with the legendary tabla player Badal Roy. At that point I decided that it was something I wanted to pursue seriously. That was roughly three years ago and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Not much has changed since I started out. My formula is still the same, mixing important contemporary records with under-appreciated classics. The records I dropped in my first set are still a big part of my sound: Fela – Zombie, Harlem Youth Percussion Group – Welcome to the Party, Fernando Gelbard – Alevacolariea, Jorge Ben – Umbabarauma etc. It’s always been about picking tunes with big rhythms and bringing people together on the dancefloor.

Listening to you perform, thanks to the world music style, you are
 able to throw in unique elements and beats within your DJ set that you
 may not be able to or be as flexible with other styles of electronic
 music. How do you view that?

Every artist sets their own limitations and I choose not to restrict myself to working with one style or genre. I think it has more to do with the DJ’s imagination and creativity than the limits of a particular electronic music style. One of my favorite DJs is Henrik Schwarz. I’ve seen Henrik categorized as a Techno DJ, but if you listen to his sets he’s mixing in James Brown, D’Angelo, Pharoah Sanders and traditional African music. I could point to many other electronic music DJs who do the same, from Laurent Garnier to Diplo. Artists should never accept the boundaries of style or genre, they should smash them to pieces.

What place does Indianapolis have in the world music market and 
what potential does it have for the future? How do you feel about your
 place within that framework?

Unfortunately, Indianapolis currently has no place in that market. Major international artists rarely play in Indy and aside from occasional events and performances in the local immigrant communities there is nothing happening on that front. Hopefully the events that I’m currently doing are contributing towards building an audience for that type of entertainment here in the future. Judging from the success of these events, there is a growing audience for new sounds in Indianapolis.

Let’s talk about your work with Cultural Cannibals, what it is and
 your collaboration with Artur Silva?

Cultural Cannibals takes many shapes, but first and foremost it is a clothing line established by Artur Silva and myself. It’s an extension of Artur’s work as a visual artist and my work in music. We’re fusing these two worlds together through fashion, creating designs that celebrate the underground cultures that have inspired us.

Cultural Cannibals is also an event production company. All the parties I do, from Bollywood to Brazilian are a product of Cultural Cannibals.

Ultimately, Cultural Cannibals is an attempt to create positive social change through art and culture. Traditionally Indiana has been very conservative and isolationist-minded. We are seeking to challenge that mentality by injecting our cosmopolitan, cannibalistic blend of ideas, images and music into the local scene.

You can find our clothing stocked all over the world or you can buy directly from us at www.culturalcannibals.com

Also tell me about the themed nights you present in the city, like
 the Brazilian night for Earth Day and the re-occurring Bollywood 
Bhangra and how all of that came about?

It came from my desire to fill certain voids I saw in Indianapolis. I found it shocking that there were no established club nights for Brazilian or Indian music here. I grew tired of waiting for someone else to make it happen, so I decided to try it myself. It started on a very modest scale, just me and a couple friends, but it has grown quickly. One of our recent Brazilian events attracted over 500 people and our Bollywood Bhangra event has been getting a lot of attention, Nuvo just called it the best dance party in Indianapolis.

We’re hoping to make these events grow even larger and introduce more people to these incredible cultures. We’re also planning on introducing new themes as well, like Afrobeat, Balkan music and Ethiopian Soul.

What does it mean to be a DJ and what does this city mean to you in
 that retrospect?

To me the role of a DJ is multifaceted. Ultimately the point is to get asses shaking. It should be taken for granted that the DJ can and will make that happen. Beyond that is where the measure of a DJ’s skill begins. In the process of making asses shake, a good DJ should be able to educate a crowd, steer them toward new unfamiliar sounds and ultimately uplift their spirit and expand their consciousness.

There’s a popular school of thought that suggests that dance music can’t be intellectual, and that music in general should avoid social or political commentary. I completely disagree with that. In my opinion much of the best dance music is intelligent, for example Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley, James Brown and M.I.A. There’s so much injustice in the world today, from the unfair immigration bill in Arizona to the war in Iraq. As a DJ, I want the music I play to comment on important issues and inspire people to resist oppression.

What does this city mean to me as a DJ? This city has had a huge influence on me. That’s why I find it amusing to be labeled with the tag “World Music”. So much of what I play was inspired by my experiences right here in this community: the cassette tapes I used to buy at the Pakistani grocery store on Lafayette Rd.; the songs I heard the Ethiopian cabbies jamming to Downtown; DJ Topspeed’s mixes on 96.3; the Hardcore Punk shows I saw at the Sitcom on College Ave.; DJ Danger at the Casbah; the tremendous legacy of Indianapolis Jazz music. I feel my style is an honest and accurate reflection of the culture of Indianapolis, not an exotic novelty.

How can we as a community be more aware of our electronic
 surroundings and how can we branch out more so beyond the traditional 
club sounds we are accustomed to?

You only need to keep an open mind and be willing to support artists who are doing something different. Support is the key, particularly in a small community like Indianapolis. Top 40 will always sell and if club owners don’t see a profit booking electronic music and other niche styles, they will stick with top 40.

With all of this said, of course, whenever I think of Kyle Long,
 world music is synonymous. Do you find limitations in that trapping or
 are you happy with your place in the Indy electronic paradigm? What
 would you like to accomplish from that?

Again, I don’t consider what I do “World Music”, but I am aware that the label is attached to me and I do find it restricting. I sometimes feel like a pariah among the DJ community here. Aside from a few exceptions (Yaz, Salad Bar & Metrogmone), I never see DJ’s at my events and I’m never invited to participate at club nights or shows organized by other DJ’s… despite the fact that my events regularly attract 200-300 attendees and receive good reviews in the local press. Maybe they think I’m gonna show up and play field recordings of Albanian folk dances. In reality, I can modify what I do to fit into a variety of situations, from hip-hop to house.

I would love to have an opportunity to play more with other local DJ’s. To have the chance to influence them and be influenced by what they’re doing… that’s how culture grows.

What’s going on? Future plans? Certain shows that we should attend?

I have some events coming up in Chicago and the West Coast, but here’s a rundown of my Indianapolis happenings. I’ll be playing along with DJ Roberto Carlos Lange at the opening of the Indianapolis Art Museum’s Art & Nature Park on June 19 & 20. I’ll be at Installation Nation on June 4. Brazilian Night at the Jazz Kitchen June 5. A Tribute to Fela July 10 at Urban Element. Balkan Beats & Gypsy Heat July 17 at the White Rabbit. Bollywood Bhangra June 26 at the Jazz Kitchen. Check out www.culturalcannibals.com for more details and up to date information.

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of Sea Monkey.

Link: http://www.myspace.com/seamonkey82

Listen to an exclusive ZapTown Mixdown by Sea Monkey (1:11:03)

You’ve been known to champion styles of Drum ‘N’ Bass that haven’t received much play in Indiana such as Atmospheric, Liquid, and Sambass.  What kind of reception have these less established styles received?

Overall, I think all of the different styles I play have been pretty well received.  The music that got me interested in Drum & Bass was actually of the dark, aggressive variety, but it didn’t take long for me to realize how prominent and over-represented it was, and when that’s the sole flavor of Drum & Bass being played over the course of the night, it’s no longer intense and crazy, but becomes a sterile, repetitive caricature of itself – who can play the tunes with the most epic drops, the most menacing stabs, the spookiest horror movie samples.  There are so many different moods to explore within Drum & Bass, and I think there are others who recognize that need for variety just as much as I do.

You have a high attention to detail in regard to your mixing technique. Many DJ’s prioritize Turntablism (manual manipulation of records) and track selection over solid mixing. Why did you choose to develop this method over others? Are there downsides?

It may be a bit of an oversimplification to put it this way, but as I see it, there are two types of mixing – active and passive.  In active mixing, a DJ will try to show you all of the things they can do with the turntables, mixer, and/or other hardware they are using to perform.  In passive mixing, a DJ strives to blend tracks together as seamlessly as possible, making their own presence transparent, and putting all of the focus on the tracks themselves rather than what he or she does with them.  I don’t believe that either is right or wrong, and I think that the style of music one plays often lends itself to one or the other.  Much of the music I play is very layered and melodic, so it doesn’t make sense to do a lot of quick cutting, scratching, or beat juggling.  While I admire and respect the talent that goes into active mixing, for me, setting the mood and smoothly transitioning between tracks takes precedence over flashy showmanship.  The downside of this is that many people expect watching the DJ to be as entertaining an experience as listening to what the DJ is playing.

I’ve heard you spin sets that have shown a progression not just in tempo but in mood, style, and sub-genre. It’s almost as if you’re telling a musical story without lyrics. This is in direct conflict with the approach that many DJ’s take where they simply try to respond to the crowd. What are the pros and cons to a conceptual method?

I feel like most DJs put a lot of importance into feeling out the crowd and trying to respond with the appropriate music.  For me, DJing has always been about finding the music that I’m passionate about and sharing it with others.  While I do consider the crowd I’m going to be playing to and how my set will fit within the context of the rest of the lineup, I usually have a pretty specific idea of the arrangement of tracks in my set before I start.  Being a crowdpleaser is easy and only requires loading up your bag or your hard drive with whatever is popular.  For me, it’s much more gratifying to treat a DJ set as a composition and take the willing amongst the crowd on a musical journey.

You come from a generation of DJ’s that are pre-Serato (software that allows DJ’s to spin digital files instead of records). How do you feel about the advent of a generation of DJ’s that have never touched vinyl?

Serato is kind of a double-edged sword as far as what it’s done for DJ-ing.  On the whole, the idea that you can carry your entire music collection on a hard drive and manipulate it just like vinyl is great.  However, DJs downloading low bit rate and/or transcoded MP3s, or worse, rips of tunes from MySpace and YouTube, and using them to DJ with is an unfortunate side-effect of the digital revolution.  Another gripe I’ve had is that since the advent of Serato, I have been to a lot more electronic music events where there was dead air between DJs as they hooked up, and battled issues with, their hardware.  For example, I’ve shown up to gigs where a Serato box was hooked up with the intention of multiple DJs using it, but it lacked an AC adapter, and without a laptop to power it via USB, this left me unable to play vinyl without completely unhooking all of the cords and plugging the turntables directly into the mixer.  I’m still a purely vinyl DJ myself, but I acknowledge that I have an irrational obsession with an obsolete medium.  I did buy Final Scratch way back when it required its own Linux partition and was incredibly buggy.  I only used it for one live performance and had it crash mid-set before deciding to get rid of it.  Beyond the fact that it was an unreliable product at the time, it just wasn’t as fun as using actual vinyl to me.  Also, I felt a bit guilty, as it was the only time I have ever played out tracks that I didn’t legitimately own in a live performance.

I view the Drum ‘N’ Bass community in Indiana as being one of the purest scenes because of the fact that it has a higher percentage of DJ’s and producers per capita than most music-based communities. Most Drum ‘N’ Bass enthusiasts that I’ve encountered actively create and contribute. This is different than most genres where the fans mainly listen and attend shows but don’t make or spin music. How does this affect the development of the music itself? Do new styles and sub-genres spring up quicker because of this?

It’s difficult to assess the rate of evolution of Drum & Bass in relation to other genres, or to attribute that evolution to a greater involvement in the Drum & Bass scene amongst its enthusiasts, but I will say that 2009 was wonderful for Drum & Bass.  Three of my favorite albums of the year, amongst all genres of music, were three very different styles of Drum & Bass.  Those were Bop – Clear Your Mind, Fanu - Homefree, and Consequence – Live for Never. All three really showed that Drum & Bass *is* still evolving and that there is plenty of new territory to be explored.

For popular music, it seems as though there is a balance between the crowd and the DJ. The DJ may introduce the crowd to new sounds but ultimately they can’t play out songs that are too much of a departure from what’s established or the crowd will stop supporting them. Does the crowd/creator dynamic that I mentioned above affect this relationship? Is it easier to introduce radically different tunes to the Drum ‘N’ Bass community?

I feel like the Indianapolis Drum & Bass scene has become quite varied and open to new and interesting styles of Drum & Bass.  I think the minimal and atmospheric styles present the biggest challenge for DJs and crowds alike, because they require you to approach Drum & Bass more as thinking and relaxing music than simply as dance music.  The Consequence and Bop albums I mentioned above are perfect examples of this.  They aren’t albums that make you want to throw your hands in the air, shake your ass, and jump around.  Rather, when I hear music like that, I tend to want to close my eyes and let the music take me somewhere else.

For a long time, I saw you take the responsibility of archiving most of the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) events that you attended both through photographs and by recording people’s sets. Did this benefit the community in the way you thought it would? Can you describe the importance of documentation in this context?

I’ve received many thanks and even a few donations to help maintain the costs of running the site over the years, so I’d like to think that it has benefited the community.  When I started, I really just wanted to do anything I could to help support electronic music in Indianapolis.  Also, since I’m not a terribly sociable person, while at events, the camera was what I could hide behind when I wasn’t behind a pair of turntables.  It was a lot easier to remain active within the scene and attend several events per week when I was working nights.  After my work schedule changed, it really started to wear on me, and after two and a half years of helping run Broke(n) Tuesdays at The Melody Inn, I desperately needed a break from it all to be a hermit for a while, as evidenced by the significant decline in the volume of pictures and recordings over the last year or two.

Induceonline.com has long been known as the focal point for photos, songs, and DJ sets from Indy’s Drum n Bass community. Are there any plans to update it or create a web 2.0 presence for it using contemporary Social Media platforms/services?

I’ve never been great with design.  The Induce brand was actually created by my friend Alex many years ago, and initially, he had a lot of big ideas about managing DJs, Artists, Lighting & Sound Techs, and various other projects, so he hired someone who created a nice site design incorporating pages for all of these services.  However, he went on to pursue other things and I started using the site to help promote any and all Indianapolis electronic music, Induce affiliated or not.  Since most of the site design was irrelevant at that point, I took it all down and replaced it with the very simple folder structure that exists today.  Some time around 2006, I think, I turned all of the picture folders into PicLens galleries (which took a painfully long time), but beyond that, nothing’s changed except the content.  I don’t have any plans to update the appearance of the site, but if some ambitious site designer wanted to do it free of charge, I’d be willing to see what they had in mind.

Any performances, releases, mixes, or anything coming up that people should watch out for?

Upcoming Gigs:

Aug. 31st 9:30PM – 11:30 PM
The Melody Inn
3826 North Illinois Street
Indianapolis, IN 46208-4017

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Deanne.

Link: www.djdeanne.com

Listen to an exclusive ZapTown Mixdown by DJ Deanne (58:17)

How did you get started doing DJ work and what motivated you to learn the craft? What influenced you to get into the type of style and sound you currently DJ? How did that transcend into your life and become a part of who you are?

I have two Bachelors degrees in Finance and Sports Medicine under my belt. My short career in the banking/finance industry was long enough for me to know that’s not where I wanted to be.  I came out, got divorced and moved to Florida back in ’96. I started going to clubs and hearing music and seeing all kinds of things that I had never heard or seen in my life. Remixes, to anything, were like crack to me. This was in the days of Napster and Audiogalaxy and my 56K modem and I would download endlessly. I had built a pretty healthy library while in Florida and I couldn’t get enough new music. I started going to school again and transferred to IU to pursue a degree in Sports Med. When I moved to Indiana I had all this music and made friends with guys who were successful DJs in the city. They introduced me to DJ’ing as an outlet and a more hands-on, personally creative way to listen to my and their music. I bought my first vinyl in 2000 and started practicing at a small little gay bar in Bloomington where I was bartending. I got my first set of turntables as a gift and bought the rest of the equipment that I would need to get started. I found that I had a talent and it kind of turned into an obsession. I started DJ’ing the Monday night drag shows and couldn’t wait for the queens to be finished so that I had the last hour or two to really play. I made a few key connections and was able to play a Pride Festival Tea Dance at Talbott Street. The only people that were there were my 30 friends or so. But what I felt in that big room with the lights, the big sound, the shirtless dancing boys and the fear and exhilaration of playing was enough to seal the deal for me. I had to make a decision between grad school and the chance to maybe play again sometime in the future. I didn’t choose grad school. I just kept practicing and practicing. The residency came and my life as a DJ really began. My sound was influenced at first by what was being played in the gay clubs in the late 90′s – alot of anthems, big remixed vocal tracks with dramatic breaks, and a hard circuit sound that was perfect for the party kids. I still love a little drama, a good vocal and I’m a sucker for a break and a build. But, over the years my taste has evolved. I love the energy of the gay/circuit sound but I prefer music with more variety and depth, fewer screaming divas, and a more sophisticated sound that reaches out to and beyond the gay scene.

How has this city influenced you and your work?

Indianapolis is an interesting and challenging city to spin for and I, myself, wear two fairly different hats.  On the one hand, my initial and continued success has come from playing to a mostly gay audience that likes primarily commercial, vocally driven tracks. Over the past two years, however, I have been more involved with the local EDM scene outside of the gay clubs where there is a greater appreciation for a more underground sound that I have always found myself more connected to.  The challenge for me is to blur the lines between the scenes and appeal to the audience in a way that keeps the dance floor moving, opens ears and minds to new sounds, satisfies the artist in me and, more importantly, the music lover on the dance floor. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. That’s hard to take at times because I want every party to be off the hook, but I haven’t stopped trying to do what I do how I do it. This city pushes me harder to be unique, a dance floor sociologist, and a stronger, more confident artist.

You have been trying to create a more international presence with your work. How are you making that happen?

I have been focusing on that. I tell you it takes a lot of patience and hard work and sometimes the right connection to break out. I was recently picked up by Give Me a Beat Productions, Inc. out of Miami and I am looking forward to more opportunities to come with that relationship. I have begun producing my own work and working on remixes and I’m excited about seeing how my individual sound will develop. But always, my main focus is to continue to put forth  all my energy and my best work every time I hit the stage, produce one of my shows or record a new promo. I’m my best advertisement.

What trial and errors did you encounter while developing your style? How did you know that this is the sound that was right for you?

Hell, every time you play it’s trial and error. Some tracks work and some don’t. A track can drive the floor crazy one night and send them straight to the bar on another. It’s a thinking girl’s craft when you play live and the errors can really mess with your head if you let them.  Knowing your audience, your music and when to drop each track is key. That’s the dance floor sociology I referred to earlier.  The thing that has been most instrumental (at least early in my career) in the development of my sound and my confidence in it are my weekly mixshows. I have been recording a 2-hour show in my home studio every week for the past 6 or 7 years to an audience of one. When you construct a set and you don’t have the pressure of killing a dance floor it eliminates a lot of pressure. Listening to the playback, you can hear technical errors and evaluate the strength of the set. I’m my own worst critic and it’s helped me to fine-tune elements of my performances, to be a better technician and to tell a better story.  I have also used the opportunity to break in new music and develop my own unique sound that really speaks to how I feel in that moment. I don’t like to sound like anyone else, never have and never will. That philosophy has been well received and I have created a national fan-base as a result. I have just translated the production freedom and the formula of that show to sets from 1-8 hours long, for gay or straight audiences, in big rooms or smoky dive bars from here to Miami. Fortunately, it’s worked so far.

Why become a DJ? What gives you the most satisfaction when DJ’ing?

When I started DJ’ing, I didn’t really think that it would really click like it has and that this is what I would be doing. Though I have always loved music, I didn’t use to dream about this as a kid or anything like that.

Remember, I was a late bloomer to the club scene so all of it was so foreign to me until my late 20′s. I entered the game kind of late after I had lived a little bit of a party lifestyle, so I can’t say I got into it to live the rock star life. I just realized it’s really what makes me happy and being successful at this has turned into my dream. I thrive off the interaction, connection and communication with the audience. My job, if you can call it that sometimes, is to play great music that people dance to, to help them forget about all the other crap that’s going on in their life for a few hours and just have fun. That, in and of itself, is very satisfying to me and why I do it. I love sweaty bodies, smiling faces, hands in the air and screams of joy. Let’s face it, like any other DJ, I kind of like the attention, too. But the art and skill of the job, to me, lies in accomplishing all those things by weaving the the perfect connective thread throughout a set – it’s construction, the story. And when I see people get that – appreciate that -  whether it’s a look in their eye, a nod toward the booth, a different groove in their dance step or a direct word from them to me, that’s what really turns me on.

What are your guilty pleasures?

In life…pasta, mushy love stories and Grand Marnier. Musically… Grease 2 (sickening, I know) or any other ridiculous movie musical from the ’80s and ’90s, private unreleased promo tracks, lasers and percussion.

You have performed with a live drummer/percussionist on stage before. How did that work out for you and what did it bring to the stage not only with your impression but the crowd reaction? Are there other unique things you have tried in the past, and any specific plans in the future you might be experimenting with?

Every two or three months Joe Melton joins me on stage at Talbott Street. We have an amazing time together. We never coordinate the set. It’s totally spontaneous and off the cuff. I never plan a set anyway, but he has absolutely no idea what’s coming next. We have built a relationship where he trusts me and the direction that I’m going to take him. In that I love percussion, it’s fun playing a set that is supported and complemented by a live percussionist. Having him there gives me the freedom to go a little harder throughout the entire set than I normally would, too. The audience gets so hyped about having something different there that the energy is off the charts. I can basically play whatever I want and it works. I love it! I have also coordinated production routines with the female impersonators (hot spots), dance groups, live vocalists and performance artists. I’d love to bring in a complete drum line and have them just tear up the stage with a marching band arrangement to a hot tribal house track! I like to keep the crowd entertained and any opportunity to mix it up a bit is fun for everyone.

One thing I think is great about the DJ scene is that there are an outstanding visual presence of exceptional women creating amazing things, as well as men. Growing up in the punk and hardcore scene for me, gender was apparently male dominated. Do you feel that gender and this underlying freedom is important to you, or is it really not something that is as apparent as say the punk scene was? How do you see the role of gender with electronic music in the future and its need of unity for the future of the genre?

Personally, I hate concentrating on the gender aspect of what I do. But, it’s often unavoidable. This industry is male dominated and there is no denying that and, to be honest, it’s more prevalent in the gay scene than any. Many women in that particular scene find themselves fighting the tendency of promoters to lean toward the buff, shirtless, hot, male DJ with questionable or, notably, unoriginal and cookie-cutter talent over exceptional female DJs who have put in so many years of hard work trying to deliver great music. These days it seems anyone with a gym membership, a laptop and a clever marketing strategy can go from go-go dancer or porn star to DJ overnight. It becomes incredibly frustrating to try and get attention when you’re up against something you can’t compete with. The same is true in the straight scene. There is a definite male predominance, but there are also many successful and talented female DJs and the scene seems to be a little more open to women walking through the door. However, there is also an increasing trend in female celebrity and model DJs. They’re hot, they’re barely dressed and they’re hard for a serious jock to listen to. But, they’re getting booked. Is that really helping to create unity or not? It’s hard to say. I have my strong opinions on “DJs” getting gigs for their shtick and not their talent, whether they be male, female or extra-terrestrial. At least in our local EDM scene so many of the promoters are willing to feature DJs that cross all divides, whether they are white or black, gay or straight or male or female. It really is about offering great music to the city. I’m a DJ who is also a girl. I’m not selling sex, I’m just trying to peddle my beats.

Tell me about what you are doing now and some of the important highlights for you that happened in the last year?

You know I have my monthly party, Ascension, at Talbott Street on the first Saturday and the party is still going strong after 5 years. My monthly open deck project, The Side Room at Talbott Street, is getting good reviews and uncovering some fresh talent in the city. That goes down on the last Friday of every month. I still have my weekly mixshows on PartyRadioUSA.net and GayInternetRadioLive.com. I have been really busy in the past 6-9 months playing a lot of the local parties that are coming up, like Jackola’s High Five and Fwd:Indy, Taylor Norris’ Get Down at the Red Room,  and Muzique Boutique’s Keeping It Deep to name a few. Playing some of the big shows in the city with Paul Van Dyk, Donald Glaude and Collette were fun. Getting representation was a big deal and that has resulted in more gigs already. I just got back from Miami and I’m going again in May. It’s going to be a busy summer with lots of things going on around Pride and hopefully a new monthly event will be beginning, as well.

What are your plans for 2010 and what do you want to accomplish in the future as a DJ?

I have a little business venture in the conceptual stage right now that I look to have up and running later in the year. I, obviously, want to play outside of Indy more. That’s my main focus. Whatever I have to do to get out there and jam, I’m going to do. I want to produce, remix & create. You can’t be a DJ forever, but you can make music until you die.

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Action Jackson. Fresh to the city of Indianapolis, but certainly no stranger here, Action Jackson can be seen tearing up the decks at OMG! at the Casba on Wednesday nights or down in Bloomington putting pressure on Killroy’s dance floor, a few small examples of Jackson’s busy DJ schedule. A balance between Indianapolis and the university city act as building blocks for Jackson’s growing and creative talent. Plan on your eardrums having a good time when in his presence.

(Action Jackson performing at Blu. Photo by Rachel Rubenstein)

Links:

Action Jackson: http://actionjackson.bee-town.com/
ZapTown’s photo coverage of Action Jackson at Record Store Day 2010: http://www.zaptownmag.com/2010/04/record-store-day-at-luna-music-photo-recap

Exclusive ZapTown MixDown: Action Jackson (43.42)

Tracklist
1.Paul Simon 2. Al Green 3. Morrissey 4. Level 42 5. Get Famous! 6. Janet Jackson 7. Fleetwood Mac 8. Talking Heads 9. BreakBot 10.Lykke Li 11. Jinder 12. Out Hud 13. Classixx 14. Michael Gray 15. Prince 16. Telephoned 17.  Soulja Boy 18. The Martin Brothers 19. Gyptian 20. Bag Raiders 21. New Order 22. Ciara 23. Sheila E 24. Ready For the World 25. Michael Jackson 26. Riton

What made you want to become a DJ? What are the things that attract you to being a DJ? How long have you been a DJ?

Well I’ve always been really into music and dancing, but I never imagined I’d be a DJ.  The first DJs I really experienced were at this now defunct under 21 club called the Junction.  DJ Topspeed used to play there every Saturday and it was the highlight of my week in high school.  And I would always listen to the DJ mixes on 96.3, I guess that was my first exposure to it.

Then I started tinkering around with it back in 2003 or 2004.  I wanted to get into production so I bought a turntable off of eBay to sample records, I had no idea what I was doing but eventually bought another turntable and then started doing house parties at IU and then got my first club gig at this place called the Jungle Room (RIP).  It’s snowballed since then, and I’m fortunate enough to do this for a living now.

Give me a little history about your career and your time in Bloomington? How was the reaction did the university town have towards what you do?

It’s a really good town to come up in.  There’s people there from all over the country so you’re exposed to a lot of culture and people are really open to all kinds of music, new and old.  Also, there were a bunch of great DJs that kinda came up together around the same time in Bloomington.  Basically towards the very end of the vinyl phase before everyone switched to serato and quit lugging records around, DJ Wushu (now in Denver), DJ Metrognome and I (now in Indpls), Flufftronix (now in Philly), and DJ Sleeper (now in LA).

But yeah sorta what I touched on above, I started at one club and it just sorta spiraled from there.  Also, in 2006 Flufftronix and I formed Rad Summer and started our Daft Crunk party, that sorta put us on the map nationally I guess.

Before we go on, let’s talk about your style. You are very adaptable to different genres and styles. What attracts you to using these various styles? Is it a conscious thing or do you have a pre-planned agenda before you go into a set? The ’80s genre seems to be the most accessible as of late, why? With that you are not afraid to incorporate songs that many people would not normally put on the dance floor, yet it works for you? How is that so?

I just have a genuine love for music.  I also get bored dancing to or DJing at the same bpm all night long so I like to jump around a lot regarding the tempo and genre.  I try to keep it from being ironic or cheesy though and make sure that it makes sense and flows nicely.  I don’t really have too many details planned out beforehand but I do like to just have a generel idea of where I’d like to go during a set.  As far as being not afraid to play left-field songs or not so obvious choices, I think that there’s a way to make almost any song work on a dancefloor.  Whether it’s through sequencing it in a certain way or throwing some hip hop drums on top of it or whatever.  But at the end of the day it’s not that serious, and I don’t think anyone should ever be afraid to take chances while DJing, it’s partying for godsake.  And yeah IMO, the ’80s were the greatest decade for pop music so those songs have aged very well.  But a lot of them are approaching 30 years old so I expect their popularity to eventually start to wane a bit.

What are some of your favorite songs or key tunes that you pull out to get the crowd going?

Waka Flocka – O Let’s Do It
Gucci Mane – Lemonade (Heroes & Villians Remix)
Cajmere – Percolator
Tony Toni Tone – It Feels Good

You are now living in Indianapolis and making quite the presence within the city? What made you transition from Bloomington to Indianapolis? And to note, you still have ties to Bloomington. Tell me what it is like bouncing back and forth between the two cities? What differences or similarities do you see between the two.

I’m from here originally, I went to IU for school.  After graduating, I was real hesitant to move back because I didn’t feel like there was a place for the kind of music I liked to play here.  But in the past year or two between what MOKB, ASquared, Slater, Heavy Gun, Rad Summer, etc… have been doing there’s so much opportunity, and it’s a really exciting time for music in Indy right now.  Also I feel like there’s not much more that I can do in Bloomington.  I still love it though and play there once or twice a week, so I haven’t given myself the chance to miss it.  The biggest difference is the University obviously, so there’s a much larger audience of young people, they also tend to be a bit more worldy/up on new stuff because a lot of them come from the coasts.  They also are usually more enthusiastic in Bloomington but Indy is catching up fast!

What is it about Indianapolis and Indiana do you admire? What would you like to see more of?

Well the best part is that all the people mentioned above are all friends, and we work together.  I guess I’d like to see the scene continue to grow and go in the direction its moving right now.  More national acts making stops here, people continuing to come out and support all the local cats doing there thing, and I’d love to see an artist put the city on his or her back and make it big out of here nationally.  And the low cost of living makes it a great place to be an artist full time.

What things would you like to try or experiment with? Do you find anything that is changing within your sets? Where do you feel like you shine the most?

I really love my Wednesday party OMG! at the Casba in BroadRipple, because it’s an open format night.  We’ve had all different kinds of DJs guest, national and local.  I try to break a lot of records there and try out new things that I’ll later incorporate more often into my sets.  I’d like to do more stuff with bands in the future,  I did a great show with Jip Jop a month ago that was challenging but fun as well.  I was running and looping Motown acapellas while they were playing the instrumentals.

What do you feel you are doing to push yourself as a DJ? What about pushing the genre and the scene forward?

Just surrounding myself with other good DJs is the biggest inspiration.   I also try to stay on top of music and know my history.  As far as pushing the scene here I’m going to continue to throw bigger and better parties and continue to share my love of music with others

What gives you the greatest satisfaction with being a DJ?

Just seeing people come out, forget their problems, and dance their asses off for a few hours.

Tell me about what you have coming up for the rest of 2010? What are some of your goals?

Definitely trying to focus on remix work and production, hopefully finish up an EP by the end of summer.  I’ll still do a lot of traveling this summer, as well: Philly, Denver, Minneapolis, Louisville, Chicago, etc..  And continue to be better at what I do and most importantly have fun doing it.

Each month ZapTown highlights DJs from around Indiana to bring you not only exclusive mixes to showcase each DJ’s unique talent and identity, but to provide you with a proper resource and guide on each individual DJ. This month, we celebrate the work of DJ Mason Williams and Jonny Yuma, your hosts for Bloomington’s New Wave Night and Biff Bang Pow!

Link: New Wave Night: http://www.newwavenight.com/

Listen to two exclusive ZapTown Mixdowns from Mason Williams and Jonny Yuma.

Podcast 1: New Wave Night (41:17)
Podcast 2: Biff Bang Pow! (39:11)

In the age of digital mixing, what is it about the 45 and vinyl that attracted you to do what you do? How do you deal with the inconsistencies of vinyl? It’s an acceptance that both the DJ and the listener must understand.

Mason Williams: I love vinyl but I’m not a vinyl snob. I also love my MP3 player. I DJ with vinyl because it seems like more of an art, it makes me feel like I’m doing something live. With vinyl and turntables you’re constantly messing with your gear, you have to twiddle and fidget constantly. Records fuck up, they skip, they get bumped…they’re alive. People react differently to vinyl DJs too, we’re doing something that they can’t do with their iPods and laptops, something physical, no playlists, no safety net, pure spontaneity. Nothing sounds like vinyl either, it’s so raw and real.

Jonny Yuma: I, like Mason, have an iPod and I couldn’t live without it. Vinyl purists get all pissed off about them, but I think if you are a true fan of music, the iPod is something that you cannot live without. As far as DJing live, I like the limits that vinyl gives me. If I DJ-ed with my iPod or my computer I could basically go out on to the internet and find any song I wanted. It would be limitless.  With records you are limited to what is available on record and if you can find it on wax. To me, creating art is about giving yourself limits and boundaries. It keeps your medium pure. Plus there is nothing more fun than hitting garage sales, flea markets, church basements etc and discovering gems for 25cents then going to the club and dropping it and watching people dance to a record that was basically thrown away by someone because to them it was useless. As far as inconsistencies in vinyl, I think there is more inconsistency in the digital file. If your digital file gets damaged then you are fucked, at least with vinyl if you have a skip or something you can lay your finger on the needle and plow right over it. You cant do that with an mp3.

What were the things that originally attracted you two to individually become DJs?

Williams: I got nagged into DJing by one of my best friends who had been DJing for years. I started making mix tapes for friends and girls I had crushes on when I was about 12 years old. The mix tape was a major form of communication for me all through my teens. As someone who has suffered with lifelong shyness, the thought of getting up in front of people and entertaining them was… well, it was something that was never going to happen. My first real DJ gig was a sold out new year’s eve party at one of Cincinatti’s most popular nightclubs. People responded to my awkward, eclectic mix and I was hooked immediately. So the short answer is: nothing. I was harassed into making a “live mix tape” by a friend who believed that I would be a solid DJ and that was my introduction to “DJ culture.”

Yuma: I’ve been DJ-ing off and on for about 20 years. I got my first radio shack mixer when I was in my late teens to make mix tapes with, I liked it when radio DJs mixed the ends and beginnings of songs to make one long song. I love the seamless mix. Not so much beat matching but mixing. I can beat match, but I think there are other people who can do it better, so I just try to make my mixes interesting. I’m also a vinyl nut and have thousands of records so DJ-ing gives me an excuse to buy records.

How did you two meet, and what led to collaborating together as DJs? What is your Bloomington connection and how did you get to where you are today?

Williams: I met Jonny at a Borders bookstore in the spring of 2001. We both had recently become fathers and shared that “record nerd turned first-time parent” face. We soon discovered that we also shared a passion for Polynesian culture and incredibly strange music. Jonny had already been DJing for some time at that point and eventually helped get a vintage soul and funk night up off the ground here in Bloomington. One night he invited me to spin a few records at the soul party and we seemed to really work well together. A year later when I was hatching the new wave night idea and wondering who to partner up with Jonny was the first person that came to mind.

Yuma: Yeah, what he said.

What music influenced you growing up?

Williams: My brother is 8 years older than me, I got all of his rock n’ roll hand-me-downs: Alice Cooper, Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent etc… I thought rock & roll was the only form of music in the universe. The first band I obsessed over was KISS, I was a card carrying member of the KISS army! One day, I opened up a copy of big brother’s CREEM magazine and saw a picture of The Sex Pistols… I thought “Hey… another band with a blood soaked bass player, I should check them out.” Two allowances later I picked up Never Mind The Bullocks from there on out it was nothing but Punk & New Wave until I landed a job at a local record store in the late ’80s and got turned on to everything else that’s out there.

Yuma: The first records I listened to were my mothers 45s. Her dad would buy her one 45 a week if she kept her grades up, so she had hundreds of 45s spanning everything from teenybopper to garage to soul to rock. She was heavy on the Beatles and Stones but she also had some real rare weird garage and soul. She passed them down to me, and I played them til there were no grooves left. Later on as my tastes developed into my teens I was all about heavy metal. In high school someone introduced me to Echo and The Bunnymen and i was hooked.  After that is was Smiths, Cure, U2, Duran Duran, etc., all the way. As time went on my tastes expanded and my bloated record collection is proof of that.

Although you are commonly known for your New Wave shows twice a month, it did not start out that way? Tell me about the idea to jump into the type of ’50s and ’60s wild dance music that became “Biff, Bang, Pow.” What influences led you to experiment with this type of dance music?

Williams: In the beginning I started a monthly dance party/hang-out night called Nervous Shakedown, it was created to fill what I considered a void in Bloomington’s nightlife scene. It was a simple concept: just play rock n’ roll records. We played everything from Sun Rockabilly records from the ’50s through New Wave classics of the ’80s and even threw in contemporary curveballs from the ’00s. It was pretty much a hit right out of the gate, the “new wavers” wanted a whole night of new wave, the rock n’ rollers wanted more raw rock n’ roll and none of the “80s crap” so we decided to split Nervous Shakedown into two separate club nights…the New Wave and Punk records from the late ’70s & ’80s found a home at New Wave Night, the ’50s & ’60s stuff ended up going to a night we decided to call Biff Bang Pow (named after a b-side from the amazing mod band The Creation). I grew up on junk culture… Happy Days, Gilligan’s Island, American Graffiti… I’ve always loved b-movies, drive-ins, camp kings like Russ Meyer & John Waters. I love the images I’ve seen of ’60s go-go clubs like the Peppermint Lounge, places where people just went wild and twisted the night away. Places where a girl could wear her best a-frame dress and get a drink called a pink lady or an aqua velva. Biff Bang Pow is like putting a ’60s discotheque in a blender with a ’50s sock hop. It’s a convoluted concept that makes for great escapism. Jonny kicks every Biff Bang Pow off with an hour’s worth of Exotica. It really sets the mood, once you’re good n’ dreamy we let loose and try to bring your favorite cult movie dance party scenes to life…a little Hairspray here, a little Beyond The Valley of the Dolls over there. Mods vs. Rockers all dang night. It’s a challenge though, songs from that era are usually around 2 minutes long, we play around 150 45s in an average Biff Bang Pow set.

Yuma: Mason said it all here.

How about the New Wave aspect, how did New Wave Night become reality and did you expect its popularity? For me, I was too young to make it out to a club to experience the music, but I was old enough to have it be an important part of my life at the time. Tell me about the crowd mix and your perception of it all. What you two are doing is not only channeling the youth to give them a taste of the roots of modern indie electronic music and the punk sound, but also giving people who were immersed in the decade a way to re-live and experience the vibrancy of that musical decade.

Williams: New Wave Night started as a one-off and got turned into a monthly before the first one even happened based on the amount of attention that it received, by the third one it had gone to twice a month and remains on that schedule. The music of the ’80s is something a lot of people take very personal. It’s the music of their lifetime, they are connected to it. I can’t hear The Plimsouls without remembering renting Valley Girl (on VHS) 1000 times in high school or hear The Go-Gos without thinking of watching the opening credits of Fast Times at Ridgemont High with a gang of pimply faced goofs at my side more than ready to catch another glimpse of Phoebe Cates’ boobs. First kisses, proms, dead pets… it’s all in the music. It’s not uncommon for me to get stopped in the parking lot and thanked by someone who has obviously shed a few tears on the dance floor. In my opinion. New Wave is some of the most infectiously danceable music ever made, and I believe it will get discovered again and again. I meet a lot of young people who consider the current music scene “the musical dark ages.”

Yuma: Both Mason and I grew up in the ’80s, it was the music we listened to while going through the major milestones of our youth. It’s in our blood, it comes natural, and we know what’s good and what is bad. Younger kids who come out to NWN who didn’t grow up in the ’80s, like we did, but love the sound thinking of us as their personal New Wave tour guides.

Williams: New Wave Night is truly a labor of love, I think a good DJ has to follow his heart and play the music that means the most to him or her. You can tell the difference between a DJ who is “feeling it” and a DJ who just downloaded a playlist and is going at it all willy nilly. The music has to come first, you have the records THEN you DJ. A lot of DJs do it the other way around…they start DJ-ing and then try to gather enough music to make it work.

Retro or timeless? How do you view it and how do you keep what you do respectable instead of simple re-hashing from a decade long gone, like say a radio station doing some kind of ’80s retro-rewind? or the conception of “oldies” music?

Williams: We play classics not oldies, you don’t call Shakespeare an oldie! We could easily build a successful night by simply playing nothing but hits and obvious choices, that’s the easiest way to keep people dancing. I like to think that what we’re doing is fresh and alive enough to exist outside of the retro scene. We play the big hits of the era because we love the songs, surprisingly the biggest reactions of the night usually come from unfamiliar territory. We may get you on the dancefloor with a radio staple but before you know it you’re flailing around to a song you’ve never heard before, and you’re caught up in the weird energy that others around you are also experiencing… that weird energy that comes with discovering something new… and the vibe has gone from “Oh My God I Love This Song!!” to “Oh My God Where Has This Song Been All Of My Life!!” As a DJ the ultimate thrill for me is getting 100 people to applaud a song that you know 99% of them have never heard before.

Yuma: We play the hits and the misses but all songs are top notch. We might play a song that we love but was never played on popular radio at the time.  Most of the people at the bar don’t know that it wasn’t a hit. They just think “hey this is a great song, it must have been a hit.”  So in that sense we are broadening the genre a bit, creating hits in people’s minds.

One thing that is immediately impressive about you two together is that when you get out to one of your events, both of you are so happy to be there and dancing around yourselves that it immediately allows the people there to let go and just have a good time. What does that mean to you?

Williams: Me and Jonny come from the rock n’ roll underground, New Wave Night comes after years of absorbing the culture. We’ve both spent most of our lives going to shows and digging for records. We’re not going to go to all of the work of promoting, hanging flyers and lugging gear around to put on a boring show. We try to present our dance parties with the raw energy of a punk show or at least give it enough pep to appeal to someone who might otherwise only enjoy live music. Honestly once everything gets going I rarely come up for air, it’s not until I see photos of the dancers that I get the reward of looking at their smiling faces.

Yuma: In the ’80s people danced to music. The ’90s and especially indie rock killed the dance floor.  Its slowly coming back though, dancing is becoming more popular again thankfully. I dance to the songs I play because its dance music. To me if a DJ doesn’t get down and dance to what he or she is playing then they don’t like the music. If you have a good time then the people you are playing to will have a good time too. Its infectious.

Williams: My focus is on the dancers, I’m not here to show off rare records, I’m here to get lost in the moment and hopefully inspire some foolish behavior.

As DJs tell me what you would like to accomplish? What new things would you like to try, and how do you keep pushing the envelope to keep the momentum you have set in place?

Williams: Most New Wave Nights have a theme, usually a tribute to an iconic artist or sub-genre. We’ve never done 2 NWNs in a row with the same records. I believe that keeping it fresh is as important to us as it is to the crowd. So in that respect we’re always trying out new twists. After all, me and Jonny are usually playing for each other and just hoping the crowd follows along. We request songs from each other all night. DJ-ing with a partner is kind of like being in a debate, you’re constantly scrambling to find a record that will blow away or at the very least compliment the record your partner is playing. I would love to see more people show up prepared for virtual time travel, dressed in period clothing, cell phones off, ready for pure escapism. We’re offering a 6-hour space where it’s ok to act like a teenager…embrace it people.

Yuma: Yeah, what Mason said. My goal is to keep digging for the best tunes and mixes. Im a huge fan of the remix 12″. I have thousands and keep finding more. Mason doesn’t play too many remixes, he usually goes for the album cut or the 7″ mix. In that sense we compliment each other.  I like to extend the song and keep the dancers moving, however if the song is longer than 8 minutes I usually fade it or try to mix it into another song to keep attention spans up. You never want a bored dance floor.

What things, shows, etc. do you have planned for 2010 and beyond?

Williams: New Wave Night every 2nd & 4th Saturday at The Root Cellar, Biff Bang Pow!! whenever someone will let us + one offs, weddings, birthday parties and boat launches as we’re asked.

Yuma: Im DJ-ing at least once a week somewhere in Bloomington either with Mason or with my friends Heath Byers (DJ Whitelight/Whiteheath) and Dan Coleman (DJ Junebug) at our monthly night at the Root Cellar — Soul In The Hole.  In 2010, I want to keep the momentum up yet try to pace myself to not burn out. I’ve been doing it too long to stop now.