Page 49 - Zone Magazine Issue 006

How would you describe the club scene or crowds in LA County vs. Orange County?
It’s so different. It’s a totally different vibe and you can see it. When I first started playing in LA the club goers are still in line at 12:30 or 1. In the OC, people at that time are fired up and going hard. You see the difference, then you’re able to adapt to the crowd and can play the appropriate music at that time. So like at Sutra in Orange County it’s mainly EDM, but in LA it’s almost all hip hop and some EDM. However in LA you can be more experimental with your music selection as when you’re in the OC you mainly stick to mainstream EDM.
How would you describe your sound or where you get most of your influence from?
I mainly grew up listening to Power 106, KISS FM and others. I really like Power 106 though I really got into Hip Hop. It’s what influenced me to start spinning and motivated me to become a DJ, so I have a lot of Hip Hop in my sets. I began getting into the EDM when it became more mainstream when guys like Afrojack, Diplo, and Major Lazer style of music started coming out. I like the high energy type of music like the Jersey style and Trap came into the scene.
What equipment do you prefer and feel most comfortable with and why so?
There’s always that question. The battle between Serato vs. USB sticks. I still stand by Serato 100%. I don’t want to be confined to just a USB. You can load it up, cue it up and stuff but if you're playing till super late and there’s this old ass track that you wanna play or someone requested. You’re not gonna have that on your USB. You’re gonna have it on your laptop though. You can come into the club having an idea want you want to play but see the reaction of the crowd and switch it up. I like the diversity you can have as a DJ. You’re just more prepared that way.
Is there a particular artist or person that you most admire or any philosophy or motto that you stand by?
I really like producers like Dillon Francis, Afrojack, Diplo, a lot of the Electro producers out there. A-trak. They are able to cross music genres and can keep things relevant. I really like how DJ Vice has done with his image and branding.
How much importance does social media play a role in your world as an artist, DJ or anything pertaining to music?
It’s a huge part of it. That’s how you get your stuff known. Sometimes I feel that it's cool and sometimes a weird system. What I mean is there’s stuff that doesn’t get seen out there to enough people. You can have good talent out there but there stuff never gets seen. Then you have guys who are huge in social media and their stuff isn't that good but because they have a huge influence on social media their stuff gets played a lot and gets tons of rotation. This goes to show how important it is. If you don’t have a social media presence it’s really tough.
What do you think is the next musical genre that is coming out? What do you think will hit big?
We are already seeing the deep house/trap hitting like Jauz sounding tracks coming forward. About a year ago the deep house sound like Disclosure style like future house that came out. But it wasn’t really accepted out here at first. When you would play it people was like what is this? So now it's like a few top songs has that sound in them. I think it's really cool because I feel like it's going back to the 100 bpm style of tracks. It's not the booty twerk stuff but more like the Lupe Fiasco style of sound or older Kanye kind of style.
Connect:
http://www.djredak.com
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Wods By Kai Newhouse Pic By Marilyn Hue Marilyn