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Deejay Diabolic Interview

Ez mate, thank you kindly for taking some time off the productions and djing to answer some of our questions. How is your djing and productions going this year and whats up with you right now?
Deejay Diabolic:
Hey, word up! Thanks for letting me get down with you over here at breakbeat.ca!  
Currently, the DJing is good. I have some side projects that I am involved with. One is my 2x4 set with DJ D.M.X. called D_Unit and the other is a Ableton live / DJ hybrid set that I'm refining right now. With that project, I'm making it more of a live performance thing, as opposed to just being a "DJ set". I'm also working on a new method of Serato mixing, called stacking...which involves using the cue points as well as a midi controller to be able to layer tracks and produce remixes on the fly… more on that later ;)

Your living in or near Colorado right? Whats up with the parties man? Is the economy ok?
Deejay Diabolic:
Yeah, currently I live in the heart of Denver, Colorado and it's cool man! There are some solid breaks nights that happen here, as well as DJ's who can hold it down! The SOB crew is always throwing the sickest breaks massives and locals like Kombat, Beekay, Kaya, and Ishe holding down spots all around Denver local clubs. As for the economy, yeah, it’s something that everyone is feeling…and as the months progress, I think we’ll see it get worse…but that’s not to say there still wouldn’t be a line around all the clubs when a headliner comes to visit. This next year is gonna be a very tough year for people in the states…it’s only a matter of time for the final outcome to be revealed and how that will directly affect the dance community.

What projects are you working on currently and what’s up in the near future for Deejay Diabolic?
Deejay Diabolic:
Currently, I just finished a mix entitled Dirty Freq Monster (which can be heard right here on breakbeat.ca) and am going into full production with my internet breakbeat show on ibreaks.co.uk called "dirty freq monster". Up next is a new fidget, electro, breaks mix that’s slated for a spring release. In the coming months, I’m looking to move to San Francisco or New York and get a change of pace and culture! (if ya know any cool peeps that need a roommate, give your boy a yell!)

How did you come up with your name Deejay Diabolic and what does it mean to you?
Deejay Diabolic:
It's funny, when I think back, how the name came to me is still somewhat a mystery. I remember going through the dictionary looking up clever names.  At that time, I was heavily into graffiti and would always tag names all over my shit, trying to learn my handstyles...i remember seeing the name diabolic and scribbled it down a few times.  I liked the way it wrote out and it just looked and sounded catchy when you saw it or heard it out loud. Plus I get straight wicked when I’m on the decks…so naturally, the name stuck and has been my moniker since 1994.

How did you get into breaks in the states?
Deejay Diabolic:
Well, I started listening to hip-hop in '92 and before that listened to punk, new-wave, industrial...I think I slid into breaks through my influence of hip-hop and new-wave electro. The first electronic mix-tape I heard was R.A.W.'s "turntable psycho" in '93 and that tape single handedly got me into DJing! I'm a sucker for the old school techno break sounds and am happy to see that they are being used in more productions today. I am hyper at heart and think that the transition into breaks was something natural for me given my love for hip-hop! It’s funny cause it takes me forever to learn the lyrics of a song cause I’m always focusing deep on the beat and how it’s programmed rather than the lyrics being said.

Did you ever throw any of your own events? If so, can you tell us about the most rememorable?
Deejay Diabolic:
When I had a residency at a club here in Denver, we brought out DJ Hyper. Later on, we also
brought out Steve Smooth. They were both amazing shows, but it was great to bring out Hyper!  

What type of Breaks are you diggin man? And whats your style?
Deejay Diabolic:
I really dig the organic sounding breaks...breaks with live sounding instruments. horns, strings...
pretty much anything that sounds like a 70's porno soundtrack with some energetic breaks over it, that's ALWAYS good! I love whoompy basslines, choppy samples and breaks that inspire the poppers and lockers...sirens are always good! Really though, now-a-days, it's hard to classify the different genres because there are so many elements within each song...I say, if you can rock a dance-floor with it, then play it.

How is the club and night life scene in Colorado? And how is the Breakbeats going there?
Deejay Diabolic:
Well, Denver is home to a couple of the nations biggest clubs, including Vinyl, The Church and of course, Beta, which houses the Beatport Lounge. On any given weekend, you could see the likes of Robbie Rivera on Thursday, The Breakfastas on Friday and LA Riots on Saturday. Denver is fortunate to have world-renouned, cutting-edge DJ’s and producers come in every weekend! The parties are good as well! There are some production companies that have been around for several years now and when they throw a party, it’s not uncommon for 2500-3000 people to show up! The breaks are getting more accepted and it’s not uncommon to have a couple breaks DJ’s at most parties here. Colorado Springs has a great breaks following and some of the bigger breaks shows happens there.

How are the dancing party girls in Colorado? Are they diggin the breaks or what?
Deejay Diabolic:
lol...yeah, there are the go-go girls here as well...each club has their own crew and you see some other clews at the parties! They get down FOR SURE!!! and they dig MY breaks ;)

What is you background? Did you go to a musical or a sound tech school of any sort? Do you play any traditional musical instruments?
Deejay Diabolic:
I started out playing the violin with I was in the 4th grade and then moved into playing the trumpet in my high school marching band. Once I fully commited to DJing, everything else stopped.  Playing traditional instruments helped me with music theory, but when it comes down to it, when you DJ for a long period of time, you just learn to feel the change-ups and  just expect how the song changes…knowing where things change and how the song plays out…even if you put a new record on for the first time. You just know.

How long have you been producing for and how did you first get into it?
Deejay Diabolic:
I started to DJ in 1993, but didn't really want to start producing until a few years ago.  I've been dabbling in light production for 8 years through making my mixes, but am just now starting to sit down and invest large amounts of time into learning how to make dance-floor bangers!!! I have an understanding about the programming and structure, but learning how to make rich, lush sounds that don’t sound likes rocks in a can, that’s where I’m at now…trying to get these dope sounds in my head, out into the physical world!

Do you have any funny or weird stories to tell during a dj gig, I’m sure those parties in the States....?
Deejay Diabolic:
Some of my most memorable DJ experiences are of the crazy house parties that I DJ’ed in Ft. Collins, back in the 1997-2000 time frame! Ft. Collins is about 50 miles north of Denver and is the location of Colorado State University…which is where I was going to school at the time. Living in a college town where house parties reigned supreme, it was an awesome time to be a DJ! One of my best memories was throwing my birthday party at my boy Ben’s loft! We had brought in some heavy-duty sound, equipped the bar with 6 kegs and prepared for the 300 people+ that ended up coming through that night…(you can imagine the sight the next morning when about 15 of us remaining went to a local family breakfast spot, which was filled with families eating before going to church). Of course the party I played at to bring in the year 2000 was bonkers as well! So many memories, it’s hard to point’em all out!

Whats up with vinyl in your area at the moment? Which system is working best for you?
Deejay Diabolic:
I haven't picked up new dance vinyl in bout a year or so...I still get dusty fingers searching for oldies and goodies, but in terms of new wax, I just don't have the cash to fork out like I once used to...Beatport is located here in Denver and as you can imagine, a lot of local DJs are partial to using them. When I DJ out, more times than not, DJ's are either using cdj's or Serato. Wax is great, but with so many other easy and cost-effective ways of obtaining music and playing it out, it's easy to understand why so many DJ's are opting to go digital.  For me, I use cdjs or Serato in conjunction with Ableton live and a midi-keyboard to add extra elements to my sets!  Of course, when the situation arises, I still come…equipped with records!

List some of your favorite electronic producers (past/present):
Deejay Diabolic:
miles dyson, RJD2, Electric Soulside, Bart Bmore, Stupid Fresh, Nathan Boon, Elite Force, Stanton Warriors, NAPT, Plump DJ’s, Crookers, Bryan Cox, Wolfgang Gartner, Lee Combs, Hoxton Whores, Heavyfeet, Asle Bjorn, LAZRtag, Diplo, The Rouge Element, Le Castle Vania, AC Slater, 4kuba, Rico Tubbs,  Plaza De Funk, Mr. No Hands, The Magnet Men, Freeflow 45, Chuck N Attack, DJ HiHat…and the list goes on and on and on and……

What does your studio consist of?
Deejay Diabolic:
Currently in my studio, I'm using 2 Numark ttx-1 turntables, a Pioneer 500, swapped out with a Stanton sa12. A G4 Mac Ibook and a Toshiba Satellite laptop.


What are you using to produce nowadays? Logic audio? Live ? Cubase?
Deejay Diabolic:
Using Logic as well as Ableton live.


If you were stranded on an island and had a portable record player with
enough batteries to play one last track,,,which track would you choose to
listen to?
Deejay Diabolic:
Anything off RJD2’s first album, Dead Ringer…that music saved my life a couple times.


Shout outs:
Deejay Diabolic:
Gotta gives props to DMX, Andee, Danny Marin, Kombat, Byron, Brett, Steph, Julie, Dave (BJE productions), Kaya (sound pharmacy), Maro, SOB productions, Matt Carmichael, Ja!me, Preston, Natural Nate, Ishe, MLE, Velcro City, Jayden, DJ Soup, Blingfaced, J Mekka (ibreaks), Beta, Vinyl, N-Vission productions, recycle-radio.com, my Benny Blanco’s fam (one3av), Bryan Cox, Myspace, Beatport, Djdownload.com, NU-World, The Root, One productions, No!se Fridays and anyone else who supports or helps to make the dance scene what it is!
oh…and of course Redbull!!!



WWW Links:
Deejay Diabolic:
myspace.com/deejaydiabolic
deejaydiabolic.podomatic.com