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Scratch Lab DJ Institute: Learn from the Pros
Last Updated November 18, 2005
URL: http://www.uc411.com/Scratch_Lab.asp

We’ve all admired the DJ at some time. They control the party, always look like they’re having fun, AND they get paid for it. What a job! Always wanted to be a DJ but never knew where to start? Scratch Lab DJ Institute puts the power in YOUR hands.

Disc jockeys have been spinning records for decades. But when did they rise to become highly influential cultural icons? Not only have club DJs become gatekeepers within local music industries; some are now cast as highly paid musical ambassadors, traveling around the globe to spread the latest musical trends.

Is this because club DJs know best how to cast a spell on a dance floor, how to “work” a record in a way that makes it seem at once familiar and excitingly new, how to bring a crowd to a peak not just once during an evening, but several times? Or is it simply because DJs are finally being paid handsomely and enjoying the celebrity status that comes with money and media exposure?

The answer probably is “all of the above”.

The lines between studio producers, engineers, songwriters and DJs have become increasingly fuzzy. Instead of just spinning records at clubs, DJs ventured into the recording studios, bringing the same workplace concepts and techniques of mixing music, creating new sounds and re-mixing songs.

The increase in status from record-spinner to remixer and record producer has transformed the club DJ from cult figure to cultural icon.

What is a DJ?
A disc jockey (aka DJ) is an entertainer who selects and plays pre-recorded music for the enjoyment of others. DJs can be heard on the radio and at social gatherings such as weddings, nightclubs, warehouse parties, and high school dances. As a result, there are many different types of DJs, each fitting into a particular niche defined by performance setting (broadcast booth or nightclub) and intended audience (i.e. House or Hip Hop fans).

But what exactly is a DJ, and what do they do? How successful can they be, and how can you attain that success? UC411 looks for the answers…

The DJ as an Artist
A relatively new phenomenon in the music community are DJs who do not simply "play records," but in fact create new music through the playback and mixing of pre-recorded media.  Sampling, scratching, the application of effects, and rapping over music, develop an aural montage called turntablism.

However, simply "playing records" allows a DJ to bring his or her own creative ideas to bear upon pre-recorded music. This creative process is what many DJs feel is what makes them an artist in their own right.

The DJ as a Business Person
Paul Oakenfold is a record producer and one of the best-known DJs worldwide.

In the early 1980s, Oakenfold managed Run D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. After spending several months in Ibiza, Spain, he fell in love with dance club music. Using these influences Oakenfold produced tracks for U2, Massive Attack, Arrested Development, The Cure, and Snoop Dogg, many of which were released under his own label Perfecto Records, thereby making him a very wealthy person.

Oakenfold’s second album, Perfecto Presents Another World, introduced millions to his mixing skills. Some sources report this album as the highest selling dance recording of all time. His popularity has also grown thanks to his work on the movie soundtracks of Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions and Die Another Day, for which he remixed The James Bond Theme. He went on to work on the James Bond video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent in 2004.

The DJ as Ambassador
Tiesto is another of the world's leading dance DJs and trance music disc jockeys.

He began DJing professionally at school parties, but it was at a small club where he was able to fine tune his own style by playing in a separate room from 10pm until 4am on weekends.

Through hard work and perseverance, Tiesto eventually became famous for his six hour "Tiësto Solo" sets in which he performed without other DJs for opening acts or alongside other DJs as main attractions to the events. This idea of one DJ playing alone to a large crowd was brought to its height when Tiësto was the first DJ to hold a concert solo in a stadium when he did so for over 25 000 people in Arnhem's Gelredome.

"Tiësto in Concert" was an enormous success, repeated in 2004 in addition to holding a concert for 20 000 in Belgium the week after. In total, these 2004 concerts reached over 70 000 fans, with DVD releases of both his 2003 and 2004 concerts. On August 20th 2005 he took "Tiësto in Concert" to America by playing to Tiësto fans in Los Angeles, California in the LA Sports Arena.

Tiesto was announced as DJ Magazine's 'No. 1. DJ in the World' for the third consecutive year in October 2004, an achievement not held by any other DJ. He went on to play at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, witnessed by an estimated two to four billion viewers around the world.

Globe-trotting electronic musician and DJ Richie Hawtin is the living embodiment of techno, the man CMJ calls a "techno God."

"He doesn't just play techno," the influential publisher of music magazines said in October. "He IS techno."

Hawtin breaks down his sometimes hectic schedule giving us a glimpse of a day in the life of a superstar DJ: “Some days I can be in two or three different countries in a day, especially in Europe.... In the summer I was playing in the south of Portugal from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m., playing a set on a Saturday morning. And as soon as I'm done there, it's taking all the equipment down, rushing to the plane, taking a flight to Amsterdam, re-setting up, doing a show.... And as soon as you're done there, go to the airport again. Private jet. One and a half hours and you're in Hanover, Germany, and about two hours after that it's in front of the decks for another show from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. So in the space of 24 hours, you've done three sets in three countries.” Wow, imagine the air miles.

The DJ as a Brand
Funkmaster Flex is a popular hip hop DJ on New York's Hot 97 radio station. His name is synonymous with taste-making muscle: for more than a decade now, Funkmaster Flex has reigned as America’s No. 1 radio personality, reaching more than 2 million listeners a week. When he’s on the air, an estimated 10% of everybody tuned into a radio in the metropolitan New York area is listening to him!

Building on the runaway success of his SPIKE TV hit, Ride with Funkmaster Flex (the show is now seen in seven other countries), Flex has developed his own mini-empire of car-customizing TV shows. ESPN will premiere a half-hour program in which Flex customizes the cars of leading sports celebrities from the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball.

And the Funkmaster Flex Super Series, Flex’s racing league, will be making its debut soon. Since Flex’s television invasion, he has made appearances on the Video Game Awards (which he also served as co-producer and musical supervisor), and co-hosting Autorox, the first-ever nationally televised Auto Awards Show.

The New York Times recently dubbed him the “evangelist of hip hop car culture.”

He founded Team Baurtwell, the highest profile custom-car club around with members like Shaquille O’Neil, and musicians Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot and Faith Evans. Flex is the consultant to the hottest car accessory companies, advising them on a host of issues, especially product placement and future advertising.

Flex has also been a guest on MTV’s TRL, Chappelle’s Show on Comedy Central, The View, and VH1’s The Fabulous Life Of… . By 2006, Flex will have an estimated ten (!) automotive programs on television, some featuring the telegenic rap personality as host, and others with Flex working behind-the-scenes.

As if that wasn’t enough, he has been a spokesman for Starter athletic gear, his popular driving shoe line with LUGZ has sold an incredible 2.5 million units,  he has his own line of die-cast metal toys with Hot Wheels, a line of remote control cars with Tyco R/C, and he recently signed marketing deals with the Ford Motor Company and with Castrol Consumer North America, which is counting on Flex’s taste-making appeal with “a new audience of young people” to represent its Syntec brand of motor oil. Funkmaster Flex is the epitome of what a DJ can do to leverage their name and popularity, given the right platform.

The DJ as a Female Role Model
With her remix of the Madonna's "Music", DJ Tracy Young is creating a different beat in a man-heavy business.

Tracy Young will never forget her first days as a DJ while a university student. "I played frat and sorority parties," said the 29-year-old. "I got my $50, carried in my equipment, and played. And let me tell you, I was horrible."

Nevertheless, she kept at it, honing her skills and developing contacts. In a male-dominated industry, not everyone took her seriously. "People didn't believe I was a DJ," she says. "People would shut their doors in my face. But I just wasn't taking no for an answer.'

Fast-forward nine years to New Year's Eve. Young was spinning in the VIP lounge at Barroom in Miami's South Beach. In walked Madonna. Followed by Gwyneth Paltrow. And then came Donatella Versace. "There was a point when I was actually dancing with Madonna and Donatella at the same time," Young remembers. "It was wild."

A few weeks later Madonna flew Young to New York to spin at the premiere party for The Next Best Thing.

Young moved to Miami about two years ago, working for Interscope Records during the day and spinning at night. Young left Interscope about a year ago and had her first dance hits with remixes of Enrique Iglesias's "Bailamos" and "Rhythm Divine." Since then she's DJ'd at parties for Lenny Kravitz, Ricky Martin, Sean "Puffy" Combs, and Lauryn Hill.

The DJ as a Career Professional
Linda Enos has worn many hats in her 38 years. But her favourite is the headphones she now wears to work.

"Music has always been my first passion," says Enos, who has dabbled in the music business for several years, freelancing as a mobile disc jockey on the west coast, in Ottawa and Australia. She has played music for birthdays, bar mitzvahs, weddings, Halloween parties and office functions.

"You get an adrenaline rush...when you love what you are doing" says Enos, who juggles both businesses from her Vancouver area home. On any given spring or summer weekend, Enos and her DJs will play music at four to eight weddings. "I couldn't imagine doing anything else at this moment in my life."

Mike Incorvia echoes her sentiments.

Incorvia recalls, "I was just trying to get through college, I saw other guys working at taco and hamburger joints and I thought 'That doesn't look like much fun to me. My brother and I kept seeing these disco vans on the road. Mobile Disco this, Mobile Disco that, so we decided to give DJ'ing a try”.

At the time their only concern was paying the rent and being able to keep the refrigerator filled with food. The jobs they got were the usual assortment of bar nights, and parties paying about $50 a night.

Incorvia eventually graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and returned home. He got a job in his field but soon started to miss DJ'ing. He and his brother decided to start a Disc Jockey company focusing on weddings and corporate events, thinking it would be a fun weekend pastime while making some easy money.

The days of working small, smoke-filled bars for little money are long gone. According to Incorvia, "Ninety-five percent of our business is wedding receptions and corporate events. We book a year in advance and have averaged 600 jobs a year. That includes about nine jobs on Saturdays and three or four jobs on Fridays." So much for the weekend pastime.

Incorvia adds "What got me through college ended up being my career. Years ago, I quit a job making over $100,000 a year to do this. It was a good move and things are working for us."

DJing and YOU
So can someone make a living from being a DJ? Of course. But just like anything else, it takes skill (learned) or talent (which is inherent), practice and study, dedication, and business savvy. Luckily, most of this can be learned.

Although there is no textbook or manual, it is best taught orally, by DJs who learned from those who came before them. The Scratch Lab DJ Institute is such a place. Created by DJs for DJs, Scratch Lab has combined the country’s most successful, accomplished, and awarded DJs to develop a curriculum where students are taught by the best around. Period. No professors or retired music teachers here, Scratch Lab is a practical school where the emphasis is on cutting edge equipment and the hottest radio, nightclub, and competition DJs around.

Scratch Lab’s instructors are for real, and learning from pros that rock nightclubs, airwaves, and stages every week is priceless. DJ Baba Kahn, one of Scratch Lab’s head instructors, has a 12-year history as one of Toronto’s most popular DJs. His ‘Wrath of Kahn’ and monthly ‘Fresh Pulp’ mixed CDs enjoy a wide audience. He has been nominated for and won DJ of the Year numerous times, has had 3 Live-to-Air radio shows, and has been a guest DJ on BET, EC, MuchMusic, MuchVibe, Basketball City, and NBA XL. Over the years Baba has opened for the likes of Run DMC, Montel Jordan, John Forte, Busta Rhymes, Destiny's Child, CeCe Peniston, Funk Master Flex, 112, and Faith Evans.

DJ Starting from Scratch, another head instructor, is a familiar name to Canadian and American music lovers and club goers alike. Scratch, perhaps known best for his top-rated mix show on Flow93.5, is also a perennial nominee and multiple winner of Cdn Club DJ/Year, and has been featured in Source magazine as one of the most influential urban music icons in Canada. Other Scratch Lab instructors include Dr. Jay (International Club DJ/Year 2005), an internationally renowned Soca and Calypso DJ who is a household name across the Caribbean, DJ Grouch (World DJ Skills Champion and DJ to Gemini-nominated act Citizen Kane), and Jr. Flo (World Beat Juggling Champion). These instructors are the best in their fields, and are indicative of the quality of training that Scratch Lab offers its students. Curriculum components include Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Scratching & Tricks. Enthusiastic students may also enroll in specialty classes ranging from Mix Tape Production to The Business of DJing.