I think DJ bios are the most obnoxious and cliche of all musician profiles. "Here is a list of styles DJ ____ spins. Here is a list of Famous International Names that stood on the same stage as DJ ____ (albiet four hours later). Here is a list of International Cities where DJ ____ has played records. DJ ____ is now producing two-song EPs on Record Label ____." Congratulations. We're all the same in print. I'm not saying I'm any better or worse, just saying...
That said, here's my obnoxious, cliche DJ bio:
I took piano lessons for about a decade starting at 8, then got into a folk band as a teenager playing keyboard and accordion, and toured the US. I was obsessed with all forms of rock & roll. I trekked around Asia for a year, happened to catch some good DJs and came to realize a free, secret, three-day rave on a beach or in the woods is effortlessly more punk than punk can try to be.
I moved to Florida and spent one bored summer wishing I was back in Asia, so I learned to spin on vinyl and CDs practically overnight to recreate a little part of that (I prefer CDs right now due to the portability). I started setting up absurd parties with friends, including one that took place in the back of a semi-truck , and played a couple different corners of the States in shady locations like empty houses -- once while people flung flourescent paint all over the walls and themselves. I sometimes showed up to a house party uninvited, plugged my gear into whatever soundsystem was available, and made myself invited. Now I'm back in Hong Kong, plotting my next offense.
I've tried to produce my own music, but I'm uncomfortable doing it on a computer -- I'm always unsatisfied, even with the things I've put on this Myspace player. I know exactly the sounds I want to make, but sitting there punching it all into a computer program, copy, pasting, editing -- it's like working with an Excel spreadsheet. I'd like to find someone to record and perform music with me using computers as little as possible. In preparation, I'm now stocking up on drum machines, synthesizers, and debt.
I'm content to sit in my bedroom making guitar feedback over dance music for hours. I like the psychedelic aspect of electronic music, like listening to geometric patterns shift and change. I also like non-musical sounds arranged into something you can dance to, like in minimal techno. I like seeing what I can get away with. I like being in control, but I hate that DJs are considered gods just for simultaneously playing two records of someone else's music. I'd rather play to a basement full of half-naked freaks dancing on empty cans of beer and Red Bull than to a bunch of people standing around like models at a superclub. I enjoy DJing last, when everyone else has paired off and gone home except that handful of the most intense individuals who can't remember how long they've been there, and are only half aware they're still dancing until the club pulls the plug and they realize the outside world is on its lunch hour. I only want to be famous so I can be washed up afterwards and finish my career singing or doing magic tricks in a medium-sized casino in Las Vegas. I want to be happenin' in Vegas when I'm 64. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
