The essential component of being a DJ is setting the mood; it’s playing to the context. So that if you’re not able to adapt from one context to another, then you’re not a DJ.
A-TRAKMy ears are open to all sorts of stuff. I appreciate some of the big electro house guys.I love their music but I also like a lot of the stuff coming out of the U.K. Future garage stuff. A lot of stuff like that.
More A-Trak Quotes
-
-
I’ve been doing it since I was prepubescent when I loved to scratch records and play good music. As it happens, you know I sort of fell into the mix. I really feel like I played a role in bringing dance music to America years ago.
A-TRAK -
There’s a ton of amazing music that’s not getting heard.
A-TRAK -
I’m not even a trained producer. I just keep following my ear and working on stuff until it sounds the way I like it.
A-TRAK -
There are things I like, there are things I strongly dislike. In my DJ sets and in my production I just gravitate towards what I like.
A-TRAK -
I think whether dance music had exploded in America, I still would’ve been a DJ a long time. This is my first love.
A-TRAK -
When I get up I still check the rap blogs before I check any kind of dance stuff.
A-TRAK -
It’s always important to me to play something other DJs aren’t playing.
A-TRAK -
That’s what a DJ is at the end of the day – someone who leads where the music goes. The only thing that’s changed is that in America, people have woken up in the last few years and realized it.
A-TRAK -
My ears are open to all sorts of stuff. I appreciate some of the big electro house guys.I love their music but I also like a lot of the stuff coming out of the U.K. Future garage stuff. A lot of stuff like that.
A-TRAK -
I’m one of the few DJs who uses turntables. I’m the only DJ that’s scratching.
A-TRAK -
I think one of the biggest things that’s changed in terms of the rapport with the crowd is that now crowds come to hear our songs. We’re getting closer and closer to an artist performance.
A-TRAK -
One thing that I learned in recent years from working more with other people is this idea that part of a producer’s job is to make people comfortable and confident.
A-TRAK -
I have a radio show on Sirius XM. I put it up as a free download on my Soundcloud and on iTunes. That’s a portal for me once a month, to play songs I know aren’t getting played on that station the rest of the week.
A-TRAK -
A few guys will get up there with turntables as purists, to play vinyl or whatever.
A-TRAK -
At festivals you kind of have to play the game a bit and you have to play a lot of the big bangers but it’s to me it’s extra gratifying to be able to play the non-bangers and make it work. Because that’s still the craft of the DJ, I think.
A-TRAK