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-TRAKBuilding the scene, going out and doing shows and connecting with the fans, cultivating the fanbase in all these cities. I’m very glad that it’s happening.
More A-Trak Quotes
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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.
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I think whether dance music had exploded in America, I still would’ve been a DJ a long time. This is my first love.
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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.
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I love disco and we sample it a lot for Duck Sauce. For me, that sound is kind of a new manifestation.
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Right now it feels like we’re playing a role, like me and a couple of my friends, in where popular culture is going. That’s a very rare thing in a person’s life to be able to be a part of that. It’s a responsibility I take seriously.
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A few guys will get up there with turntables as purists, to play vinyl or whatever.
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I worked with him for years. I still think Kanye [West] is one of the most important people in music in the last ten years.
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I’m still a hip-hop producer. I never put a label on what I can do as a producer or a DJ.
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I’m one of the few DJs who uses turntables. I’m the only DJ that’s scratching.
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When I get up I still check the rap blogs before I check any kind of dance stuff.
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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.
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There’s a lot of producers that are much more technical or gear-skilled than I am. But I have a pure idea of what I like and where I want to go and I follow that.
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We have to wake up early and make songs everyday. I run my record label. You work at hours where your body isn’t designed to work. But it’s fun.
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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.
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It’s a good feeling to have something to stand for in any part of your life. It’s like personal integrity.
A-TRAK