Introduce yourself :}
I’m Gavin Gutherie from Dallas, TX
Favorite gig so far?
It probably was the first time I played in Toronto. It was my first big out of town gig and at first I was nervous as I was asked to play for 3 hours straight. We don’t get too many opportunities to do that and Dallas so I wasn’t sure I could hold my own or keep a crowd interested for that long. However, I approached it as a means to just be myself musically as opposed to playing what I thought the crowd may enjoy. I ended up playing everything from Phuture to Donald Byrd and the reaction from the crowd during that time span is something I’ll never forget. It gave me a good deal of confidence as a DJ that I may not have had up until that point.
Advice to beginning dj’s?
Play what makes you happy. It can be obvious that you may be up there just going through the motions playing what you think others believe is “cool” or “en vogue.” Find your sound and your craft will follow. On the technical side, buy doubles of dance records and go back and forth mixing between them. Try slamming the crossfader over and quick mixing the tracks or not using the crossfader and doing longer blends with just your up and down faders. Experiment with the EQ and never have the bass up all the way on each track while blending. Pick what element in the track you’re bringing in that’s most prominent to keep yourself in time. The snare, the clap, the kick drum, or the open hi hat on the upbeat – choose one and focus on it. Also, never take your hands off the pitch of the CDJ or turntable, as soon as you bring in your next track in full, switch your cue to the previous track and now ride its pitch until your ready to take it completely out of the mix. Buying disco records from the 70s that feature live drummers and mixing them is also an incredible, fun, and oftentimes frustrating practice. It teaches you to really focus on song structure and finding pivotal moments to blend tracks, not just blending whenever you feel like it. Once you can blend disco, house and techno will be a breeze.
Track of the summer?
Xavier Jouvelet – Oeuf En Clock
How do you hydrate in the club?
I hydrate via the soda water in my vodka. Need to drink more water.