By Alex Palmer
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
Â
 EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Fourth-year political science student Steve
Larkin, also known as DJ Whizard, and his
turntable may be moving into a Westwood residence near you.
Natalie Gilliam, a third-year psychology student, is new to
being a DJ. Practicing since last August, she’s spun at a
couple apartment parties and performed once at a bar, but mostly
she just plays around on her friends’ and sorority
sisters’ turntables.
“I’ve almost got my own set of equipment, everything
but the second turntable,” Gilliam said.
She’s not alone. “Spinning””“ the
technique of playing two records simultaneously and matching up the
beat sequences between the two to create a sound richer than the
sum of its parts ““ is quickly becoming one of the most
popular pastimes ““ or art forms, depending on who’s
asked ““ at UCLA. Students from all corners of campus are
testing their skills on the ones and twos.
While a live band used to be the best way to get a party
bumping, now it’s a live DJ who’s moving the crowd.
Walking through the dorm halls, it’s just as possible to hear
people spinning the new Aphex Twin album on their turntables as it
is to hear people strumming a Dave Matthews song on their
guitar.
Underground electronic music, which used to exist under the
radar of popular culture, is coming to the surface and spreading
its mighty tentacles, grabbing up a wide range of music fiends from
computer geeks to hip-hop heads.
DJ Whizard, better known as fourth-year political science
student Stephen Larkin, hosts the live drum ‘n’ bass
show “Magnetik Spacelab” on UCLARadio.com. He was
struck by the power of spinning when he went to a rave during his
high school years.
“I looked up at the DJ, and he seemed sort of
mystical,” Larkin said. “It was legendary. I wanted to
be part of it.”
After acquiring a decent set of second-hand equipment and a
respectable collection of records, Larkin began honing his skills
as DJ Whizard.
Larkin has since moved on not only to host “Magnetik
Spacelab,” but also to have a brief residency at a Hollywood
club and to spin at bars, nightclubs and the occasional rave.
Fourth-year English student Wes Medina, the DJ behind the
UCLARadio show “The Mess” (“rhymes with
Wes,” says Medina), spins for less social purposes.
“I really experience my music at home,” Medina said.
“I like how DJing can enhance the experience of listening,
I’m not really a party performer.”
Rather than the incessant and danceable beats of the drum
‘n’ bass that Larkin performs, Medina spins IDM
(intelligent dance music), a mellower strain of electronic music
meant to be enjoyed as much in living room chairs as on dance
floors.
The sheer variety in styles and genres of spinning is a key
factor in its popularity with students. Virtually any music fan can
find something to like about spinning.
But according to Victor Carrillo, an 11-year electronic music
veteran and manager of Higher Source, the West Los Angeles DJ gear
and record store, the expanding popularity of spinning has led to
separatism in the DJ community.
“When I first came to L.A. (in 1991), you would hear
jungle, house, breaking, all in one venue,” Carrillo said,
“Now it’s broken down by genre and subgenre,
there’s a lot of crews that stick to just their specific
style, and it’s choking the scene.”
Carrillo described watching electronic music move from an
underground trend to a substantial force in the music industry,
including the rise and current waning popularity of raves. But with
the commercial popularity of electronic music there has also been a
rise in the media’s need to label and subdivide the myriad
styles within spinning.
Larkin sees the separatism between spinning styles as a problem,
too, but explains that his exclusive focus on drum ‘n’
bass music is more for financial reasons than any other.
“I started out with the intention of doing a bunch of
different styles, but I realized I could really only afford
one,” Larkin said.
Money is definitely a concern for aspiring student DJs, with the
upward of $1000 that some DJs pay for quality equipment, not to
mention the need to constantly expand their record collection.
But Medina is quick to point out that with a few hundred dollars
it’s not hard to find a decent pair of turntables, though
they may not be Technics 1200 brand ““ the industry standard
for spinning. It’s just a matter of shopping around.
Besides money, the other main challenge for would-be DJs is not
learning how to spin as much as sticking to it.
“Especially in the last couple years, I see people come
into the store for about three months, then they just stop
coming,” Carrillo said. “As long as you don’t
give up, you can pick up spinning. Anyone can catch on
eventually.”
Many students have discovered this already.
“I came in with no previous musical experience, and I had
no problem picking up spinning within a year,” Larkin said.
“You just have to enjoy what you’re doing, and
it’s easy.”
Carrillo couldn’t agree more.
“If you go in with your gut in this stuff, it’s
easy,” Carrillo said, “If you love music, you’re
a musician, it’s as simple as that.”
And apparently more and more “musicians” are popping
up in dorm rooms, fraternity and sorority houses and Westwood
apartments every year.