KnoxEDM Interview 01 – DJ Slink

Major apologies for the lack of a podcast for early March; we’ve had a few DJs that missed deadlines due to their desire to create the best mix possible for KnoxEDM, so they’ll be up a little later. But to make up for it, KnoxEDM presents a very special, exclusive interview from one of Knoxville’s legendary DJs, just in time for his short visit from Japan: DJ SLINK! DJ Slink is a Knoxville native, and long-time resident of some of Knoxville’s most memorable nights and venues including: The Boiler Room, The Underground, Fiction, Blue Cats, and Voodoo @ the Valarium. From breaks, to house, to electro and mash-ups–topped with expert turntablist skills, DJ Slink was a mainstay in the Knoxville scene from the late ’90s until 2009, when he decided to branch out and try his hand at the diverse Tokyo EDM scene. Today, we welcome him back to Knoxville to present KnoxEDM readers with some scene insight that won’t been seen anywhere else. Without further ado, DJ Slink!

KEDM: Tell us how you first became exposed to electronic music.

I remember the first time I heard electronic music. When I was in middle school, there was a girl I really liked. She had a cassette tape of Kraftwerk. I was blown away. I thought it sounded so futuristic! I was really into breakdancing and would always breakdance to Kraftwerk “Numbers.” Later, I started doing pause mixtapes with my boombox. I thought I was the only one doing these, but later found out that many people were doing them.

I would do these mixes for breakdance practice sessions. Back then, there was very little music to choose from, and what we did have, had only a few good breaks in them, so I would record the break, press pause on the record side, rewind the break and record it again. Over and over until I had a nice long loop of that break and would then add more breaks. I would work on these mixes for hours! So that was middle school/high school. I was always into hip-hop and electro. I loved Egyptian Lover, Afrika Bambaataa, Newcleus, Planet Patrol and Freestyle. After high school, a friend took me out to a club in Knoxville on a Wednesday night. It was called “The Underground” and that was the night that changed everything for me. This was probably sometime in 1992. I immediately felt at home. The music, the people, the vibe. The DJ was DJ Scott. Yep, Scott Wilkerson, aka Funky James. What he played was quite an eclectic mixture. Jane’s Addiction, The Pixies, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, RTZ, Lords of Acid, The Prodigy and Moby. There wasn’t a genre for electronic music or even rave music yet. DJ Scott was a highly influential person in my life. He not only threw the first rave in Knoxville, but I think he threw the first rave in the south! It was called RAVE 1! Ha, looking back that was a pretty confident name. I guess he knew there would be more. I had no idea what a rave was but I went and loved it! Up until then, a DJ wouldn’t really mix. The music was way too eclectic to mix. But at the rave, it was all the same kind of music. Mixed together and all the same BPM. I was hooked! Bring on the Belgian rave music!

KEDM: So that’s how you got into the scene initially; first as a listener, a dancer, even a rudimentary producer. What made you start DJing?

After that I began following Scott to all the clubs he played. Whether it was The Underground, an after hours club called 121, or Trumps. I was there. Back then you could go to a club 6 nights a week. I did! Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday! Scott continued to throw raves. I was there religiously. We became good friends and he even took me to my first out of town party. It was a party in Atlanta. The headliner was The Shamen. Funny thing about it was, the opening acts were The Prodigy and then Moby. Crazy! It was great show.

Early on, the scene was very different than it is today. When you were booked for a party, there were no second or third rooms. It was a big warehouse with a few hundred kids. The vibe was amazing. There was no DJ worship. I remember not even seeing the DJs. They would be hidden somewhere in the corner. It was pretty cool because the music was the focus. At one point, Scott was planning a big party called “Space Madness” with Moby. I asked Scott if I could play early. There was only one opening spot and another DJ wanted it, so Scott had us record a mix and he chose who would open. Thankfully I earned that spot and that was the beginning of my DJ career!

After my set that night, Scott asked if I wanted to do a tag set with him. I said “yeah” and we played later on that night. It was so much fun that we decided to do that all the time. Back then, nobody really tagged. So we thought it would be cool to do. We also thought that we were missing something. So we asked a mutual friend (Robert Mitchell) to M.C. our sets. We had no idea that would take off! He would just hype up the crowd and add an element of interest. We thought it might be boring for people to watch a couple guys tweak knobs all night.

Okay, let me mention that at this time there were very few genres. There was no Drum & Bass or Jungle. It was just breaks. Fast breaks! Later on it would split and one would become Jungle and the other Breaks. But before that we played fast-ass breaks! Thus, The Speed Freeks were born. Soon, our 3-man team became four with John Hall. John brought another element: sampler/synth. We toured all over. As we played, we began writing music on the side. Scott and I would play DJ with Robert and John doing their parts and at the end of the sets we would perform one track. Gradually incorporating more original tunes until we eventually played all original tunes. Good times.

I should also mention a couple other people that were influential. I can’t talk about the early scene without mentioning Sean Catinella, and of course Stormboy. Scott got me started in the rave scene but Storm gave me my club DJ career. I am eternally grateful to him for that. He was the DJ after Scott left and eventually gave me Mondays at The Underground along with The Boiler Room & The Closet at Lord Lindsey. Those are some of my greatest experiences as a DJ. I learned so much about how to read a crowd and how to build a vibe by playing club nights.

Sean Catinella was a big influence as well. This guy is one of the best natural DJs I have ever seen. I would get so mad because he would make it look so easy! He would mix house flawlessly and could cut and scratch like nothing I had seen! Just one of those guys who was a natural.

As far as “big time” influences go, I would say early on it would be: DJ Cash Money for scratching. He is amazing. Along with Mix Master Ice from UTFO. Old school! Later on I was really into The Prodigy, Moby & Meat Beat Manifesto, Bassbin Twins and The Dust Brothers (later known as The Chemical Brothers).

KEDM: You mention these influences and your time in the Speed Freeks as being formative for your future club career. Tell us about this new era of sorts.

Like I mentioned earlier, Storm helped me get my start as a club DJ. Until then, I only played raves and warehouse parties. I think I began playing clubs in the mid 90’s. I originally started doing Mondays at The Underground. Not the best night for a DJ. Back then I was known as a DJ that played only underground music. I was pretty militant about it. It’s funny because later in my career I used to get upset when people would say I was a sell out or a mainstream DJ. But I was just like them when I began DJing. I think it’s something that we all do early on. I hated to go out and hear a DJ play mainstream music or tracks that were way too old to still be playing. I didn’t understand how different it was to DJ at a club versus a party/rave. I’m sure I was a pretty cruel…

That is, until I began working in clubs. At first, I was very underground on Monday nights. The crowd was small and dedicated. I loved them all. They all seemed very happy for me to finally get a night. However, that happiness was short lived. I guess with success comes a certain amount of negative feedback. I admit that it took me by surprise. I guess it was when I started doing The Boiler Room. It was a weekend gig so I could no longer DJ parties. People who supported me early on now began to criticize. They wanted to hear brand new stuff every weekend that most of the crowd just wasn’t ready for. It’s hard to explain to people just how hard it is to balance on that line of staying edgy or totally cheesing out. Plus you have the management to deal with. That’s a whole other thing. I could write books about the battles with club owners and management. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed working with most of them but it was extremely challenging. Nine times out of 10, the management isn’t on the same page as you and you are always trying to please them and the crowd, which is impossible. Management is there to run a business and make money, the crowd is there to dance and drink. Somewhere in between, you fit in. Let’s just say, I learned a great deal.

By the late ’90s, I was officially given the weekends at The Underground which soon became Egypt and later became Fiction. I was officially a sell out! *grin* Fiction was a great but difficult experience. I fought the good fight but eventually lost the battle for dance music. At that time, the owner wanted a much more mainstream vibe. We eventually agreed on something in-between. It was during that time that Touch Parties began to throw parties. The first party was thrown at Fiction with DJ Icey. Originally there were several people involved with Touch Parties. Later on it was just Darla Patterson and myself. Although I must admit, Darla did most of the work. I only helped with picking the DJs and I did the flier designs.

My favorite shows from that time would have to be doing the afterpaty for Prince twice, the Faust & Shortee party, and of course Kid Capri. Then the building was sold and we moved to the Blue Cats property. I really enjoyed that venue. Some of my favorite shows from the Blue Cats/Fiction days. Playing with Jurassic 5, The Stanton Warriors, The Crystal Method, Bassnectar, and The Freaker’s Ball. I had a little more artistic freedom so I was able to bring Scott in to tag with me. I wasn’t allowed to go to far off in any direction but at least I was able to keep it “electronic.” I remember an article was written at some point and some people that I knew and thought of as friends were quoted in the article saying that Fiction was so mainstream. Something about me playing remixes of Britney Spears and calling that electronic music. At the time, I was really upset about that. First off, I had never played a remix of Britney Spears at Fiction and secondly, why would someone be so negative about a place they had never been? Again, it’s all part of the scene and we all have to go through it. I know I have been the subject of much criticism over the past years and I admit, some of it is understandable. But some of it is so untrue. Over the years I have learned to adapt and roll with the punches. There will always be critics out there but if you truly want to succeed and follow your dreams, be prepared for the negativity and don’t take it too seriously.

KEDM: I know a spot I particularly loved, despite its nasty atmosphere, and that was the Boiler Room. Talk about underground. I don’t think there’s been a venue like it since, tell us a bit about your time and experience there.

Located under The Underground and by far the most ghetto nightclub one could ever see. I say this with great love. Chicken wire around the DJ Booth. A strobe light, a disco ball and some lava lights. Open from 2am-6am. No heat or air conditioning. Home to some of the strangest people ever. I LOVED THAT CLUB. We all did! This was where I had the most freedom. It was still a club so there were some format restrictions, but after 4:30am it was on! Me, Kevin Nowell, Funky James, Sean Catinella and Storm all called that place home. Most people don’t know this, but Dieselboy played there many times. It was never promoted or even booked. His best friend was Sean Catinella and he visited often. So he would just tag in the Boiler Room. Actually he played upstairs at The Underground a few times as well without anyone ever knowing. Here’s the crazy thing: he played house! Yep, the king of jungle played house with us. That’s pretty effin’ sweet.

I think the Boiler Room will always be a place I call home. That place was very dear to me and those who attended. When that place closed, it was much harder on me than any other clubs that closed.

KEDM: How about “Closet” at Lord Lindsey? I know I only caught the tail-end of that era in 2002-2004, but it was quite the night, especially for a Thursday in Knoxville.

Ah yes, some of the greatest nights of my life were spent there. The little gay club that could. *grin* I have to say that every DJ should spend some of his or her career playing at a gay club. If it weren’t for them, there would be no dance scene.

Storm started this Thursday night and he eventually passed it to me. An old mansion/church turned into a gay club. The DJ booth was upstairs, out of sight, next to the men’s bathroom. Worst monitors ever! Little to no lighting on the dancefloor. Sometimes while you were mixing, you would be shocked! The sound would clip and shut off at least three times a night. But despite all that, I loved every moment of it. It would be so hard to pick a favorite moment from that place but the Christopher Lawrence party was great. I really miss that place.

KEDM: Moving on a few years…

Now let’s talk about the juggernaut known as VooDoo. This was a complicated situation. Early on, VooDoo was to be a club like the old Underground. Classy but sophisticated. At some point, it was decided that what Knoxville needed was something like Drink. Darla & I were soooooo against this idea. We fought tooth and nail to make it a place that was totally different from everything out there at the time. But I understood the management’s position. The Valarium was way too big to be a World Grotto and really hip and cutting-edge. You need 800 people in The Valarium just to make it look busy. So it needed to be mainstream enough to appeal to the masses but edgy enough to not insult the rest. So what I did was, instead of playing the top-40 tunes that they wanted me to play, I would instead remix them. So I remixed and mashed up everything from 80’s classics to rock anthems. I guess it connected with the crowds because we went from opening night 600 people to 1300 people on any given Saturday. Now I know a lot of people roll their eyes at VooDoo, but I’m telling you, VooDoo made me a better DJ, and more importantly, a better producer. I would do these remixes, play them out and the crowds would go crazy! I eventually had so many of the remixes that I began posting the bigger ones online and soon began getting emails from record labels. That’s crazy!

KEDM: Now that we’ve covered a bit of your influences and club career, tell us about your DJ and production setups, from past to present, and “what” you do.

Let’s go back to my early years as a little rogue, militant DJ who thought he knew everything: I hated CDs!

Scott was an early adopter of CDs. Now this was way before CDJs and all the cool stuff. This was the early ’90s. CDs were cutting edge. Scott was a huge influence on me except with CDs. Let me be the one to take credit and say, I got Scott back to vinyl! Haha, yeah, he eventually sold all his CDs and bought turntables. That’s were Sean Catinella came in. He played vinyl.

If you wanted to scratch, you played vinyl. Therefore, I played vinyl. There was a huge vinyl resurgence in the ’90s. I think I read that vinyl production went up 300% or something. Every DJ played records. The CDJ didn’t come around until much later. I never adopted the CD. It never felt right to me. The tactile feeling wasn’t right. Don’t get me wrong. If that’s what you learned on, then that’s fine. I just couldn’t get used to it. Had Final Scratch not came along, I might be using CDJs. But I opted for Final Scratch. Great concept, poorly executed. That program was a nightmare!

If the needles were dirty, your song would freak out and speed up, then slow down or just crash. Finally, Serato came along and all was well. I was able to have the feeling of vinyl without the weight and expense. I think I have about 3000-4000 records still. Almost all of my dance stuff was around 10 bucks a single! That’s 10 buck for one song!

ABLETON

Ah, the program that we love and hate! From a production side, it’s amazing. From an old school DJ side, it’s evil! Aside from it being a total bore to watch a person DJ with just a laptop, it also requires no DJ experience! That is indeed a bad thing. But I truly believe that a real DJ could do amazing things with Ableton and a non-DJ would sound like a non-DJ (Ed.–Tell us about it). I use it live for mashing up and creating on-the-fly remixes. I basically have a channel for beats, hooks, a capellas and one for the full song. I love to be able to drop and chop all night. It’s a great tool when working with many different genres. And now with “The Bridge” being able to mix Ableton in Serato is going to be revolutionary for people like me. The bottom line is, if you are going to play other peoples’ songs and even your own remixes, use CDJs or Serato. Learn to beat match, learn phrasing. You know what, even if you want to use Ableton, lean to beatmatch. If you are just a producer and you are going for a more “Live PA” thing, Ableton is Boss!

If you are using Ableton and want to spice up your set so people don’t get bored watching a guy/girl behind a laptop here’s my suggestion:

Lose the mouse and get a good controller. Put that controller where the mixer is or would be and interact with the crowd!

MY SETUP FOR LIVE SHOWS IN TOKYO

Ableton Live 8.0 (Lot’s of VSTs)
Akai APC 40
Akai LPD 8 (Samples/One Shots)
1 Turntable (for scratching)
1 Mixer
Pioneer EFX-500

STUDIO SETUP

Right now, I live in a cramped place in Tokyo so space is an issue. But this is my setup:

I use an iMac running Logic and Ableton 8
Akai MPK25
AKAI APC 40
2 KRK 8 Monitors
Artura VST Suite
Sugar Bytes Suite
Native Instruments Komplete
Izotope Ozone 4
Rob Papen Suite
1 Technics 1200 Mk3
Vestax 05-pro III
1 CDJ 1000
Pioneer EFX-500

KEDM: You’ve come a long way since the breakdancing teenager, flipping tapes to make breakbeat loops from Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaata tracks. Do you ever miss the “old days?”

Do I miss them? That’s a good question. It’s funny how over the years, you meet people and a few years later you see them again and they always say, “I miss the old days.” I’ve found that that question is only relevant to that person at that time. Does that make sense? How about this: a guy who went out for the first time in 1996-98 will tell me that those were the good days. Yet a girl that I knew who started in 2000-02 says those were the good days. I believe that the good days are only relevant to that person during that magical time he or she first fell in love with the music. The good ole days are right now to somebody out there and for some reason, I find hope in that.

KEDM: How do you feel your music, tastes, and style has evolved over the years?

As with everything it’s cyclical. I was raised on 70’s Rock, 80’s Hip Hop and 90’s Dance. I find an element of all that in electronic music now. Electro house is big then it’s fidget house. What I have found over the years is that whenever a new genre appears, it starts out so fresh and funky but eventually goes to a dark place. I began playing breaks and loved it. But after a while it began to mutate and got really dark and mechanical. It seems the longer it’s around, the less funky and more mechanical it becomes. It’s true with just about every form of electronic music. It’s weird but I guess that’s just part of the cycle.

I began my career playing breaks and house. Spent some time playing D&B, dabbled in turntablism, Hip-Hop and later Electro, Fidget, and Glitch. Right now I play mostly my own stuff. I’ve always had a fondness for that Baltimore sound. I think what appeals to me about the B’More style is that it’s looped based and that’s what I was raised on. The early days of Hip-Hop and even the early days of dance were all loop based. Even now, the biggest electronic acts out there, sample other peoples stuff. I love that. I think I’ll always be a loop based producer. I think I’ll always be a pause mixtape DJ at heart. I’ve put out close to 100 remixes in the past 3 years. I worked with DJ Whatt from Florida. Together we put out mash-ups under the name DOSVEC. They are for sale on several websites including Crack4DJ. I’m producing some crackhouse and dubstep remixes right now. I just dropped a Dubstep remix of Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness.”

I’m also about to drop a remix of a Passion Pit tune. I have no plans on charging people for my stuff right now. I just want people to download and play it out. I read somewhere this famous DJ/Producer said “If you want to be an electronic artist, plan on spending a fortune to make very little” That’s fine for now. As long as I can make people dance, I’m content.

KEDM: The question several of us have been wondering, why the move to Tokyo when you seemed to have it locked down so tightly in Knoxville?

Why not? I figured, if I was going to move, why not move to the biggest city in the freaking world! Hahaha! This place is crazy! There is a scene for any music genre out there. I wanted to move somewhere that was so different from anywhere else I had been. Scott and I have traveled to the UK several times and I love it there but I felt like Tokyo is a place where you could create your own scene. Start something totally different. It’s really cool here. The people, the vibe and the attitude is totally different from the U.S. I think this place has huge potential for DJs. If you can get past the language barrier, you’re set. I do miss Knoxville. I miss my friends and family. And there are a lot of cool people in the scene.

KEDM: Any last words?

Let me clear up a few rumors. I know some people felt like I wasn’t very supportive of other peoples parties or other DJs, but I would like to finally clarify this. To this day, I still believe that Knoxville has some of the most talented DJs and producers out there. Trust me, I’ve traveled all over the the U.S. and many parts of the world and believe or not, I’ve heard people in Knoxville who are just as good if not better. I guess I got a bad reputation years ago because I wasn’t the most social person out there so I didn’t go out a lot. Let me say this: It wasn’t because I wanted the parties to fail or I had a grudge against any promoter or DJ. I just don’t feel comfortable in large crowds. I know what you’re thinking. How can I DJ in front of crowds, right? Well as most of the DJs know out there, it’s totally different. You don’t feel the same when you’re in a booth or on stage.

I have also heard that I would “Black Ball” certain DJs so they couldn’t play certain venues. Really? In no way is that at all true! First of all, I never had any animosity toward any DJ. Secondly, if I were that kind of person (which I’m not) I would have to have some sort of power with the management (which I didn’t). It was hard enough talking them into letting me play what little dance music I was allowed to play. If any DJ, at any time, needed help, all they had to do was ask.

I would have done whatever I could to help them. Whew, I’m glad I got that out!

I also want to say, it’s awesome what you guys are doing. I’m happy Knoxville has a site like this. It’s long overdue in my opinion. Congratulations.

I hope I answered most of your questions. I could have wrote so much more but I feel like it’s a little long winded already

Thanks again for everything!

KEDM: Indeed, thank you!

To make a comment about this interview, go to the KEDM Forum.