If you were given the recipe for a night of fun, what would it include? Probably good friends, good food and good drinks. Definitely a good attitude. But what about good music? Well there are a group of people who make it their job to provide that element at any birthday, club, dance, wedding, dorm event, tunnel party…well, maybe not tunnel party: DJs.
These DJs serve an important purpose in the entertainment world as well as on Conn’s very own campus. Not only do they provide music for our beloved Cro dances, but they mix beats even before the drunken hoards of hormonal students show up ready for some rhythm and (if you can name it as such) dancing.
But in all seriousness, these students are not simply entertainers. They are also artists and professionals. The creativity of DJing exists not only in the ability to “remix, mash, split, cut, sample, blend and edit songs” as DJ E@zy (junior James Jackson) explains, but in the DJ’s talent for feeling a crowd and feeding off of the vibe from their audience.
In any art form, a creator communicates something to his or her audience and provides a medium through which a truth or opinion can be expressed. Believe it or not, a DJ can do this same thing through the symbiotic relationship he develops with his or her crowd.
According to senior Michael Meade, DJ-ing is “creativity through electronics.”
He said, “It’s not just about pleasing people…I think the highest good that a DJ can do is to bring people together and encourage a playful celebration of life and dance and music.”
The community that a DJ can inspire and the energy that he or she can carry with a crowd is what makes these people elemental entertainers as well as artists.
So what about the men (yes, it seems to be a pretty male dominated scene, at least at Conn) behind the music? What do they get out of DJing for their peers?
“When I am DJing, I am partying because it’s a frequent and constant energy I receive from the audience,” Jackson explained. “It directly affects my energy to play my music. The way the crowd feels is exactly how I feel. If the energy is up I try to keep it there. This is a party to me.”
It is certainly exciting, if not reassuring, to know that it is our friends and fellow students who have the ability to manipulate the social scene of a given night. They are our local celebrities, as well as friends we trust.
And don’t kid yourself, they are definitely celebrities in their own right.
In a school the size of Conn, little goes unnoticed. Nonetheless, when you’re known for bringing people together and showing them an enthusiastic night, getting noticed is a testament to your skills.
Sophomore Jourdan Perez, DJ Empez, values DJing at Conn for just this reason.
According to him, student DJs are “more connected to [us] students because we know them – it adds a whole professional standpoint, but a more community feel.”
And there certainly is a professional aspect of DJing. These students take their craft seriously. Their equipment requires a lot of technical competence and the events they are booked for are paying gigs. Oh, now, don’t get all exasperated because your buddy won’t entertain for free. Their talents deserve compensation.
Sure, one can teach an aspiring DJ how to use music software or a MIDI controller, but “you can’t teach good music, the ways that songs blend together, how to feel a crowd,” said Meade. “That’s something that you feel and takes experience.”
A new opportunity for gaining such experience is soon to arrive on Conn’s campus. SAC just granted approval for a music production club, “3-Peat” to be instituted for students who are looking to get involved with musical composition, DJing, performance produciton, recording, and other aspects of musical collaboration. The club will not only sustain talent within Conn’s student body, but will enable inspiration from, and for, the greater New London area, increasing the base of talent from which its members can draw.
Such a club may interest and help develop the skills of those DJs who are somewhat less enthralled with the idea of playing to function room full of students. Junior Owen Stowe offered a different perspective
Playing for a crowd is not the only form of DJing, as Stowe exhibits in his work as a radio DJ. As a radio DJ for Conn’s station, Stowe explains the musical variety and freedom that comes with a radio audience rather than a club crowd.
“I have a comparatively unusual taste in music,” he explained. “When I’m on the radio I get to play whatever I want. If I played songs I play on the radio when I DJ here, nobody would be on the dance floor.”
“To a certain extent, it’s made me feel a bit disenchanted with the whole DJ scene,” Stowe added. “I don’t push to do a lot of shows. Inevitably when I go up there, I’m going to want to play music I enjoy and want the audience to enjoy too.”
Of course, people are going to want to dance or party to a certain type of music, or to particular songs which let them cut loose and get their adrenaline going. But that isn’t to say that there is no place for a DJ to share new music or alternative sounds.
Whether it’s at a club or over the radio, the sharing of music enables people to come together and bond over an emotive experience found in what they are listening to.
In the end, the more the DJs know about their fans, the more they can connect to the campus body and feed off the energy and styles of the students – because let’s be honest, no one wants their night to be a flop, least of all your trusted DJ. They know the pressure is on them to work their crowd.
