This is not your average frat party.
The house is dark, lit mostly by colored lights darting across the floor. The ground is pulsing with both the deafening bass and the pounding of dozens of party-goers, dancing to the vibrating tones coming from the oversized subwoofers.
DJing at the head of the floor is fourth-year business economics student Josh Garcia, better known as The Firm ““ a reference to his major and employment at a prominent accounting firm.
In the main room of his Sigma Nu frat house, Garcia stands hunched over his laptop and his Pioneer CDJs ““ the keys to his performing art. The speakers surrounding him spit out track after track, some original, others more familiar, all eroding the air inside.
Garcia began DJing only two years ago, after studying abroad in Barcelona and discovering his affinity for house and trance music. Since then he has invested in the necessary equipment and spent long hours honing his skill.
Putting his talent to practice, Garcia and his fraternity began holding frequent electronic dance parties, which proved to be a success for the group.
“In Barcelona, I just fell in love with house music,” explained Garcia. “When I got back, that’s when I threw my electronic dance parties. … Now when we hold them we build a stage, add extra lights ““ it’s almost like a rave in our house.
“There are times I’ve spun till 3:30 in the morning.”
After gaining popularity within Westwood, Garcia began marketing himself to the broader nightlife community, landing gigs as far away as Barcelona.
“I met a promoter while I was abroad there. He got a hold of my demo and really liked my music,” Garcia said.
“He flew me out and I played once a week for a month.”
Garcia has since begun a weekly live show at Westwood Brewing Company and will start playing Saturday nights at the Foxtail Lounge in Hollywood. Both gigs will continue every week through the summer.
Most recently, Garcia spun in front of more than a thousand sweaty dancers at The Vanguard in Hollywood.
“The Vanguard has definitely been my biggest show. It’s a dream to play there, that’s where every superstar DJ in the world comes to play,” Garcia said.
His work fits appropriately into the genre, an ear-tickling mix of coarse bass, barely audible midrange and piercing highs ““ with the bass forming the core of the system.
“When I spin, it’s all about the bass line. When you’re dancing to any music, it’s the bass line that gets the dance floor moving,” Garcia said.
Aside from the emphasis on bass, the self-taught DJ employs various mathematical techniques, the goal being, for example, smoother transitions throughout the set.
“I mix harmonically. Every song has its own key signature, and certain keys go with each other. If I have a song in the key of D, I can mix that with a song in the key of A,” Garcia explained. “It’s called the circle of fifths, I learned it on the internet ““ that’s pretty much how I learned to DJ.”
Within a set, Garcia also uses those theories to boost the energy level on the dance floor.
“Say I’m in D, and I raise it to E ““ that’s called an energy-lifter,” Garcia said. “When I raise the tone, you hear it in the crowd. That’s when they go crazy and start dancing faster as I raise the beats per minute.”
When it comes to selecting tracks for his set, Garcia’s approach depends on the show and the crowd.
“I don’t pre-think my sets,” Garcia explained. “I always read the crowd. You feel the crowd: If they’re having a good time, I’m having a good time. I just play off of that.”
Garcia’s ability to read a crowd and spin accordingly, as well as his ability to market his music and image, has found him success in the field.
At a recent show, Garcia met club promoter Andrew Citores who was impressed by Garcia’s abilities and invited him to play Saturday nights at Foxtail.
“The first time I met Josh, it was obvious he was passionate about what he was doing,” Citores said. “Unlike other DJs, he has the ability to get himself out there. He’s clearly got the talent, but what sets him apart is that ability to market himself.”
For now, Garcia is looking intently toward the future, producing new original pieces to add to his library.
“That’s how you do it. A good DJ doesn’t just spin other people’s stuff; you have to make your own,” Garcia said. “This summer, that’ll be my priority more than DJing. It’s really time-consuming, getting the levels right, compressing the channels. Sometimes it’s so technical, you lose your creativity, but as you do more, it starts to flow.”
To learn more about Garcia or listen to his music, visit
myspace.com/supportthefirm.