Even for those who are lucky enough to find their passion, the road to making the dream a reality can be long and uncertain. The distinct few, like third-year Design | Media Arts student Josh Walker simply find the dream and go for it. No apprehensions tolerated, no questions asked.
Walker dreamt of being a disc jockey from an early age after seeing the importance of having a skilled DJ at social events from watching popular media.
“I wanted to be a DJ for a really long time. (The DJ) is the coolest person at the club. It’s not like I was clubbing when I was little but I still knew that,” Walker said. “Everyone wants to meet the DJ.”
At the beginning of his third year at UCLA, Walker finally got the chance to do something about his childhood aspiration.
After his loan money, used to cover his out-of-state tuition, posted with an extra refund, Walker took that refund allocated for peripheral expenses and used it to finally do something about his dream of mixing his own beats and being at the top of the club’s food chain.
“When the refund money posted, my mom said “˜Don’t do anything stupid (with it),'” Walker said. “What did I do? The next day I went out and bought turntables. It was a terrible decision but a great decision at the same time.”
Along with the initial shock of the hefty expense of purchasing the equipment, Walker was faced with a choice every aspiring DJ has to make: vinyl or digital.
Both choices have their pros and cons. The vinyl turntables are the original, classic style that never gets old. By using vinyl records, DJs are able to get out into the specific music scene of a metropolis like Los Angeles and dig around the crates of stores like Amoeba in order to find something new and unique. Vinyl choices, on the other hand, are limited and often do not include the newest music from popular artists.
Digital turntables have many more options than vinyl and do some of the guesswork for the DJ, such as displaying the specific tempo of the song in digital form. Some old-school DJs argue that digital may take the art out of the performance that a DJ creates, but the possibilities of digital turntables are endless. Walker’s research and advice from other DJs led him to the final decision: digital.
“A large part of me wanted vinyl turntables,” he said. “All of the people I look up to are using digital however, and there are so many more options (than vinyl).”
With a set of new Pioneer MK1000 and Pioneer 400 digital mixers, Walker set out to learn his new craft by looking at music blogs and seeing the newest music that had surfaced. Walker broke into the online community of DJs that remix new music and share different tracks for downloads.
“There is such a friendly community of people online who are willing to share their own music,” Walker said. “I am downloading as much as I can, trying to hear as much as I can.”
Apart from finding new music tracks, Walker expands his mixing and spinning skills by watching online videos of famous DJs such as DJ AM and Junior Sanchez to hear how they scratch the records and try to emulate that same rhythm feeling when he is spinning on the dance floor.
The rhythm itself, crucial to any DJ, comes easily to Walker, who spent his whole childhood in marching bands and drumline.
“Music has been a big part of my life since I was little. I started on alto saxophone in junior high,” he said. “My high school drumline had these cadences where they would just rock out. I just had to join.”
Walker’s feel for rhythm, which streamed from adolescence, is ever useful as he picks up the tricks of the DJ trade.
The most important part of DJing is knowing when to speed the beat up or slow it down, always giving the crowd what they want to hear.
“I like whatever music moves people on the dance floor, as cliché as that sounds,” Walker said. “I start things off a little slower, then towards the peak hours of the night play faster mixes. The most fulfilling feeling is a good transition where the song stutters and then that familiar song beat drops at the peak point of the party.”
Walker works with hip-hop and house music, often creating an electro-hip-hop fusion to satisfy diverse audiences.
At his previous gigs, Walker fine-tuned the importance of tweaking music to the crowd reaction. He spun mostly hip-hop and rap beats at his Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house and played more electronica at his fellow Desma friend’s birthday, where the audience preferred something more underground and eclectic than mainstream hits.
Walker’s upcoming gig at The Yard in Santa Monica marks his first big coming-out as a DJ to show his skills and add to his resume.
Walker hopes that this gig will be the first of many upcoming performances for him.
“I am so excited about this gig. I’m just glad I’m finally doing it for real,” Walker said. “It’s great experience as I hone in more on my own style. I want to develop some specific sets. If that’s going well move up to bigger venues in Hollywood if it’s in the stars.”
As Walker continues to perform everywhere he can, learn more tricks from watching the pros, and humbly yet effectively work on his personal style, he is certain that this is more than a hobby.
“I know music will be in my life forever,” Walker said. “I am so new to DJing, I haven’t even scratched the surface. But I love it ““ I think it’s the life. I know that I want to do this for a long time and as a profession.”