And, he officially announces his retirement... Kinda.
"The Mixmaster" Dan Morrell has a message for all those DJs who think they are in the same class as him: Get your stuff together, because he is ready to hand the top-dog billing off six years from now when he retires at age 35."You heard it right; once I reach the age of 35, I am retiring from the tables," Morrell says. "To all of the up-and-coming DJs, you have six years to get your game up and you can have my spot."
It isn't like Morrell is hurting for work and ready to transition to a day job any time soon. He is plenty busy as a resident DJ for B96, co-owner of promotions company Mixmaster Throwdown and a producer of mixes for some of Chicago's professional sports teams. But he also has his hands involved in producing Mixtour Vol. 5 album, real estate ventures and the day-to-day business that is involved with launching his own record label, which he expects to establish in the next year.
But until that retirement date gets here, Morrell is going to keep enjoying the success he currently has. "I thank God for allowing me to make a full-time career out of things I am passionate about," Morrell says. "Be it mixing all over the country, running Chicago's top nightclub marketing and promotions company, music production, artist management or even real estate. This has all been made possible because of my success as a DJ." While doing his thing in Las Vegas, Morrell took some time to answer questions for Clubline Chicago.
The full article was taken from Clubline Chicago's website:
clubline-chicago.com
CC: How concerned were you when you had to drop the DJ Smurf moniker? Did you have to reestablish yourself in the industry under your real name? Did you consider taking on a new DJ name, and what were some of the options you thought up?
DM: As I mentioned earlier, I won't allow myself to be pigeonholed into one type of music. Early in my career I was a leader on the Progressive and Euro scene, but when I put out hip-hop CDs I had to use fake names, like DJ Mack, in efforts to not hurt the DJ Smurf CD sales. So, I was actually thinking about changing it before the cease and desist letter came in order to re-brand myself, but that definitely sped up the process. Since I established credibility as DJ Smurf before I was on the radio, I didn't think it would be a hard transition with Chicago's Most Listened to Radio station behind me. Thankfully, B96 stood by me through out the process, which was instrumental in making the transition a success. I had to give up my space at the front of the line and start from scratch. Most DJs are unable to make it to the top once. I've been blessed to do it two times. The whole process was a great confidence builder and taught me a lot about trademark law, which has come in handy with some of my other ventures.
CC: What was the motivation behind founding Mixmaster Throwdown?
DM: The key to my success early in my career was not only music programming, but being able to market myself to the college audience all across the Midwest. Eventually the crowd graduated college with the majority of the students moving back to the Chicagoland area. I thought even though they were not in college any longer they most likely are going to be club-goers for a number of years to follow and making a lot more money than they did in college.
Enter Mixmaster Throwdown, which has been operating in Chicago for over five years and on college campuses for almost 10 years now.
CC: You have a number of interests outside of the DJ scene. What can you take from your career as a DJ to your other interests, specifically running a business or real estate investing?
DM: Because of my DJ career experiences, I am able to save a lot of time starting and running other businesses outside of B96, deejaying and Mixmaster Throwdown. Dealing nightly with people in a range of states, I can handle any situation that arises. Also, I've honed my instincts for reading people and how to treat people, if you can get those two traits down pat the sky is the limit.