www.myspace.com/djayrage

1. How long have you been djing and what inspired you to start?

- I've been DJaying since 1992, but I practiced for a few years before I would even dare to call myself a DJ.

The main influences I had growing up in Chicago were the legendary "Hot Mix 5" on WBMX. They were amongst the first DJ's in the world to not only have a mixshow on a commercial radio station, but in my opinion they were the first to have a QUALITY mixshow on the air that defied genre's & boundaries of music. They played it all, as long as it was danceable. I remember going to a lot of house parties when WBMX was still on the air & instead of hiring a DJ or playing cassetes, everyone would just tune in to WBMX & dance the night away!

2. What do you think makes a good DJ?

- I think there are many qualities that define a good DJ, but it all boils down to his/her ability to make people have a fun, memorable, & outright good time. A good DJ should be able to read his/her audience & adapt to whatever situation he/she is placed in to achieve goal #1: rock his/her audience. At the end of the day popularity, technical ability or even musical selection simply do not matter if you can't get people off their butts & on the dance floor.

3. With the qualities stated in Question 2, who do you think is a good DJ?

- DJ Rob-Lo from NY is a good example. I've seen him spin in Chicago at various venues, and he always reads his audience & adapts to please them. Another excellent example is Julian "Jumpin" Perez from Chicago. He has been mixing for over two decades, and still is able to rock audiences regardless of their age or even taste in music. A lot of DJ's that have been mixing for a while become "comftorable" & simply choose to play what they want or are comftorable with & not follow musical trends, that is not the case with either Rob, Julian or to name a few others, Kid Capri, Skribbles, Farley "Jackmaster" Funk, Jazzy Jeff, even scratchmaster Qbert has adapted his style over the years to follow trends, or set new ones.

4. What's the most memorable experience in your DJ career?

- Last summer I was mixing for Coca-Cola during the annual Puerto Rican festival & my parents paid me a surprise visit. It was the first time they had ever seen me performing in front of a large audience (there were 1000's of people there) and they were very impressed & proud of me. Its a very satasfying feeling to know that you've made your parents proud of you.

5. What advice do you give to new djs that are pursuing a successful career like yours that you wish you had received when starting out?

- Don't be scared to take chances. When I was starting out I was scared to try out new music or scratches/blends/remixes that my audience did not know. I feared that I would clear my dancefloor, but now I realize that it is my responsibility to expose my audience to new music & experiences. I'm no longer scared to try something new because I know that even if I clear my dancefloor I can always fill it right back up. Its good to follow & keep up with musical trends, but what can make you stand out is to not only follow trends, but set them as well.

6. What are you currently working on?

- I can tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya!

Just kidding... I always have my plate full with various projects & endeavors. Some of the things I'm pretty much always working on is: constantly maintaining & updating my radio station with new music, mixes & shows; Sharing new music with the 100's of DJ's I network with every day; networking & helping out thousands of established/unestablished artists, producers, & DJ's daily (& introducing them all to each other); remixing/producing songs; hosting, throwing & promoting various events & parties throughout the midwest; & of course consistently dropping new mixes, podcasts & mixtapes.

7.When can they see you live? What clubs coming up?

- I'm at Jean's Lounge in Chicago (25th & California) every Wednesday night, but as far as weekends are concerned I gave up all my weekend residencies a few years ago & mainly use my weekends for my corporate/mobile events & my appearences out of town. Check out my Myspace page for my schedule (when I remember to put my events up).

8. Tell us about your local music scene. Who are the top local artists?

- There is a cornacopia of talent here in Chicago, the main problem or hinderence is one that plagues most major cities. Lack of cooperation. Most people are not willing to help anyone else out unless it benefits them somehow. That is why Atlanta & Houston has essentially taken over the rap industry the last few years because they are more willing to work with each other & help each other out. People simply need to realize that there is plenty of food on the table for everyone to eat, if we can all cook it together & sit at the same table peacefully.

9. What is a song that you hate to love ? (guilty pleasure)

- Peanut Butter Jelly Time...

LOL, nah I'd have to say Naughty by Nature's "O.P.P." After so many years its amazing how crazy people go for this song!

10. As a street marketing professional on the promotion side of the music industry, what suggestions do you have for independent or new artists in creating a buzz for themselves? And how can they get to you?

- There are so many tools out there now for anyone trying to network or promote themselves that it is exponentially easier to do so now, compared to just a few years ago. Myspace is an excellent example of one of those resources. There are many, many artists & groups that have been found & then signed to major & minor labels just from the buzz that they have managed to create through Myspace. Artists need to remember that they can have all the talent in the world, but its not going to get them anywhere if they are not willing to get out there & work hard to expose people to their talent(s). Pitbull is a good example of putting in work. Even though he is signed, he still goes out there & networks & works with new artists, drops mixtapes with various DJ's, has a really good street team, and does shows all over the country. He seems to understand that if you market to the "street" that will turn into demand from radio which in turn will turn into more sales. A lot of artists simply try & market directly to the radio, but in today's market you have to be willing to cater to the radio, clubs, streets & to a certain extent, even TV.

I'm really easy to contact, all my contact info is on all my websites, plus I tend to reach out to artists often.

11. What is the most biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?

- That would easily have to be capital. It was a lot harder back in the day to be able to afford the equipment to even get started, not to mention how much it costs to keep up with the latest hits of today & tomorrow. Now with advances in technology it is easily 10x easier to get started. Anyone can spend about $1,000 on some basic equipment & get started that way now.

It is still a huge financial burden to do what I do, but I consider it an honer & a priveledge to be able to do something I love everyday.

12. Who were your influences growing up?

- I was influenced by everything around me growing up, especially all the negative people around me. Where I grew up either you were a gangbanger or you were a "Hip Hopper" (breakdancer, tagger, Emcee or DJ). After watching a lot of my friends & relatives go the gangbanger route, & paying the consquences for it, I knew that was not an option for me. I ended up learning how to breakdance, turning my poems into lyrical poetry, painting all over Chicago, & of course evolving my love for music into DJ'aying.

13. Who would you like to share the stage with? Who have you shared the stage with?

- I would love to share the stage with KRS-1, J.U.I.C.E., Prime, Rhymefest, RZA, GZA, Method Man, Mad Skillz, De La Soul, Jurrasic 5 & a lot of other artists, but not only DJ'aying for them, being able to freestyle or perform with them would be quite humbling as well.

I've opened up for numerous Indy/unsigned artists in various genre's of music, but I tend to turn away mainstream shows. I'm not sure if its the artists themselves, or their managers/agents, but a lot of artists do not want you to do too good of a job if you are opening for them (that goes for DJ's as well). They are intimadated or scared that you will steal the show or spotlight out from under them.

14. Websites?

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15. What else do you do besides DJ? And what are your typical working hours?

- During the day (Mon. - Fri. 7am to 3pm) I work as Security Director for a building in downtown Chicago. There is about 3,000 people in the building at any given time during the day so that keeps me busy & out of trouble.

16. What has your experience on MySpace been like so far? How did you first heard of MySpace? Is there anyone or group of people that you would like to re-connect with? If so, who

- Myspace has been very helpfull & influential to my career. It has helped me locate & network with talented artists, producers & DJ's like never before.

I heard of Myspace from a lot of artists & DJ's that I was working with. They were always asking me "what's your Myspace page?" So I finally caved in & joined the community. I was instantly hooked.

I've already found a lot of old classmates & friends that I haven't spoken to in over a decade on Myspace (High School & Elementary School) but I would definitly like to find everyone else. Its interesting to see what path(s) their lives have taken after so many years.