They say you need to do something for at least 10,000 hours to become an expert at it. But if you want to be the best, well, you need the competitive drive that DJ IFTW has had since he was a young'n. The Guatemalan DJ and now producer is sitting comfortably at the top of the battle DJ world after winning 2014's DMC World Battle for Supremacy. But he's staying busy by DJing every Friday night, working on original production, and having cutting sessions with friends like DJ Manwell. Having talks with Dash Radio doesn't hurt as well. We spoke with him on his start in battle DJing, what his name stands for, and why you might cry if you ever stood against him in a battle.

How's it going man?

Just getting my morning cuts on.

Like a true DJ. So let's start from the beginning. You were born in Guatemala City, raised in California, and you grew up on your parents' record collection. That makes for a very unique early life, music-wise. What was your first introduction to music like?

Definitely my dad. In Guatemala, we lived in the slums pretty much. My dad, he always had odd jobs. He actually got a job at a radio station out there. In Guatemala, a typical Latin country, they're into a lot of Latin--I wouldn't say Salsa or shit like that--but different genres of Latin music, more like Pop-ish shit. My dad always liked the Cuban, Afro-Funk flavor shit. I don't know where he got that from. My mom, she always liked English Rock. It was a perfect combination of shit that was not normal out there. When we came out here, my pops, he always played music throughout the house. They would be the ones who would buy records. He ended up buying a mixer. He didn't know how to use it and he gave me the manual for it. I read it because I was the first one out of my family to learn English. I read it and figured out how to work it. We had a tape deck and a CD deck. I used to just fuck with it.

How old were you when you were doing that?

I was seven or eight. I didn't know what I was doing. Especially in Inglewood, I hadn't met any DJs or anything. I would hear stuff on the radio but I didn't know what was going on. It wasn't until high school where I saw turntables for the first time. It was like, "That's how it works." That's how it began.

You were kind of already DJing but didn't know what you were doing or what you could do with the proper equipment?

Yeah, I think music naturally runs in the family. My dad plays congas. He never did it professionally but I had that in me. I hadn't found my outlet. I played the saxophone in junior high and I was good at it but I couldn't afford a saxophone. So I could never go that route. With the mixing, it was the perfect outlet.

 

"I came across the DMC video and I was like, 'I need to battle.' "

 

I read in a recent interview that you started to DJ in '95 but you didn't get into battling until 2000. What were you doing, as far as DJing went, in 1995?

So when I went to high school, I was 14. This was 9th grade. I ran into three other dudes who had already been DJing. They were older than me and they invited me out to their crib once. That's when I first saw 1200's. I was like, "Oh shit. This is how that happens." Back then, I liked Hip-Hop but I didn't know about Hip-Hop or the history of it. What was hitting for me was House. I started with House and around the South Bay here, every flier party, wherever it may be, there was a side room that was always Jungle and Drum & Bass. It wasn't until I went record shopping in like '98 and I came across Mos Def-"Universal Magnetic." I had heard a Drum & Bass version of that. I was like, "Oh shit, this is that lyric." That led me to study Hip-Hop. I came across the DMC video and I was like, "I need to battle."

Did you always have a competitive nature? What drew you to the battle scene so much when you discovered it?

I think I was always competitive. When I started DJing with the three other dudes, I wanted to be better than them even though they had done it more. They weren't scratching. They were pretty much just blending. I was like, "I gotta do something different." Out of us four, I was the first one to try scratching. It was a perfect outlet when I found battling to prove my chops.

Do you remember your first battle?

Ah, I fuckin' sucked. I had done little battles around the South Bay. It was like the Guitar Centers. The first DMC I entered, I showed up and I was confident. I go to the prelims. I go on. I think Kid Dragon went after me and I was completely like, "Fuuuck. I got tons of work to do!" I thought what I was doing in my room was dope and then it was like a slap in the face.

Another part of your early DJ career were these car show battles. To me, that's something totally foreign. Explain this intersection of car shows and Hip-Hop to me.

It was weird. The car show battles were the ones that were happening the most. That's why DJs gravitated to it. It was a weird environment. Most of the times they were outdoors so you'd have wind and all kinds of shit going on. And people who don't really know would be the crowd so they'd go for the most basic, flashiest shit. The people who were getting technical was getting overlooked. It was a good experience for me because all of it was head to head. So it pinned you against someone else. It was on some B-Boy shit. "It's me against this dude."

Before we go any further, I gotta ask you about your DJ name. It's very unique. How did you get the name, DJ IFTW?

Yeah, so originally the three guys that I started DJing with in high school-I didn't have a DJ name-they were like, "You need a DJ name." That Sprite commercial was around: "Image is nothing. Thirst is everything…" or something like that. Pretty much they were like, "Image is nothing. So your name should be image because you're nothing." It was like, "Ha ha, whatever." But it stuck. Everybody around school started calling me Image. I was like, "Fuck. I hate that name." But it stuck so whenever they would do flier parties, it would be Image. It wasn't until I started traveling and going to different states that they would be like, "Next up, we got Image." And they would read where I was from: "He's from Inglewood… Oh shit, it's Image from the Wood." I liked that better than Image so I started using Image From The Wood. But I felt like it was too long so now I just abbreviate it-IFTW.

Gotcha. So moving into the DMC's, congrats on the win at the Battle for Supremacy this year. Are you strictly a Battle for Supremacy kind of guy or do you enter the other competitions as well?

They got the online, team, regular 6 minutes, and Supremacy. I went with Battle Star as well. We were the 2012 DMC Team Champions for the US. We went to compete in London. This year, I did the 6 minute and a couple regionals. They didn't go my way so I was like, "Fuck it. Let me focus on the Supremacy," which they were doing in L.A. I won and I focused on winning the Worlds. It went my way.

Do you have one competition that sticks out in your mind?

This year's World Championships was crazy, especially going to London and nobody knows me. Coming from the slums, something as easy as getting on a airplane, that wasn't even in my mindframe. The whole crowd in London was loving the shit that I was doing. To hear them chant for me like that-it was a surreal moment for me.

Before you step on stage, do you have any pre-battle routines that you do to warm up?

This year, one of the homies who's a very positive dude-and I consider myself a really positive dude but I realized I was being really negative towards myself as far as battling goes-he told me, "You gotta tell yourself, 'I can fucking do this. Nobody can fuck with me.'" And that's literally what I was doing this year. It amped me up and I was interacting with the crowd better because I was hype.

Mid battle, did you take any mental notes or learn anything while you're watching your opponents?

No. Once you're up there, everything goes really fast. It's not like you could sit there and analyze what that guy is doing. I had an idea of the main two, who were the guys that won the last two--Ritchie Ruftone and Vekt. I knew they were in it so I was like, "Let me focus on those dudes." I set routines specifically for them. I didn't have to worry about what they were doing.

 

"Especially in Supremacy, I think it's been missing the whole part of showmanship."

 

I noticed some similarities between DJ battles and Rap battles. Sometimes rappers will improvise based on what the opponent said in the previous round. Do you do that at all when you battle?

I stuck to my routine. I did my homework and saw the routines that they do. Everything is vinyl so everything is pressed. There's really no room for improvising other than your mannerism. If anything, that's what put me over the top. Especially in Supremacy, I think it's been missing the whole part of showmanship. These dudes are just doing their routines and their disses, but from across the stage. I walked across the stage and was in their face like, "Fuck you!" The crowd ate it up.

In your bio, it says, "IFTW won’t stop until he is the best in the world." Clearly winning Battle for Supremacy this year proves that in a way. Is there another tournament or title you need to claim to be content?

I don't think you'll ever get that feeling. Even though I got crowned best in the world, it was best in the world that day. I'm never the dude to have a super ego. I know that I'm never gonna be Craze or those dudes. I hope careerwise, I could get to that point. As far as my battling crave, it put me at ease. Now that I have a world title, it was pretty much more than I wanted. I wanted to be a US Champion and I got two of those. I'm going to continue to do Supremacy until somebody takes me out. Now, I'm putting more of my focus on production.

Right, so I also know that you DJ at the Pot Lobby Bar. Is switching from battling to DJing a party a tough change, mentally?

I started that in March so it's been about 8 months now. It's a typical club night where I improvise all of it. I'm playing for a long period of time. It's whatever new tracks that I got that week. Obviously when you do clubs, you have to play a bunch of shit you don't like--a lot of the Top 40s shit. I try to sprinkle a lot of the shit that I like and I feed off the crowd.

I also saw that you're entering the Red Bull Thre3style. Has this new residency led to this move or have you entered before?

Red Bull never made it an open thing. I don't know the process they took to pick out the DJs but here in L.A., I've been one of the best DJs and I got overlooked. I never got hit up to do it.

You mentioned focusing on original production. I heard some tracks and it sounded way more laid back than the stuff you'd include in your DMC battle sets. Why the switch up in vibes?

All of that shit comes from pretty much not knowing production. I vibe out and make whatever I can make. Whatever the end result is, that's what it is. Right now, I'm getting a little better. Most of the stuff I put out is what I'm just learning. Eventually I want to make shit that's more like Electronic like Moomba Trap. I want to incorporate live turntable shit with it. That's what I'm working on now, with another producer who I can't name now but he's pretty big.

I know that you're part of the group, Battle Star. I'm sure even as you do production you'll still battle then and again with them. How often does Battle Star do battles?

They're down in San Diego and I'm in L.A. The other homie of mine, Manwell, we get together and cut it up. He's really good at production. I got a homeboy in Seattle, Waystyles. He's taught me a bunch as far as production. We try to pump each other up to get better at everything.

And the last topic, I see that you got your daughter started already on the turntables!

Yeah man, my daughter, she's just like me. Since she was born, she has rhythm. She loves music. The whole DJing part of it, she likes messing with records. I got her, for her birthday, a Vestax little record player-the Handy Trax. I set it up in her room and I felt like a proud DJ dad. Her first question was, "Dad, can I scratch on this?" I was like, "Oh shit, hell yeah! Fuckin' tear it up!"

How old is she now?

She just turned five.

So you have some time before she comes after the throne.

I'm not gonna force her to do it but if she wants to, I'm gonna help her out. She likes it. I'm just trying to be a supportive dad.

Last Call

1. What is your favorite movie of all time?City Of God

2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?Craze

3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?People coming with bullshit requests when I'm playing live. I'll play to the crowd but I hate when they just come up with their telephone and just flash it in my face. I'm like, "Nice phone."

4. What is your current DJ set up at home?I got a Rane 62. Two 12's and Maschine.

5. What's your favorite record of all time?Just because of my childhood, the Santana Abraxas album. Growing up, my dad always used to play that.

If you're ever on the west coast, head to the Pot Lobby Bar at the Line Hotel Friday nights at 9PM to catch DJ IFTW spinning live all night. All times PST. Stay up to date with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And check out his Youtube page for some dope sets.

Bryan Hahn is not from the woods but he's on Twitter: @notupstate.