When you're good at something, you have a tendency of making it look easy. You're so in tune with whatever you're doing, it's like you've been doing it you're whole life. That's the case with DJ Ease1 and DJing. You could say that the New York native was born into the craft and meant to carry the torch for the new generation. He's somewhat of a paradox since he couldn't have become familiar with DJing in a more traditional, old school route and now he's exploring how to rock a party in a way you've never seen. Aside from his 10 DJ tournament wins and performing live for almost half the year around the world, DJ Ease is only getting more serious about what he can do with his skills and it doesn't look like he'll run out of options any time soon.
It all starts at home for DJ Ease. He was exposed to a plethora of music in his household as his parents played records of George Clinton and he eventually made his way to Dr. Dre. His mother made it seem like music was the natural background soundtrack to life: "It was a part of waking up." On top of that, having two uncles who were DJs helped guide him into the lane of the center of attention at parties. It also didn't hurt that he got away with stealing some vinyl from them to get started. By the time he was 13, he had his own "janky DJ in the box Gemini set. It lasted me about 2 months." From there, Ease dedicated hours of his time watching VHS tapes and listening to mixtapes to learn the ins and outs of becoming a serious DJ. But all the practice in the world couldn't prepare him for his first gig:
"[It was at a] friend's picnic. I ran out of records so it was a NIGHTMARE replaying the same records."
By the time he was a senior in high school, he knew that DJing was for him. He was making $50 a day from selling mixtapes that he made in school and won scratch battles from Rochester down to NYC. He eventually moved from upstate New York down to the Rotten Apple to pursue a full time career. As Ease moved into battles, he was met with some bad luck yet again. "My first battle I was in, I lost and the next one I was disqualified for bad language in my set. Losing only made me better." He turned those losses into motivation to become sharper and so good that other people couldn't deny his merit. Eventually he would go on tour with artists from various labels, picking up invaluable experience DJing for crowds of all nationalities. And now he's held residencies in Germany, Vegas, NYC, and Atlantic City. Of course, he's broken down his strategy of keeping a party on lock depending on the city: "In Vegas I'm a little more reserved with crowd friendly sets by not scratching too much whereas in Japan I'm doing more showcase style sets with beat juggles and cuts because the people love it there." The preference in style from the crowd isn't surprising as Japan seems to fall deeper and deeper in love with the original culture of Hip-Hop over the superficial elements in commercial American Hip-Hop.
Many years into his career, Ease is still letting his instincts surprise himself. His practice sessions are a split of practicing a new technique he caught ear of or just freestyling to see what accidental discovery he can stumble upon. After the initial shock of finding something new on the turntables, he'll then make sure he's perfected it before moving on. One of the most important tips he's picked up on while studying crowds?
"Watching how many people are leaving the dance floor and why. Did they go to get a drink and come back? Am I going over their heads? Or am I not challenging them enough with my set?"
At the time of this interview, DJ Ease was in Japan for the Red Bull Thre3style. He appreciates that tournaments like it exist since "it's pushing the art of DJing multiple genres, along with technicality and musicality. Red Bull is exposing the overlooked DJ with this worldwide tournament." And it's a much needed one as more and more music fans are becoming followers of vibes instead of particular genres. As the listener becomes open format, more and more DJs follow suit to keep up. And that's something DJ Ease is excited about since he's been down with good music, of all kinds, since birth. He still has hope in the rest of tomorrow's DJs as long as they stay inspired. They'll have a lot to catch up on since Ease is preparing already to enter next year's Red Bull Thre3style and put out much more original production. And if anyone thinks of battling him, they might want to study his old routines and his dream opponent's as well, DJ AM: "I'd battle DJ AM (Rest In Peace) just to learn some programming tricks. He would win in a party rock battle."
1. [DJ Ease got his name from his graffiti tag.]^
Last Call
1. What is your favorite movie of all time?X by Spike Lee
2. As a young DJ, who was the one DJ you looked up to?Jazzy Jeff
3. As a DJ, what's your biggest pet peeve?Unorganized crates
4. What is your current DJ set up at home?Pioneer PLX 1000’s and Rane 62
5. What's your favorite record of all time? Eric B. & Rakim - "Don't Sweat The Technique"
Keep up with DJ Ease on his Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, website, and Youtube.
Bryan Hahn has some questions of his own for Timbaland like why do you have to be so dirty at producing? He's on Twitter @notupstate.