DJ Dube AKA Aubrey Dube '12
Home Base: Gaborone, Botswana
Preferred Programs: Serato and Virtual Deejay
Origins: As a young teen, Dube’s deejay friends inspired him to join their ranks, leaving his former position as “hype man.”
This ethic remains in his deejay style, however, as Dube relishes the challenge of pleasing the crowd. His attitude reflects the love of the intuitive art form: “I keep it organic and spontaneous. I just like things that are done in the moment. That’s actually why I’m into deejaying.”
Multitasker: To ensure everyone at the party has a great time, Dube tests songs from certain genres and reads “the rhythm and flavor of the crowd” to figure out what songs to play, all while keeping an “arc” within his greater set list. This “arc” refers to the beats per minute of songs Dube chooses, starting with a medium pace, speeding up to an apex, and slowing down as the partygoers tire and the party splinters off.
Favorite Memory: After the Roots concert, Dube deejayed an afterparty in Palmer. Not knowing what to expect in terms of turnout, Dube was pleased when the house was packed to capacity — even the walls were covered in sweat — and a few people thought he was a professional deejay brought in with the roots instead of a Middlebury student!
Find Him at: The Bunker, Palmer, Coltrane, French House, Atwater Suites
Claim to fame: At the bunker, responding to a crowd that wanted upbeat dancehall music, Dube remixed the “Midd Kid Rap,” celebrating his own YouTube success. Expect more remixes out of Dube, who likes to play around with various instrumental and vocal tracks. “Everytime you deejay, sometimes it’s kind of like you’re making a new song out of songs that already exist.”
DJ Benno AKA Ben Schiffer '10
Name origin: Childhood nickname given to him by his mom
Program: Traktor Scratch Pro by Native Instruments in conjunction with CD Turntables
Hands-On approach: Schiffer is a turntablist, and uses the moving top platter of his mixer to control much of what he does. His turntables and his computer program talk to one another digitally. His style values performance as well as music. As Schiffer says: “I try to keep it interesting for the crowd and myself alike.”
Origins: Tracing all the way back to his childhood in Baltimore, following his mother to radio stations, Schiffer cultivated an interest in music and the role of the deejay. As a young teen in Israel, he explored the club scene and had his first opportunity to deejay at his own Bar Mitzvah, testing out the equipment of the hired deejay. After moving to Vermont, Schiffer was involved with a band and learned about sound. He bought his own record turntables on eBay and watched online videos to learn the tricks of the trade. Beginning with gigs for friends’ parties, Schiffer gained experience, skill,and confidence while adding onto his equipment.
Schiffer describes his role as a deejay: “I want to play something that is going to keep the crowd not only happy and dancing, but interested … You want to give them a tune or some lyrics that they can sing along to, that they have heard before, and then you want to put something on top of it that makes them say ‘Where did that come from? I want more of it.’ You’re constantly playing with this thin line of ‘How far do I go before I go back to the roots a little bit?’ Or ‘How much do I give them the roots before I throw them another curve?’ ”
A Memorable Morning: Schiffer deejayed at the Monday morning film call for the “Midd Kid” club scene. Everyone in the production was exhausted until the exuberant extras arrived, ready to dance. The McCullough stage transformed into a crazy dance party, complete with a slip n’ slide starting at the deejay booth. And then, unlike at typical dance parties, filming finished up mid-morning and cast and crew alike went on with their Mondays. As Schiffer described: “I can remember deejaying parties until 4 or 5 in the morning, but never have I started at 7. And it was incredible.”
Find Him At: McCullough, Bunker ( has performed both solo and in a duo gig with Officer Chris aka DJ Mixwell), 637 College Street (the former “Giggle Pit”), 82 Adirondack, Tavern, Forest, Pearsons, LoFo, Atwater Suites, Two Brothers Lounge and Stage, various private parties around Addison County
Student of music: Schiffer observes fellow deejays for inspiration, and has relished opportunities to meet professional deejays through Middlebury College; he fondly described the experience of chatting with Girl Talk, collaborating with DJ Milkman at last year’s Winter Ball, and hanging out with DJ Earworm this year. Schiffer also admires the late DJ AM for his work in collaboration with other musicians, and notes the influences of Notorious B.I.G., The Beastie Boys, and Fatboy Slim in his own work as well. Schiffer’s personal music tastes range widely: “I think anything I listen to outside of a deejay gig, in one way or another, influences what I’m going to play.”
You can see DJ BENNO at Two Brothers Lounge and Stage Saturday, March 20 and Saturday, May 1.
DJ Emmanuelle AKA Emmanuelle Saliba '11.5
Home Base: New York, N.Y.
Program of Choice: Traktor at Middlebury, Serato Scratch Live when using turntables
Origins: Saliba has always been interested in music, but during her Feb-mester became involved in the NYC and Paris music scenes, especially gaining an interest in electro. While attending Columbia University during this time, Saliba maintained her own music Web site which further entrenched her in the NYC music scene. When Saliba arrived at Middlebury, a friend asked if she’d deejay a party based upon her impressive repertoire. Saliba downloaded the program (Traktor) and learned how to use it in 30 minutes for her friend’s party, thus starting her deejay career completely unintentionally. In preferring the program Serato Scratch Live, Saliba values the older, hands-on tradition of vinyl records and scratching while acknowledging the convenience and necessity of the use of the mP3 song format. A true student of music, Saliba enrolled in Professor of Music Peter Hamlin’s electronic music class and is studying the basics to grow as an artist.
Signature style: “I play a lot of heavy bass music and a lot of dub-step. I guess a little bit unapologetic about the music I choose. I don’t really like to cater to the crowd.” While Saliba doesn’t compromise the broad genre of electro music for crowd acceptance, she also strikes a balance between the cutting-edge and the popular, holding back from what she would play naturally. “I try to throw in a lot of different things to keep it interesting, and I think it really plays off of my personality too … I really find a median in between what Middlebury students can hear, what they’re able to hear, for something that’s so new, because I understand that it’s so new, and something I’d like to play.”
Find her at: Palmer, Mods, Mill, Tavern, MCAB events, last year at 82 Adirondack
Claim to fame: Remember how badly you wanted to get into the Baile Terror party on Halloween? Saliba was deejaying with her mentor, DJ Alexander Technique.
Trial by fire: While her first gig ever was playing for friends at Red Door, her second gig ever was last year at MCAB’s Haus event in Kenyon arena — she still had the demo version of the Traktor program and when it quit during her set, the audience thought it was an effect!
You can see Emmanuelle in action this upcoming Saturday in Lower Forest for a dub-step event, or in April deejaying for Ross Commons’ Brazilian Carnival.
Check out Emmanuelle’s music at www.soundcloud.com/g-bender, a collaborative effort with Anastassia Paloni ’08.5.
DJ Geoprim AKA Tyler Madden '12.5
Home Base: Seattle, Wash.
Programs of Choice: Traktor for DJing, Ableton Live for production
Origin: Starting with the so-described “cheesy trance” of Robert Miles’ track “Children” in the 7th grade, Madden cultivated his appreciation for electronic music from a young age. His music tastes have evolved from electro through electro-house, techno and now dub-step, a brand new genre of electronic music combining elements of reggae, hip-hop and techno which emerged from London’s music scene in the early 2000’s. Madden began DJing in high school and had his first few gigs during his febmester last year.
Signature Style: Madden DJ’s in a way that layers many different songs and sounds. This layering means that his principle challenge of reading the crowd is made easier when he can test a song on an audience and change it out quickly if they don’t respond. While most of his work is on the fly, occasionally if Madden is given information about a party in advance, he might make a rough playlist and practice transitions between songs, describing his process as “a little bit of planning, a little bit of spontaneity”.
Favorite trick: Madden adds tension and excitement to slow portions of songs using “reverb” which essentially makes a big echo sound until he drops the beat back in and keeps the song moving.
Madden’s personal music tastes play into his DJing. “My style is very different from what a lot of people like. You know how people memorize lyrics and like to sing along? I memorize rhythms and notes. So a lot of times, the music I like is a little more abstract… I start with the assumption that I need to play something a little more accessible.” Madden’s desire to please audiences doesn’t curb his creativity, however. “I’m always experimenting, going somewhere new, changing”.
Find Him at: His preferred venues are “small, grimy places, where everyone’s way into it” so it comes as no surprise that Madden could be found DJing last year at 82 Adirondack House. He’s also DJed at McCullough, the Grille, the Mill, and house parties/social houses.
The next frontier: From the start, Madden produced his own music for fun, but has only been seriously producing music for less than a year. He describes his creations as abstract, slow-developing, long songs with a lot of texture and layers. Check out Madden’s music at www.soundcloud.com/geoprim
See Geoprim in action Saturday evening this upcoming weekend in Lower Forest for a dub-step event.
DJ Mr. Whiskers AKA Reily Steel '12
Home Base: Oakland, Cal.
Preferred Program: Traktor Pro
Two genres, same goal: Steel’s passion is electronic music — he even produces his own — but you can also find him deejaying a typical Middlebury party, playing Top 40 hip-hop and pop. While the genres may be different, the goal is the same: to keep the energy up, ensure a happy crowd, and keep people dancing. The process differs slightly between the two genres, for example, house music requires a consideration of the song’s key, and using a program called mixed-in-key, Steel blends tracks together seamlessly to ensure cohesiveness for listeners and dancers alike. Within Traktor pro, Steel also considers the beats per minute of a song, altering songs slightly to provide smooth transitions for both house and popular music. In his library, Steel adds cue markers at various important points of the song, which makes songs easier to mix in on the fly.
Music sources: Steel culls music from a variety of sources for a rich mix of artists and genres. He utilizes blogs such as the popular Hype Machine (www.hypem.com) for the newest music, but also finds record labels useful to find music of a certain standard and style. For house music, Steel uses online store Beatport. In his music production, Steel is influenced by a wide variety of music beyond the crowd-pleasing tracks he spins.
Origins: Inspired by Middlebury’s own DJ Emmanuelle, Steel expanded upon his interest in music via his foray into the deejay world. Experimenting solo led to the first test of his newfound skills, as he described: “I remember my first gig, actually. My first gig was January, and I had a trial version of this (Traktor) program that quit every thirty minutes, so I had to reload the software every thirty minutes.”
Find him at: Bunker — he will be deejaying a rave in the upcoming weeks, The Mill, MCAB events — most recently opening and closing for Orange Crush in McCullough, House parties
Expanding horizons: Steel likes to experiment, reading up on the latest developments in the deejay world through the blog DJ Tech Tools run by Ean Golden. He tries out new techniques and songs with at parties, as he says: “With any crowd, if you gain their trust at first you can get a little crazier.”
Get DJ Mr. Whiskers to come to your party: http://twitter.com/djmrwhiskers and http://www.facebook.com/djmrwhiskers.
Mixin' and Mashin'
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