COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) - Concert-goers at Rose Music Hall bobbed their heads to the first words of “Bad and Boujee” by Migos.
“You know so we ain’t really ever had no old money … We got a whole lot of new money though.”
The college-age crowd shouted in ecstatic surprise as the next lyrics, “raindrop, droptop,” came surprisingly to the beat drop of “Superfreak” by Rick James, behind Migos’ lyrics.
The guy inspiring the energy in the room wasn’t a professional DJ - he wasn’t even the show’s headliner. In fact, it was the first live performance for Error_404, whose real name is Jay Wulff.
The program also featured amateur DJ D’saxi, aka Matt Luke. He and Wulff opened the show for Abra Collabbruh and Rollbro - Joe Tinker and Tariq Eddington - both professional DJs from St. Louis.
The Columbia Missourian reports that the Feb. 21 show was put on by the Mizzou Electronic Music Organization, or MEMO, and its roughly 25 members. Called Home Bass, the monthly production gives amateur and student DJs like Wulff the opportunity to perform live, opening for local and professional DJs.
“I think that what they do is very productive for up-and-coming DJs like me,” Wulff said. “It gives us the experience of reading a crowd. Before this I had only played at my apartment and a couple parties.”
Electronic dance music, or EDM, is known for its high-energy live shows and DJs who inspire dancing to the intense rhythms and beats. EDM shows usually consist of “mixes” done by the performing DJ. A mix refers to combining two or more songs by the DJ to create seamless blendings of songs that keep a crowd on its toes.
Some of the most well-known professional DJs, such as Flume, Steve Aoki and Marshmello, are made popular by massive shows put on at festivals and raves around the world.
MEMO is an MU student group drawn together by a love for electronic music. Members have a range of interests in the electronic music scene. Some join because they enjoy going to the high-energy EDM shows and follow the culture of electronic music. MEMO often gets personal meet-and-greets with the professional DJs who come through Columbia and play shows at The Blue Note and Rose Music Hall.
MEMO president Andrew James said the organization even went bowling last month at Lazer Lanes with professional DJ Big Wild, who was in town for a Feb. 13 show at The Blue Note.
EDM is an inspiring field for new DJs because, as James said, “You don’t need to have a million-dollar deal with a recording label and have 20 ghost writers to make music. A lot of EDM producers pride themselves on doing everything their self.”
Other members join the group to learn more about EDM’s performance side with the goal of becoming better DJs themselves. MEMO puts on workshops with guest speakers and DJs who help members learn anything from the basics of using the equipment to preparing for a live show.
James said electronic music stands out to him because of its great culture.
“One of the most overwhelming things I’ve seen in EDM is the community,” James said. “Seems like when I go to festivals and EDM shows, I can spend 30 minutes or more talking to someone I’ve never met before. You’re brought together through the music and community.”
First to take the stage Feb. 21, Luke was eager to bring a more distinct style of DJing to the MEMO production. Unlike the majority of DJs today, Luke prefers to work with vinyl records, relying on old-school turntables and scratching to mix the songs he wants, rather than the more popular method of using a computer program to mix songs electronically.
Scratching is a DJ technique done by manually moving a vinyl record back and forth on a turntable. The technique can be used to generate a blend of percussive and rhythmic sounds created by the needle scratching quickly across the surface of the vinyl record.
Luke said his particular style of DJing, known as “turntablism,” is a “style of DJing that uses the turntables and mixers as an instrument. It incorporates scratching, beat-juggling, tone plays, a capellas, word plays, mixes and more for using your equipment as an instrument.”
When he started getting into DJing, Luke said he didn’t have anyone to teach him. Through research online, he was drawn into the culture of turntablism scratching through popular old-school DJs such as Mix Master Mike and DJ Jazzy Jeff.
“If I hadn’t been exposed to this culture, the passion wouldn’t be there,” Luke said. “If I wanted to be like them, I had to get turntables.”
Before any performance, Luke practices and can prepare up to 200 songs to mix live on stage. His performance last month turned Rose Music Hall’s growing crowd into a frenzy of excitement and energy as he kicked off the night for the next amateur DJ, Error_404.
MEMO booked Luke for the Home Bass show through another of the organization’s monthly events, Open Decks. James said MEMO tries out various amateur DJs for its production by having potential performers and MEMO members play trial sets at Open Decks. The event is usually hosted at the home of the organization’s vice president, John O’Connor.
When they saw Luke’s style, “We knew we wanted him in our next show,” James said.
Luke had DJed at parties and some of the bars downtown, but Home Bass was his first chance to open a show for a professional DJ.
Wulff, who performs as Error_404, said the night was everything he had dreamed of for his first live performance. He was particularly excited to be working with MEMO because of the impressive production value the student organization has worked to achieve.
“The production value is so much different,” Wulff said. “Whenever I have the chance I will go to any MEMO event I can. I love the music, and I love the people.”
Wulff took the stage in a brown dad cap and a black shirt that spelled out R.I.D.D.I.M. Riddim is a subgenre of electronic dance music with roots in the percussion patterns of reggae music. The name comes from the Jamaican pronunciation of the word rhythm. This particular style makes up the bread and butter of his set.
“Something big that sets aside riddim DJs is double drops and chopping, which is going between two different songs and making it sound like one continuous song,” Wulff said.
Since his first show at Home Bass, Wulff has continued pursuing his goal as a DJ. He hopes to perform again soon at Rose Music Hall, as well as talking to downtown bars about hosting an EDM night, where Wulff said he and other DJs can perform to add a little change in the music scene of the bars.
“I’ve learned that you can’t take things for granted,” Wulff said. “It was my first show, so it’s only up from here.”
In front of Wulff, color-changing LED screens pulsed to the rhythm. The screens, designed and programmed by graduated MEMO member Brendan Alvey, were a vital piece of the impressive production value Wulff enjoyed.
Alvey graduated in December with a master’s degree in computer engineering but still makes the time to work with the organization. James, MEMO’s president, said that before working with Alvey, the production consisted of only three large, color-changing boxes that worked independently of the music and formed the table the DJs used.
At one of his first events with MEMO, he accidentally damaged one of the boxes while taking down the setup - but the organization liked the tie-dye look caused by the tear and ended up repeating the design on the other two boxes.
Inspired by the light show productions of popular bands like Pink Floyd and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alvey wanted to use his computer engineering talents to add something special to the MEMO production. “Just before December, I went to my first meeting. I showed up with just five LEDs and some ideas,” he said.
The result was the two color-changing LED screens on either side of the stage. During performances, Alvey works with the screens to create a variety of colorful patterns and images that change with the music to create a show that can be just as appealing to the eyes of the crowd as it is to its ears.
With the help of passionate members like Alvey, MEMO is able to put together and pull off events like Home Bass. The student organization uses its work and love of electronic music to give students and amateurs like them another leap closer to their dreams.
As one of the two Home Bass headliners and a professional DJ, Abra Collabbruh (Joe Tinker) believes that shows like this are important for rising young DJs.
“Every show is an opportunity for new people to hear your music,” he said. “It’s always about playing enough shows, getting your name out there.”
The opportunity that MEMO offers isn’t taken lightly. Luke said a shot like this is another chance to get closer to his goals.
“I want to be, like, the best DJ I can be,” he said. “I want to be better than the people that inspired me to do this.”
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Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.columbiamissourian.com
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