Reigniting My Passion

 Picture Source (http://inspirationbeach.com/j0433055.jpg )

I read an article online about 5 tips to help reignite your passion, and I felt that there was some very valid points in it.  The article was written by Leslie Spencer Pyle from the Entrepreneur website http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedbizcolumnistlesleyspencerpyle/article204336.html , which spoke about how it's normal for people to feel "burned out" and wanting a change from the norm.  This is what I'm currently going through with music, because of how I've grown so tired of the same old routine being a native of a non-musical city (Denver,CO).

One tip mentioned in the article was about becoming an industry insider, which is kind of what I am trying to become while pursuing my masters degree through Full Sail University.  There is a music conference called the Independent Music Summit coming up in Cathedral City,CA http://www.goims.org/about.html in September of this year, and I really hope I'll be able to attend it and network with the right people finally.  I've really grown tired of the fact that, there are not any conferences of this type that come to Colorado ever, and it's become a real pain to deal with at this point.

I truly realize now that a relocation move is obvious, so that I would be able to attend these kinds of events on a regular basis.  I need to be in a musical city more now than ever, and it looks like it will either be Los Angeles or Las Vegas this summer.  I'm sure there have been many people like myself who have taken the risk and moved elsewhere to pursue their dreams.  In the meantime, I am trying to network more than ever through the various social media outlets that I follow.  Reigniting my passion for music has never been more important to me, because it's truly all I know and all I want to pursue in my life.

I also realize how much of a gamble it is to leave one place and move to another, but staying in Colorado has not worked out for me with my career choice of djing professionally.  Some of my dj associates have been able to make things work here, but I feel that I've grown too big for my hometown at this point.  I found another article on the same subject through a website called Helium ( http://www.helium.com/items/2164697-reignite-your-passion-for-your-career-motivation-for-career-how-to-become-more-motivated-at-work ).

In spite of how much of a challenge it will be to stand out from my competition , there comes a time in a person's life where that risk has to be taken.  I have given too many years of my life to this artform to give in to my frustration.  At this stage of my life, I need to do whatever it will take in order for my dreams to become a reality.  All I have ever wanted to do with my life has been to entertain the world behind turntables, and I want to do it before I'm too old and worn out to even try.

Vinyl Resurrection

I read an article on a website called Digital Music News, which mentioned  about a recent upsurge in vinyl sales in 2011.  The National Association of Recording Merchandisers had a presentation in Los Angeles, CA a week ago, and discussed a 25% rise in vinyl sales for this year, which for many djs will ring sounds of joy.  I've been one of the few djs that began using digital dj software in the last 7 years, but before then I absolutely refused to use anything but vinyl.

Many people over the years had predicted that vinyl would be phased out altogether, but because of the Hip-Hop artform it never really went anywhere.  in the mid to late 1990s, I would say that it went more underground, and you had to go to specific stores to buy vinyl music.
 I'm very pleased that many djs have kept the vinyl movement alive, and that will allow people the experience to feel vinyl again instead of cds or mp3s only.

The only reason I moved from vinyl to digital programs like Serato Scratch Live, was because it allowed me access to much more music in the mp3 format than vinyl, but it also kept the vinyl feel of using records with an encoded digital signal.  I no longer had to haul 7-8 milk crates full of music everywhere I dee-jayed at, and could now spin just as much music through my laptop and turntables.  The wear and tear on my body physically is no longer an issue, and I can just worry about 2 turntables, a mixer and my laptop.

I will never abandon vinyl though, because that's the origin of the Hip-Hop DJ.  I still have vinyl that I used to haul around to my gigs, and more than likely I'll keep them for as long as they'll play.  The beauty of being a dj from the original vinyl era, is that you can really see how important it is to keep the "warm sound" of vinyl around, because mp3s will never have the "thick sound" that vinyl possesses.

Source of Reference: Digital Music News. (  May 17, 2011). Vinyl Projected to Grow More Than 25 % in 2011.  Retrived from http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/051711vinyl#CIgdcAZL2XSQItGrN9AkmA

California Dreamin

I've have had Cali calling me for years, and I really think this summer I'm gonna answer the phone.  I've done all I could do in Colorado, so now it's time to move in a different direction.  Some people head to "Hollywood" to try to become stars, and others like myself know things are more serious "life wise".   At the end of the day it is really about doing what makes you happy, and not concerning yourself about what your "haters" think. 

DJing at Skate City in Littleton Colorado

The Future of Turntablism

The new technologies that are available to djs now is insane.  There's no way someone could have told me 20 years ago, that djing would have progressed from the days of Grandmaster Flash to where it is now with Serato Scratch Live, Traktor etc.  I'm still blown away by what some guys and girls have been doing on turntables these days, and there's not going to be any slowing down anytime soon.   I still enjoy watching myself dj, so I haven't lost the love for it yet. I do feel burned out though, just because of how much red tape there is in the industry now.  These days I'm trying to rekindle the fire that started 20 years ago. So enjoy a little video that a dj associate of mine created for me.

DJ Branding

I've had some time to think about the importance of branding since my Executive Leadership Online class assignment on the topic passed a few weeks ago.  I know that the image of a dj is just as important as the music that he/she plays behind turntables.  I'm currently trying to figure out the most creative way to brand myself, but so far it's been an uphill battle, because I'm a multi-layered individual.

I'm a hybrid of various musical genres that I both play and listen to privately, but how to properly market this conglomerate of tastes in music has been frustrating.  I believe every dj is unique and should have a marketing campaign behind them to showcase their talents.  At this stage of my career, I feel it's time to take matters into my own hands and create my own marketing campaign.  I'm not sure at all how this will happen, but I'm going to work at it constantly until I get a result.

The first thing I'm going to try and do it re-invent myself musically, which will be an interesting process to say the least.  I've recently been turned on to Dubstep, which right now is taking some time getting used to it.  Most of it I don't care for, but there are some serene style songs that I have heard that I like alot.  I have already been djing Hip Hop, Disco, House, Funk etc for years, but I am curious to see how adding Dubstep to my sets will work with my audience.

The other thing that I've been pondering, has been how to gain the interest of booking agents and venue promoters that work in this genre to take me on as a client.  I didn't realize how long Dupstep's been around and how most people are just now hearing about it.  The European market has been huge for this genre since 2002, and it's just now really beginning to make waves here in the states.  I'm hopeful that I'll be able to network with some Dubstep djs that I can spin with, and to gain a new following through adding this music to what I already play currently.

I want to seperate myself from the average dj, and I know doing so is a serious undertaking that will take some really hard work at this stage.  I believe I can do it, but the most important thing for me at this point is to leave a legacy behind when it's all over.  Many djs have come and gone before me, but I truly want to be one of the few that had remained true to why I became a dj in the first place.

It's always been about the music and not about popularity contests for me.  The music's always been good to me, so I believe I should be good to the music as well and represent it correctly.  These are the kinds of things that float though my mind on a regular basis, and I'm always trying to merge these ideas together to create something special.

Once I figure out how to combine my love for KISS and my love for hip hop djing, I believe I'll have a unique marketing approach that hasn't been seen or heard before.  If there's anyone online who would be willing to help take on this task will be much appreciated, because we all know nobody can do anything great alone.

How It All Started.....

Born in Denver, Colorado in the northeast neighborhood of Park Hill on May 3rd 1974, DJ Whizlam has always had music in his life. DJ Whizlam was raised on the sounds of the 70's greats like Zapp featuring Roger Troutman, Maze, Bob James, Cameo, Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament-Funkadelic and others.

Already a fan of "tha funk", young Whizlam's musical world was turned upside down in 1978 when he saw the rock band KISS on television for the first time. From that moment on, KISS served as Whizlam's primary inspirational influence.   A natural born DJ/Producer, young Whizlam would spin records at parties that his mother would hold almost every weekend.

He reveled in the ability to make people change their moods by the music he would play, and also how he had the whole party under his command. This love for being the sound party provider reached its climax in the winter of 1979 when Whizlam heard the hip hop classic "Rapper's Delight" for the very first time. From that day forward, Whizlam would spend the next 6 years learning more about the culture of Hip Hop.

Whizlam cites "Leader of The Pack" by UTFO featuring Mixmaster Ice, as the deciding factor in him choosing the turntables as opposed to the microphone in 1985. He saw the DJ as the most important element in Hip Hop just as the founding forefathers intended. Other major DJ influences include; Grandmaster Flash, Terminator X, DJ Jazzy Jeff, DJ Magic Mike, DJ Sugar Shaft & DJ Quik.

After his middle school years from 1987-88, Whizlam moved from Park Hill to the area of Montbello. During high school, Whizlam made a name for himself spinning at house parties & clubs all around Denver (91-94). It was around this time where Whizlam took the leap from DJ to producer (97-07). It is from the diverse list of geniuses listed above that helped mold Whizlam's unique production style and sound.

September 2010 brought an interesting new venture in Whizlam's life, in which he became a part of the Denver based Livewire Urban Radio family. He was personally selected to take over The CEO Show, which originally was hosted by DJ D. Johnson who created the show.  To continue on with the spirit of authentic djing, DJ Whizlam ran with the show from September 2010 to February 2011.  Since then, Whizlam's hosted nearly every show on Livewire, and has made an unforgettable inpression on everyone associated with the hottest urban station in Aurora,CO.