it is my pleasure to introduce mr. carlos (selekta) chang.
Chang's DJ journey started back in the mid 70's during the Disco era in Rochester,
NY. Unlike the majority of DJ’s experience first being at a nightclub, his was through his own Cuban family. Dancing
and listening to Disco, Funk, Rock, and Salsa records till 6a.m. at his Mom's basement house parties. In the late 80's his
love for dance music landed him a job at a local record shop in Miami called BPM Records. One, now superstar dj who would
frequent the store was Danny Tenaglia resident at Cheers back then in 1985. It was one of those memorable nights at Cheers
that infected him with the feeling of House Music for the first time at a nightclub.............
What was your first experience with vinyl record players?
Ok my very first experience
with a record player was with a fisher price portable record player! Yea back in the day my Aunt (who raised me at that time)
used to buy me loads of kid's records like Walt Disney, ABCs, Sesame Street, you know all the fairy tale stories on 45s.
yes, my situation was similar. gotta love those story records...
How old were you ?
Like around 7 years of age..
Describe the first time
you saw an underground d.j. mix?
Well in a club I would say like back in 1986 over at Cheers in Miami,with
Danny Tenaglia on the ones & twos..
As far as actually seeing an underground dj mix, I would say my cousin at first
cause he got me aware of the whole phenomena of djs back in the disco days around 1979-80.
solid.
Is there anyone out there who took you under their wing(so to speak), when you first started? ( i.e. borrowing/using
records or turntables, playing at their house etc?
Well like I said my cousin took me under his wing
showing me how records were mixed on vinyl, how to do pause button mixes (which was the norm back then), giving me tips on
what records to get, etc.. Also back in 1986 I used to work for BPM Record
Store in Miami with dj Eddie Mix (who does
the mixes on Power 96 now), he also helped me out alot to get into the club & radio scene there, used to borrow &
buy alot of records from the store there, used the equipment at the store to mix & edit with
also. Oh and not to forget
Carlos Espinosa the original owner of Murk Records over at the old Underground Record Store, which was the beat Miami ever
had for a decent
undergound record store! Carlos helped me out alot in Miami also when it came to the
music, and also when it came to printing up my old zine E.909St.
i loved that magazine. i used to read every issue i could get my hands on.
Can you describe the scene you were a part of at the time?
The scene back then was
a very tight network of common minded people who would gather at several events around Miami and the whole state of Florida
with the common idea to get down to some cutting edge music.
yeah, the music and dancing to it was the focus.
Do you dance?
Yes of course I would dance for many hours, even more if the dj was
on! Well I have always felt that if you dont dance it would be alot harder to relate to the people dancing. Its like the advantage
that a director who knows about acting has over a director who knows nothing at all about acting. It tends to follow that
usually
djs that dont dance at all, there sets & music become very heady and more of a tool to judge in your
head, rather than base on if your feet get up and move! To me this is dance music so if you cant dance to it, then we should
call it something else.. I always
test my own sets by the ability it has on me dancing to it, I always test my mixes on
my own, and me dancing to them is the litmus test for myself as a dance dj.
word up!
What inspires you?
Seeing the people coming together in numbers on the same dance
floor and feeling the unity we have as humanity.
Why?
Because without that experience, I
would really see no purpose to continue playing records or music.....
As a d.j. or producer, what are you trying
to do?
I am trying to make people more aware of the power of music, especially the kind that makes
you move.. Maybe some can take that experience on the dancefloor to see that we can work together as a race, if we just drop
our differing ideas for a
moment to see what is really there. Music is one of the best ways to do this to the human mind.
that
is so true i've been to events that had thousands attending, and music was what brought them all together.......
How do you feel about the state of dance?
Well today's dance music culture definitely
has a different motivation than from the past, depending where you go, in general it is more about just partying than getting
a spiritual experience of unity on the dancefloor. It's more of a rock star thing these days with people only going
out in numbers to hear the top 100 djs in mixmag play,
and then feeding off that frenzy that we are all at the coolest
party of the night cause over a thousand some people are here partying their heads off. Because of that the current
dance music scene have become more of seen and be seen scene, where everyone prays to be one of the elite that hang out in
vip or the vip vip vip section, where one can show off the expensive bottles of Moet & Crystal to all the less
advantaged
on the dancefloor. So in a nutshell it's a lot more cool to drink champagne in vip to the music than what it used to be to
dance to the music with everyone equally on the dancefloor. This I see more of a reflection of today's world, the old
retarded mentality of the haves and have nots, which is evident in today's world especially in the political arena that is
heading us off into World War 3 possibly, so
unfortunately music has become more of a reflection of humanity's culture.
At the same time there is an underground forming that is taking back the power to transform its destructive culture, back
to one where the culture will be a reflection of the unity
created through music. Like it or not dance music in the beginning
of time was a total spiritual experience, a means of meditation to induce a trance into the deepest part of oneself.
yeah
i shared similar thoughts w/ missperception in her interview.....
Do you lend a hand to up and coming d.j.'s ?
Yes most definitely all the time.
How?
Well first off I do a podcast show called The Buddha Hash Cafe over at:http://clickcaster.com/djchang and also at: http://djchang.podomatic.com On thisshow I showcase not only my own dj mixes but also other dj's/producer's
music and mixsets, I get an average of about 1000 dowloads & feeds a week on there. So in essence right now I am using
my podcast show as a vehicle where I can showcase, and interview up & coming djs & producers in the underground
music field. I always
have in the past passed on djs demos and productions to people that may be of interest to them. Plus
anytime a friend or someone I know does an event, I always try to recommend someone that has caught my attention in
the past or as of late.cool, if we don't educate the next generation, who will?
???????????????????????????????????
What can the world expect from you in the next 12 months?
In the next year I would
say more international exposure, with more gigs in various countries, this year I am gonna start focusing really hard on gaining
more international exposure. Plus some new productions to in the studio hopefully get something
together before the
spring time.
best of luck, mi amigo..........
how about the next five years?
The next 5 years lets see, I mean there are lots of
possibilities Universe willing.. Hopefully with a lot of hard work and inner awareness I will be at a place where whatever
it is I'm doing will come from a place of balance and not unrest.
yes, only then are we most effective.......
Where can people come to hear you play?
Well at the moment I am living in The Kingdom
of Bahrain, which is an island next to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Emirates. So if you are locally here, I am a resident at Mirai
Lounge every week during the weekend (wed, thurs, fri). Though soon I will be
playing in Europe and the States starting
on Sept. 1 over at Cocoon in Frankfurt, Germany as a guest over in the Micro Room. You can check out http://liferartists.comfor up coming schedules, or you can also go to my blog for my dates to find out where
you can catch
me at: http://djchang.blogspot.com Do you vote and do you think that it is important fro the youth to be politically aware?
Sometimes
I vote depends on the situation, I have been overseas so I have to really make time to go to the local embassy to participate
some how, so its not something I
do out here. Yea sure the youth should get involved if they really feel they can make
a difference in the voting process. At the same time we should help bring to light how corrupt the voting process has
become in all the so called democracy's of the world
especially the United States. Otherwise I fear that no matter how
much anyone votes it still will not make a difference, especially since in America we only have a 2 party system, that
basically is run by the same group of interests who's only interest is profit
margins, not human rights. Also I think we
should realize that as long as mass media is run by these interests the majority of people will keep being swayed in
their vote by the consumer propaganda we get day in and day out. So hence its a vicious cycle that will not end until its
roots are cut at it's source, which is mind control. So I would say
get politically involved after you have got mindfully
involved in yourself first.
(free the mind and the..........)
Of course, I must ask about your best and worst gigs......and why?
Well my best gig
there are a couple, but lately I would have to say was last year playing in Slovakia at this old castle for a couple thousand
people, it was very old school style simple and no vip anywhere, just raw dancers everywhere there just todance till
the next day, reminded me a lot of how it was back in the early 90's in the
States. The worst hmm thats kind of hard cause
there were a couple also, but I would say back in the 90's in Florida at this event where I played on these turntables
that had broken cartridges, so they put a nail through the cartridge so you could lift themoff the record, plus hardly anyone
was into my music they were all into really bad breaks.
ahh, yes! the florida breaks. :-O
Any advice for your peers, or those who will come after you?
Yes believe in what
you do in order to make it a reality in life someday, and if you are willing to risk your life (outer & inner) for it,
then it must be something you really love.
Oh and also forget the negative gossip getting caught up in it will only retard
your own growth in this industry.
thank-you.
And lastly, why do you d.j. ?
Because I love it meng!
