The Rust: Your DJ sets showcase music from a vast cross-section of producers. Where do you look to find fresh inspiration for your sets?

I find inspiration from a variety of creative sources. I love to watch successful DJ’s and producers performing, and the growth of our fan base filling the dance floors. Another source of inspiration comes from following my favorite labels. I listen to tracks that may not be included in my own DJ set but are a perfect fit for our label, or vice versa. This requires patience, however I live for that feeling of surprising the fans on the dance floor with something they don’t expect or know yet. There is a lot of rinsing of well known tunes in this scene, and while I like to have one or two in each of my sets that are "hott rn", I mostly aim to go for the songs that no one on the dance floor knows yet.

The general vibe of the song is a crucial part of my inspiration for building sets. I wait for that scrunch-face reaction when I hear it. I look for the funky, sexy, deep, dark, hard, weird, minimal, scary, crunchy, and hard-hitting. I don’t genre-discriminate. I intentionally organize my catalog by my bpm and key instead of by genre (which a lot of people do) because I don’t want to DJ out of genre folders. I use Soundcloud, Beatport, Bandcamp, and DJ mixes to discover new artists; and can’t say it’s an easy task. There is extensive digging, organizing, and filing necessary to be a DJ. Your time on the decks is earned by time spent on the computer. I invest on average $100 a month on buying tracks, even with the benefit of all the unreleased goodies I have access to. I feel strongly that we need to contribute to digital music sales and the charting and online performances of artists and labels we support.

Lastly, I get a big rush of the go-get-em feels after I play sets and talk with people who were there. I still get a little shy when people tell me they’ve been following me for a while or they’ve listened to my mix over 50 times, but those moments humble me, stay with me, and ultimately reinforce that I'm on the right path. Without the community or communication; there is no success to be had!

The Rust: How did you begin DJing, and how has your attitude as a DJ evolved over time?

I have been a” selector” of music since I was young. My 8th grade gym teacher recognized this talent and chose me to provide the list of tunes for the school dance. My mom talks about my constant commandeering of the radio in the car when I was young to blast Busta Rhymes and Jay-Z. Fast forward to Philly with my college lacrosse team; I created a hip-hop mix every year for our pre- game warm-up. This helped intimidate teams (as if our field in West Philly didn’t already do that). When we threw big parties I’d be DJing from my IPod. Upon graduation I moved to Portland, Oregon and spent my free time DJing by myself and for after house parties (compliments of our fat living room sound system and serato station-- thanks DP). I got tired of hearing all the boys play tunes out that I would also play, so I decided to get more serious about it. Then, I went to Burning Man and found myself spinning on a few different sets at my camp since I had curating and was managing five full nights of the most badass bass music to be found on playa that year. I played my first real set after that at Wormhole Wednesday in Oakland when it was still at Era Bar, opening for the legend Digital Rust.