DJ Xcel Interview | Respect the DJ
DJ Xcel sat down with Stereotype Co to discuss his journey into DJing.
How did you get your name?
Funny I got it from me having perfect attendance for a lot of years while I was in school I was always getting them excellent papers to bring home
Where are you from?
Staten Island
How did you get into DJing?
My brother was a DJ, he started in the mid-’70s when what we call hip-hop was developing. Once he went off to college at seton hall he wears still djing, he would come home to get the DJ equipment and he would bring me to the parties he was spinning at I was very young like 5, 6 years old. So this is about 83, 84. My father had a blue Ford van it looked like the mystery machine from scooby doo. I would fall asleep on the ride and wake up and look out the back window of the van and watch the parties. I was amazed at what I would see. To see someone have control of people's minds and energy was crazy to see. Also, I would mess with the equipment during the week when he was in school. My brother and some of his friends caught me one day and figure out that’s how some of the needles were being broken. And they made me play music in front of them, they saw I knew what I was doing and I just kept going from there.
What did you do to advance your skills/knowledge?
Back then we didn’t have any manuals we had to see it live or we would listen on cassette. This was the 80s so technology was nowhere it is today.
What did your first setup look like?
I had my brother's old speakers, they were handmade by a carpenter my brother knew. Back in the 70’s DJs had speakers specially made. Bass and tops. They were called ass-kickers. I had my brother's old amp a crown d20 amp to run the speakers. My first pair of turntables were Technics sl-d2 & I had a gli PMX 7000 mixer, at that time it was one of the top mixers to have they were my brother's old stuff. Then I traded in the pmx 7000 and upgraded the mixer to a gli pmx 9000. then I got a pair of Gemini xl-bd10 turntables they were belt driven. With the jazzy Jeff mixer Gemini pmx 2200 it had wood grain on the side. It was the first small mixer for scratching. Every DJ got that mixer at the time. As time went on I upgraded my system on a massive scale.
What does your current setup look like?
My system is very basic compared to back in the day. I use a controller for most of my gigs, I have much smaller tops and small bass bottoms & Lights. I rarely bring out my turntables for events unless I’m spinning vinyl.
If you could produce for any artist (dead or alive), who would it be?
Big L
What is your goal when you create?
As I DJ my main focus is to keep people dancing and have them enjoy themselves within the time frame Im spinning
What's your go-to song right now?
I come from a bboy / dancer type of background so right now I have to say music is really bad. So I have no go-to right now
What is your dream as a DJ?
Well, my dreams of becoming a big-time DJ have passed long ago, I'm 45 years old now. I gave a lot of years of going hard in the DJ game when I got custody of my son and became a single father. So now I just focus on doing quality events.
What is some advice you would give to someone with a dream to become a DJ?
I have been teaching students how to DJ for the past few years and I always tell them to Go hard at what they do. Practice, practice, practice. Make a lane for yourself and stick with it.
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