Fifteen minutes can be very short amount of time or a long nightmare for different DJs. Regardless, that's amount of time a DJ has to prove he or she is the best in the room at Red Bull's "Thre3style" competition. Originating in Canada in 2010, the global DJ competition judges contestants on their technical mixing skills — cutting, juggling, scratching — and whether they can thrill a crowded dance floor.
This marks the first year that Thai DJs can join the party. The winner of the Thai finals, which will be held at RCA's Route 66 in July, will head to Tokyo in September, where he or she will be pitted against the world's best DJs for the World Championship.
American DJ Four Color Zack, 2012's world champ, was recently in Bangkok for a showcase to kick off the competition. The 32-year-old party kingpin, now serving as a judge for Thre3style, tells Life how to get started as a DJ, what it takes to throw a good party and where the trends are heading.
What are the things competitors are judged on?
Creativity, track selection, originality, stage presence and crowd response. The whole goal of the competition is to show a lot of creativity, having the best possible party and getting the crowds excited. When we judge, we have to pay attention to how people are into it, because sometimes the crowd can be really engaged but aren't jumping up and down or freaking out. You can win with a bunch of techniques — you don't need to have people singing along to every song.
What are some cool things you've witnessed at Thre3style competitions?
The thing about it is it doesn't even feel like a competition — it's more like the best party you've ever been to. The vibe's right and people forget that there's going to be a winner at the end because it's just so much fun. It seems like every year someone takes an idea that was started one time and takes it to whole different level. You know where it came from, but you'll have no idea how they figured how to do that. In 2013, Adam Doubleyou had his mini-pad and everyone thought they knew what was going to happen, but then he started playing and was like this mad scientist that was making brand new songs in the middle of the next song. I don't even know how he got to that point and that's what's cool about it, because it's just so different from what I would ever think. Every year we see someone come out of nowhere and wow you, and that's what's really cool — new people with new ideas.
What would you recommend to someone who wants to compete in Thre3style?
Before Thre3style, I did tricks and played records for fun, but it was never really thought out. When I joined Thre3style, I really had to sit down and think what are the types of sounds that make me who I am and what are the kinds of songs, genres and vibes that I like personally. Thre3style works best for the DJ when they are really honest about themselves, because to me, that's what shows off their personality the most. If a DJ goes in and just tries to play every hit record, it's fine, but it won't leave a lasting impression. When one goes in with songs they really like, even if not the most popular, they sort of tell a story of who they are and show their personality through those records. I think that's most effective — it'll give you a head start and will have people paying attention to who you are.
What are some of the current DJ trends?
EDM sort of took over the US a couple of years ago and the festivals are still going strong, but some of the line-ups are getting redundant and it's becoming harder for the bigger clubs to book these artists because they cost too much. Bringing in an open format DJ is less expensive and they can play for a wider audience, so we're starting to see the trend switch back to more open format DJing, which is less focused on EDM. It seems like we're finally getting away from the tone play stuff. I was doing that in 2012 and we saw a ton of it in 2013-14 and it was overkill. We're getting back to really organic, real DJing, and it's good to know that people haven't forgotten about everything else, too.
Any pointers for throwing a really good party?
The best parties are just the most organic, with people being really honest about what they really like and not throwing them just because they're the hot thing. When a small group starts something because they really like it and more people go to it, it's real.
Most parties develop when there's a new idea or new sound they like but no one else is doing it. You can feel it that people are there to celebrate something they really like, as opposed to, 'Oh a new club opened and it's the biggest club, let's all go there'. When it starts to grow within the community, all the neighbourhood kids will go — not because it's the place to be seen, but because they want to come have fun. When you do that long enough, it grows big and gets a buzz around it, which gets to the point of touring on the road and going to different cities. That's how my friend and I started our dance parties — no one else was really doing this really open dance party with punk music, disco, house, techno and weird rap songs. We had a couple of friends that liked to come over to dance to all the weird records we liked to play and now it's a big thing.
DJing used to imply a high degree of skill, but today it is often seen as simple track selection. What do you have to say about this?
I think track selection can be the highest skill. I still think that if somebody is picking great tracks but has very little skill, they'll probably still set off a party better than someone who plays really well but plays awful music. That said, the technical side of it is just as important, as long as you do both well. It's not something you can learn overnight. The difference between a good DJ and a great DJ is that perfect balance between the technical and the right selection. If you can find that, you're going to have a good night.
Tomorrow is the last day to apply for the Red Bull Thre3style competition. Visit www.redbull.com/thre3stylethailand for details.
