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He’s grrrrrrreat!
We catch up with audio-video marvel DVJ Mo Tiger, presenter of a new Channel 4 show and judge at this year's Palme DJ Competition in Dubai.
- PUBLISHED: Wed 27 Apr 2011, 9:31 AM UPDATED: Thu 22 Aug 2024, 12:32 PM
He takes us through his unusual method of mixology
BECOMING A DJ
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“I started 16 years ago when I was a music shop supervisor. I was mixing on CDs, records and even tapes for things like birthdays and wedding parties…whatever function I could get. I had to return everything back to the shop before it opened the next day, so you can imagine how difficult it was back then! No software, no mp3s – I had to carry boxes of music”
NEXT STEP: DVJ
“That's a 'disc video jockey' – a new art form which is a step forward from DJing. It's a combination of audio mixing, video mixing and adding visual effects all at the same time, so you can imagine how tough it is. You have to use your imagination, eyes, ears, hands…everything all at once, especially if you're performing live”
VISUALISE THIS
“I've always been crazy about visuals, and the idea of blending audio and video was in my head for a long time. I used to bring a DVD player to gigs, and I would try to sync everything together. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't, but it always got the crowd's attention. That was before actual DVJ equipment came out in 2004 in Europe. I had difficulty getting the equipment, so I came up with a solution using a DVD player and two mixers, one that supports audio and one that supports video”
DUH…WINNING
“After winning the Middle East DJ competition in 2007, I flew to the UK and performed alongside the world's best DJs. But none of them was a DVJ, and whoever I asked about it said they weren't interested because of the amount of work involved. That was one of the main reasons I decided to carry on with it and take it to the next level”
ON UPDATING HIS VIDEO SHOW
“It's just the same as any DJ updating his audio music library. The only difference is when there's a track I like so much and I feel it's going to rock the dancefloor, but I can't find the right video clip to go with it. That's where I have to be creative and make a video for it. I film people dancing in clubs and blend it with some visual effects, or even chop off some movie parts or cartoons and there you go – hours of work but the result is good”
DJ IDLE
“Nowadays software has made it so easy for everyone to become a DJ or even a DVJ, but I still see lazy DJs not finding time to build video mixing sets and perform them. That's my new job – to encourage the talent in all DJs simply by performing video sets in front of them and asking them to do the same thing. I think it's working”
YEAR OF THE TIGER
“In the last 12 months, I've been doing audio and video production, event organising and lecturing. I have about 263 DJing students, male and female, and I'm proud of every single one of them”
UPCOMING PLANS
“I'm very interested in creating videos for my future album. My plan, which I've been working on for some time now, is to open my own company. It's going to be all-in-one – everything that's useful to all those hidden local talents out there, uniting them and taking good care of them. Will keep y'all posted on that very soon!”
ON SUPPORTING TEXAS RAPPER CHAMILLIONAIRE IN DUBAI
“It was cool, except the organisers made a mistake by asking me to perform after him. I stole the show – video mixing till the end of the night, with a couple of live video remixes of Chamillionaire's tracks. The crowd went crazy, which made him interested in meeting me the next day to discuss doing future business with him. I won't forget when he said, 'I never expected to see someone from the other side of the world doing what you did homie…man you killed it!'”
MO AND MOE PRESENT A SHOW
“I have a new show called Yalla Mix on 104.8 Channel 4 FM, from 9pm till midnight alongside DJ Moe from the station. It's live, mixing not only all genres of music but all cultures and languages. Local listeners or web listeners from outside the country can dare me to play and mix their favourite tunes live on air”
adam@khaleejtimes.com