Interview by Kyla Massey
I recently got the amazing chance to interview
DJ Irie, a Miami DJ who has gradually been taking
over sound waves from here to Jamaica. Born in St.
Croix, Irie was surrounded by music at a young age.
As a student, he was influenced by the dancehall culture
that surrounded his schooling at a Jamaican Boarding
School, where his roommate was none other than dancehall
superstar Sean Paul. I talked to Irie about where
his influences came from and how he uses those experiences
to mold his style of turntablism.
Scratch: How did
you get started in the music business?
IRIE: I started as a record collector.
I just loved the feel of the record, of putting
it on a turntable. Even if they had had cd’s back
then I would still have bought records (laughter).
So when I started I had this crazy record collection.
I had always loved music, and even before I ever
thought of DJ’ing I was going out and listening
to and collecting music. So one day a friend of
mine walked into my room. I had forgotten that I
had all my records around, they were everywhere,
on the floor, (he pauses and I imagine the floor
of a small dorm room covered in shimmering vinyl)…
they were everywhere.
When she came to my room she walked in and one of
the first things that she said when she sat down
was, “I didn’t know you were a DJ.” Now, I had never
touched a turntable in the DJ capacity before then.
But you know, I wanted to be cool, and I couldn’t
be cool and say, “Yeah girl, you know… I’m a record
connoisseur,” (laughter) so I was like, “yeah yeah
I’m a DJ."
So the conversation continues and all of a sudden
she starts talking about New Years [Eve] coming
up and she asks me if I have any plans. And I really
liked her so you know my response to that question
was, “nope no plans at all,” and I proceeded to
ask her if she did, and she, not hearing a word
that I said, turns to me and says “its settled then…
you’re DJ’ing my party."
I couldn’t believe
it. I tried to play it off and get out of it, I
had never DJ’ed in my life, and she was like "no,
no, it’s settled. You’re DJ’ing my party."
What
could I say? I had to go with it. I only had the
one turntable that I owned. I borrowed a turntable
over here, speaker over there, and thanks to a lot
of free alcohol for the guests, it turned out alright.
My first paid job, was for the general manager of
Planet Hollywood who happened to be my friend’s
father. He called a few days after the party and
asked if I would spin at the restaurant.
Scratch: What kind of DJ would you say you
were and how does that influence your style?
IRIE: I’ve gotten to witness a lot of types
of DJ’s but what I’ve noticed is that you have DJ’s
that go in there without any kind of plan, and adapt
to that plan. And then there are the DJ’s that already
have a plan and things don’t work out well.
I’m an extremely versatile DJ, I never really wanted
to be known as just one kind of DJ from the Arena
to television stuff the most important thing for
me that I want people to realize is that I consider
myself a live performance, you’re not just going
to get a guy putting on records and taking them
off. I’m jumping out the booth, I’m interacting
with the crowd, its damn near a live show. I’m all
over the place. I can play anything, hip-hop, 70’s
funk, country western, well maybe not all of country
western. Now, I worked at a country western bar
for a few years, don’t get that messed up… (laughter)
I can spin anything.
When I DJ’d that girl's party, I didn’t know that
I was going to be DJ’ing [the way I am] at that
moment, that night led to a planet Hollywood and
I kept it up through college. By my third year of
college I was paying for all of my education myself
because I lost my scholarship.
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I
was DJ’ing so much that I lost my scholarship and
I couldn’t let my parents find out so I paid for
school by DJ’ing during the nights, and it was actually
a blessing cause I was DJ’ing non-stop. I started
doing better in school cause I was paying for it
myself. And I realized after I noticed that whenever
I had free time, I was doing something with music.
I really thought to myself, “what could happen if
I really take my music seriously?”
Scratch: What in your background has influenced your music?
IRIE: All I know is Miami and Jamaica. I was
two when my family moved from Jamaica to the US and I went
back for school for four years. Those experiences helped
shape me into who I am today. I get my energy and my style
from the musicians that I saw coming up. If my first experience
with music were a DJ who was quiet and who would just put
on records, and let them play and then put on the next record,
then I would be a totally different DJ.
If you go in a stall into Jamaica you will see a DJ jumping
everywhere, creating that energy from the booth. I looked at
the microphone as a tool to get the party where it needs to be.
There is no way I could do what I do at the Heat and not be as
vocal as I am, you’re not going to get basketball fans being
shy and quiet.
Scratch: How did you get involved with Scratch?
IRIE: Rob [Principe, CEO] had heard and read
about me in magazines (before Scratch opened in
Miami), and we spoke and Rob said "I want to
get you involved with what we’re doing in Miami."
I never really understood about the curriculum and how
intricate it was before I got involved and we’ve been
getting a lot of media coverage, and a lot of people
interested ever since we started up [in MIA].
Scratch: What would you like to see happening with Scratch?
IRIE: Scratch in Miami, I would love for
Scratch to be that vehicle for people to discover
their love of music or DJ’ing, there are so many
people that are so caught up with their 9-5 or school
that haven’t had the opportunity to discover how
much music in general can influence their lives….
They’ve never had the chance to try it and discover
a talent and say… ‘this is what I’ve been looking
for all my life.’
The things that I’m doing now I never thought that
I would be doing in a million years, as a DJ or
being the first NBA DJ. I look at those turntables
and records and can say, these are the tools that
have opened so many doors because I’ve chosen to
work with these tools. I’ve never had more than
that, just me my turntables, my mixer, and my music.
Scratch: What was your view of music influenced by?
IRIE: I went to boarding school in Jamaica
for four years…We’d go out to hear a certain sound.
Every time I heard a song, I’d write it down and
the next morning I would buy the record. Sean and
I would be in our dorm rooms after school and we
would listen to the radio, I built a radio almost
from scratch, and he would sit there and he would
just play the beat from a song on the radio, and
he taught me how to do the same thing, and we would
go to his house. I always thought that he would
be a producer not an artist, he was so quiet, here
I am DJ’ing and Sean is singing and rapping.
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