Scratch DJ Academy Opens 1-Week Summer Sessions
Scratch DJ Academy’s Summer Sessions are now open for registration. The courses last one week and cover the same material as the standard 6-week courses. These courses are ideal for students from out of town or who would rather learn in an intensive setting.

NEW YORK
July 11th – 15th, 2005
August 8th – 12th, 2005

LOS ANGELES
June 20th – 25th, 2005
July 11th – 16th, 2005

SPRING TERM II REGISTRATION NOW AVAILABLE
Spring Term II classes are now open for registration in both New York and Los Angeles. Courses will once again feature celebrity DJ’s including Mr. Choc, GrandWizzard Theodore, Excess, Grandmaster Caz and more.

NEW YORK
Courses start on Saturday May 7th.
Register Now>>

LOS ANGELES
Courses start on Saturday May 14th.
Register Now>>

SCRATCH - LA SPRING SEMESTER SHOWCASE: SATURDAY, APRIL 30th, 1-4pm.
Scratch DJ Academy LA will be showcasing the DJ skills of its latest students & professors on April 30th, 2005.  If you're on the West Coast, this event is a great way to sample the stylings of LA's newest DJs coming out of the Spring Semester I classes, while professors and celebrity guest DJs perform live! Want to learn more about Scratch LA? This event is also an Open House for prospective students and their friends. Come through for FREE DJ tutorials! Please RSVP: info-la@scratch.com>>

SCRATCH - NYC ELECTRONIC MUSIC WORKSHOP: WEDNESDAY APRIL 27th, 7-9pm.
On Wednesday, April 27th Scratch DJ Academy will be hosting a 2-hour electronic music workshop where participants will learn the skills and concepts behind electronic music mixes.  Designed for beginner to advanced DJ's, the workshop will be taught by acclaimed DJ, producer and EUMOR label owner DJ Whatt.  In addition to all students receiving hands on instruction, participants will receive a complimentary package of 5 EMUOR records as a takeaway.  For more information or to sign up, please email info@scratch.com.>>

SCRATCH STUDENTS PERFORM AT TABLE 50
Two Scratch DJ Academy students will be performing at Table 50 on April 15th, 8-10pm. As part of the DJ 151 and DJ INT curriculum in New York, two students are selected each month to open at Table 50, one of the hottest clubs in New York City and recently ranked as the number one dance spot.

J-Smoke

J-Smoke is one of the original members of the world famous DJ crew, the Allies. With credits such as 1999 ITF World Team Champion and 2000 DMC World Team Finalist, J-Smoke has already established himself on the international turntablist stage.  He is also one of the publishers of Tablist magazine, the first magazine dedicated to the hip-hop DJ culture.  Along with working on the magazine, he continues to make mix CD's and teach classes at Scratch DJ Academy. 

Scratch: How exactly did you get in DJing? When did you decide to become a DJ?
 
J-Smoke:  I became a DJ around ’95-’96. That’s when I first really got exposed to actual tables and got to mess around on them. I’ve always wanted to be a DJ ever since I was in high school when I listened to the Stretch Armstrong Show on WKCR. Once I went to college, my best friend’s roommate was a DJ and he basically showed me the basics of mixing and a couple of tricks.
 
Scratch: Who was your main influence? What was your inspiration for becoming a DJ?
 
J-Smoke: Well, there were different levels to my influences… before I met anyone (other DJ’s or in my crew) my main influences were the X-Men, Beat Junkies & Invisibl Skratch Pikz. They were the main guys who were on all the videos and what not. Once I got down with Develop & Spictakular, they became my main influences because they were light years ahead of me in terms of scratching and juggling.
 
Scratch: How did you and The Allies come together?
 
J-Smoke: Back in 97 I was in a crew with Develop, Spictakular, Rich Supreme, IXL, Spin One, Supadave and Craze called the Turntable Krash Dummiez. Craze was also in a crew from Miami w/Infamous, Fiendish and some other cats called the Tekmasterz. One day me, Develop, Craze and Spictakular were chilling and we were like “Let’s come up w/a super crew with guys from all over where we would just run everything.” And so the four of us along with Infamous made up the original Allies. After the 1998 DMC World Finals, Craze had met A-Trak and invited him to join. And after the 2000 DMC World Finals we invited Klever to join.
 
Scratch: How did you learn to DJ? What did you do to practice? What did you do to get better?
 
J-Smoke: I learned by practicing a whole lot by myself. I used to practice about 4-5 hours daily. I didn’t have anyone I could learn from except videos. I tried to practice everything, mixing, scratching, juggling but it was really hard because I didn’t have any direction. Not until I met Develop and Spictakular who showed me a lot about juggling and scratching and creating routines.
 
Scratch: Why did you get into battling?
 
J-Smoke: I saw the X-Men X-ercise video and the Turntable Wizardry video with the Skratch Piklz and the Beat Junkies and I was basically like, “I want to do THAT.”
 
Scratch: You have a won or come close to winning some of the biggest team battle titles in the world. Why the focus on the Team category?
 
J-Smoke: The team category was something that we felt that we could really do good with, especially since the solo things were good for us, but the team battles made the crew name more established as a whole. Kind of like, “we can hold down solo AND teams.” Like in 2000, DMC split the US team category into two battles, the east coast and west coast competitions. The two winners would represent the US in the finals so we split the crew into two and won both battles so the only two teams representing the US that year were the Allies.
 
Scratch: If you had to pick one moment in your DJ career as the highlight, what would you point to?
 
J-Smoke: 1999 as a whole was great for me because we won the ITF World title for the teams that year, but before we got to the final battle we had to compete in the Western Hemisphere battle and the competition that year was heavy. It was The Allies, Turnstylez from Canada, IF2 and the Finger Bangerz from California. Turnstylez had beaten us the following year so we were really hyped to go against them again. The other thing was, was that the finals for the ITF’s that year was in Hawaii and the whole crew rolled to the battle with Hawaiian shirts on and when one of the judges asked us what was up with the shirts we just answered “Cause we’re going to Hawaii.” Which we did that year and won the worlds.
 
Scratch: Having been in the DJ game for years, what would you tell people who are just getting into this art form?
 
J-Smoke: It’s a lot of work. On all levels. It’s a lot of practicing. You’re going to spend most of your time practicing and once you get good enough to spin out or compete or whetever, you then have to work on you marketing skills to get your name out more.
 
Scratch: How did you get to be the publisher of Tablist magazine?
 
J-Smoke: Actually the magazine was founded by Infamous a couple of years ago. Basically, he couldn’t keep the magazine going by himself so he asked me to help and with the help of my partner Nik, we kind of resurrected it. At the time, it was strictly a scratch DJ magazine, but what me and Nik did was expand it’s outlook to cover everything hip-hop related, from scratch DJ’s to mixtape to club to radio. And it’s for everyone from the hardcore fan to people who are just interested in DJing, because it covers everything about the culture as well as the people who are movers and shakers in the industry.
 
Scratch: Anything else we should know about?
 
J-Smoke: I mean besides the magazine, I make mixtapes semi-regularly a lot of times with 5th Platoon’s Daddy Dog. I am also involved in a new affiliation/crew with Klever, Shotgun & DJ Presto and we are called Crate Bullies. We are going to be releasing mixtapes and other projects under this name. I also help teach at the Scratch DJ Academy. And finally, everyone should check out www.the-allies.com and www.tablistmag.com. Thanks!