My Favorite Boston DJs

I need to introduce you to some of my favorite current Boston DJs. I'm always amazed when I talk about other DJs and people don't know who I'm talking about. A person will ask me "who's spinning at such-and-such club?" I tell them and 97.7% of the time it's "who?" In the late 80s through early 2000s, most DJs doing parties in the New England-area were well-known, and headlined 600 to 1000 person events. Nowdays the scene is completely fragmented… there are a hundred thousand little parties featuring a hundred thousand nameless, faceless DJs. It's all about the club, not about the DJ.

So here is my hit list of Boston DJs. These are the people I can listen to, can cosign for, would pay money to hear spin and would recommend for any job I turn down!

DJ Hectik
Hectik has grown so much even in just the 5 months I've been back in Boston from Dayton, OH. I'm not afraid to say I go to listen to him to make sure I'm up on my Top-40 Dance music. He is at the forefront of a new style of music that we haven't seen since the late 80s/early 90s… uptempo pop dance music. Think Snap, C&C Music Factory, Stevie B, Rob Base, Black Box. Now substitute LMFAO, Flo Rida, Pitbull, DJ Class, Black Eyed Peas, and all the different mashups. He's smooth with the mix, doesn't overpower the mix with scratches, rocks the mic when he needs to and plays to his crowd. But I really became impressed when I heard him on his video mix show. He's sitting in his bedroom with a video camera trained on him and his tables, and he's just playing joints. I realized that he is not a one trick pony… he can play Hip-Hop with the best of them! (Where you can hear DJ Hectik: Tuesdays-Rumor; Wednesdays-Wonder Bar; Thursdays-http://www.ClubKillaRadio.com, Revolution Rock Bar; Fridays-Rumor; Saturdays-Venu; Sundays-Orchid… yes he really does work that much!)

Gee-Spin
Even though Gee has moved on to New York to help program Power 105.1, he is still doing special events in the city. I still remember going to Cosmopolitan back in the mid-90s, hearing all this great old school soul & funk being played, then looking behind the tables and seeing a red-headed white boy! He is one of the few DJs who has proven he can play to ANY crowd, and is unafraid to either play a new song he knows will be a hit, or slip in a classic you forgot you jammed to back in the day. And the funniest thing? Like myself, he doesn't talk on the mic much in the club, but became a top-rated on-air radio personality! Actually, out of all the DJs I've ever heard, he comes the closest to sounding like I sound… smooth mixes, every song is better than the last, crazy music library and the experience to know what and when to play something. (Where you can hear Gee-Spin: special events; overnights-http://www.power1051fm.com)

The DJ Chubby Chub
Boston has a love/hate relationship with Chub, but every superstar has their haters. And yes, he is a superstar! He is the classic Hip-Hop DJ… LOUD talkin' shit on the mic, aggressive scratching, droppin' hit after hit (he's not Mr. Heatrocks for nothing!). But don't sleep on Chub's music knowledge. Chub and I spent many days at Hot 97.7 in Boston talking about R&B, slow jams, Neo-Soul, House, Rock (ask him about his rock crate!). He is too big for Boston, quite frankly. He is on the level of a Kid Capri or DJ AM, and with the moves that he is making behind the scenes, it is only a matter of time before he is making that Capri/AM money. I'm just trying to be his Technician the DJ! (Where you can hear Chubby Chub: Saturdays-360 Ultra Lounge; special events around the globe; (soon) Hot 97.5-Boston)

DJ Kon
Just because a DJ is not a household name doesn't mean he is not an excellent DJ. DJ Kon's strength is the insane knowledge of music history he possesses. Digging in the crates doesn't do him justice. He is a musical archeologist… going to the ends of the earth to uncover obscure tracks that have been sampled in many of our favorite Hip-Hop and R&B songs. He can play an entire night of just sampled songs! But what elevated Kon to one of my favorite DJs was hearing him the last couple of times I was at the Blue Wave. I never thought he could pull back and rock a party playing identifiable songs… I thought his need to expose those rare grooves caused him to play over the crowd's head. But at the Blue Wave he played hits… and when he stretched out, it was to play something we forgot we loved, like Another One Bites The Dust or Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. He goes on the list! (Where you can hear DJ Kon: alternate Fridays/Saturdays-The Blue Wave; alternate Saturdays-Middlesex Lounge; special events)

DJ Deja
Deja has come into her own recently. She has always been an in-demand DJ both locally and nationally, but in the past 8 years she has grown from getting gigs because of the novelty of being a female DJ and being great at promoting herself to becoming a great DJ, period. We spin together at Saint once a month, and quite frankly, I only do it because she's a talented DJ. I've spun too many times with other DJs where when I get off the tables, the drop-off in quality is glaring, and people are begging me to get back in the DJ booth! She has the unique ability to play songs that are left-of-center and make it work because she knows her crowds and reads the vibe so well. She truly leads her crowd on a musical journey that is enjoyable to experience. But she has one problem… and it's a good problem to have; she makes so much money doing weddings and private corporate functions that she doesn't do a lot of clubs anymore. So you better catch her when you can! (Where you can hear DJ Deja: Saint-Saturdays (once a month); X-Mix syndicated mixshows)

The Incredible DJ "Big Chicago" Reggie Beas (of course I have to put myself in there!)
I'm not being egotistical putting myself on this list. What other DJ in Boston is still relevant who started spinning in clubs in the 80s! I'm the Tim Wakefield of club DJs… Tim is a consistent winner, been around for years, can fill any position on the roster effectively, and makes his club better in a number of ways, not always in the most obvious (BTW, Tim Wakefield is a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox). I consistently rock crowds, can play anything from Old School Funk/Soul/Disco to Hip-Hop/R&B/Reggae to Dance/House/Top-40 to Rock/New Wave/Classic Rock, been on the radio as a mixer, on-air personality and program director, and leave people thinking "damn, I had a great time at this club," even though they may not attribute that directly to me. That is because my greatest strength is my greatest curse… I'm so technically precise on the tables I fade into the background. I pride myself in every transition being exactly right, but it makes me sound like a mix CD produced in the studio instead of a DJ playing live for a crowd. That's great for radio mixshows… I'm one of the cleanest mixshow DJs I've ever heard, and that's including syndicated DJs on Superadio and DJs I grew up listening to in Chicago. But in the club I need to dirty it up, make people notice me behind the decks. Chubby is probably one of my biggest fans. He is forever telling me I'm better than almost everyone else out there, so there is no reason why I can't be touring like he is.

That drives me every day.

(Where you can hear me spin: Thursdays-Tamboo Ultra Lounge; Saturdays-Saint (once a month); Sundays-OM Lounge; special events; http://LOTOS.podOmatic.com; http://25Plus.podOmatic.com; http://AdvancedDanceTherapy.podOmatic.com; http://ReggieBeas.podOmatic.com)