Interviews

This week’s spotlight is with Gospel House DJ, Frankie Vibe. My husband and I have had multiple opportunities to spend time with Frankie and I’m being honest in saying that he’s one of the most interactive, entertaining DJs I’ve ever known. I hope you enjoy this look into the man behind the speakers!

This week I’m excited to introduce you to Kevin Oneel from Birmingham, Alabama. He’s  great guy with a great vision and (not to mention) a great live radio show Friday nights on boost.fm!

This week I have the privilege of sharing my interview with Vancouver’s Joel Armstrong. I’ve known Joel for a few years now and have always enjoyed his music. I hope you will too!

I’m extremely excited to introduce you to one of my favorite artists, who I just happen to be friends with! Meet Fitzpatrick from Birmingham, Alabama.

This week I had the privledge of interviewing someone I met this summer, DJ Modulation from Arizona. I really enjoy his music and think that you will too. So here we go, an inside spotlight on a great Christian DJ.

TF: How did you get involved in electronic music?

I discovered synthesizers by way of Depeche Mode and New Order, after moving and living in the US for a couple of years. I had already been playing piano since the age of four, and had already been composing. I got heavily involved with synthesis after that. I started DJing when I was about 13, after seeing a couple of my Uncles mix at a family reunion. It all just kind of came together into one big musical pot for me. As far as house and techno, my older cousin Wayne, was DJing in college in New York and sent me a mix tape one summer. It was him DJing at a college radio station, with early house and techno; Todd Terry, Transmat stuff, etc… I was hooked.

Alex Bedwell headlined on Wednesday night playing progressive house. It was an amazing set. We were able to sit down with him a few days later to chat about his set, his music and his label, Pastdeux Music.
TF: So how was headlining this year?

Time one. 45 minutes compared to 2 hours. Also when you are animated as I am, that tends to wear you down. I love to dance, jump up and down and yell. My music selection was very different. I thought I brought enough music but 2 hours ate up more than I thought. I will greatly diversify my music when I play out from now on. It was a lesson to have to play what I was going to play after the last DJ.

TF: You weren't booked to play at Afterhours. How did you manage to get to play this year?

It is actually a pretty long story. But basically I was planning on coming and just playing for the Gospel for Asia stage. So I had my gear and everything and was sort of prepared to play. I was planning on playing a hard hitting electro set. When Dave Richards and the Birmingham crew picked me up from the airport in Peoria, I asked them how Justin was doing and if they had figured out who was going to play. That’s when they told me that they wanted me to open for Alex Bedwell. I was pretty amazed. It was bittersweet though, since the only reason I was able to play was because Justin had emergency surgery. I was excited to play, but saddened because of how it happened.

Brother Brooks opened for Topher Jones on Tuesday night. His set set the stage for Topher Jones to rock the house. We sat down with him a few days later and talked to him about his set, Aesias Finale and TekTak Music.
TF: You were brought on pretty late in the game. Was it difficult to have so little time to prepare?

I didn’t really have time to learn the in ands outs really. I just sort of had to put together a set that I knew was going to make the house to crazy before Topher Jones got on. They had told me there would a lot of indie music fans and Birmingham had sort of these indie nights and electro just sort of goes well with that. I practiced for like 2-3 hours each day. I just had it in my mind that it would be flawless; I didn’t want to let anyone down. I am a firm believer that you set yourself up for success so that’s what I did.

TF: What were your expectations for your performance this year?

Honestly, I had a lot of expectations prior to the festival. I wanted to do a set that progressed from tribal and electro into more tech house where I could just hand things off smoothly to Stryke and let him do his thing. Once I got to the fest and got into “stage manager” mode, I didn’t have time to think about what I was going to do or anything. Fortunately, I had a few days to watch the crowd to see if they had changed from last year and to focus on my set. In the end, I played what I felt like playing which turned out to be more electro than anything. Once again, I was shocked to see how fast and hour and a half passes.