United DJ Mixing School (Melbourne, Sydney)

UNITED DJ MIXING SCHOOL OFFERING
FREE 7 WEEK DJ COURSE IN SYDNEY 2020

United DJ Mixing School in conjunction with Last Minute Productions and City of Sydney

proudly presents

FREE BEGINNER DJ COURSES at REDFERN COMMUNITY CENTRE

(Applicants will be interviewed for eligibility. Preferences will be given to disadvantage youth)

To apply fill out your details >here< and we will contact you !

Ph: 1300660987 Email: admin@djsunited.com.au

:: INTERVIEW WITH MIXMASTER MIKE - DJ KC ::

Mixmaster Mike, like many turntablists was inspired by “Grandmixer DST”, the DJ behind Herbie Hancock’s 80’s hit “Rokit”. He was fascinated by the sound of the scratch and how the turntables were being used as an instrument to create a melodic tune. “I was so hypnotised by the art that I just wanted to take things into my own hands.” That’s exactly what he did and the rest was history. Mike is the DJ for ‘The Beastie Boys’. “I don't think I'd do it for any other band besides the Beasties because I've been a long time fan of the Beasties Boys, and when that opportunity came it was like a blessing.” For Mike the breakthrough came when he met MC A ‘Adam Yauch’ at the Rock steady anniversary show in NY. “When he wasn’t home I would leave scratch messages on his answering machine which started the whole shit.” And it was definitely a perfect match with them both having mutual respect for each other. Coming from the old school the beasties would constantly highlight the DJ in all their shows and Mike would always perform a mind blowing solo set. “Big respect to those guys you know, they really appreciate the workings of what's going on and they provided me a great platform to do what I do and kinda preach the art and show the kids that don't know what the turntable is capable of doing.” Even though Mike has retired from Battling, he continually contributes a great deal to the progression of the turntablist scene and gives respect to all that plays a role in it from the past to the present. “In order to know where you're at you have to know where it started. Peace to Kool Herc, Grand wizard Theodore, and Flash. Man if it wasn't for Herc, we wouldn't be here. Look how far we’ve come. More ...
Mixmaster Mike will be performing with the Beastie Boys on Friday 28th January at The Hordern Pavilion.

:: UNITED DJ MIXING SCHOOL PRESENT DJ KOOL HERC - THE FOUNDER OF HIP HOP AUSTRALIAN TOUR ::

The legendary DJ Kool Herc is consistently credited as the founder of Hip-Hop. His mastery on the decks is known worldwide, as are his positive contributions to the evolution of Hip-Hop culture. Herc has received a great deal of recognition including being highlighted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. The peoples' Hall of Fame Award and certificate from Govenor Mario Cumo were given to Herc in 1994 for establishing the roots of Hip-Hop in the City of New York. His photograph and Bio hangs permanently in The Museum of the City of New York and is always being profiled in countless magazines and books on Hip-Hop culture. The 2002 issue of TIME magazine credited DJ Kool Herc for being an innovative music founder of Hip-Hop, along with Elvis Presley for Rock 'N' Roll, Louis Armstrong for Jazz and Bill Monroe for Bluegrass.
Though his role as the inventor of the Hip-Hop phenomenon is known worldwide, the Bronx is still home base for DJ Kool Herc. He is still very active in the circuit, DJing in New York, UK, Gremany, France, Ireland, Denmark, Italy and for the first time ever this October 2004 - Australia ! Supporting national acts include DJ Peril (of the 1200 Techniques), many local DJ's, live Breakers (Old School All Stars: Defwish, Sereck, Swipa, Mathmatics, Top Kat, Monsta Rok - Syd), Wickid Force - Melb, Skill@Will - Brisbane and live Graffiti by Mystery.

Come and witness history in the making as The Father of HIP HOP - The Man, The Music, The Legend – takes us back to where it all started !

KOOL HERC TOUR DATES :

Sunday 17th October - Gaelic Club (Sydney), after party Suzie Q's

Monday 18th October - FREE DJ Seminar @ United DJ Mixing School (Sydney)

Wednesday 20th October - FREE DJ Seminar @ United DJ Mixing School (Melbourne)

Wednesday 20th October - Prince of Wales, Melbourne

Thursday 21st October - Tivoli, Brisbane

Friday 22nd October - Heaven Night Club, Adelaide

Saturday 23rd October - Monkey Bar, Perth

:: ON THE WHEELS OF STEEL ::

The legendary Grand Master Flash
We all witnessed the show, now here is a brief background on the Turntable Legend of all time.

Grand Master Flash's influences came from a man name Kool Herc who was a Jamican born that migrated to the states in the late 60's. He brought with him a style called Jamican "Toasting" which is an adaptation of a much older african tribal tradition of recounting stories. In the 70's Kool Herc would DJ at the parks of the Bronx, N.Y (Block Parties) and use 2 turntables to cut back and forth two separate records to create a new sound, and at the same time he would shout over the mic "Throw ya hands in the air, and wave them like you just don't care". As he focused more on the decks, he brought in two friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent to jump on the mic to get the crowd participation and enthusiasm going. Because Rap was not defined yet, they were classified as the first MC/ DJ Team under the name of Kool Herc and the Herculoids. The parks later became a traditional place for DJ Competitions where the winner was the DJ with the loudest Sound system. Africa Bambbatta (Founder of the Zulu Nation) was also a key figure in these parks bringing over 20 crates of records to every set. He was known for having the biggest record collection and constantly would suprise the audience with throwing in records they would not expect. More on Bam ..
When Flash, as a kid named Joseph Saddler came into the parks and saw Kool Herc play, he was fasinated by what he was doing but felt that something was missing. So he would go home and practise for a whole year and developed what he called a "quick mix theory". He would do things that had never been done before like extending the "Break" usually a 4 bar instrumental section of the song and extend it by using two copies of the same track and spinning back and forth, replaying the same 4 bars.

This method then later became the original accompaniment to the rap. Through his passion of electronics and having an electronics degree, he also invented the "cue system" on his mixer. This would allow the DJ to hear the next record in the headphones before it being heard on the P.A System. With all this amunition behind him, he nicknamed himself as Grandmaster Flash (from the influence of "Grand Master" Bruce Lee) and stepped up to the parks with his incredible techniques. To his surprise, instead of the crowd going crazy they would stand there and watch him with total fasination as it was something totally new. This was not what he wanted, so later on he brought the mic along and asked the local kids to rap over what he was doing. Keith Wiggins, known as "Cowboy" (R.I.P) stepped and would hook up with Flash at every park he played at. Within just 6 months, 4 other rappers joined the team : Kid Creole, Mr. Ness, Rahim and Melle Mel. They officially debuted in late 1976 as Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. Rap progressed through many tapes that floated throughout the Bronx and finally in 1979 the term Hip Hop was coined with the release of Rappers Delight by Sugarhill Gang which sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
Then came along a definate historic moment for Hip Hop and the DJ Culture, the release of Grand Master Flash's "Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheels of Steel" in 1981. Flash combined scratching with his quick mixing skills to blend tracks like Blondie's "rapture", Queen's "Another one bited the dust", and Chic's "Good Time" in a way that was out of this world for it's time, and shocked the whole music industry. With this popularity, Sugarhill Records soon released their next hit "The Message" in 1982 which sold over 1 Million copies. This was the first rap record to break away from lyrics of 'who is the better MC, etc.' and concentrate on what was really going on in the ghettos of America. The same year, they also released the classic B Boy Track "Scorpio". But behind the scenes, all was not what it seemed.

Sugarhill records had a major impact on the group and was calling most of the shots. Most of the raps on "The Message" was actually done by Duke Bootee "Ed Fletcher" (Sugarhill's percussionist) and Melle Mel with the verse "A child is born" from an earlier track "Superrappin". Flash hated the fact that it was advertised as "Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five featuring Melle Mel and Duke Bootee" because the whole Furious five was not involved in the track. Regardless of who had a better voice or writing skills he wanted each of the members to make each other shine. Unfortunately, Flash didn't have much say and it was left in the form with Melle Mel and Duke Bootee. Sugarhill like most record companies continued to tell the group which direction to take and soon Flash decided to leave, taking Kid Creole and Rahiem with him. They signed up with Elektra Records while Melle Mel stayed with Sugarhill, leading the remaining group as Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five. Sugarhill later decided on a anti-cocaine campaign with the group and they released "White Lines - Don't do it" in 1983. It was ironic that around the same time Flash started getting addicted to cocaine.

Flash quickly overcame the addiction and recorded a lot of underground hit albums for electra. Melle Mel later finally felt the exploitation of Sugarhill and decided that Flash was right, and the group was reformed in 1987 with the album 'On the strength'.
Today Grandmaster Flash is still actively in the DJ/ Turntablist scene with many residencys, tours and hosts a radio show on New York's WBLS doing what he does best, Scratching, cutting and spinning the "wheels of steel". Australia welcomes the Grand Master to new adventures down under !

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