MELBOURNE INSTRUCTOR

DJ PERPLEX (2006 Australian DMC DJ Champion)

What and/or who inspired you to be a battle dj?

Well I’m a Hip Hop head first and foremost, that’s how I came across Battle DJing! As well as being inspired by local DJ’s. Melburn has some of the worlds dopest. Guys like DJ Jred and Selekt who were killing it around the time I started. They did an all Turntablism show on Kiss FM that I used to tape every week. They would get the illist DJ’s on to cut it up live, it was a big inspiration! 

what was your first battle and what did you place?

My first battle was the Victorian DMC Championships 2004 and I took it out first go which fueled my hunger for more titles.

Your crew with J Red (current world champ) and G Smooth are the only solid crew in Australia at the moment and seem to be a crew with a wealth of talent. Tell us a bit about how you and the fingatrix team formed.

I first met Jred through going to Street Science, a hip hop workshop in the South East suburbs.  He encouraged me to keep practicing hard and showed me a few things here and there, turned out we had a similar taste and passion for it and started hooking up more and more to jam.  We met Gsmooth through mutual friend, Dj Devastate, he had the tightest drumming around and could cut up a kick and a snare for half an hour without missing a beat, so we got him on board quick smart. 

How often do you guys hook up and train together?
Every now and again.  If we are doing show cases or leading up to a battle, then a couple of times a week.

How do you guys feel when it comes time to battling each other in single formats? Do you help each other or is it a case of no communication till the battle is over?

Ahh, that’s a bit of a tricky one, I like to hook  up with the fellas and bounce ideas back and forth, some of the other guys like to keep it straight staunch, its just a personal thing.

What did you think of the standards of the Aussie finals this year?

The highest ever, the level of skill was definitely up there with the world standard.  People still need to strive for more originality musically.  It’s the best it’s ever been.

I noticed you like to keep to yourself before a battle performance. How do you prep before a battle and what helps you to focus on the prize?

The best preparation I do is just intense training.  If I’m 100 percent confident in what I’m gonna throw down on wax, then I don’t even have to think about it, I just glide through it.  If there are any problems on the night, I got it locked down because I know the whole routine so well.

What was the first thought on your mind when the winner was announced at the Aussie finals?

I felt like I deserved it.  It felt good that hard work and persistence pays off.

There was a lot of media hype leading up to the Aust Finals, are you finding a lot of media attention now that you've won? and are you planing any tours when you come back from the worlds?

Yes, there’s been lots of attention, its great.  There will be an Australian tour, but we are just in the process of locking everything in at the moment.

What inspires you to come up with new ideas for routines?

Wanting to better myself and develop my style.  I’ve been inspired a lot lately by the stuff the European guys are doing.  On the internet, you can get access to what everybody is doing so easily, its great.  I’m also inspired by what I see local djs doing.

What do you look for in a record when you're piecing together a routine ?

An intro, an outro, a body with super phat sounds that will sound ill on a big club system.  It’s all gotta be super tight and well produced.

Who are your all time favorite battle DJs?

DJs: Birdy Nam Nam, A-Trak, D-Styles, ISP, X-Ecutioners, Dirty Duo, Steve-D, Toadstyle, Staen 1, Ricci Rucker, Cash Money, DJ Mudbut, Beat Junkies, Craze, Klever, DJ Dexta, Shadow, Noize, Dj Bonez, Allies, Scratch Perverts, Lordz of Fitness, C2C, 2 Tall, DJ Ransom, Kentaro, Ie Merge, Prowla, Tigerstyle, Z Trip, DJ KC, Cut Chemist, G Smooth!

There was a good crowd at this year's comp but attendance to these tablist events seem to be decreasing every year and many older battle Djs claim that the art is dying. Where do you see this art going and where would you like to see it go ?

I like to see it brought back to the masses with a more accessible style and more entertaining for people not up on all the tech stuff.  I think over the last few years the biggest leap in turntablism has been a technical one but I that it is now slowly shifting and the direction is becoming more musical.  This is a good thing and where it needs to go.

Any advise to young upcoming tablists that wants to break into the battle circuit?

Practise hard, be dedicated, know your history, have fun.