About me:
I am an old head Trance/House DJ from Bristol, PA, near Philadelphia.
I started spinning old school rap (like Run-DMC and Eric B) back in 1984 (yeah, I'm friggin old) I started on some old "cheapie" $99 Gemini turntables and a $50 NuMark mixer I got at one of Philly's many underground record stores that was opening due to the emergence of "rap" I put this setup in my basement, and my amp was a torn up, taped together Radioshack home stereo I trashpicked, and it was running thru old car speakers. It didn't matter, it made noise!!!! I used my headphones anyway, and it recorded tapes. That was enough!
Over the next couple years, I made "mixtapes" for myself and for my friends and of course they made mixtapes for me etc, lol. I sure wish I had a few of those old tapes to listen too and laugh at!!
My first gig was in 1986 with my friend Anthony (DJ Bodyguard) where we spun a high school grad party. I only spun for about 25-30 mins that night, but it was a lot of fun. I kept messing around on my old stuff, and gradually upgraded to somewhat decent equipment. In 1988 my father died suddenly, and I found myself homeless.
In
1989 I joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and got to see the
world!
After the Corps, I ended up living in New Orleans in the early 90's,
and used my buddy
Drew's
(DJ 3 A.M.) equipment when I was too poor to afford my own.
We had a nice club setup in our garage, and we used it a lot!
During
that time, Drew mostly stayed on the hip-hop path, but I began to
experiment with
"techno" after finding "Timebomb"
by 808 State
and giving it a spin.
I loved it!!! Borrowing from our limited
techno
collection, I made a few tapes, but each got better and
better. I followed the emerging rave scene around New Orleans
thru the early and mid 90's and befriended a few local DJ's and
observed their style and
technique and took inspiration from some of the best DJ's from that
part of
the country. (BTW
- A shout
out to the
REAL DJ Mary
Jane)
After
a few years of rattling around New Orleans, I moved BACK to
Philly
in 1995 and eventually hooked up
with my boy Vince H. (DJ Bink) I was amazed at how different
the
club/rave scene was in Philadelphia vs. New Orleans. Needing
to
shift
gears, we practiced for hours almost
every
day on on the turntables. We did a few parties/gigs together, both
large
and small from 1998
to 2002. After trying out some new sound programs, I
decided
to try
some computerized mastering, and then in 2000
I did
my first ALL synthetic mix.
An internet friend of mine asked if they could hear the mix, so I uploaded to a forum I belonged to, and ended up getting a ton of downloads from the forums members (and some good reviews too), So I decided that I'd make them available for anyone who wants them, all FREE!
After 15 years as a turntable purist, I was hooked on software. I could finally really dig deep into the mixes. My technique is the same, but I now have the tools to do a better job.
I bought www.djrezin.com in Jan of 2001 as a place to hold some mixes, and spread some music.
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I ran this show live on Fridays from 11pm until 1 am. from 2003 to 2006. This was a LOT of fun. The first half of the show was usually an hour or so mix, then the second hour was mini-mixes made up of requests and listener faves... Great fun! I really enjoyed interacting with the listeners! |
Some personal stuff - I was born in 1968 (you do the math) I am married to a wonderful woman, and I also have a beautiful daughter (see cover of Rezin8). I served in the Marine Corps from 1989-1992 as a "Combat Correspondent" tho I never saw any combat, but it was an interesting job. I just wasn't down with running 6 miles every other day, lol I did DJ a few times at the on-base clubs in Ft Harrison Indiana, Camp Butler - Okinawa Japan, and NSA New Orleans. I have been around the world, yet I ended up living back in my small town.
Thanks for taking a minute getting to know me!
-Rez
"Wasn't meeee!"
DJ "Abbey" takes over
the tables at a small house party (circa 1999)
The music is mixed using a number of methods including turntables, programs etc. But now with the great leaps in technology it is mostly computer mixed/mastered using several different programs to slice, dice mix, EQ and remix. I love the new tech because I can edit the music before and during a mix. Now I can edit out parts that I don't like or parts that don't fit with the mix. There is so much more that can be accomplished by this method, that it has become my preffered method. Personally, coming from a "2 turns and a mixer" background, I am amazed at how far you can take the craft with new tech!