Post by admin on Apr 26, 2008 15:49:03 GMT -5
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If you met Christopher Robinson, you might assume he's the creative type. Judging from his long dreadlocks and square-framed eyeglasses, you might also think he'd be an artist, musician, poet or a writer.
Those assumptions would be right. Robinson, a Freehold Borough resident, is an artist in two media; he is a painter and deejay. Kortez is the moniker by which he is known.
When Kortez isn't painting, he's mixing records and admits, "I'm guilty of only spinning for myself." That's not a bad thing; he gets to post his mixes on the locally owned label Cabana Recordings.
Kortez is combining his two beloved art forms into an upcoming show titled "Esoteric Urbanism" Thursday at the Blue Room Recording Studios in Freehold. We caught up with Kortez in his studio to talk about his unique view on the DJ scene at the Jersey Shore and why spinning still isn't taken seriously as an art form.
Q: How did you get started and when?
A: Back in the late '70s, my brother, who was a club head, used to tell me stories about the clubs in New York, like the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. It captivated me, especially the music. I used to sit by the stereo and listen to pause-tapes and to DJs like Mister Magic, Red Alert, Frankie Knukels and Todd Terry. So around 1983-1984, I spent about $200 to get SLB 100 belt-drive turntables and a Gemini mixer to start experimenting with sounds.
Q: How did you get the name Kortez?
A: I used to do graffiti back in the day. It became my tag. Plus, back then everybody was trying to be Latino. I use the letter K so Latinos would know right away that I wasn't Spanish.
Q: What genre of music do you prefer to spin?
A: I love spinning deep, soulful house music with a mixer of everything from Afro-beat, reggae, rock and jazz. In fact, I really don't just stay in one genre, I prefer to mix it because that's where the creativity comes in. In this day and age, the things you can mix are endless. I take the initiative to dig in the crates (for vinyl) and infuse the old stuff with the new.
Q: Will you ever stop using vinyl records?
A: I've been collecting records since before I started deejaying. I don't want to just sit and stare at my records, so to not utilize them doesn't make any sense. Plus, I love it when people come to see what record I'm spinning or when they flip through my crate of records and get nostalgic. I've noticed that the Europeans have a better appreciation for vinyl.
Q: Where are the best local venues to hear house music?
A: The Metropolitan Cafe in Freehold, Thursday through Saturday. My complaint about the club scene at the Shore is that the bottom line is all about money. Club owners/promoters make more with attracting patrons with popular music. So if you stray off the beaten path, they're not hiring you.
Q: Why do you think deejaying is not respected as a mainstream art form, especially here in America?
A: I've been pondering this question for a long time and don't really have a concrete answer. I'll say this: If the mainstream media doesn't see deejaying as a viable commodity to make a dollar, then they don't see it as a viable art from. Like when break dancing and hip-hop went mainstream, they became acceptable. But I feel that the best music in any genre is out of the mainstream. People play for the love rather than for money.
Q: How did you get hooked up with Cabana Recordings?
A: I used to work at a clothing store called Scream at the Freehold Raceway Mall. Their concept was to have a vintage-shop feel for kids who were in the rave scene. On weekends, they had an actual DJ spinning in store. The DJ's name was Justin Imperiale, who started Cabana Recordings. So he and I hooked up for the love of music. I've worked on some tracks for Cabana.
Q: How do you measure success?
A: Moderately! I've done just about everything. I always wanted to spin over in England, and in 2001, it became a reality. I got to spin on a pirate (unlicensed) radio station, so after that I can die a happy man.
If you met Christopher Robinson, you might assume he's the creative type. Judging from his long dreadlocks and square-framed eyeglasses, you might also think he'd be an artist, musician, poet or a writer.
Those assumptions would be right. Robinson, a Freehold Borough resident, is an artist in two media; he is a painter and deejay. Kortez is the moniker by which he is known.
When Kortez isn't painting, he's mixing records and admits, "I'm guilty of only spinning for myself." That's not a bad thing; he gets to post his mixes on the locally owned label Cabana Recordings.
Kortez is combining his two beloved art forms into an upcoming show titled "Esoteric Urbanism" Thursday at the Blue Room Recording Studios in Freehold. We caught up with Kortez in his studio to talk about his unique view on the DJ scene at the Jersey Shore and why spinning still isn't taken seriously as an art form.
Q: How did you get started and when?
A: Back in the late '70s, my brother, who was a club head, used to tell me stories about the clubs in New York, like the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. It captivated me, especially the music. I used to sit by the stereo and listen to pause-tapes and to DJs like Mister Magic, Red Alert, Frankie Knukels and Todd Terry. So around 1983-1984, I spent about $200 to get SLB 100 belt-drive turntables and a Gemini mixer to start experimenting with sounds.
Q: How did you get the name Kortez?
A: I used to do graffiti back in the day. It became my tag. Plus, back then everybody was trying to be Latino. I use the letter K so Latinos would know right away that I wasn't Spanish.
Q: What genre of music do you prefer to spin?
A: I love spinning deep, soulful house music with a mixer of everything from Afro-beat, reggae, rock and jazz. In fact, I really don't just stay in one genre, I prefer to mix it because that's where the creativity comes in. In this day and age, the things you can mix are endless. I take the initiative to dig in the crates (for vinyl) and infuse the old stuff with the new.
Q: Will you ever stop using vinyl records?
A: I've been collecting records since before I started deejaying. I don't want to just sit and stare at my records, so to not utilize them doesn't make any sense. Plus, I love it when people come to see what record I'm spinning or when they flip through my crate of records and get nostalgic. I've noticed that the Europeans have a better appreciation for vinyl.
Q: Where are the best local venues to hear house music?
A: The Metropolitan Cafe in Freehold, Thursday through Saturday. My complaint about the club scene at the Shore is that the bottom line is all about money. Club owners/promoters make more with attracting patrons with popular music. So if you stray off the beaten path, they're not hiring you.
Q: Why do you think deejaying is not respected as a mainstream art form, especially here in America?
A: I've been pondering this question for a long time and don't really have a concrete answer. I'll say this: If the mainstream media doesn't see deejaying as a viable commodity to make a dollar, then they don't see it as a viable art from. Like when break dancing and hip-hop went mainstream, they became acceptable. But I feel that the best music in any genre is out of the mainstream. People play for the love rather than for money.
Q: How did you get hooked up with Cabana Recordings?
A: I used to work at a clothing store called Scream at the Freehold Raceway Mall. Their concept was to have a vintage-shop feel for kids who were in the rave scene. On weekends, they had an actual DJ spinning in store. The DJ's name was Justin Imperiale, who started Cabana Recordings. So he and I hooked up for the love of music. I've worked on some tracks for Cabana.
Q: How do you measure success?
A: Moderately! I've done just about everything. I always wanted to spin over in England, and in 2001, it became a reality. I got to spin on a pirate (unlicensed) radio station, so after that I can die a happy man.