DJ Schell releases latest promo

BY MARIA GALLUCCI
The News
Aug. 19, 2009

Just over a year since moving to Mexico City from Seattle, Jason Schell has found his place in the capital city’s deejay scene. Now, the full-time art teacher is now promoting his latest high-energy album, “DF Vibraciones” (“DF Vibrations”).

“I tend to throw down more mixes over the summer because I have the time,” Schell said from a café near his Colonia Roma apartment. “Recording a promo is a lot harder than playing live, because every little mistake will drive you crazy.”

DJ Schell, as he’s known on stage, said he spent several months sampling his records and about a week recording on his two laptops to produce the two-mix album, which he released earlier this month.

“Both make great soundtracks for speeding in your car, exercising at the gym, curing a hangover, dancing while you’re putting on your going-out clothes, etc.,” he wrote in a message announcing the promo’s release.

Mix One is a 23-minute fusion of scratching, hip-hop, funk and rock, the embellished product of a DJ battle last May.

“Battles are interesting, because there’s a time limit decided and you have to throw down the craziest thing you can think of,” he said at the café. “I didn’t record that night, but I threw down the mix again in my room and let the last song play out so it’s longer.”

The first mix puts a quick, energetic spin on songs by artists like Snoop Dogg, Beastie Boys, Digital Underground, Jurassic 5, Beck and crooner Barry White.

Mix Two pumps nearly an hour’s worth of electronic and house music through the speakers, blending digital jams with smooth transitions and offering a mere sampling of what DJ Schell might typically play when livening up a crowded club.

TURNTABLE TALES
Schell’s first deejay days began in 1994, when the 17-year-old raver bought his first pair of turntables.

“[Raves] then were so much more grassroots,” he said. “I wanted to be a deejay, so I figured the only way was to get my own turntables and start working at it.”

The draw of raves, which usually lasted from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., was being part of a bigger music team, he explained.

“Part of the fun was having a place, an hour of this time span to put your music down, get that reaction from the crowd and be part of the team that would play throughout the night,” he said.

By the time Schell graduated high school, he was already landing gigs around his U.S. hometown of Pittsburgh, Penn., playing at house parties and passing out mix tapes. On weekends, he and his friends would gather under highway bridges, stuff turntables and amplifiers into car trunks and play for around 300 partiers until dawn.

While studying art at a Philadelphia university, one of his mix tapes serendipitously fell into the right hands, and he started traveling to cities like New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Toronto to scratch and spin his vinyl records.

When he finished college and landed a teaching position at a Seattle arts high school, Schell began to leave behind raves in favor of 21-and-over clubs.

“I was changing stylistically as a deejay anyway, and I was playing more hip-hop and house and less of the harder techno stuff,” he said.

After eight years on the West Coast, he took a new teaching post in Mexico City late last summer. Now, Schell plays once a month at clubs like the open-air terrace at the Centro Cultural de España (Spanish Cultural Center) in the city’s historical district and in bars like the Black Horse in the Condesa neighborhood.

“I didn’t know I’d be deejaying this long, but it seems like…your peers keep growing up and you and are still wanting that experience,” he said. “You change a lot in 15 years: the music you like, the sound you want to present. It’s still something I really love to do and plan to keep doing.”

Schell also exhibits his paintings and drawings about once a year. His art includes peripheral studies of his observations in Mexico City, whether on the metro line or around the metropolis, he said, and it aims to capture human experiences and conditions.

He is set to display his work at the University of Guadalajara next month, and will also deejay in the city at a location still yet to be determined. He’s also set to deejay at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29 at the Black Horse.

MORE INFO:
Click on the Web page www.jasonschell.net/dj.htm to download DF Vibraciones, find contact info or to check out his gig schedule for shows at the Black Horse and the University of Gualadajara.