The year was 2006, I entered a mixtape contest put on by BPM Magazine and Rockstar Energy drink called Next On The Decks that was judged by Mark Ronson. I spent some time thinking about how I could make a 30 min mix that would show my style and win over the judges. The prize was to play at Winter Music Conference in Miami (I had never been to Miami) and go on a US tour with Mark Ronson, DJing in various cities. I sent in the mix, and, to my surprise, I won! 

Funny enough, I had been DJing for 10 years by that time and was on the verge of "getting a real job" because I wasn't making enough money and kept having to get part time jobs while DJing at night. I was in my parent's kitchen talking to my Mom and telling her I didn't think I could become a professional DJ while she was telling me I had come this far and had to keep trying, when I got a phone call. It was from Matt Colon from BPM Magazine & Mark Ronson and they were telling me they loved my mix and I had won the contest. 

Everything changed after that. Within a week I was playing a set opening for Mark at DJ AM's club in Hollywood called LAX for the official BPM Magazine party. So many people were there and I was nervous as hell of course. Mark asked me how I was able to make so many custom edits and mash ups and I explained that I had nothing else to do because I didn't have many gigs.

Fast forward to Miami, I'm opening for Mark Ronson & DJ AM at Mansion during Winter Music Conference in March of 2006 and EVERYONE is there. From DJs like Kaskade to rappers like Fat Joe, producers like Timbaland, Pharrell, Scott Storch and anyone else you could imagine. It turns out to be one of the best and most legendary clubs nights EVER. I learned so much watching DJ AM do his incredible set of signature word play, mash ups, scratching and his magical ability to mix all genres while making the crowd dance. Then I watched Mark Ronson play his signature NY style of dropping records at perfect moments, connecting words & themes and playing to the moment by playing songs produced by Timbaland & Pharrell back to back while they screamed as each record would come on. From there I watched Miami's DJ Irie command the crowd with his amazing mic work and music knowledge, and then Mr Mauricio came on and played an insane set of hip hop including the new Rick Ross Hustlin along with a crazy latin set creating mayhem till the sunrise.

I went on to tour the east coast with Mark, doing crazy shows in NYC with Q-Tip, Philly with Spank Rock and more. He brought me to his studio in NYC to let me hear the music he was producing with new and upcoming artists like Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. My mind was blown. Then we made our way to Vegas where I opened for him at Pure Nightclub in side Ceasar's Palace and Tangerine at Treasure Island. At the same time the new social media site MySpace had asked me to come to their party to open for DJ AM at Pure Las Vegas, where AM had just become the first DJ to sign a million dollar residency deal with a Las Vegas club. All of that led to the owners of Pure to offer me a Vegas residency for more money than I had ever made for a DJ gig before. Myspace then asked me to become their official DJ and would go on to fly me to tons of cities across the US to DJ their official myspace parties (yes some with Tom himself). Shout to Ted Skillet & Matty O. At the same time DJ AM had decided to take me under his wing and start a DJ agency that would eventually be called Deckstar and represent some of the greatest DJs to ever do it, including the legednary DJ Jazzy Jeff. DJ AM, his manager LV & my manager Scott Murphy got me gigs playing at all the major nightclubs in the US & Canada as well as private events for big brands, hollywood award shows, wealthy people, celebrities and more.

Writing all of this makes me want to write a book. Like Ferris said "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

New tracks tagged #next on the decks