Inside Mix drops beats in Bloomington

Think back to your junior year in high school. If you were like most kids, you were probably going to high school football games on Friday nights, starting the college search and driving everywhere you could because your license was still new. Unlike most high school students, current IU sophomore Dan Stevens was starting a business. He was taking an idea and making it a reality. \nAs a freshman in high school in Indianapolis, Stevens attended a party with a DJ who had a few CD players, a mixer and a stereo. Intrigued, Stevens asked the DJ about rates and was shocked to find out how much he made. Stevens took his interest in music and specifically DJing to a new level. He began his career as DJ Brakez, After buying speakers, lights and turntables, Stevens began practicing and started a radio show on his high school's radio station, 89.3 WJEL. At first, he just played local CDs, but before he knew it, he had DJs contacting him and asking to play on the show. He watched how the DJs worked together and the response the listeners had on their work. This is when he started his own DJ business, DFS Sound. Stevens said the concept behind the company is to bring DJs together.\n"If we all stick together we will be able to increase our rates, our business and gain a fan base," Stevens said. "DFS Sound is the central hub. It is all about putting connections together."\nStevens brought his business with him to Bloomington when he came to IU and it quickly expanded. DFS Sound currently consists of ten DJs and 11 MCs (rappers), all with very diverse backgrounds and different talents. Most of DFS Sound's DJs are located in Bloomington, but they also have a few in Indianapolis, such as DJ TopSpeed, Stevens' mentor and one of the top DJs in the area. In the last couple of years, the DJ business has grown in Bloomington with bars such as Kilroy's, Uncle Fester's, Axis and the Bluebird hiring DJs at least once a week to turn the bar into a dance club. Stevens says people interested in joining his business are always approaching him. \nSenior Virginia Clifton frequently visits Nick's English Hut, the Jungle Room and Kilroy's. She said she likes the change in atmosphere the DJs bring to the bar scene. \n"I like the idea of bringing DJs to the bars a few times a week. It adds something new to the typical bar-going experience," Clifton said. "I think it attracts a wide variety of people and everyone can have a good time."\nElliot Oveson, DJ WuShu, joined DFS Sound at the beginning of summer. He has been mixing and creating sets for several years. Stevens saw Oveson performing at the 9th Street Bar and asked him to join the business.\n"There are a lot of DJs in the Bloomington area. Elliot stood out and was better than I had seen in a while," Stevens said.\nShortly after joining DFS, Oveson became the first DJ in DFS to be contracted full-time. He was hired by the Jungle Room to play five nights week. Other DFS DJs open the night and Oveson oversees them before headlining around 12:30 a.m.\n"For people who don't know DJing, it looks easy and the sound is easy on the ears, but it takes a lot of practice to do all that. When people notice it, all your work has paid off and you're motivated to get on to bigger things," Oveson said.\nOveson, as well as the rest of the DFS Sound DJs, use the old-style turntables to remix 80's, dance, funk, hip hop, latin, reggae and many more different types of music. Mixing music using turntable technology has been around since 1979, but today, many DJs are turning to CD and DVD automation to create their mixes. Stevens and Oveson believe the traditional turntables represent the industry and its history. They said people are afraid to try turntables because they're not sure how they work.\n"Turntables take a lot of time to learn. It's basically a band at the tip of your fingertips," Stevens said.\nOveson agreed. "I have yet to see a CD DJ that can do what we can do (with the turntables)," he said. "That puts us out there in the spotlight."\nNot only do the DFS DJs offer a wide variety of mixed songs and styles, all of the DJs are willing to travel the nation and even worldwide for gigs. According to Stevens, DJ Tom Slick has plans of going to Korea in the near future to work a few hip-hop shows. \nBut DFS Sound is only getting started. Stevens has a lot of ambitions and goals for the company.\n"Overall, my 10- to 15-year plan is to get the business big nationally or even internationally," Stevens said. "I want to put DJs, MCs and beat boys under one group and help them get jobs, CDs and live shows."\nBetween running a business, DJing and being a student, Stevens doesn't find much time for sleep, but he said he loves every second of it. \n"It's a great feeling when you get a huge crowd or have a new set and you nail it. Then, when people who know nothing about turntables just come up and thank you, it's great," Stevens said.