Musicians can be classified as artists who use instruments to produce melodic sounds. But one local artist does things a little bit differently than many other music artists. Disk jockey DirtyWax has been mixing music with turntables for 15 years. The man behind DirtyWax, Scott Drozda calls himself a hobbyist, not a musician, but his music might throw a wrench in that classification.
The name DirtyWax formed when Drozda started mixing music 15 years ago. He said his sound was dirty, hardcore, and raw. And “wax” is simply a synonym for vinyl. He decided therefore, to combine the two words, which mirrors the concept of fusing two (or more) songs to get one new sound.
Drozda first became interested in becoming a DJ in the late 1990s in the United States, when a surge of rave, dance music exploded among club goers. Back then, turntables were analog, meaning the mixing and beat matching had to be done manually with a system of knobs and controls found on the turntable.
“When my friends and I first got into it, it was all two turntables and one mixer and all the dance tracks were on vinyl and they had to be mixed manually. That’s how we would do it back in the day,” said Drozda. “A group of seven or eight my friends in the late nineties discovered house and jungle music. A few of us bought turntables and that’s all we would do in our free time- mix and play records,” he added. House music and Jungle music were the starting genres in electronic dance music that stemmed out of the late 80s.
Some of his influences when he first started were Jam Master J, A-Trak, Bad Boy Bill and his other friends.
Drozda believes that a second wave of electric dance music is emerging. Recently, he added on to his hobby by welcoming two more turntables, only this time around they are digital. The main difference between analog and digital turntables is the use of vinyls in analog. With digital, he uploads music from downloadable mp3 files. With the addition, he is able to make new sounds with the built in effects and loops available.
A DJ’s equipment oftentimes takes years to acquire because of the required financial investment and commitment. DirtyWax has invested over $10,000 in his hobby over the span of 15 years. But turntables are not the only required piece of equipment needed. When he travels to different locations around Mansfield and Columbus, he brings his own PA system as well.
“It takes a lot of time, money, and you have to passionate about it,” he said.
On top of his taxing hobby, the 35-year-old DJ has a family with young two children and a software development company to maintain. Because of this ostensibly full plate, he limits his djing to one to two events per month.
Give DirtyWax a listen in this link, or hear him live at Chris’s Cafe at 1111 West Fourth Street on February 21. For directions and details of the show, click here. DirtyWax also has a Facebook page with links to his original music.
The Turnover by Dirtywax on Mixcloud
