DJ Skinny Doh
Words by Alan Ng & Jenkin Au
Photography by Jarvis Ho
justalilhype! meets DJ Skinny Doh, an up and coming Korean DJ that has been living in Vancouver. His goals are to bring the DJ level in Korea to new heights and hopes to get a citizenship here in Canada. He talks about his initial experience in living here and shares a sad story about his early life in Vancouver.
First off, tell us a bit more about yourself?
Korean, FOB (Fresh off the boat). I don’t know, man. I am just a normal person. Typical Asian I guess.
Why your name is called DJ Skinny Doh?
When I first got a gig, I needed a DJ name so I asked my best friend. Doh is part of my Korean name and I am skinny, hence DJ Skinny Doh.
When did you come to Vancouver and what got you into DJing?
I came here five years ago. I was in grade ten and back then I had no friends and had nothing to do. All I did was call my friends in Korea. I decided to do something for myself. I wanted to do something related to the night life because I was a hardcore clubber back then. I wasn’t even really interested in DJing at first. I began looking for a DJ school and found one in Vancouver. I met DJ Relik there and he helped me out. In Korea, they don’t take DJ’s seriously. They are just people that play music. Usually, people would bring their own CDs. They play the same CD for two hours and that’s all they’ll play. That’s why I wasn’t quite interested in DJing at first.
What changed that? What made you start taking DJ seriously?
I went to a Korean party in Vancouver and saw a DJ spinning there. It was totally different music and they were scratching a lot. They were for real and I was really impressed about it.
What are some of the music that you spin and what inspired you to choose the kind of music that you do for your audiences?
I just play what people want. Personally, I like old school rap and hip hop more. I usually spin at Fabric and I usually spin for Asian people. Lots of girls right? For example, I spin pop and top 40’s. I usually ask them for feedback and ask them what they want to hear and always take their requests.
There’s a current trend of Korean Pop music stepping into North America. What do you have to say about this trend and do you play Korean music in your sets?
The Korean Pop trend? I think it’s good. Korean music is improving. For example, with American music, if I don’t listen to the lyrics, they all sound almost the same. In Korea, most famous artists are either boy bands or girl bands and that’s what differs from the North American market.
How do you take your requests in clubs?
I’ll try to make eye contact with people or they’ll just come up to me and type songs on their cell phone.
Where are some places you go to enjoy music when you’re not spinning?
I usually go to Tunnel on Wednesdays for First Love because they only play Hip Hop and R&B. I really enjoy their music and what they play.
Speaking of local DJs, what are some of your favourite DJs locally and internationally?
Locally, of course it’s DJ Relik because he taught me about DJing and got me into the industry. He’s the one that got me my first gig. I’ve been spinning with him every Saturday and I like him a lot.
Internationally, I like DJ QBert. I watch his videos on YouTube.
When they first come up, most DJs’ first move is to learn from other DJs and then start spinning at night clubs. The next logical step is competitions. Do you have any plans for that?
I really want to try out for DMC because I love to scratch. Right now, I am currently in school and I can’t practice scratching a lot so maybe next year, I’ll try out for DMC.
When you first started off, what was the hardest thing about DJing?
Beatmatching was the hardest thing when I first started off because a lot of DJs here start with computers and Serato. I didn’t know anything about DJing so Relik gave me vinyls and I thought vinyls were everything. I didn’t know anything about Serato. I needed to practice so I dropped out of college for DJing. I used to go to Kwantlen in Surrey and I was getting more and more into DJing. I wanted to DJ for clubs so I went to see DJ Relik. When I saw what they were doing, I was so impressed and I thought that a lot of time was needed to develop those skills. I was practicing really hard every day for at least three hours but it didn’t help me a lot. Therefore, I dropped out of school to focus and spent most of my day listening to music and organizing songs because of the fact that I didn’t know a lot about the music here. I didn’t grow up with American music so I had to listen to music and write down all the music from music videos and what DJs were playing at clubs.
How did your family react to the starting up stages of your career in DJing?
Korean parents are pretty strict. I didn’t tell them when I started DJing that I spent all the money from my pay cheques on DJ gear. Eventually they found out and got really mad. I didn’t even tell my parents that I dropped out of school. But I had to, and after I told her, she was really mad.
Are they okay with it now?
Yea right now, it’s cool. My mother just got me a new pair of speakers. They said it’s the first time they’ve seen me do something that I am focused on and am working hard in my life, so therefore, they decided to support me.
Listening to all the music from North America, did it help with learning the English language yourself?
Not really because it’s too fast. I just go on Google and read the words.
A lot DJs like to put up various remixes, cuts, and samples of their own collection. Have you ever put out any mix tapes before?
I had only one mix CD and I don’t think it’s good, so only my friends have it. In the future, I do plan to make a perfect mix tape. I want everything from old school hip hop to lots of scratching. I don’t really know about old school rap but I am trying to get to know it.
Does your DJ name have any relationship to The Simpsons?
I found out after that Homer Simpson does that too. (D’oh!)
Where do you plan on taking your DJ career?
I don’t know. I am trying to get into competitions, generate more fame and build a good reputation. I would like to return to Korea because they don’t have a lot of DJs in Korea and they don’t know about mixing and scratching. They just fade in, fade out and play mixed CDs. They have electronic clubs and hip hop clubs and all the hip hop clubs are dead because they don’t know how to mix. I want to go back and change that. I want to build a DJ school. They don’t even have turntables in Korean Clubs, they just play CDs. They play the same songs over and over. For example, you know the song “So Sick” by Ne-Yo? They played it during prime time and I happened to be there for 7 hours. They open at 9pm and they close at 6am and I heard it 6 times. I want to bring the Vancouver style there. I think they only play 50 songs a night. It’s all top 40s; it is not hip hop or rap. I want them to have a chance to listen to more good music. Here, at a lot of Korean parties in Vancouver, a lot of the Korean DJs do the same thing. I am like the first Korean DJ in Vancouver and I am trying to change it right now. Korean people don’t like Korean parties in Vancouver because the parties suck and they don’t play good music. Right now, we see a change in the industry which is progressing and improving.
What are some of your favourite artists both in North America and Korea?
I like Biggie and Drake. In Korea, I like all the girl bands.
So you definitely worked really hard and practiced a lot for DJing, right? Currently, what skill set are trying to master?
I am focusing on cutting and scratching right now.
What’s your favourite technique?
I like crab scratch.
What sets you apart from other upcoming DJs, what sets you apart from the rest of the other DJs?
I don’t know. I am trying. Some DJ’s just mix one song and just stay there. I am trying to work really hard and make songs cooler and include a lot of cutting, scratching and mixing really fast to HYPE the crowd up.
I don’t want them to see DJing as work because DJing is DJing. If someone sees DJing as work, then it’s not fun anymore. A lot of new DJs want to skip the basics and they don’t want to start from the bottom.
Furthermore, how does fashion become incorporated into DJing?
Yeah, I think fashion is a part of DJing and music so I am trying to dress in nicer ways.
What is HYPE?
I think HYPE is Vancouver people mostly right now. They are HYPEd!