Chris Karns Archives

DJ JayCeeOh Crowned SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX; Speaks On Show Secrets, Success And What’s Next For A Champ

By: JP DelaCuesta (@JPdelacuesta)Category: LifestyleJune 7, 2013

It’s official ladies and gentlemen, DJ JayCeeOh is SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX! The champ battled his way past 18 other DJ’s over the course of 10 challenges this season and outlasted, outworked and out-DJed the competition as he fought for the grand prize of $250,000, becoming an official Smirnoff DJ and being crowned the Master of the Mix. After a finale that saw JayCeeOh go up against his close friends and the show’s finalists, Incrediboi and DJ Chris Karns, the opportunities for the future have opened up. JayCeeOh’s work schedule is quite crazy as the Pittsburgh native finishes up work on the next installment of his “Super 7” series, prepares to release a mixtape, and continues crafting original production for the masses. Check out our exclusive interview with the Master of the Mix himself, DJ JayCeeOh, where he speaks on keeping the win a secret, the show’s hardest challenge, putting Wiz Khalifa on his first mixtape and much more below: The man of the hour! Congratulations on the win, how does it feel? DJ JayCeeOh: F*cking amazing! As someone who has been tracking your progress throughout the season I have to ask how long ago the show actually wrapped and how you kept such a big secret to yourself the whole time? DJ JayCeeOh: It was pretty much impossible. I knew by the end of January, like January 25th is when I found out. Even though you were touring, was it difficult to be more lowkey and out of the scene while you waited for the season to play out? DJ JayCeeOh: Yeah I would definitely try and be systematic about where I was and making sure I wasn’t every at once. When people would ask me questions about the show and other contestants would comment on certain things, I wanted to stay out of the conversation cause I didn’t want to say something that would allude to my win. I was trying to just be careful. Would you say that the final challenge was the toughest for you? DJ JayCeeOh: The finale was the best one for me cause I got to do everything that I wanted to do. The “Bend the Ten” challenge was probably the hardest cause we had to do the ten songs from ten genres at ten different BPMs in four minutes and we only had a couple of hours to work on it. I love challenges like that but having to do that in such a short period of time was really tough. I know from watching that Incrediboi, [DJ Chris Karns] and yourself were really supportive of each other during the show. How have those relationships grown since you guys wrapped? DJ JayCeeOh: It’s gotten even better man. We’ve all kept in touch and I actually threw a finale party in L.A. and they both stayed at my house. I feel like we’re a family now. That whole experience was just so crazy to go through together and we all have a lot of love for each other. The two of them can still hold their heads high. It’s not an injustice where they got jerked and were beat by some bum. They both respect me a lot and I feel like I deserved to win. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K0vo5LkPg0&w=560&h=315] I saw on your Twitter that you were doing an interview at Power 105.1 with Kid Capri yesterday. How is it having him as more of a mentor and companion now than a judge? DJ JayCeeOh: It’s great man. When I started DJing I was watching him on Def Comedy Jam in awe of what he did so he’s been an icon and an idol that I looked up to my whole career as a DJ. Just having him walk around and vouch for me, that means a lot. Let me backtrack real quick. When we spoke last month you were touring with rapper Sam Adams. How did the rest of the tour go for you? DJ JayCeeOh: That tour was amazing man. We had a blast and I got to do like 15-20 minute sets before he came out in every city so I got to really show his fan base, which isn’t really like mine from the jump, what a real DJ does. A lot of these kids, especially his fans, have grown up in an age where they think Deadmau5 is a great DJ when they’re really just producers playing music. So when I play that kind of set or that kind of music the way I play it, they’re blown away and a lot of those kids after seeing me live say that JayCeeOh is there favorite DJ. It was really beneficial and just a great tour to be on. In addition to doing more remixes like the one you dropped last week for French Montana’s “What Happens Tonight” what are your plans as far as producing original stuff? Is that more of a focus for you now? DJ JayCeeOh: Yeah, honestly that’s my number one focus right now. Like every second that I’m not on tour, I’m working on production and that’s because I just proved to the world that I’m one of the best DJs around but I can’t stop there. The guys making the most money are the producing DJs so since I’ve gotten back from filming, all I’ve done is produce. I have a ton of records ready to come out, I’ve just been waiting for this win to happen and with all eyes on me now when I release something people are actually going to pay attention to it. I plan on releasing a lot of my own stuff, a lot of […]

Estelle Gets Remix Treatment On Penultimate Episode Of SMIRNOFF's MASTER OF THE MIX

By: JP DelaCuesta (@JPdelacuesta)Category: LifestyleMay 28, 2013

And then there were three! The third season of SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX DJ competition aired its penultimate episode last night as the remaining DJs battle for a grand prize of $250,000. On this weeks episode, the remaining DJs which include JayCeeOh, Incrediboi, DJ Chris Karns and Loczi, were tasked with creating an original remix to Grammy Award-winning singer Estelle’s new single, “Do My Thing” featuring Janelle Monae. Not only was Estelle’s track the key ingredient in this weeks challenge, the beauty from Britain was a guest judge on the panel as well. The episode began with the DJs arriving at a Miami mansion that was later revealed to be the famous Circle House Studios. SMIRNOFF’s MOTM host Amanda Seales greeted the DJs and filled them in on their task for the episode. “Today you are all producers,” she said following the instructions for the challenge. Each DJ was given three hours to work with an engineer and create an original, creative and Estelle-centric remix to the singers’ new song. Loczi began crafting a more dubstep-centered remix, while Incrediboi was leaning heavily on the influences of trap music. Chris Karns on the other hand went straight for the soul as he used a classic Marvin Gaye instrumental as the backdrop for his remix while JayCeeOh built his remix from scratch. Estelle then stopped by the studio as the guys were working to check out what they had accomplished so far. With the second-to-last challenge ready to being, JayCeeOh took the stage first to premiere his remix to Estelle’s “Do My Thing.” JayCeeOh immediately worked on pumping up the crowd and proclaimed, “I’m about to show you how a real DJ flips a remix!” Amidst the pounding drums and bass drops, JayCeeOh went to work scratching live in areas that he had let blank so that he could showcase his DJ’ing skills in addition to what he was capable of as a producer. With all three judges on their feet following the song, Kid Capri spoke first. “I didn’t want it to stop,” he said. “You set the bar very very high.” [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qNVxGr9t8w&w=560&h=315] DJ Loczi was up next. “This record goes out to everyone who isn’t afraid to be themselves,” he said. His dubstep-laced remix roared through the speakers. Despite Loczi’s lack of actual DJing during his set, he made one heck of an impression on the judges. “That was like a tsunami!” Capri shouted. “I wish I would have seen some more turn-tabling but that beat was absolutely crazy.” Even Estelle came out and said that while it wasn’t exactly her cup of tea, she absolutely loved what Loczi had done with the song however his lack of actually touching the turntables would not be forgotten. Incrediboi followed with a more soulful and bouncy remix that allowed him to showcase the strength of such technical skills as scratching and live mixing. His blend of reggae, doo-wop and trap helped create a truly unique sound that was adored by all the judges.”You’re an incredible DJ and your scratching is amazing,” judge Ben Maddahi said following the set. “Your production ability is a lot better than I thought it would be.” Last up was Chris Karns who won Estelle’s heart the second he dropped the instrumental for Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t That Peculiar” behind her vocals. Throughout his set, Karns showcased his scratching skills over a double-timed beat and undoubtedly had more DJ skills on display during this challenge than any of the other DJs. “It was super creative and flawless,” said Ben. Judge Mia Moretti also had some kind words for Karns when she said, “that was the perfect marriage of turntablism and production!” Following the four sets showcasing each DJs remix to “Do My Thing,” the judges gathered to deliberate and decide who was the challenge’s winner and who would ultimately be getting their “record scratched” this week. The unanimous champion of the challenge was revealed to be JayCeeOh while DJ Loczi was sent home for not actually using any live DJ skills during his set. Next weeks season finale will find the final three DJs battling it out for a grand prize of $250,000 and the official title of SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX! Check back next week for another episode recap!

Lil Jon Brings the Crunk To SMIRNOFF's MASTER OF THE MIX; DJ JayCeeOh One Step Closer To Title

By: JP DelaCuesta (@JPdelacuesta)Category: LifestyleMay 15, 2013

Multi-platinum recording artist, DJ and producer Lil Jon brought the crunk to this week’s episode of SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX competition as a guest judge while the remaining six DJ’s fought for the title in their most creative challenge yet. Following an initial battle that saw Tina T, who was eliminated last week’s, try to get a spot back on the show (she didn’t), host Amanda Seales filled the DJ’s in on there challenge for the week which was dubbed “the most technical.” “Invent or Get Sent” required the six remaining DJ’s to piece together a creative set using all the possible DJ tools like Serato, scratch drumming, cues and other inventive DJ tricks. After some short time working on their sets in the lab, Lil Jon surprised the competitors and dropped some knowledge on them about his transition to DJ’ing and EDM. Most importantly though Jon shared his most important piece of information when he said, “you cant lose if you’ve got the whole place going nuts. Its all about the crowd.” JayCeeOh, who tied for first place last week alongside Chris Karns, kickd things off first during the challenge with M.O.P’s “Ante Up,” Ol Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different.” Off of those three tracks alone he had the entire place rocking with him. Soon after he changed up the tempo and began mixing several other tracks together. “I thought you chose great samples to loop and switch up,” said Kid Capri. He continued, “You slipped up a few times but covered yourself up with a good scratch or good blend.” Lil Jon had much more priase for Jayceeoh. “That was creative as a motherf*cker! You did a great job,” Lil Jon shouted. Jayceeoh responded to the praise by simply stating that he just wanted to have some fun. DJ Locszi was up next and immediately got into mixing tracks from Kanye West, Carl Douglas, 2 Chainz and Deadmau5. Unfortunately his execution wasn’t nearly as on-point as he would have hoped. “Creating your own beat is one thing but making it sound flawless is another and that’s not what you were doing at all,” said Kid Capri. The Bronx-born Incrediboi followed Locszi with a genius mix of Daft Punk’s “One More Time” that he blended with Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.” Incrediboi also took 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different” to heart when he called out each of his competitiors following the line “middle finger up to the competition.” While most of the judges seemed entertained, Kid Capri didn’t share the same sentiment. “Today was your weakest set,” he criticized. However Lil Jon came back and gave Incrediboi an ego boost by stating, “Overall you entertained the crowd and that’s what’s really important.” DJ Flyguy, who has seen his fair share of the bottom all season long, set out to prove that he still had skills and deserved to be in the running for the title. Unfortuantly, the DJ’s didn’t get to see any of them. Overall Flyguy’s set was sloppy and inventive-less. Ben Maddahi said point-blank, “that was one of the sloppiest mixes I’ve heard on the entire show.” “This is not the way I wanted to leave the show,” Flyguy cried backstage, knowing that he was at the top of the list of competitors to get sent home this week. The show’s early favorite to take SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX title, Chris Karns, was up last yet managed to still wow the DJ’s following the five sets that played before him. Between all the scratching, mixing, cues, and blending, Karns officially won the crowd over when he dropped Dead Prez’s classic track “Hip-Hop” that had all of the judges on their feet. “Whenever I stand up, that means you were the s###,” shouted Kid Capri. Both Ben and Lil Jon felt the same way when they said “that was a flawless victory” and “you just killed it!” There was little doubt that Flyguy, who was his own worst enemy during throughout the show, would be this week’s casualty, despite having to fight for his spot earloier on the show versus Tina T. The judges had a tougher time crowning the challenge’s victor. “Chris definitely did what was asked,” said Lil Jon. “But JayCeeOh made it fun for everybody from beginning to end.” Ultimatley, Chris Karns was celebrated for the most inventive set of the night and was crowned the challenges victor. Next week’s challenge will find the remaining five competitors “bending the ten” as they are tasked with mixing ten tracks all of which have completely different song structures. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WSja2AmEI8?list=UU2sXtI3jFzQkzf6pcfwYXgA&w=560&h=315] Check back next week for another episode recap! SMIRNOFF’s MASTER OF THE MIX Airs Tuesdays at 12am only on VH1.