Calgary, Alberta

Breaks Affiliations: Phat Systems ENT. Breakbeat odyssey

Mista Levi Interview August 2005
Interviewed by Fhernando and Somsay..


Mista Levi Profile

Age: 27
Height: 5¹ 11²
Weight: 175 lbs.
Average heart beat per minute: 167
Bed time: 10:00 unless I start to watch C.S.I
Colour of ear hair: same as my nose hair
Nose Hair length: same as my ear hair

Favourite Pop Chune: Alicia Keys ­ If I aint got you I think that’s the name
Favourite soap brand to clean your dirty socks: Right now I am trying out that new tide cold water soap and it seems to get the dirt out
Records: 400 +
Bands: I’m more in to hip-hop Snoop Dog, and Gang Star are in my C.D. changer right now
Models: do they got names ???
Favourite breaks track of 2004: I would have to say that Pressure ­Breakfasterz was the favorite of 2004 I still play it on a regular basis
Fav track out now: N.A.P.T ­ Take me away, and Pendulum vs The Freestylers-fasten your seatbelts


The Interview

Tell us about Mista Levi and how did you get into breaks?
Back when I started mixing there wasn’t much to choose from in Calgary, so I
was mostly playing house .Then I started going to more out of town party’s and getting in to different kinds of music mostly acid techno, but as did every other kid in the Calgary rave scene so I thought id toss it up a little and mix in some hard house with it but as most people know, so did most every other acid techno DJ.. Then I met a friend who I still to this day hang out with and he had all these breaks records from Vancouver. So I put my acid techno to the side and started to build on Breakbeat collections.

How is the underground scene in Calgary in your opinion?
Not sure about the underground scene, it is all very public here in Calgary there is a rave every month or so and so far just 1 legal afterhour's club. But you can go out on almost any night of the week and here some good tunes somewhere.

Where have has you traveled to so far? And where was your favorite gig and why?
Most of the major city’s in Canada and a lot of smaller city’s in Alberta, The one that sticks out the most is this one that a friend of mine threw on top of a mountain just out side of Brag Creek. We spent all day haling up speakers and generators up this mountain trail in one of those six wheel gador A.T.V things, we were selling beer and at 10 the next morning theses people on mountain bikes stopped and had a beer then kept on biking S

Does Canada really have the population to make our scene a stable breaks
scene? What do you think?
Ya I think there is enuf people in this country to have a decent scene not huge, but enuf to keep it going. I think as time goes on it will get bigger with massive Breakbeat party’s like Spain and the UK.

Do you have a normal job on the side of breaks?
Yes I actually just got the job that I’ve been after for 4 years (not really trying to hard ),I’m a concrete line pump operator . Before that I was working on the oil rigs but I didn’t like it was hard to get booked for shows because of the odd work schedule.

Did your parents ever come out to see you spin?
Once when I had a residency at a posh restaurant /club playing down tempo and funk.

Did you study music in school? And do you use music theory in anyway for your breaks?
Haha, Back when I had no control of what my extra circular activities were my parents got suckered into putting me into accordion class. So I did three years of that then I played the tuba threw Jr. High. Then I picked up a bass guitar at a pawn shop and played that for a while but lost interest.

Do girls call you more frequently since you started playing out? If so do they talk to you or do they just giggle and hang up?
No that doesn’t happen to often me and my family live a fairly quiet life with no groupies.

what computer platform do you work on? A PC or Mac and why?
P.C. because it was a better deal (I think?)S

Do you see Breakbeat music moving into a mainstream position soon?
Well it’s weird because I think it is fairly main stream. It sells are cars, there is always some kind of break beat track in a movie, and before I ever herd Plump D.J¹s ­ Pray For You at a record store I herd it on the radio.

What current projects are you working on and would like to talk about?
A friend and I are in the process of starting a new after-hours club, but we have to wait till some major renovations get done before any thing will start any real planning.

Who were your first inspirations that originally got you into Breaks?
I went to this party in Saskatoon I think , it was called Mirage Electric Sky Church was playing and John Kelly was opening for them he played these crazy tribal deep breaks. So I ended buying all his mix’s till he started mixing house. That definitely got me hooked.

Is it really about the music in Calgary or it’s really about the drugs?
Well in all honestly it’s all about the music and the Jaggers. The club that I frequent goes threw 300 shots of it a night Jagger bombs are all the rage.

Do the Mafia’s control the parties?
I think it’s in the hands of the kids, and the D.J's who perform for them.

Can a Canadian vinyl pressing ever be as hotter (louder) than a quality UK
pressing? Is it all in the Mastering of the lacquer?
As it is right now the UK has got it perty tight but at the same time I’m all about supporting the Canadian artist’s , Even if I might only play it out a couple times I’ll pick it up cuz then they get a little money to put towards gear and what not ...

What movie star do you look like?
Mr. T

Can you tell us about the Raves in the Calgary... any funny stories to share?
The last party I went to here was called Wonderland head lined Aquasky VS. MasterBlaster and Josh the funky one, it had a good vibe for the time that I was there. But the one thing was that the bathroom had very pour ventilation in it so the coat check and concession had this aroma around it S. I left when I had to go to the bath room S.

Have you ever found your music on any mp3 servers such as Kaza? And if so,
how does this make you feel and how does this affect you?
No this hasn’t happened to me yet And if it did I don’t think it would bother me much I hand out a lot of my demo C.D. and if some one ends up downloading it that kind of just ends up doing the promotion for me ..

Are there any candy ravers left? And if so...would you touch there pants?
Yes they come out in full force here in Calgary with all those colors , the flashing things, glowing things, rubbing ointments, blankets, white gloves, and spiked hair s. The pants I have no desire to touch even though some grandma probably put a hole afternoon in to them thinking that they were for a school play.

How did you feel when you first DJ-ed in front of a massive crowd? What was
the experience like? Shaky? Natural High?
To put in to one of those categories Id put it in Natural High but a little shaky at first I still get this feeling of every thing around me gets massive the music gets clear as a bell , I just fall in to my zone .

Shootouts
First off happy birthday to my wife, Shouts out to my daughter, Mom and Dad,
and brother’s family, The boys from N.A.P.T and thanks for the prerelease trax for the mix MJ COLE FT LAURA VANE 'WATERTIGHT' NAPT REMIX and NAPT’s I NEED YOUR LOVE ,and D. Lampy and thanks for the PRODIGY - NO GOOD (LAMPY REMIX) , Joshua Quirk Turn up the volume, D.J Silkcut, Filthy Rich, Sub, Kostek, Miss. Represent, Mark-Afterhoursdjs.org, Adam Audio ,D.J Fever, Molly-fi, Epoc, Andrew Foster, Little Andy, Pete Levesque, Size Small,

Words of wisdom to other aspiring DJ's
Whether your mixing in front of 2000 people or just in your basement do it from the hart, Don’t get bummed out if you have a few off days just do something other than mixing clear your head then when you get back on the decks don’t even pay attention to what your grabbing out of your bag and just go with it. Grab old trax and mix with new stuff because when it all comes down to it it’s not what you play but how you play it SS..

Links:
for bookings in the U.S.A contact Joshua Quirk at-Turn up the volume D.J &
Artist management: josh@tutvagency.com www.tutvagency.com

To contact me or book me in Canada or other e-mail me at :
mista-l@telus.net
check out my radio shows and many other Canadian D.J's on :
www.afterhoursdjs.org
My myspace link is :
www.myspace.com/6595132