The first time I went to a real club, I fell in love with the way the DJ could bend the music to his will. He mixed songs to make new ones and mash ups, stretching a 4 minute song to last 10 because he had two copies and the crowd was into it. I knew I had to learn how to do what he did. I wanted to be a DJ in the worst way.

I just couldn’t figure out how. Every time I asked a DJ if they could help me, I’d get the brush off answer, “you know, it’s just about mixing the beats,” well yeah, no kidding, but how? Later I learned there is a secret club of DJ’s, and sometimes they don’t want to let you in because, well, there are only so many gigs to go around, right?

Wrong. Then I found Spun Academy. About a year of classes later and I can match beats and mix records in my spare bedroom with the best of them. And I’ve even played out a few times; I have a demo, and about 200 records. (You use records, cool! Here is my entire vinyl collection…)

Spun Academy is a local nonprofit music school that teaches classes like DJ Mixing (think smooth, barely noticeable music transitions) and DJ Scratching (wicka, wikca, scratch!), along with Music Production, Music Business and Intelligent Lighting.

Their philosophy about creating more good DJ’s is that a high tide raises all boats. Better, more skilled talent means more interest in good music, and more work for everyone.

And they’re taking students for January 2009 classes. And they have more opportunities to spin records than they had DJ’s to fill them. So hurry up. Learn. Get out there. Hello, you can even get a cool DJ name!

Tours are held every Wednesday and Friday between 5 and 7 p.m.

Theresa Davis