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?The name is totally random ? the word (Fandango) brings to mind the vibe we?re trying to put forth ? hip-hop, fun, bouncy,? said Ben Bradburn, DJ Double B.
Fandango will take place at 10 p.m. Saturday at Champs with a $6 cover charge for people under 21 and a $4 cover for people 21 and up.
?Fandango is something bigger with lights live percussion, a turntable set-up and a CD deck. We?re going to have someone playing records, sampling, scratching, percussion all at the same time ? there?s more dynamic to it,? Bradburn said.
Fandango will be similar to a DJ tag-team event, where each DJ will play two to three records and then another DJ will step in and take over.
?It makes it a lot more interesting and more fun ? you have to adapt,? Bradburn said.
Bradburn, a 2003 graduate of Radford, makes up the DJ group Binary Dialect alongside DJ Skwash. First introduced by two friends, Bradburn said, ?I kind of lucked into it ? I started working with Tim, and he introduced me to John (DJ Gaskins) and Jason (DJ Subklue) ? they were doing Refill at Rivermill.?
Bradburn started his career as a radio DJ for WVRU, Radford?s radio station, at the end of his sophomore year, and by his senior year had purchased his first set of decks. He also worked with Local Wildlife, another DJ group and threw parties with them at the Nerv nightclub in Blacksburg.
John Gaskins, who goes by DJ Gaskins, attended Virginia Tech from 1999 to 2002, and has been DJing since 1999. ?I had been listening to online mixes by Fatboy Slim in 1996,? Gaskins said. ?I was buying records before I came to Tech, and bought turntables first semester.?
He is currently completing an online music program at Berklee College of Music, based in Boston. Gaskins lives in Blacksburg with DJ Subklue. The pair also has a radio show on WUVT called ?The Laundry Room Sessions.? Gaskins and Subklue plan to tour abroad together in August. They have already booked four dates in London and Brighton, England.
The DJs are motivated by the energy of their audiences. ?We don?t really make money ? it would be cool to get signed, but the crowd is what it?s really about. It?s about having a good time and the scene crowd around here is phenomenal,? Bradburn said. ?It?s cool to expose people to something they wouldn?t normally hear.?
Bradburn works as a Technology Support Analyst fixing computers 40 hours a week and Gaskins works at She-Sha Caf? and Hookah Lounge and Cabo Fish Taco.
?DJ-ing is the most expensive hobby ever,? Bradburn said. Bradburn eventually hopes to be able to work part-time and DJ part-time.
This is the fourth event the four have worked together at Champs. All have collectively played nearly everywhere in Blacksburg: Easy Chair Bookstore, The Cellar, Attitudes, Boudreaux?s, Cabo Fish Taco, Champs, Cinco De Mayo, and also at Waterstreet Gallery and Bailey?s before they became other restaurants. The DJs also played in Squires and the XYZ Art Gallery.
They?ve played outside of Blacksburg ? Washington D.C., Richmond, New York City and Miami have been sites for one of the DJs.
Bradburn explained DJ-ing best when ?we?re just some guys in a ? town playing records. We DJ for the love of the music, not the money. When we lean over the edge and see people bouncing around, with a grin from ear to ear and we?re the reason why this happened, it makes it all worthwhile.?
Interested listeners can check out these DJs Saturday night, starting at 10 p.m.
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