Red Bull Thre3style UK winner DJ Santero tells us about the worst request he’s ever had, how he picked up his moniker in the backstreets of Havana, and why party starting will be his specialist subject in Paris…
It’s only a couple of weeks since you won the Red Bull Thre3style UK Final. Are you still glowing?
It's a little bit surreal – it's the sort of thing that usually happens to other people really! Although I've never entered DJ battles before. My flatmate pestered me for weeks to do a mix and enter it. If I'd approached it on technical terms I would have been beaten, so I decided to take the party approach.
Does this mean you're not naturally competitive?!
No, I'm really competitive! I used to captain three teams at school. And I have three brothers...
What gave you the edge on your UK competitors?
Mine really worked as a set. I played Tour de France by Kraftwerk and went online and found that Alan Partridge episode where he says on the radio “Kommen sie bitte, und listen to Kraftwerk" and dropped that just before the melody comes in. I try to put in little things like that just to keep it interesting. Some of the other DJs had similar track selections, but there just wasn't the same thought about how one moved to the next. I spent ages thinking about how to get from a-to-b-to-c-to-d so that it really flowed like a microcosm of a club set. It was like an hour long set from me condensed into 15 minutes. I went fully for the mash-up party thing. I played 25 tracks.
How long did it take you to learn your craft?
I bought my decks back in ‘97. Nowadays everyone I meet has learnt to DJ by doing a course. When I started it was just listening to mix CDs and with scratching I literally had to read how to do it on a text-based website. This is really sad, but Qbert used to make these little wooden blocks with a felt top and a screw in one corner – like a slice of a record – that you used to practice scratching. So I literally used to sit there in my call centre job doing that! Everyone thought I was a complete freak obviously, but Qbert used to use one himself on flights in between gigs. The bit that took me a while was getting used to hearing two things at the same time, but as long as you can count to four, you can beat mix really. I think a lot of people make too much of it technically. The hardest thing, that a lot of people ignore, is reading crowds and learning what to do if things start going wrong.
Who’s your turntable inspiration?
Qbert and Mix Master Mike from the scratch perspective - I could watch those guys all day long. But in terms of how I DJ, probably Diplo for his diversity, and because he came to dance music through hip hop which is pretty much my path too. I played with Jazzy Jeff and Grandmaster Flash on the same night at [Nottingham, UK venue] Rock City. Jazzy Jeff was out of this world. This was in the pre-Serato days so he literally had two copies of everything, and hip hop classics from start to finish. He was also nicest guy I ever met in DJing.
You’re quite active on Twitter [@DJSantero] during your regular sets, and very funny on the subject of DJ irritants…
The worst thing is stupid requests that bear no relation to what's going on in the club at all. An absolute classic was when I was doing a hip hop night and all this woman wanted was Westlife. She kept saying “you must have some Westlife, they've had seven number ones!” Eventually she gave up on Westlife but the punchline was just amazing. She said “well, you must have some Ronan”! The other one that all DJs will get a couple of times a year is somebody coming up and asking for the song that they're already playing. It's just like, do you really pay that little attention to music?
What’s the most embarrassing record in your collection?
Oh God let's have a look… I've been through so much because I started out as a jungle DJ, then I was a hip hop DJ, and now I play mainly house… Ooh I’ve got some right cheese in here! But I quite like it, like Huey Lewis And The News. Oh my god, I've got an ‘N-Sync track in here!
Has anything ever gone totally wrong for you in a performance?
I got so drunk once at a residency that I basically actually just left. I left James Brown, Sex Machine playing and fucked off out the fire escape. Too much red wine! I woke up next morning going 'something feels wrong, I'm sure I did something bad...'
How did you get your DJ name?
I went to Cuba with my brother, and we got taken to deepest darkest Havana, to this place where there were people spilling out into the street. Santero is kind of like the local religion, a mix of Catholicism and voodoo and various other things. Everyone was dancing and there were these priest guys going round in these silk gowns, freaking people out.
Any top track tops for slaying the opposition?
My favourite hip hop song is Stakes Is High by De La Soul. On of the tracks I’ve used most in last year is Rass Out by Altered Natives. It's quite an underground house and broken beat track but it just seems to work. But I'm not gonna give away what I'll use it with.
What kind of crowd are you hoping for in Paris?
One that wants to go out and party, rather than one that wants to stand and watch.
Want more?
- For more ahead of the Red Bull Thre3style final head to the dedicated event page
- Check out the Red Bull Thre3style gallery
- Meet the Red Bull Thre3style finalists
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