Dave Shayman is Disco D. Detroit native and general mofo’, he is considered by his peers as the pinup boy for ghetto-tech. As young as he is hip, he promises an onslaught of sound and one hell of a party! More than a DJ too, he has done commercials for the commercials, including department store Best Buy, Sprite and Nike.

What sort of stuff were you into as a youngster? When did you decide you wanted to hit the decks?

I was really nerdy growing up.  I got into computers at 5 and playing saxophone at 9.  I used to get picked on and beat up a lot.  Then when I was 15, my parents divorced, and my best friend started hanging out with me a lot more.  He took me to a rave at the Packard Motors plant in Detroit and there I saw DJ Godfather and Gary Chandler (a big radio DJ in Detroit) going at it on 4 decks.  Something clicked in my head and I was like “I want to do that” and within a year I had a residency at a club, a mix CD on the streets and had already done a tag team set with DJ Godfather.  I never expected it to go anywhere and I definitely never expected all the twists and turns that took me to where I am now.

You are classed alongside guys like Godfather, Assault et al, but your style is more subtle and different. Describe it. 

Well, I used to be real aggressive, like Godfather, and do tons of scratching and play at a really high BPM.  As I got older and played more and more shows I started to realize that when you do too much of the trickery, instead of dancing people start to just watch you.  So now I really limit the amount of technicality and just focus on rocking the party.

Would you say anyone played a pivotal role in your inauguration into music?

Definitely my man Aaron Deakins because if he hadn’t taken me to that party, I wouldn’t be here!  Also DJ Marquis and Joe Hahn who showed me I could make money at this!  Also 50 Cent for blowing the door open for me as a producer!

Explain the relationship, in your view, between all the sounds that you enjoy playing in your sets – techno, drum and bass, hip hop and electro.

When I started spinning I didn’t know anything about dance music, about the different genres and all that.  I just knew that I wanted to be a DJ, so I would go to the record store and just buy whatever sounded cool to me and mix that all together.  I was slowing down drum n’ bass and putting techno at 45 RPM and crazy shit like that.  Shaking your ass is shaking your ass.  I’ve kept that aesthetic through my entire career.

Do you think there is a place in the DJ stable for technology such as Final Scratch or Ableton?

I just recently switched to using Serato almost entirely.  It’s great – I have access to such a wide range of stuff at all times.  It’s taken some getting used to, but I definitely don’t miss the back pain from carrying so much vinyl!

Talk to us about the other projects you have in the pipeline.

I just want to make hot beats, for everyone!  I got a super huge project in the pipeline right now too but I can’t talk about it yet!

Tell us a bit about your Disco DVD venture – what’s that all about.

Basically my life is totally crazy – working in the studio, flying around the world and all that – that I wanted to document some of it.  Disco DVD Vol. 1 was filmed over only 4 days and it’s totally watchable and that’s saying something.

A Night at the Booty Bar  was one of your artist successes. What other CD projects have you got going?

I actually have 2 new CDs that you can order directly from my website – ‘Return To Olive St.’ which is full length tracks that were previously 12” only releases, and ‘Funk Flava 2005’ which is a new mix CD incorporating everything from Miami Bass, Baltimore Club, Dancehall, Hip Hop and of course ghetto tech!

What other cool shit have you been up to lately?

I got engaged recently and have been splitting my time between Sao Paulo, Brazil and NYC!

Wrapping up, give us an insight into the life of a traveling DJ come businessman. Fill us in on the good and the bad.

Good: I get to see the world, play great tunes, make music for a living, and not have to answer to a boss!  Also I never would have met my fiancée if I hadn’t gone on tour in Brazil!

Bad: Airlines, long flights, lack of sleep, crappy crowds sometimes, and shady promoters!  The music industry is shady!

Check Disco D out this weekend in Melbourne on Friday 14th October at Honkytonks and in Sydney on Saturday 15th October at Chinese Laundry.