Although he’s originally from Mississippi, since relocating to upstate New York and getting his break on college radio, DJ Ayres has had a relatively quick rise to prominence, thanks in a large part to the word-of-mouth power of the internet. Now living in Brooklyn and promoting the monthly party The Rub (The Village Voice calls it the “best party in Brooklyn to dance sweatily to smart music”, and the New York Press said it’s the “best party in NYC”), he’s liable to drop anything from rap to house, bass, reggae, rock-n-roll, electro, house and more. His signature anything-goes style is akin to fellow north Americans like Diplo and A-Trak, and this month Ayres is finally making it down to Australia for a series of club dates. ITM shoots the breeze.

Have you ever been to Australia’s big red centre? Ayers Rock that is…

I haven’t! This is my first time to Australia. When I first learned about Ayers Rock when I was a young kid, I was obsessed with it because Ayers is such an odd name. Then I learned about Roy Ayers and I kind of switched my obsession up to him.

I hear you plan to ‘Rub’ off a little of your talent in Australia sometime soon, it’ll be your first tour here. What’s planned, and what have you heard about the Australian scene?

I don’t know the first thing about Australia, but my friends who have gone – Spankrock, Scottie B, Paul Nice and Diplo – had a great time, so I’m sure it’s going to be fun. I really want to go to an Australian Zoo and see all the native animals that we don’t have in America.

Who was your college sweetheart inspiration?

A Polish girl from Queens named Veronika Zielinska, and we got married eight years later! Our third wedding anniversary was last week.

Do you feel coming from a musically inclined family offered a promise or expectation to succeed in the industry?

Not so much because none of the musicians in my family were successful on an industry level. My grandmother is a pretty successful novelist though, so growing up under her definitely made me more ambitious and feel like whatever I did, I could do it on a big stage. Her pen name is Ellen Douglas.

From rap to rock-n-roll, hip hop to house, what genre appeals to you most when spinning?

When I’m DJing in clubs, I have the most fun mixing house, just because I love the energy and doing long mixes and trick mixing and all that, but in the car I listen to more hip-hop, and my radio sets tend to have a lot more hip-hop. In the club I play about half and half, but these days I enjoy playing house more. But I can’t stick to one genre for too long, my main thing is just being eclectic and playing to the crowd.

Do you think the internet has enhanced your popularity and accessibility?

Hell yes, without the internet nobody in Australia would know who I am. I put a lot of work into my website and The Rub website, our radio shows on BrooklynRadio.net and Scion Broadband, and our records on T&A and The Rub are always bestsellers at Turntable Lab, so that all gets the word out. Otherwise I would still be a DJ with a really hot party in Brooklyn that nobody out of town knew about.

Is it just you and a bunch of record-ravaged dudes touring The Rub, or do you recruit other DJs to headline along the way?

Well at The Rub monthly in Brooklyn we have at least one guest DJ, and they are always friends of ours who we know will kill it in that room, rather than famous names. Of course we’ve had some well known DJs play with us there, like DJ Premier, Mark Ronson, Diplo, A-Trak and so on, but those were all people who we knew already, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to afford the fees they normally charge and still keep our door price cheap! On tour we usually headline but we do get booked to open for a lot of bigger artists, like this year we’ve opened for The Chemical Brothers, Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch, Justice and Blonde Redhead.

Do you think more music notorieties should lend their hands to charity organisations?

I think more people in general should do what they can to help people less fortunate. I don’t think entertainers should bear any more or less social responsibility than plumbers, lawyers, janitors, politicians or anyone else. I jump at opportunities to help out causes I believe in. I live in Brooklyn and there are people who have it bad all around me so it’s pretty easy to stay grounded and aware of inequalities.

I for one love a buffet, bring on the all-you-can-eats to suffice all tastes. Do you fancy a more musically-varied NYC or are you down with the hip hop and RnB predominance?

New York is about the most diverse city I’ve been in. In a given week I’ll have a gig playing all electronic music one night, then a gig playing disco for kids and their parents the next day, then a rock concert, then a hip-hop club, then Basement Bhangra, then I’ll go see someone play traditional Japanese music on the Koto at Carnegie Hall with my family. Radio in the US is dominated by hip-hop and RnB but that doesn’t mean that the music scene in New York is limited to that. It’s very popular but there are all types of other things going on here 24/7. You just have to know where to look.

Where do you want to retire to with the missus one day?

I don’t picture myself ever retiring, I think I’ll always have to stay busy or I’ll go nuts. You’d have to ask her though; she’ll probably want me to slow down eventually. Santorini [Greek Island] is an amazing place, that would be a great place to retire.

Can you please explain to the less-learned… what the heck “backpack rap”?

Hahahaaha. backpack rap is sort of a joke name for underground hip-hop. You know, like Rawkus heads, with the four elements, you have your backpack with your graffiti markers, your rhyme book, your vinyl for DJing, whatever it is that breakdancers carry around… super scientifical rhymes and whatnot.

DJ Ayers makes his first visit to Australia this weekend:

Fri Oct 19 – Third Class, Melbourne
Sat Oct 20 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Sun Oct 21 – Clarendon Hotel, Newcastle