Touted by Q Magazine as “one of the ten DJs you must see before you die” means that Yoda has had to stay on his A-game while touring Australia this summer. Thankfully, for a man as creative and eclectic as he – Duncan Beiny – this is not a hard task.

Having mixed every genre of music – from country to jazz, hip hop, drum and bass, 80s pop and 30s swing – DJ Yoda is a man who has done it all through his career to date. Not being one to rest on his laurels, Yoda has taken DJing one step further, introducing video into the mix.

Not content to simply scratch, with the help of technology like the Pioneer DVJ-1000 he now scratches, juggles and cuts moving images as well as sound. It’s a performance that has to be seen to be believed, and I recently had the chance to chat with him about it all before he set off on his Australian journey.

Being a big fan of yours I have heard you play everything from Frank Sinatra to Jay-Z and High Contrast, where does the inspiration to put such different kinds of music together come from?

It seriously couldn’t be any more simple; I just play the music that I love. I don’t think anything is inappropriate, and I don’t want to be restricted to a genre like many other DJs. If I find a song that I like, I’ll just play it.

Do you have any DJs that inspire you? Parts of your FabricLive mix remind me a lot of DJ Dexta’s 2000 DMC routine; who do you take influence from?

Definitely, Dexta is one of my favourite DJs. I am inspired by all DJs, even if they are really terrible, as it inspires me not to be that bad.

Having been a judge for the DMC comp in the past what do you think of the new style of DMC DJ; someone who cuts their own battle record with their set on a single plate, rather than the old style of franticly juggling records?

My interest in the whole battle scene has really gone down in recent years. I stopped judging a few years ago, and the whole way the scene has gone is not too good. I think it has become too serious, and too technical. It’s lost a lot of the fun element to it, and what you are talking about – the cutting of your own records – that may have a part in it, but I don’t think it’s such a big deal. I remember DJs in the DMCs 10 years ago that had so much personality, and [they] were so much fun to watch. I don’t think there is anyone out there like that at the moment. People have got caught up with being very technical, and yeah, DJ skills is a big part of it, but you need to entertain the crowd. Watching someone do an intricate scratch or juggle for 6 minutes is pretty boring.

Continuing on the theme of the evolution of DJing, with the introduction of CDs and digital platforms like Serato and Traktor, do you feel the vinyl purist is getting left behind? How big is your record collection?

There is so much new technology these days that if you decided you wanted to become a DJ tomorrow, there are so many different ways you could take it, and it’s all just trying to make it fit in with your style. But to me, the most important thing is having the understanding on the basics of how DJing works, with two records and a mixer. If you can rock a party with a box of records, you can then take it in any direction that suits your style, but that foundation – or learning to scratch with a record – is really important for a DJ. As far as my record collection, it’s too big. These days it’s quicker and easier for me to just download a track than sort through all my vinyl to find it.

Your style of music is heavily sampled based, taking snippets of music from everyone and everything. What are your thoughts on sampling laws; have you had many issues with clearing samples or not being able to use certain bits and pieces?

Sometimes it can be a problem, but usually there are ways around it. A good example of that is when I made the How To Cut & Paste 80s Edition. We found out very early on that I could not use any Micheal Jackson, Prince or Madonna records, which made it hard to do an 80s mix. But it just forces you to be more creative, and I just had to dig a little deeper and find some more interesting songs. These days with the internet if I do want to do a mix and use artists who I am not allowed to, I can just release the mix online for free, but if it’s a retail CD release, we need to get clearance very early on in the piece.

Where did the idea for incorporating video into your sets come from?

Before the technology was around that allowed me to do that I always used to throw in audio samples from films, bits of Star Wars or Scarface, anything I thought was cool. Then the technology came out, the DVJs, that allowed me to mix and scratch the video as well, so it just seemed like a logical progression. I started working out how to mix and scratch my favourite shows, and it just grew from there.

How much effort goes into preparing the video side of things? Have you got anything special lined up for Australia?

When I DJ you can read the crowd and change things up, but the video performance is more of a show. It’s not 100% set in stone, but it’s not as flexible as DJing. A lot of preparation goes into the show. The show I am bringing down to Australia will feature a lot of video form YouTube; I just learnt how to capture the videos from there to use. Seeing as the set is fairly planned out I try to change it up whenever I go back somewhere. I have a little Australia section of the show that I finished preparing, so I am looking forward to doing that.

DJ Yoda is playing in most capital cities over the next month, and will put on a show you don’t want to miss

16 Jan – Syrup, Hobart
22 Jan – Villa, Perth
26 Jan – The Espy, Melbourne
26 Jan – Shores Club, Adelaide
27 Jan – Beck’s Festival Bar, Sydney