The Fix

On the season finale of THE FIX, we catch up with legendary DJ Nu-Mark! Nu gives us the background on how he got into DJing, which was heavily house party oriented. We go behind the scenes in the making of one his legendary Jurassic 5 beats, "What's Golden". We dive deeper into his production, including hearing about his Rhythm Roulette episode. Nu-Mark shares his Red Bull 3Style experience in Taipei, and how he came back majorly inspired from the competitors sets. Of course, we had to chat about his Zodiac Tracks series and gain some insights into that whole process. The notorious crate digger tell us about how his digging habits have changed over the years, and how he might go broke if he were to live in Toronto with all the heat Cosmos Records carries. Uncle Nu shares some stories about being in the studio with Kanye, Method Man and his new TRDMRK EP. Tune into this jam packed episode to hear these stories and a bunch more gems.

Join us for an insightful chat on THE FIX with Sweet Touch Foundation, DJ Riccachet and Thera-P. The brothers tell us about how they started really getting into music at the age of 4 and how that passion became unwavering over the years. We hear about some of their early influences in the Toronto scene. We asked about their own unique styles and how they were able to push and influence each other as siblings. Being in the game for a hot minute, the bros tell us about the transition to Serato and discuss some of the intricacies of vinyl vs digital. STF has had a strong social media and branding presence, and we discuss some of the details behind their strategy. We delve into A-Trak's recent tweet regarding the state of open format DJ infrastructure in North America. We wind down the interview hearing about their college radio days on the legendary Stylistic Endeavours show. Tune in now, and don't forgot to rate the podcast and spread the word!

On this week’s episode we are joined by one of our city’s premier night club DJs, Crunch. The Iranian-Canadian, who also holds a Science Degree (which we get into), is a staple in the Toronto scene. We chat about his early days working at Play De Record and his quick ascension in the DJ game touring with Justin Bieber and Steve Aoki. We dive into some nerdy gear talk and get some insight on tricks to organize your Serato library. Crunch mentions his 2019 aspirations of entering Red Bull 3Style and Goldie Awards competitions as he continues to challenge himself and push the culture forward. Check it out!

On this episode of THE FIX, we sit down with turntablist legend DJ Grouch. We chat about his early days b-boying, and transitioning to another of the elements: DJing. Grouch tells us about his early foray into production by crafting beats using pause tapes. He explains the circumstances that lead to his first radio gig, and how it changed his life. While on radio, some random guy calls into the station and insists he enter a DJ battle. In his first battle, went up against D-scratch, and won - but with an interesting twist. And that was the beginning of a rivalry that turned into a partnership that became the Turnstylez Crew consisting of Grouch, Lil' Jas, D-scratch, and Son of Soul (RIP). The crew went on to compete in several battles, including an ITF battle where they edged out The Allies crew (A-trak and DJ Craze). They went on to compete against The Beat Junkies, Kid Koala and many other legends over the years. We talk about how his long standing relationship with The Beat Junkies has evolved. Grouch tells us about how he likes to keep it open and share the knowledge with fellow DJs, which has lead to him teaching courses. We briefly chat about his Spanglish hip-hop group Los Poetas, be sure to peep their music, and of course this episode!

First episode of 2019! On our latest edition of THE FIX, we reflect on our first year of the podcast. We are so thankful to all our listeners, guests and friends who've shown us so much support while we got this thing off the ground ?. We chat about some of the highlights for each of us, including some of the funny/mishap moments of the show. Diggy and Bill Cool do a music year in review and talk about some of the big club joints this year (read: Mo Bamba). No episode would be complete without some serious geeking out, as we talk about some of the innovations in DJ tech and salivate over some of the new gear from Technics, Reloop and Phase coming out this year. Shoutout to Mojaxx from DJ City for guiding us through our Shure needle crisis. Finally, we wanted to show some love to the R.O.A.D. and Opening Set podcasts doing their thing and furthering DJ culture. Hope you enjoy!

On episode 19 of THE FIX we welcome the ginger prince of the east DJ Tom Fleming. After a rare auto immune deficiency affected his vision he decided to trade in his hockey equipment for DJ gear, the rest is history! Drawing inspiration from legendary turntablist DJ AM, DJ Vice and DJ Spider, Tom spent countless hours in his parents basement honing his craft. The Club Killers affiliate has had great success in the Red Bull 3Style battle scene and is recognized for compiling dope mixes, edits and viral content. Check out what else the wordplay wizard has to say via all streaming platforms, Soundcloud and as always the iHeartRadio app.

On this weeks episode of THE FIX we welcome LA native and Dreamville representative DJ Nitrane. Currently holding down the position as official DJ for Bas and J.Cole, he is no stranger to tour life where he wears many hats including Music Director, Tour Manager and sometimes even Lighting Tech. We chat about his come up in the Hollywood scene where he established a reputation that landed him a residency as Jamie Foxx's personal DJ and a gig at The White House for Obama. Heavily influenced by turntable legends DJ AM, Jazzy Jeff and Craze, it is clear he is passionate about his craft and the art of DJing.

THE FIX welcomes 4 Korners, the Raptors official team DJ and regional director DJ City on our latest episode. We chat about the podcast's favourite NBA team, his experiences throughout the years with the organization. 4k shares some invaluable advice for anyone trying to make it out there, which starts with being a genuine person, developing relationships through networking. Of course, we hear about the come-up, some of the stories along the way and the differences in the clubs in North America and abroad. We hear about the impact of DJ City in the community, and the importance of having a strong presence for the network within Canada. Tune in, subscribe, share and rate!

For this week's episode of THE FIX we sat down with 'your favourite DJs favourite DJ', Nick Bike. The Vancouver resident has gained notoriety through releasing numerous remixes, edits and original productions that have garnered attention from industry legends such as Funk Master Flex and DJ Jazzy Jeff. We touch on his humble beginnings in Fort St John, BC and his late nights mixing french house in his early days as a DJ in Charlottetown, PEI. The Red Bull 3Style veteran has had a massive year earning himself an invite to the Playlist Retreat and receiving phone calls from the likes of world famous Biz Markie. This is truly an episode for the real DJ heads and as always is available through the iHeartRadio app and all other streaming platforms. Enjoy!

For this weeks edition of THE FIX we travelled across the country to link up with a Van City mainstay Floetic. We touch on his early wide array of musical influences from his parents and his older sister. His diversity becomes evident when he mentions DJ inspirations ranging from DJ Premier and Maceo, to Diplo and Baauer. We move into his journey of organizing and promoting events in university to developing the 'Floetic' brand and becoming one of the country's busiest DJs. This episode is packed full of all sorts of industry insight from sharing a green room with Pusha T to Vancouver's rising hip hop artists and of course nerdy gear talk. Look out for the 2-time Canadian @redbullmusic3style finalist as he competes tonight (10pm PST) for the national title. Enjoy and thanks for the continued support!

We welcome Pat Drastik of @thuglimusic on the latest episode of THE FIX. Pat kicks off the interview by breaking down our nation's history ??. We then jump right into it, Pat tells us about his early influences, how skateboarding videos influenced his music taste, being the only rap kid growing up, his early fashion swag, and being picked on. We chat about meeting his now partner in crime, Tom Wrecks, through skateboarding, and convincing him to buy turntables. He would then reverse engineer what he was hearing DJs do on the radio, mixtapes, and video. Pat reveals his motivation for moving to Toronto; it's not exactly what you'd expect. Next up, we chat THUGLI origins, and how he and Tom agreed that they would treat this music thing as a real 9-5 job. Their heavy influence from the bouncy beats of southern rap, before trap was really a thing. How the group's sound has been constantly evolving. Naturally, we chat about how Pat got into production. His gear setup, learning/stepping up chord progressions. Learning to play piano complete with an insanely detailed description of Pat wrapping his head around it. Pat breaks down his extensive foray into the battling scene and his experience at DJ Jazzy Jeff's Playlist retreat. The conversation naturally transitions into the importance of establishing personal relationships and simply being nice. We wrap our interview up by getting into Pat's "mild" gear and sneaker obsession.

Welcome back! To kick off the second season of THE FIX, we welcome LA native DJ Spider. Spider sat with us during his recent to Toronto for TIFF, and shared some of his stories - including playing a Quincy Jones party where he got to meet the legend himself. We learn about his acting experience alongside Russell Peters, Tracey Morgan and El Helms - where him and Russell chopped it up on the decks between sets. As always, we chat about the come up and his early influences, first records (DJ Rectangle Battle Weapons) and his college & online radio shows. Spider speaks about his transition into the digital format starting with Final Scratch and eventually into Serato. We hear about his first booking in Vegas at a convention where he met the late DJ AM for the first time. He talks about seeing AM play open format, and how it really opened his eyes to the possibilities using the technology. Simultaneously, Spider’s first big break was a mixtape contest via BPM magazine where he had the opportunity to open up for Mark Ronson. Spider tells us about a live hip hop trivia night he’s started called The Questions Trivia, and how he has partnered with B-real to bring it to the masses via the internet. We wind down the episode by talking about confidence as a DJ, keeping momentum going, and getting out of ruts. You’re not gonna want to miss this content packed episode.

On the season finale of THE FIX, we welcome "DJ Stimulus", or as you might know him - Skratch Bastid. Pull up, kick back and enjoy this in-depth conversation with this legendary DJ. We hear about Bastid's early exposure to music from his diverse cultural upbringing, his first cassette tape (Shaq) and how Wu-tang changed the game for him. He talks about how he started to hone his skills through early Q-Bert/Invisible Scratch Piklz videos, his mom encouraging him to enter his first battle and some of his influences (and competition) from those days. We get into the details of his time at Scribble Jam, including his now infamous Imperial March Star Wars routine and how it went viral at the time on sites like ebaumsworld. Bastid gives young DJs some golden advice when it comes to performance routines and battles - don't save it! He tells us about DJing alongside the legendary DJ Cash Money, and how that one night had such a tremendous impact on how he approached his craft. This episode wouldn't be complete without chatting about #BastidsBBQ and his involvement with Red Bull 3style. We wrap up the show by coming full circle with a couple great stories involving SHAQ and RZA, and also chat about what's next for the Bastid - which includes his desire to give back to our community and some of the projects he working on to facilitate this. Oh, and we're running a likkle contest, so listen up! You can find Skratch Bastid on social media channels: https://www.youtube.com/user/SkratchBastidTV https://www.instagram.com/skratchbastid/ https://twitter.com/skratchbastid https://www.facebook.com/skratchbastid https://soundcloud.com/skratchbastid https://www.mixcloud.com/skratchbastid/ https://www.skratchschool.com/ http://www.skratchbastid.com/

We've got the homey ESP in THE FIX studio for episode 11. Tune in as we nerd out with one of the funniest dudes in the scene. We'll title this one "Roasting 101". We kick off our chat with ESPs ongoing efforts to get a San Pellegrino sponsorship and impersonating other DJs to make it happen. ESP tells us his backstory that has lead him to the "best job ever", including the time he transported his first set of turntables and mixer on the back of a motorcycle (gasp ?). Our conversation quickly turns tech heavy as we chat about the exciting new technology that has the DJ world buzzing - the Rane 72 & 12s and the Phase wireless timecode adapter. He also tells us about his experiences at the Red Bull 3style competition in Poland - including one particularly polarizing character. Check it out now! ESP can be found on social: https://www.instagram.com/espearce/ https://soundcloud.com/espearce

On this episode we welcome a legend in the DJ and broadcasting world for over 25 years - Mastermind. Join us as we fan out about how much of an influence he is to us. As always, we dig deep into the story, talking about his intro to this thing we love called HIP-HOP! His long career in the radio world, getting his first college radio show at 15 years old, the influence and evolution of hip-hop radio. Mastermind tells us about his influences as a DJ ranging from Cash Money, Jazzy Jeff, Jam Master Jay, Marley Marl, Chuck Chillout, Red Alert and more. His high praises for the versatility and "open format" ability of his peer, Starting from Scratch. We talk about that moment that he sold ALL his records (you know how many records this man had his hands on?? ?) just before Serato dropped ?. Naturally, we discuss his acclaimed series of Mixtapes at length, including his access to not only the most exclusive records, but DATs from the studios too! He describes the death of the classic DJ mixtape that we knew due to the infamous "crackdown" (at least the feds didn't knock down his door like they did to his NY peers). We get some INDUSTRY GEMS, which starts with industry rule number 4080...record company people are shadyyyy! Mastermind also tells about the early advice he gave to Drake. You're not gonna want to miss this one! Mastermind can be found on social media at: https://twitter.com/Mastermind https://www.instagram.com/mastermindlive/

JAYEMKAYEM visits The Fix studio for a candid interview in episode 9. Jayem has been killing the game for the past few years, and we get to dive into her personal and professional story. We cover the oft-debated topic of requests (and how not to do it), the DJ's role in breaking records these days, the shortage of quality full album projects vs compilations of singles, getting her start spinning, first time playing out in just 2015, and her meteoric rise since. She is also the first guest we've had who primarily uses CDJs, so we get some insight into her preferred setup using Rekordbox + USB drive with no laptop! Balancing skills with marketing, and the current landscape of influencer culture. We chat about the importance of radio, how it seems to be lacking these days, and some of her current projects including iStoleTheSoulFM and an upcoming curation at NXNE. We also get personal and talk about Jayemkayem's upbringing from UK to Hong Kong to Calgary, culture, language, past relationships and more! Jayemkayem is all over social media (we think we've covered them here)... http://www.jayemkayem.com/ https://soundcloud.com/jayemkayem https://www.mixcloud.com/josephinemokcruz/ https://www.instagram.com/jayemkayem/ https://twitter.com/jayemkayem https://www.facebook.com/jayemkayem

Welcome to Episode 8 of The Fix! This week we welcome the Professional RAP FAN and one-third of already legendary hip-hop group Run the Jewels, Trackstar the DJ. Trackstar has been in the game for a minute, with over 150 mixtapes already under his belt. He's been a busy dude touring around the world with Killer Mike and El-P as RTJ, hosting a weekly show on Shade 45, and managing his clothing line RAP FAN - yet he took the time to sit down with us before their show in Toronto. Tune in as as we chat about the typical plethora of topics you're used to on the pod ranging from his come up, linking up with Killer Mike, their first show in Toronto and the hilarious story that came out of it. Trackstar also gives us some hot takes on Drizzy, Free smoke in every city, the surprisingly unknown production juggernaut Earththone III, why the blog days were so important for him, collaborating with Q-bert on some gear, and the most down-to-earth zen outro to the episode. You know what to do! Trackstar's online coordinates: http://djtrackstar.com/ https://www.instagram.com/trackstarthedj/ https://twitter.com/djtrackstar https://www.facebook.com/realdjtrackstar/ https://soundcloud.com/trackstarthedj

We welcome Big Jacks to THE FIX studio in our latest episode. Big Jacks' resume is impressive list of ✅milestones. Tune is as we run the gamut of topics ranging from snacks, Toronto radio, digging tips, mixtapes (and actual cassettes), the record label (@ggbrrecords), his gig with clothing retailer Aritzia, connection to Conway & Westside Gunn, tips for up and coming DJs, and a bunch of other shit. You can order GGBR Records Music and Merch through their website, including pre-orders of "Daily Bread - Gospel according to Big Jacks": https://www.ggbrrecords.com. Big Jacks can be found online at all these places: https://soundcloud.com/bigjacks https://www.instagram.com/djbigjacks/ https://twitter.com/BigJacks https://www.facebook.com/djbigjacks/

⬆️ Haters Gonna Say it’s Photoshopped! ⬆️ This week on THE FIX we host Hamilton, Ontario’s very own Buggin Out DJs made up of Walter Deans and Cam B, who is fresh off a 3rd place finish at this years Red Bull 3style World Finals (https://vimeo.com/255789910). We chat with them about their come up, and how the two of them met and got started DJing together, some of perils of spinning in the Hamilton scene, their journey to world finals in Poland, nerves and the process of putting together a competition set. Buggin’ Out can be found on the web through the links below: https://www.bugginout.ca/ https://soundcloud.com/bugginoutbugginout/ https://www.facebook.com/bugginoutbugginout/ https://www.instagram.com/bugginoutdjs/ Also, Walter is on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/walterdeans/ and Cam at https://www.instagram.com/dj_camb/

On this latest episode of THE FIX, we welcome one of the most enigmatic and interesting dudes in the game, The Gaff. Born in Washington, DC, grew up in Victoria, BC and currently residing in Toon Town (aka Saskatoon, SK), The Gaff is a world renowned party rocker, music knowledge gawd, crate digger extraordinaire, and so much more. A true DJs DJ, respected and acknowledged by the greatest of heads. We cover the gamut in this interview: touching on his days as a sponsored skateboarder, to his journey into the world of DJing, and his connection to spirituality & the healing arts. Get ready for a unique and fun journey into his world! The Gaff can be found online through these platforms: Soundcloud, Mixcloud, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.