Everyone's a DJ Issue #40

Why celebs and scenesters moonlight behind the turntables

By Dean Ramos
Published: August 1st, 2009 | 12:00am

“You can completely change the feeling of a room with the flick of a fader,” says Zach Cowie, aka DJ Turquoise Wisdom, “You really can’t blame people for wanting a shot at that.” An A&R rep for Rhino Records, Cowie has recently opened a few shows for Animal Collective — and he isn’t the only one moonlighting. Everyone from musicians like Jarvis Cocker of Pulp and Kate Jackson of the Long Blondes, to actors like Elijah Wood and even Rosanna Arquette have clocked in a few hours behind the turntables.

So what’s the appeal? And why does it seem as if just about everyone can do it these days while only a decade ago good DJs seemed to be as rare as that Delmonas 45 Comin’ Home Baby?

“Creative people tend to be creative in many different ways,” explains DJ Daisy O’Dell, who’s toured with Gwen Stefani and been booked to spin events as large as the Coachella Valley Music Festival, “so it’s not surprising that an actor or a musician would want to express themselves in a way we’re not used to.”

So what makes this mode of expression so accessible? The answer Hunter Husar of electronic indie group Mahjongg provides is a simple one. “Computers,” he states plainly. “I think that DJ-ing became popular for the simple reason that technology allowed people to do it without turntables. It also enabled people to accumulate an intimate knowledge of music in a way that wasn’t available before.”

O’Dell agrees, and says that while she’s enjoyed playing with people who aren’t DJs in the conventional sense, all this accessibility comes at a price. “To a certain extent the mystique is gone,” she muses. “I’ve got some model friends in New York and one of ‘em was like ‘I’m going to DJ this party tonight! Come!’ So we all went and she got up there and played some records and the other girls were like ‘Oh, I could do that! People actually give you money to do that? It’s so easy!’”

Not only have models gotten into the act, but famous faces of every sort seem to be taking a turn as well. “The vibe in LA can get a bit brutal,” Cowie observes. “It can cause already annoying people to be even more so. And not to be uptight, but I can count the good celeb DJs on one hand.”

Cowie, like many music industry vets, has spent his entire adult life researching and collecting records. Still, he admits that hearing a celeb you dig playing good music is an experience worth seeking out. “There is no way to convey the excitement a male record nerd gets upon the discovery that Zooey Deschanel is a Honeybus fan or learning that Chloë Sevigny knows every word to ‘Too Many Creeps’ by the Bush Tetras,” he says.

Regardless of who’s spinning the records, though, the consensus seems to be clear — the only thing that really matters is the music. “When you’re on the dance floor, nobody cares who the DJ is,” O’Dell sayss. “A celebrity might get people in the door, but they’re not going to stay if they don’t know what they’re doing.”