DJ Handle: DJ HEK YEH
What it means: I have been DJ Shorty and DJ Egg, but since coming out of retirement this year, I am DJ HEK YEH. If you come to a venue that I am playing, you will bounce your head and say, “Hek yeh!”
Real name: Bryan Short
What I play: I call it “clubadub” style. It’s my style. Beat juggle, beat match, scratch, loop, sample, slow and low tempo and up to fist-pumping speed. I mix Top 40, house, hip hop, reggae, mashups, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, just about anything that has a phat beat or the ability to be part of a phat beat to have one continuous stream of music from the time I drop the needle, until the time I hit the stop button.
Catch me at: Carlisle’s Pub every Friday at 10 p.m., Tonic every Saturday at 10 p.m., Venue, JMK Skate Shop Party and Soup’s Place.
Upcoming shows: Halloween Party at Carlisle’s Pub on Oct. 29, Halloween Party at TONIC on Oct. 30, Halloween Party at Soup’s Place on Oct. 31
Got in the game: 1994, Myrtle Beach, SC at Xanadu Night Club, mentored by DJ Jimmy Jam. I bought my first set of tables and I was hooked.
Why I do it: All my life, I have played music loud and made sure that I had the ability to hear the best songs all the time, either with a cassette tape or a CD or records or playlists. DJing is a technique that provides entertainment while playing hot songs to make people react to the tempo and style of music playing. It’s cool to be the DJ! In ’94, when Jimmy Jam offered to teach me how to DJ with turntables, I was all over it, then later on he hired me at Xanadu. That gig went on to land me a residency at the Asylum and I was able to play around the Myrtle Beach area for a few years too. I have since played shows in six states. I had a chance to spin at schools, colleges, state fairs, parties, camps, clubs and bars and always enjoyed it. I didn’t know in ’94 how much learning how to DJ would affect the things that I could do in the future.
Influences: DJ Icey, Mix Master Mike, DJ Hurricane, Q-Bert, DJ Muggs, Jimmy Jam, Skribble and a bunch of others. I am influenced by the DJs around here too. It’s very cool that we have a good amount of talented DJs here in the Triad. Nicholas Armand, DJ SK, DJ Paradime and the whole Juke Box Heroes crew, Lotta Noize and DeRon Juan just to name a few.
Favorite technique: The real DJ Technique, beat juggle, beat match and blend, scratch. With all due respect, the title DJ sometimes gets watered down. The turntable DJ is an artist and the task is to be able to be good at the art.
Personal playlist: Beastie Boys, David Crowder Band, bluegrass… anything that makes my head bounce or my toe tap.
My gear: I’ve used Techniques 1200 turntables, Numark TT220 turntables, Denon SC3500, Vestax, Beringer, Numark mixers, Sure M44 and Ortophone Pro needles. I am going to try to get a buddy of mine to convert a DJ Hero table to a sample machine and I’ll add that to the list. That would be cool.
Website: facebook.com/DJHEKYEH, Twitter.com/DJHEKYEH
I’d like to add: I have always been encouraged to play a request, when a polite request is made followed by a tip. It really vexes me when DJs are treated like a jukeboxes; however if you are gonna make a request or complaint, do it politely and with a cash tip.
thanks