Who is Jeremy?Hunched over his desktop computer and techie music software, DJ Digital Logic, a maestro of mixes, comes alive when the downbeat drops. Simultaneously hitting keys and turning knobs, his fingers perform magic when he fuses two melodies into harmonies. Together in his apartment on U. Drive, our heads nod and our feet tap to the rhythm of the remix. DJ Digital Logic, also known as Jeremy Klein, a junior majoring in computer science, delivers some of the sickest beats on campus. Raised in LA, Jeremy got his start in high school hosting small parties with his friends. Once he came to Wash U, Jeremy upgraded his equipment and started performing around campus in dorms and other informal venues. After winning the WU DJ Battle last spring, he opened for Cold War Kids at W.I.L.D. alongside the acclaimed DJKeeno. Describing his performances, Jeremy says, “I like as much energy and jumping and sweat as possible. I love the crowded, high-energy feel. I think it makes people a lot more comfortable dancing when there’s a really small space and a lot of people cause they don’t really have the choice. Either they’re dancing, or they’re being hit by people dancing. I like that environment.” |
// CONNECT
Want to connect with Jeremy? E-mail him at jlk3@wustl.edu or hit him up on facebook.
// INTERVIEW
Kuumba.tv: Where did you get your start?
Jeremy: I’d spend hours on my friend’s mixer at his desk, this little tiny mixer, about half the size of this (points to his own software), and we’d just mess around for hours everyday. And eventually I wanted to keep doing it at home, so I bought my own mixer and invested a little money and started doing parties. My friends and I would host a party and just take turns DJ’ing and things like that. And eventually when I got to Wash U, I sort of found places to continue DJ’ing, mostly at the Sammy basement. [That] was a huge one freshmen year. And from there on, name spreads and people contacted me, and here I am.
Kuumba.tv: Who inspires you? Who are your role models?
Jeremy: I get a lot of influence from a lot of different styles of music. I consider myself to be pretty diverse as far as musical tastes. I listen to everything from, like, metal to electronic to hip-hop to classic rock, and so I guess Radiohead is one of [my] hugest inspirations. The way that they put things together is incredible. On the other hand, you have these powerhouse DJs like Justice, and Boys Noize, and MSTRKFT and Diplo.
Kuumba.tv: So how does it feel? Like what are your emotions like before the concert, during, and after?
Jeremy: So when I first hear about a gig I’m going to do, I’m always really excited and so ready to go, and I’m putting together my set, and I’m like ‘this drop is gonna be so phat and everyone’s gonna love this.’ And then I’ll get to like the day of or a few hours before, and that’s when I start to get nervous if it’s a big thing. The little things I’m pretty used to by now. But if it’s a big event like W.I.L.D. or Cicero’s, I get a little stage fright. But after my first song goes down, I’m all fun from there on out. I just love feeling off the crowd and being in my element on stage.
Kuumba.tv: What’s the process of being a DJ like?
Jeremy: Most of what I do is improvisation. As for, like, the complete set, I’ll feel out what the crowd is feeling, whether I should pick up the tempo or drop like a really heavy drop at a certain moment if I have the crowd at a certain height, but I want to push it over. It’s really feeling out what’s going on. Rarely do I go into a set, ’100% this is what Im going to play.’
Kuumba.tv: Where do you see yourself going next? Specifically, I know you do engineering in computer science, like how do you see things mixing, or if you even do?
Jeremy: I’m hoping to be able to develop software that will help music and that will inspire creative thought within music…I’d like to sort of apply some of my computer science and computer engineering knowledge to my music in the future.
Collaborators: Dakari Quimby; Rita Sengupta; Gabe Brehm