http://youtu.be/jTYtj90sGyE

Seniors Zach Judson and Colin Hains began DJing less than a year ago because they wanted to explore their passion for electronic music and already have a pretty great gig booked: bRAVE.

They had the idea of DJing bRAVE, a school-sponsored rave which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, in the back of their minds since the beginning, Hains said.

“We wanted to make the music so much better for bRAVE and show people at Whitman the music that we love,” Judson said. “We just thought that was the one thing that was missing from something that was already an incredible event.”

The duo spent the summer messing around with their new entry level DJ controller, learning the ropes.

“We’re just having fun playing music that we like,” Judson said. “We were just trying to get better at learning the basic skills.”

Hains said that they watched a few videos of DJs, but the best way to learn is through trial and error.

While they were both new to DJing, Judson’s 11 years of musical experience playing the violin proved beneficial.

“The biggest thing about DJing is being able to mix songs together,” Judson said. “A lot of what goes into that is picking songs that are in the same key, or go together rhythmically. My music background helped me with that and definitely made it a lot easier.”

After a summer of learning how to DJ, Judson and Hains were determined to get hired for bRAVE. They spoke to senior Mia Carmel, head of the bRAVE committee, about the idea early on, but also had to get approval from SGA advisor Sheryl Freedman.

The boys made a demo video for Freedman to display their qualifications, and despite her initial reluctance, were hired.

To help them out, the boys hired Reese Mixon, a freelancer who has done lighting for popular electronic artists like Skrillex, to help set up and do lighting for bRAVE. In past years, there has been a DJ that did everything: lighting, setup and music.

“Now that Reese is there, there is liability and he can take care of things if there are problems,” Carmel said. “Also Colin and Zach can focus on their music, rather than trying to do lighting and sound as well.”

Judson and Hains worked countless hours to perfect their lineup for bRAVE. Because the event is seven hours long, they didn’t want to take any chances with not making it exact.

“We know pretty much exactly what we’re going to do the entire time,” Judson said. “Playing that long in front of that many people, we don’t want to leave anything to chance and we don’t want to repeat songs like in past years.”

While DJing with two people posed a difficulty at the beginning, they soon realized that there are advantages to having a partner. Since the event is so long, the two can each take breaks, while keeping up the quality of sound.

“What we’ve put together really touches on all of the kinds of music that people want to hear,” Judson said. “It’s not all just one type of crowd, or one kind of music lover—we have to appeal to everyone. But at the same time, we have a lot of other music that people may not necessarily know but that we think that they’ll really like.”

Through learning how to produce music for bRAVE, the duo has gained a newfound respect for other artists.

“Some people think that DJing is a joke,” Hains said. “While it can be, what some DJ’s do is just amazing and you realize how talented they really are.”

While their immediate goal is making bRAVE a fun night for all, they both agree that DJing is something they will continue.

“The more you practice, the easier it gets,” Judson said. “You can just start to branch out and experiment with different kinds of things and different music. It’s just something that’s so much fun.”

Video courtesy Zach Judson and Colin Hains. This video was a snippet from the demo they showed SGA advisor Sheryl Freedman in order to get hired for bRAVE.