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| Sunday, 20 July 2003 |
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Being a DJ he says is great. "It's more like a hobby than a job". Working at Clancy's on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights (and morns as it turns out) from 9.00 P.M. to around 3.30 A.M, Dilrup passes the time playing 60's, 70's, 80's and at times music from the early 90's as well. Playing oldies most of the time, he gives it a bit of a break at around 1.00 A.M. setting a bit of R n B rolling, for about 45 minutes, later going back onto the classical stuff. Says D "I play a lot of 70's and 80's music here, cause it's a lot of the middle-aged crowd who turn up. In DJing the most important thing is playing for your audience, not yourself". by Farah Macan Markar Your at a late night party. The music is going and everyone's on the floor moving to the beat. Ever wondered what's behind the beat. The music changes almost unnoticed from quick to slow and slow to quick. The party goes on. The feet keep hitting the floor. The music keeps on rolling. And the guy behind all of this? The DJ. Ever wondered what it must be like to be a DJ? I'm not talking of just putting one song after another, but about a DJ's life. Well after extensive research and phone calls I find one. DJ Dilrup from Clancy's. After a delayed start (he had to go answer a call of nature as soon as he stepped into the ancient premises of L.H) I quiz Dilrup Kumar Wickremasinghe away and the first thing I fish out from this movie freak as he describes himself, is a sneaky piece of data about his job. Being a DJ he says is great. "It's more like a hobby than a job". Working at Clancy's on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights (and morns as it turns out) from 9.00 P.M. to around 3.30 A.M, Dilrup passes the time playing 60's, 70's, 80's and at times music from the early 90's as well. Playing oldies most of the time, he gives it a bit of a break at around 1.00 A.M. setting a bit of R n B rolling, for about 45 minutes, later going back onto the classical stuff. Says D "I play a lot of 70's and 80's music here, cause it's a lot of the middle-aged crowd who turn up. In DJ-ing the most important thing is playing for your audience, not yourself". So how did he first get behind the stereo? Well for Dilrup it all began at a cousin's party when he was thirteen plus one (which is 14 by the way). "I was actually dragged in it" he says. Well anyway being in charge of the songs and getting the party going, he was kind of lost in front of the stereo, when a genie in the form of Himal Perera appeared out of the blue, and asked him if he needed help. The response being a big "Yes" from D, the genie left, and returned half an hour later, arms stacked with heaps of cassettes. Rewinding cassettes, choosing what to play Dilrup and his genie set the party going. The genie D found out later was a DJ himself. In 1999 was Dilrup's Big O's (O'levels). After finishing that tedious marathon, D and his genie got together and went mobil DJing around town. Going from party to party, it was Dilrup's initial professional DJing course. "At the beginning I just sat back and watched while he did most of the work, at times doing the beginnings and slow scenes" he says. Having mastered the art, they divided the parties between them, and gradually shifted their own ways. Dilrup's big break through in DJ-ing however was still to come, and it came in 2001. Meeting a guy called Ramly who was working for Cool Tempo at the time, in a party, D later rang up and asked whether he could join up as a trainee DJ. They took him in. Joining C.T. he says today gave him a big boost. "It gave me lot of opportunity in DJ-ing, lifted me up and was one experience I'll never forget". The next best thing to happen in this guy's DJ-ing life, was in the Royal-Bridgeteen Interact Talent Search 2001. (D's from St.Thomas's by the way). He won best DJ, which he says was great, especially as he was judged by a DJ who was his role model. On February 14th this year (the Big V Day) D first DJ-ed in Clancy's. Being called up by a friend, whose uncle's the owner of the Irish Pub (that's Geoff by the way), and asked whether he could pop in and set the music going, D took it. Having got the party going on V Day, he was asked to come again the next Saturday, and from then on he he's been at Clancy's. Of what he does Dilrup says you should have a love for it. "Anyone can learn to DJ, just as anyone can learn to drive, but as in a racing a car to the finish line and being a star, to really getting the music going it has to come from within you". Dilrup's favourite song is "Breaking up his heart in two" by Neil Sedkar and favourite millennium song - "Only God Knows Why" by Kid Rock. A song which he used to always play at the end of his sessions, when mobile DJing with Cool Tempo. Other than his adrenalin pumping job so to speak, 19 year old D (first said he was 20, but after having recalling his date of birth to be Jan 3rd 1984, discovered he was a year younger) loves watching movies (he can't wait to see Terminator 3 which has just been released), eating junk food (hates succi), and being on the computer (which is where he experiments with music). So who is Dilrup? A normal guy who likes to be left alone is the answer. Described by his friends as a ticking time bomb, he says music cools him down. Most embarrassing moment? "I got late for this party (his explanation is that his vehicle broke down) and when I finally arrived, slipped and fell as I was passing through a crowd of girls". Speaking of girls, what does he look for in one. The answer comes in bits and pieces. "A bit of outer appearances, a bit cute and a bit of personality". Life he says is like a drifting boat, which comes across obstacles now and then, around which it has to work its way through. This particular drifting boat goes for formal attire with a touch of black when dressing himself. Coming from a musical family, in which his father, mother and uncles are all musicians and having a Latin American Dancer for a sister, D says music is something which soothes the soul. Doing an external degree in business administration at the University of Jayawardenapura, he often misses Saturday morning classes cause he is so sleepy. Still keen on keeping DJ-ing as a hobby, Dilrup hopes to later work in a bank. |
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