TheClub App
- May 8, 2021
- 21 min read

EP. 068 - DJ Kevin Rucker (My DJ Story Podcast)

Name: Kevin Rucker DJ Name: DJ Kevin Rucker Website: podomatic.com/podcasts/djkevinrucker Instagram: @kevvydreds Primary Genre: House Other Genres: Hip-Hop, R&B, Dancehall, Afrobeat

Transcript

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: what's going on everybody Darrell freighter the club CEO here and we have another amazing episode of the my DJ story podcast.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: brought to you by the club APP the number one online Community for DJ where you can stream for free and not get cut off today we have my brother, DJ Kevin Rocker here on the podcast broken you please introduce yourself to the people who you are and where you're from.

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Kevin Rucker: My name is DJ Kevin rucker and i'm from Philadelphia Pennsylvania Hello everyone.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: Wonderful brother super happy to have you here on the podcast and we want to hear your story man so tell us about the beginning, how you got into DJ what kind of sparked your interest in becoming a DJ and just talk to us from very beginning.

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Kevin Rucker: um basically.

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Kevin Rucker: I started around college around 92 actually um we had a college radio station where I went to school at and I got a radio so on a station and on that show, I will play a lot of hip hop and r&b and you know going to the school there really wasn't a lot to do on the weekend.

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Kevin Rucker: So you know with us being part of the radio station, we just started decide to throw a party we didn't we weren't even you know necessarily you know.

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Kevin Rucker: DJ we were we were college radio game, not even DVDs but you know once that started and kind of you know, and people actually came out a kinda you know lift the bug in there, that you know I mean.

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Kevin Rucker: This is addictive between you know, back then, you know buying a vinyl and finding new music and then you know, throwing parties and what happened.

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Kevin Rucker: It was just a lot, plus the scene back in Philadelphia back in those days, which is right with DJ is I mean you add.

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Kevin Rucker: house, DJ is hip hop these days and the club scene was popping so in the 90s, it was just a whole lot of things going on.

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Kevin Rucker: So basically once you know I mean once I got bit by the bug it never stopped that was you know.

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Kevin Rucker: Taking money you know, every week, just to buy records, you know what I mean invested in the equipment.

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Kevin Rucker: You know what I mean going to Club to see other DJ spin making tapes trying to get on.

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Kevin Rucker: And it was it was just a you know, once you get bit by the bug you can't stop basically so that's kind of how I started through college radio and it kind of blossom into us, you know becoming a you know you want to just you know, but you know that just spit.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: yeah that's amazing man and I hear the story, a lot of DJ you know you catch that bug.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: And then there's just a passion that comes upon you that just makes you super in involved in the DJ industry and this passion this journey.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: That you're taking to become a legitimate DJ and really you know rockin these parties so i'm super excited to hear you know where you went from there after getting introduced as a college, DJ.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: Then you know being on the radio, for your college, you know where did it go from there, and how did you transition within your DJ career.

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Kevin Rucker: um basically once I left college, you know you know.

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Kevin Rucker: Bishop gotta you know corporate job, but you know, I was taking all the money, I was making from the job of the invention and equipment.

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Kevin Rucker: and basically making tapes and giving it to anybody that will listen and sometime between like 97 and 98 I met this guy me, Mr Casey vijay who had a man who had a.

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Kevin Rucker: Like a fancy car audio clips and he had a whole lotta could match the what club scene, and you know, he would get me these little gigs here and there.

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Kevin Rucker: At these places downtown Philadelphia so basically you know, whatever connects that I had you know it might be from another DJ I spent here I spend there and around probably 99 2001 2000.

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Kevin Rucker: They used to be a publication called this Philadelphia city paper and they had this DJ spin off and am from all the tapes they got a place at the top four.

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Kevin Rucker: And i'm basically got a showcase of spin at one of the bigger clubs and Philadelphia called shampoo at the time it's this place with massive like three floors.

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Kevin Rucker: And i'm from there, you know it started getting the name out a little bit, and I was able to make connects to whereas, though, you know I could you know, been.

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Kevin Rucker: You know, have a monthly here monthly there, and you know I started getting residency and I had a weekly residency at a spot from there were you know they would like to play anything I wanted to.

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Kevin Rucker: Which now let's kind of think of when so um you know, once you get your feet wet in the club seeing that's the thing you can give give you know is one thing, the.

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Kevin Rucker: spin on radio and to you know one offs here and there, but spending every week for people, I mean I think that's kind of how to get your wings.

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Kevin Rucker: As you were they get the data, you know read crowds and you're in you know, and you get to tie that every weekend you're doing it up week and you get to experiment with different types of music, so I mean that time period was the best because you know, basically, you see what worked.

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Kevin Rucker: What didn't work.

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Kevin Rucker: And plus one, at a time I gotten that mobile DJ into with a friend of mine, and that was just a whole different world, so you know it's like like I said before, man once you get bit by the bug you want to take every gig could possibly get.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: I like how you highlighted the role that a residency plays, especially for early DJ.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: It really gives you your wings are really gives you that experience that really mature, as you as a DJ.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: Talk about some of the learning lessons that you learn, while in your residency and then after that talk about how you go about finding residences I know some teachers have a hard time.

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Darrel Frater, TheClub CEO: Breaking in and finding these residency so talk about your learning lessons and then just how to acquire residences.

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Kevin Rucker: That learning lessons is basically i'm trying to you know it's a fine line between playing for yourself and playing for the people.

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Kevin Rucker: and basically what that means is that you want to play stuff that issue, but at the same time that gets the people moving at the end of the day.

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Kevin Rucker: Your job is to interact with the crowd and they get people into what you're doing so you're not there just for yourself.

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Kevin Rucker: it's kind of a 5050 things you want to do you want to play things that keep you involved, but at the end of the day.

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Kevin Rucker: you're there for the people and that's that's that's the one lesson that stuck with me forever is that you're there to make the people.

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Kevin Rucker: move and they get everything going and basically you know what I mean that's that I mean sometimes they just get.

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Kevin Rucker: So involved into what they're doing and what they want to hear, they forget about crowd but the crowd is the number one thing I mean if you if you don't have a crowd if you don't have their attention.

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