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DJ pushes underground electronic dance music

The DJ mixes underground electronica with popular tunes.

By Dylan Walker
Aug. 29, 2008

(Click graphic to enlarge)

The most noticeable thing about Drew Wilson is the red shirt with three white letters spelling out "LSD" on his chest. It's an acronym for his place of work, the Lee Street Deli, no more than two blocks from where he's sitting - and characteristically rambling - in front of a floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor of College Avenue Hall, a building he didn't even know existed until today.

"I don't give a fuck, you can put my phone number in the paper," Wilson said, a mix of self-promotion and the habit mentioned above.

On Saturday, Wilson has plans with Dr. Pong at The Blue Note, where the last show he played as a local remix artist and DJ was a success. About 700 people showed.

"We played a frat party for three houses," Wilson said of his usual "bottomless cup" crowd. "There were busloads after busloads of women. It was a blast just to have the place almost at capacity."

Wilson's stage set-up is basic: Two turntables and his PowerBook are responsible for every noise produced. Expect visuals. Wilson's been known to play clips from "The Boondocks," "Pootie Tang" and the Discovery Channel show "Planet Earth."

"Sometimes Dr. Pong brings cupcakes, so there might also be baked goods," Wilson said.

The music itself is mostly electronic beats soaked in heavy emphatic bass, mixed with everything from the most well known mainstream hook-pop to the obscure "fanboys-only" melody and verses. The mix includes RJD2, The Glitch Mob, Ratatat, Bassnectar, MGMT and some Sound Tribe Sector 9.

But for shows like the fraternity party, "We knew we were going to have to play top 40, like stuff that's on the radio," Wilson said. "I've got what I like to play and then I've got what I know people are going to pay me to play, like those 'Lollipop' and 'Umbrella' remixes."

In his more interesting pastime, introducing new and different music to people who lack a variety of favorites is one of Wilson's job perks.

"Putting up fliers is time-consuming, but whenever you see like, three fucking freshmen dance to some shit that they would have never ever heard if they hadn't been there that night, it's rewarding," Wilson said.

To guide a more mainstream crowd from radio hits to underground electronic dance music, Wilson has to be careful with transitions.

"I was playing a Justin Timberlake remix last night that almost stole my soul," Wilson said. "It was an electro remix that I could actually kind of vibe with, and then I mixed it in with some eDIT, one of four West Coast DJs in The Glitch Mob, and it's like 'See! Gotcha, bitch! You didn't know you were going to like it, but you did!'" Wilson said.

For two years, Wilson attended MU, where he wrapped up a geography minor but never declared a major. He's trying to attend an audio engineering school in Melbourne, Australia, before the end of next November. But for now, he's sticking with the pseudonym Alpaca Radio.

"There are around four alpaca farms by the river in Columbia," Wilson said, describing the name. "There's one by Gillespie Bridge, (one by) Cooper's Landing and there's a market for them because they sell for something ridiculous, like 10 grand a piece. You have to be pretty hardcore to be an alpaca rancher."

 

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