The finals of the DMC turntable competition were held at Luxy this past weekend. It was the first time the competition was held in Taiwan and Vinyl Word caught up with the competition's winner, E-Turn.
So what does the "E" stand for, anyway?
"Exciting," E-Turn said. "The `Turn' is for turntables."
The 22-year-old hip-hop enthusiast started spinning some 10 years ago and is already a seasoned veteran of competitions. He won the 2002 Vestax turntable competition here (and a trip to Japan for his efforts) and another event sponsored by Motorola that took him to exhibition tournaments in Singapore and London.
Though he won last weekend's competition spinning hip-hop, his musical interests reach much further. "I like electronic music -- rave music -- and rock. I was a DJ for a rock band until not too long ago."
That band was XL, the rap-rock outfit that won the Ho Hai Yan band competitions two years ago. He's now helping out none other than hometown rock hero Wu Bai (
Of course, it's his hands that have gained him attention and garnered him awards. He beat out runner-up DJ Afro with a bag of tricks that sound better on the turntables than they do in an interview.
"I played Linkin Park," he said. "There's this one part where the song goes into a high note -- waa waa waaa -- and I cut out to a part of another track -- cha cha chaa -- and then channel back and forth."
Besides his musical interests, E-Turn is taking care of some unfinished business by finishing up a high school degree he never earned. He's also taking piano lessons and hip hop dance classes in the afternoons. His hope for the future is to segue his musical prowess into a career as a producer.
He's going to have to take time out of his busy schedule soon, though, to fly to the DMC finals in London later this month.
"I'm not going to London to have fun," he said. "I'm not going to win -- necessarily. I'm going to compete with myself."
Modest was the word to describe last weekend. Taipei's normally raucous club scene was unusually quiet following a high-profile drug bust the week before. Attendance at clubs frequented by the city's foreign community was about half what it normally is, with promoters and partygoers citing the scare factor for keeping the crowds away.
Luxy presents a treat tonight, with world flair bartender Christian Delpech. He's one of the guys who made bartending a glamorous career by juggling bottles, lighting them on fire and balancing them on unlikely body parts. Word has it that he makes a damn fine cocktail, too. Look for him in the Galleria. Tomorrow night is DJ Q'hey, aka Masaya Kyuhei.
The headliner for the weekend is at Ministry of Sound tomorrow night. Electronic tribal house giant Tom Stephen, aka Superchumbo, returns following the release of his most recent album, Wowie Zowie. Vinyl Word got a taste of it at our local record store and found it to be aptly named. You can expect it will be even more wowie zowie with the man himself laying it down. For more information, check out http://www.mos-taipei.com.
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