Tag-Team DJs Conquer the American Frontier

British DJs James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli will take the art of tag-team DJing to a new level when the pair comes Stateside for a month-long tour in May. On their sojourn across America, they'll be using a new device called the Q2 Dual DJ mixer that allows them to spin together without delays. "You plug all your equipment in, it goes into the mixer, then you plug a pair of headphones into the Q2 and another pair of headphones into the mixer," gadget-savvy Zabiela tells Spinner. "To be honest I'm surprised no one's really done it, 'cause it's a dead simple piece of technology."

The pair previewed the setup at Miami's Winter Music Conference, having tested it out on a few occasions with very positive results. "It makes the whole set flow as if you're DJing on your own," Zabiela says. "Playing back to back with other DJs, there's this five-minute wait after every record, just sort of standing around. So it's nice to be able to hear what Nic's going to play next, and be able to scratch and drop a capella things over the top (loops and what have you) while he's playing."

On a personal level, former Sasha protégé Zabiela says the gadget gives him an excuse to tour in tandem with Fanciulli. "Nic and I actually get quite homesick, so it means we'll be able to do longer tours and stay away for months on end. Normally, I can manage to stay away about three weeks to a month before I really start missing my home," he says.

And the duo has big plans for the American tour, beginning with a good old-fashioned road trip. "We're going to rent a RV, drive around in it for a month, and hit as many territories as we can. It's going to be a unique experience, 'cause a lot of time you go to these great places, but you never see anything. I've been to America a bunch of times, but all I ever see is the airport, the hotel and the club. It's going to be nice to see the Grand Canyon and stuff like that. I'm really excited about it."

Zabiela is excited to see everything America has to offer, even the less glamorous bits. "Seedy motels, gas stations in the middle of nowhere, diners... all the stuff you see in films. Nic and I have got this joke where we think it's going to be the 'Dumb And Dumber' tour and we're going to trade the RV for a little moped, ride up to the Rocky Mountains on a moped."