DJ Enferno Interview: SXSW 2010

With a resume chock full of international exposure and world class skills, Eric Jao, AKA DJ Enferno, brings to the studio and stage a skill set that is coveted by many, but mastered by few. Spinner talks with DJ Enferno about his music and his sources of influence.

How would you describe your sound?

Well, it's funny because there's two different things that I can describe myself as. There's DJ Enferno the DJ who goes around the world playing music at clubs. I play across the board of dance music. You won't hear house music all night, you'll hear hip-hop and even some rock or dancehall or retro '70s or '80s. A lot of it is music that people are familiar with and it's always presented in a way that makes it flow between genres and between bpms. It's an open format of music that makes you dance -- that's DJ Enferno the DJ.

But within the last four years I've been developing a new project that I'll actually be performing at SXSW. It's called my Live Remix project. There's elements of the DJ but also elements of the musician. There's definitely more of an element of being a performance artist than just a DJ who plays records. It's not just using the turntables as instruments, but also adding vocals, percussion, keyboards, loops, vocoders, different effects and actual music theory -- so I can not only play along with my own tracks live, but I can actually create tracks live in front of an audience with an entirely additional rig that I bring with me to these shows. It's basically a live production workstation. It's a step beyond simply playing records for a crowd.

Where did your DJ name come from?

Actually I got it my first year in college doing a Heaven and Hell themed party. I'd been DJing for three years at the time but didn't have a DJ name, I just went by my first and last name, but the promoters who hired me wanted a more interesting name on their fliers. When I first got the name I just put it on a flier and didn't think it would actually stick, but I started getting more and more gigs and next think you knew it was my official DJ name.
How did you get into DJing?

Music's been in my blood from a young age. I took about eight years of piano lessons until I was 15 or 16. Music's always been in my life as far as playing an instrument. I also threw parties with my sister when I was really young, about 15. We had DJs who were mixing and I couldn't figure out how they did it -- how they created the whole vibe for the party and how they went from song to song. Then I happened to go to a music store when I was 16 to check out the keyboards and saw some guy giving what I thought were private lessons on how to DJ, how to blend records, to some lady. I stood there watching and waited until the lady left, and then went up and asked him how much lessons cost. He said, "Oh no, I'm just up here answering questions." So I started firing questions away about the equipment and what it would take to get started. So that's how I got a realistic view into how I could get started. I pitched it to my parents and ended up working out a deal where I could pay them back over time for the equipment. I started doing high school parties and then four years of college parties. Then I started doing clubs in D.C. and that was my segway into the club scene.

What are some of your musical influences?

I love Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna -- which is funny since I ended up working with her later in my life. I also love hip-hop and house. One of my biggest influences is DJ Qbert. He doesn't necessarily do a party set at a club like I would, but he's been able to use the turntable as an instrument which really opened my mind up to a whole new way of thinking.

Is there a particularly influential piece of advice you have for other DJs?

A big piece of advice I'd give to up-and-coming DJs is: what is it that you're looking for? What do you want and why are you doing this? There's guys that just want to do weddings, and that's cool, and there's guys who just do clubs, and then there's guys who don't care where they play, they just want to spin the music they love. But knowing yourself and knowing what you're looking for will help you with the business side of things. If you're trying to do it for the long term, you have to look at it as a business and treat it as such.

What's in your festival survival kit?

The most special thing I can bring with me is a bottle of water and of course my wedding ring.

What's the most memorable experience you've had on tour?

That would be the first show I did with Madonna, in Wales in 2008. I had never been in the presence of 50,000 people. I was about to perform in front of that many people never having seen that many people in one place before. That was a really exciting day and a really memorable experience.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

[Danica McKellar who played] Winnie Cooper on the Wonder Years.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Sometimes I get these musical equipment catologues that are basically the Victoria's Secret of music. I sit down and just go through the whole thing of musical equipment. It's kinda nerdy but I like looking at gear and reading about gear.

If you could create a meal inspired by your music, what would you be eating?

It would have a lot of different flavors all in one -- maybe a jambalaya. There's a lot going on there.


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