Name: Jimmy Spachman
Hometown: Bloomington, Illinois
Year: Sophomore
Major: Business
Jimmy Spachman is no stranger to the turntables. A love for music and a good deal on vinyl records gave birth to whom we know now as DJ Spock. After a blowout performance at local UA hotspot Gentle Ben’s, on their wall to wall packed Back to School Night, HerCampus sat down with Jimmy to get the real scoop on the man behind the music. We walked into Spachman’s room at the FIJI Fraternity house. It was obvious we were in the right spot. Immediately visible was the built in DJ booth that also serves as the foot of his bed.
HC: When did you get involved with Dj’ing?
Jimmy: I’ve always loved music. However, growing up in Bloomington, Illinois I was one of the few people that was really into Techno/House music. I got a great deal on a start up kit and after that I was hooked.
HC: Originally were you just Dj’ing off of your macbook?
Jimmy: No i’ve always loved vinyl records and thats really where I got started, the rest of my equipment came later. I ordered a lot of music from a London based website and actually created what we called Techno Fridays at my high school.
HC: What exactly are Techno Fridays?
Jimmy: Well every week I would make a new techno/ house mix, basically a collaborative mix tape. On Friday, I would bring them to school and drop them off at a few classes, pass out as many as I could. Throughout the day we would play them at school and just get pumped up for the weekend.
HC: What was your very first DJ gig, are we talking bar mitzvahs or what?
Jimmy: Haha no I started out basically just doing big house parties for my friends. After that my high school student council asked me to DJ one of our school dances. It was called Techno Blizzard and ended up being of the biggest school dances we had ever had. That was really cool.
HC: From house parties to school dances, how did you end up at Gentle Ben’s?
Jimmy: I ended up getting to DJ a lot of FIJI parties last year, including pajama jam, but was still really just doing it for friends. At the end of last year two of my fellow brothers Justin Marine and Mitch Kessler (involved with remix-nation.com) presented the opportunity to DJ an end of the school year party at Gentle Ben’s. It was great, luckily I was asked to come back and that’s how I got involved with Back to School Night this year.
HC: Is DJ’ing something you want to pursue as a career?
Jimmy: Obviously if the opportunity presented itself and I was able to make a career out of it I definitely would. However, I think it’s smart to have a back up plan. My major is pre-business and I’m interested in possibly minoring in spanish. My absolute dream would be to open up a club in Buenos Aires, Argentina and maybe even here in Tucson, Arizona. Right now DJ’ing and music are huge passions of mine and whether i’m DJ’ing a house party or at an event, I love it and I have every intention of continuing.
Dj Spock shared with HerCampus that the key to DJ’ing is really being able to feed off of the crowd and give them what they want. After witnessing his debut performance for the school year, HerCampus looks forward to hearing much more from the creative works of Spachman. The key to our hearts may just be through our ears.