Get familiar with a DJ by the name of ‘Kap Slap’ because he’s talented, humble, good looking and you’re not going to want to miss a minute of his burgeoning career. Having started out doing mashups, or “frat party music,” Jared Lucas is a recent Lehigh University graduate about to release his first original track later this year. Don’t worry, you’ll still get plenty of his signature bootlegs and Slapcasts, but get ready for even more amazing music from him as he transitions into original production. We got to sit down with Kap Slap before his OC show at Yost Theater to chat about the road so far. Keep reading to get to know him better and for links to download his free music!
Crowd surfing @ Yost Theater in Santa Ana 6/12/14 – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
Her Campus: Where does the name ‘Kap Slap’ come from?Kap Slap: [Laughs] Good first question. So, a friend of mine came up with a drink. The drink name is called a “Kap Slap. ” And what it is— have you heard of a funnel before? Like a beer bong, something like that?HC: I’m in college, yes.KS: Ok, yeah—it’s a college thing. You take a funnel of beer and as soon as you start it, you pour a shot of [Bacardi] 151 in at the top. So you take a gulp, and it’s like “Okay, normal.” You take another gulp and it’s like, “Oohh.” The last gulp is just like, a slap in the face, basically. That’s where the ‘slap’ came from.
FUN FACT: Kap Slap was actually in a fraternity in college— Kappa Alpha Society— and so his fraternity big bro coined the term ‘Kap Slap’ as their family drink. Anyone willing to try one?
HC: I understand you play guitar, bass, and drums.KS: Yes.HC: What would you say is your favorite instrument out of those?KS: It actually changed. I used to be very, very into guitar back before college. Back in high school, very much hardcore into guitar but just the rhythm of drums and being able to just sit down and just jam—I think they might have taken its place. Guitar, you have to kind of keep up with it a little bit and with drums, you can just hop right back on, and within a couple minutes, you’re in the groove. I really love the rhythm of drums.
HC: How did you stay on top of everything from being a full time student at Lehigh and doing a 25 show tour your junior year?KS: [Laughs] Ahh, I wish I knew. I wish I could tell you. I don’t know, I was just very focused. It was all very new to me. I planned ahead like, “Okay, I have a test coming up next week. I should probably study a little bit now,” on a Friday when I didn’t have a show.HC: Just do a show in between cram sessions, you know. No big deal.KS: [Laughs] Yeah, like Friday/Saturday I’d be at some show. Sunday, come back and rest. Monday, thermodynamics test. You know, brutal. [Laughs] My GPA went down a little bit, it’s fair, but I still graduated—still kept it up there. It was literally just time management, I guess. It was definitely tough, for sure.
HC: When you started doing mashups. DJing , is it something you want to eventually end up doing full time? Did you think this is what you were going to end up doing?KS: At first, I had no idea. I never dreamed of doing this at all. If you asked me 6-7 years ago, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” I’d say I’d probably own my own business, be a consultant for something, something of that nature. I kind of just started doing this for fun and I kind of realized I can support myself making myself happy making music and actually exploring my creative side. I had to pursue it. It’s a very exciting road to go down.
HC: The first time my friends & I saw you was at Marquee a year and a half ago.KS: Wow! Really? I was closing for Cedric Gervais, no?HC: Yeah!KS: That was great.HC: That was our first time seeing you.KS: Was that fun? Was it good?HC: Yeah, it was. It was great.KS: Oh, awesome!HC: It was for my friend’s 21st birthday.KS: [Laughs] That was my first time in Vegas, actually.HC: So that was your first time playing in Vegas. And recently you just sold out your first LA show at the El Rey here in CA last month—KS: Yes, that was huge.HC: And this past weekend you played your first Vegas pool party at the new Drai’s Beach club. How are you feeling after all that?KS: It was really cool because of the fact that yes, it is a Vegas pool party—a rooftop pool party— but it was also my manager’s birthday. Alex’s birthday was that night and so everything worked out perfectly. All of his buddies, anything on the West coast, we try and bring as many people as we can—some of my friends, some of his friends. So all the boys were out for this whole weekend. This past weekend was amazing, so fun.
Kap Slap @ Drai’s Beach Club, Las Vegas – 6/7/14 – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
HC: What’s been your most memorable show experience thus far?KS: [Stays quiet for a while] Oh man, which kid is my favorite? Is that what you’re asking me?HC: Yeah, basically.KS: I mean, it’s very hard to pick, but what stands out in my head right now is SnowGlobe 2013 in Tahoe, California.HC: I had a couple of friends go to that. They were tweeting nonstop about you.KS: Oh my gosh, that was unreal. The fact that, again, all the boys came out. We all dressed in these 90s onesies. You know, those—HC: I saw that on Facebook!KS: Yeah, we dressed up in that. My set was an okay time slot and I didn’t know what to expect. I started playing and it was kind of a small, not that many people there [at first] and [suddenly] people just started flooding over. By the end the tent was entirely full. There were like, 1000 people in the back, fully overflowing. It was just so much fun. I definitely had a great time with that set. That’s definitely standing out, for sure.
The Onesie Crew @ Lake Tahoe – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
HC: January 1st, 2014 you said you’d be releasing your first original track this year.KS: Yes.HC: Do you have an idea of when you’ll be releasing that?KS: So, on my end, I’ve been done for a good amount of time with it. It’s very ready to go. The problem is it’s kind of a lot of ‘red tape’ type stuff. We’ve had a vocalist in mind that we’re working with. We have the melody down, we have all the stuff. She had some health problems, unfortunately. We’re just waiting to get the final recording done and then we’re going to push it out real hard. It’s very close and I’ve been saying it for such a long time. I’m so ready to get it out there, but I’m just going to work on some other stuff while we’re waiting and I’ll kind of come out with a lot of stuff at once. That’s where we’re going with that.
HC: Well, those are the last of the questions. Thank you so much.KS: Great, thank you!
Interview by Lia Gonzalez
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