Apple 'DJ Spins' Demo Sessions
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Apple 'DJ Spins' Demo Sessions
Learn to become a DJ and have experts demonstrate tricks of the trade at Apple Premium Resellers istudio and epiCentre. The DJ Spins sessions are hosted by internationally acclaimed mixer D-Jan followed by teen DJ prodigies – Charlotte (13), Lil’ Jon (15) and Marcus (16) who will demonstrate how easy it is to be a DJ on a Mac with GarageBand, iTunes and more.
DJ Spins Sessions
March 20-21, Saturday and Sunday at istudio, Orchard Central
March 27-28 Saturday and Sunday at epiCentre, ION
Time: 2PM, 4PM and 6PM (approximately 50 minutes per session)Event Location:
- istudio, Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #01-02 on March 20-21 weekend
- epiCentre, ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, #B3-14 on March 27-28 weekend
Register with istudio and epiCentre staff. Limited seats available.
Date : 20 Mar 2010 - 28 Mar 2010 Venue : istudio, Orchard Central and epiCentre, ION -
Classes over, it's DJ time
By Eddino Abdul Hadi
They fall below the legal drinking age but teenagers Charlotte Cheong, 13, Jonathan Foo, 15, and Marcus Koh, 16, are playing regular sets as deejays at beach bar Azzura in Siloso Beach, Sentosa.
Charlotte has to stand on a stool to reach the controls but the petite deejay knows what tracks get the bikini-clad and board-shorted sun-lovers up to dance.
The trio are graduates of local deejay training institution Swee Lee DJ Academy.
Thanks to Charlotte's parents, who co-own the family-friendly Azzura, they spin electro, hip-hop and R&B tracks every Sunday from two to six in the afternoon before the regular house deejays take over.
While Azzura is their only regular gig, they have also done guest sets at public events such as IT and car shows and even a New Year countdown set at Gusttimo Di Roma, a restaurant at Ion Orchard.
"My friends think it's quite cool," says Charlotte, also known as DJ Charlotte C and who is in Secondary 1 at Saint Joseph's Institution International. "I was very nervous when I first started spinning to a crowd but it makes me really happy when I see people dance, it motivates me."
It was her father, Mr Cecil Cheong, 46, who first suggested the idea of taking a deejay course.
He says: "She is so passionate about music, and she has her headphones on all the time. I have a lot of friends who are deejays so I asked her if she would like to try it out."
Jonathan is her schoolmate, although he is in Secondary 3, while Marcus is a Secondary 5 student at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School.
Marcus is also a national yo-yo champion who picked up the turntables after being inspired by deejays who were spinning at the yo-yo events he took part in.
"It has become my goal to either become a professional deejay or a yo-yo performer," he says, adding pragmatically: "Although I do intend to go through polytechnic and have a diploma to fall back on."
His father is a manager in a telecommunications company while his mother is a housewife.
Unlike Charlotte, whose father is always with her at Azzura, the boys' parents are usually not present at the gigs although they are accompanied at all times by their instructor from the deejay school, Janrius Y Rogers, who also gets them their slots.
Jonathan, who is also known as DJ Lil' Jon, is also accompanied by another chaperone provided by audio-visual company Pioneer, which was so impressed with his skills that it sponsors his deejay equipment.
"I really like making music, it helps me to relieve stress," says the teenager who is influenced by Canadian electro deejay Deadmau5, French house deejay David Guetta and Dutch trance deejay Armin Van Buuren.
His father, Dr Foo Fatt Kah, who works in biotechnology, says that "it is thrilling to see him enjoy something he's good at".
His mother is a clinical director at James Cook University.
They are both assured that their son is well protected from the less savoury aspects of dance clubs as he is always accompanied by adults they trust.
Instructor Rogers, 39, says he has seen more teenagers pick up deejay-ing in the past two years although they make up only 10 per cent of his students.
"A lot of parents are hip now, and they would rather their children pick up a skill such as deejay-ing than idle around in their free time," he says.
"It's an alternative to other extra-curricular activities such as swimming or piano lessons."