In my first installment of Craw’s exclusive interviews, I profile IRON DJ friend DJ Troy Kurtz of Miami FL. A former resident DJ at Heathrow and more currently at Bella Rose, Troy has DJ’ed with the likes of Devlin & Darko, Steve Aoki, The Bloody Beetroots & Alan Braxe.
What made you decide to start DJing clubs in the first place?
Miami is an interesting place for nightlife… you have the guidos, the latinos, the locals, the tweens, the UM kids, the models, the hipsters & the rappers. But every single club was/is just way too much regaeton, too much top 40, and too much “world hold on”. Straight nonsense and a lot of people were just over the whole scene. I thought to myself, stop whining about it and do something.
Who would you consider a big influence in your style/set selection/equipment choice?
I owe pretty much everything to my buddy out in LA named Trevor, aka BONES. He showed me the ropes last summer and got me super inspired to get started when I got back to Florida. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably never be DJing right now.
Author’s note: BONES, aka Trevor Moffit, is also a friend of IDJ and can be found over at Gotta Dance Dirty
Traktor/Serato/Abelton- what works for you & why?
Traktor. Read above.
Where was your first gig, and what was it like?
My first gig was at Heathrow, which is a relatively new club on South Beach (I later ended up being a resident there for a few months) I had been pumping it up the whole week before the gig to all of my friends, so of course they all came. But when I got there I didn’t have the right cables to hook-up and I felt like an idiot. Amateur hour to the max.
What was your initial setup, and looking back, what did it lack?
Mac Powerbook G4 and an old version of Traktor. It lacked some serious hard drive space. Bitch was so slow.
What is your current setup?
MacBook Pro, DJM 800, Numark DJ IO soundcard, Traktor
Favorite DJ (s) out right now:
Bloody Beetroots, AC Slater, Diplo, Designer Drugs
Favorite track so far this year?
Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down (Duke Dumont Remix)
Favorite producer 2008/09
Diplo
Favorite remixer (if different from producer)
AC Slater
How was this years WMC now that you have steady gigs?
WMC was looney tunes. It’s really fun because I’m so new and I’m soaking it all in, meeting DJ’s I really look up to and listen to every day. It also helped that I had crazy access to some pretty special shows. The last night of WMC (Sunday) Bloody Beetroots and Steve Aoki played a secret show at Bella Rose, which is the smallest/yet most legit joint on South Beach. It was the epitome of rad.
What do you think is your best memory of any of your gigs?
Just two months ago I became resident at Bella Rose and the first few Saturday nights were slllaammmmeeedddd (capacity of the club is like 200 and we pretty much doubled it). I’d play from open at 11pm straight through to close at 4am, so I practically played every track on my computer. Everything from disco to dubsteb. But at like 3-3:30 I would just start dropping the noisiest bangers and everyone inside was losing it, just ripping the paint off the walls. Epic stuff.
Any tips/tricks for aspiring dj’s out there?
Believe in your music, don’t drop bangers before people get drunk, and never burn bridges. Its a small, small industry and there’re a lot more DJs who are way better than you.
DJ Troy Kurtz’s When Miami Cries mix
tracklist:
AC Slater – Party Like Us
Shinichi Osawa – Star Guitar (AVH remix)
White Lies – Farewell to the ground (Yusek Remix)
Divide & Kreate – Dance Dreams
The Bloody Beetroots – Cornelius (mix oi!)
DJ Class & Lil’ Jon – I’m the ish remix
Chuckie – Let the bass kick
The Whip – Blackout (Shinichi Osawa remix)
Kidda – Under the Sun (Herve Remix)
Ron Carroll – Walking down the street (Bart B More remix)
Designer Drugs – Back up in this (Le Castle Vania, Computer Club and Rrrump Remix)
Jamie Foxx – Blame it (FnDannyBoy remix)
Aqua – Barbie Girl
Kid Cudi – Day n night (Crookers remix)
Katy Perry – Hot n cold (The american dream team remix)
Chris Cornell – Part of me (LA Riots remix)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Y control (Faint remix)
Thanks!
Troy Kurtz can be found on Saturdays at Bella Rose (423 16th st, Miami Beach, FL 33139)
Bonus Track: Mystery Jets- Two Doors Down (Duke Dumont Remix)
Don’t forget to check out this weeks BLOW UP SF featuring the return of the party bus with Dj Shane King!
GET LOW & BLOW UP
Get to the L.O.W. Happy Hour (21+) at Vessel
The party runs from 4-9
Then we’re all making our way to the Rickshaw
To party with VHS or BETA
And celebrate the birth of
JEFFREY PARADISE!
As Always- CHEERS!
-Craw
