MENU meets: Flex

MENU: You are relatively new to the Auckland dj scene, tell us a little about yourself?

FLEX: Hailing from Quake City (Chch) I have been DJing in clubs and on the local festival circuit for 15 years. I’ve performed twice respectively at The Gathering, Alpine Unity, New Beginnings, Phat & R&V. I have held DJ residencies throughout New Zealand, as well as playing gigs in Australia, Japan, USA, Canada, Austria and twice at the Full Moon Party in Thailand. I won NZ Jungle / D&B battle 'Rumble In The Jungle' in 2005 and more recently the national Dubstep battle 'Dubclash' earlier this year. In a nutshell music is my life!

MENU: You attended the Redbull Music Academy in Seattle, what did that mean to you & how was your time in the States?

FLEX: Attending the 2005 RBMA with my boy Isaac Aesili is undoubtedly my career highlight to date. An all expenses paid trip halfway across the world to jam, attend lectures, workshops and gigs with like-minded individuals and inspirational figures... say no more! I had the pleasure of playing bass in jam sessions with reggae legends Steely & Clevie (Wyciffe 'Steely' Johnson RIP) and having a one on one studio session with my musical hero DJ Zinc. I would definitely recommend applying to DJ's, Producers, Vocalists and Musicians!

MENU: You have produced music in Asia & NZ, tell us about your music & what it means to you?

FLEX: My music production over the years has been as varied as my DJing and is equally (if not more) my main form of artistic expression. A natural progression from playing bass guitar in bands from age 11, I have been dabbling with music production ever since I adopted the turntables circa 95'. Since then I have produced beats for Coco Solid, Dujada (Thailand) and done remixes for Moronsayswhat?!?!, Charlie ASH, NSPC, Reality Chant feat. Natty King (Jamaica) and most recently a dubstep rework of King Kapisi's 'Safari' with ill.Gates (Canada). My current projects as Steezie Wonder are inspired by Dub, Grime, UK Funky, Garage, Moombahton, Chicago Juke / Footwork and as always Jungle. Check me out at http://soundcloud.com/steezie_wonder

MENU: As one of the new resident dj’s at Degree Bar, playing out on Thursday & Friday nights what can we expect from your sets there?

FLEX: Eclecticism as always (they don't call me Flex for nothing!). You can expect a healthy mix of old and new beats covering a googolplex of styles. You will hear remixes, mash-ups and even original gems that have been sampled by hits. So basically elements of familiarity as opposed to straight sing alongs... in saying that, my sets are often peppered with some oldskool hits. So yeah that’s the crux, all 'actually' beat-mixed with a little scratching thrown in for good measure.