DJ Dispensary seems like an odd name for a master class where participants learn the basics of mixing music. Founder and DJ Matty Wainwright reasons, “There’s a lot of dance music out there but not everything is of good quality. I wanted this initiative to function like a crazy lab in which we use our experience as DJs, check the quality of music and provide an antidote where needed.” DJ Dispensary now has six DJs, each with an experience of 10 to 15 years in music, having performed across the world, using their expertise to teach aspirants in different countries.
Matty Wainwright and DJ Tutor Paul T visited Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai in January this year to conduct intensive music sessions. This time, they have already taught a focussed group in Bangalore and will today teach seven city aspirants at Taj Vivanta. The duo has tailor-made sessions for one, three and five-day durations.
Paul says, “Our sessions are intensive and nine out of 10 times, we notice participants being able to spin and mix without our help at the end of the session.”
Wainwright and Paul are scheduled to return to India in October this year and January 2015 for further classes. They prefer travelling and teaching to conducting online classes. “Online classes are fine for follow-ups, but nothing matches a face-to-face interaction where we give individual attention to participants,” says Wainwright. Paul chips in, “We are always reachable on Skype or email for follow-ups; participants reach out to us with questions on music, equipment and so on.”
The idea of DJ Dispensary was there for a while and came into effect 18 months ago. From the invites that are designed like a doctor’s prescription to the posters with a plus sign, everything is reminiscent of a health care centre. Travelling and teaching, says the duo, gives them the scope to slow down and re-look their own music. Hailing from Britain and now living in Bali, they agree that it helps to introspect. “Right now it is peak vacation season in Bali with night clubs, beaches and restaurants having gigs every day. At times we have six gigs a week. We are enjoying this break,” says Wainwright.
The two can hold a conversation on music for hours and reveal that they found their calling after short stints in the corporate world. “I was performing at gigs occasionally in between work. I had this notion that work is priority and music is something that makes me happy. When more opportunities came up, I quit my job and did what made me happy,” says Wainwright. Paul studied marketing and “did the normal thing — got a corporate job as an online marketing manager for a travel company. It was an American company and I was based in Morocco. Work also took me to Barcelona. In all these places, I was performing occasionally. All this snowballed into a career in music with time. And I’m happy it did,” he smiles.
