After thirteen long years, the DMC World DJ Championship came to India and Chennai was in the spotlight with DJ Kave bagging the first runner-up prize in a close battle with some of the top DJs of the country. DJ Kave’s tryst with the turn table began in 1999, when he saw Dj QBert create magic with music. Before he knew it, he was taken in by the profession.
To participate in the championship was his dream, which was realised after a long wait. “This championship, unlike other competitions, tests how technically sound you are and a DJ has to know his stuff before enrolling for it. It was supposed to be hosted in India in 2007 but was dropped for reason unknown. I was disappointed. I sent a CD with my mix to the DMC headquarters. They liked it and invited me to participate in London, but due to financial constraint, I couldn’t go,” says Kave.
When he heard about the competition this time around, he was fully prepared to prove his mettle.
But, Kave is not new to fame. He has performed with A.R. Rahman in the Jai Ho concert in 2009. “Popular rapper BlaaZe introduced me to the Oscar winning music director and he immediately roped me in for the Jai Ho concert. For the first time in my life I performed in front of a huge crowd. I have also performed in Malaysia along with Yuvan Shankar Raja,” says Kave, a resident of T. Nagar.
After finishing his schooling in Doha, he came to the city to do a course in audio engineering. For this IELTS trainer, DJing was only a part-time career in the beginning, which later went on to become his profession.
Six years ago, he started his DJ school in T. Nagar. “I started Skratch Lab in my bedroom and after receiving a tremendous response, I expanded. Now I have a high-tech studio where aspiring artists learn the nuances of the art. The course has been designed by me and experts conduct classes. Rolling Stones has ranked it No. 4 DJ School in India,” says Venkatesh Jayaraman, aka DJ Kave.
“DJ Venkatesh doesn’t sound cool. So I jumbled up the letters of my first name and came up with Kave,” he syas.
Skratch Lab is at Flat No 3, Abiramee apartments, Door No 11, Thirumurthy Street, T. Nagar. Phone no: 9884245833
