DiscoTwitter, one of the world’s hottest disco and funk DJs
DiscoTwitter’s musical vision is deeply rooted in classic sounds: emotive, uplifting and irresistibly rhythmic records from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s that went on to inspire the forefathers of house music. Jason Weintraub, as he is called in real life, his sets revolve around classic tunes and memorable moments, as he threads together sparkling gems from funk and disco history to reimagine and recreate the positive vibrations, love and freedom that these genres grew out of.
My goal is to give people a piece of what disco did for a culture and an era, where it was all about letting your stress take a backseat and having a night that you’ll remember forever.
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Talking Disco, baby
Hey, nice to meet you. Hope all is well?
Nice to meet you too! Thank you for having me!
At some point, things must have become more realistic to consider being a DJ as an actual career. When did this happen?
I actually have a corporate 9-5 job and then I do the disco at night. As I’ve started to travel more and continue to do more shows, I do think about when and if I can make the jump to doing it full time. Thankfully it’s easy to take my work with me on the road but I do hope to DJ full time very soon.
Are there times that being a DJ feels like a job and you’d rather not be there? How do you get yourself out of that feeling and get into the vibe?
Disco is tough to mix because it’s live instrumentation and not a consistent rhythm (BPM). A lot of times, just touching the jog wheel isn’t enough and I’m constantly playing with tempo and pitch. Because of this, I have to practice, a lot! I try to force myself to practice vinyl transitions at least an hour a day to work on my timing and recognition on which song is falling behind/speeding up. This gets tedious and feels like a task, but then when I perfect a transition at a show, even if people don’t understand or notice, it makes me feel like it’s worth it.
You are all over the place, touring all around the globe. Must have been a dream come true? Is this what you expected and is it what you thought it would be?
It’s been amazing and it has truly made me a better DJ as well. I love watching other DJs work and appreciate their skills and song selections. One thing I’ve done is to build my international disco collection. I love meeting with local DJs from the city I’m playing in and going crate digging and having a drink for some storytelling.
So many music genres. Why your passion for the disco?
Everything is disco. Whether it’s the house beats influenced by the disco percussion patterns, the bass rhythms and melodies which are still prevalent in Pop music, or the synth-centric style that helped create techno. It feels like no matter what you listen to, Disco is involved.
Did you grow up in a musical environment or did you arrive at your musical passion on your own? Do you play any instruments?
My mom constantly played music around me and made me actually listen to it. She would ask if I can hear the bass and the drum patterns. So, when I was 8 years old, it was easy for me to identify disco music in hip hop samples and all-around styles of music. I played the drums and learned to read/write music for piano and that’s helped me when producing remixes.
Tell us about the “Disco Goodness Project”, your passion project that demonstrates your devotion to his chosen genre.
In my hometown, there’s not a lot of disco nights and a lot of bar owners are afraid they won’t make money throwing a disco party. I want to prove that even people who may not listen to a lot of it, could love an unexpectedly fun night of Disco. To do this, I offer free pop up shows to DJ in cities I’m touring in. If a bar wants to see what a Disco night could do for their bar, I’ll come in and play all night for free. It’s been a fun project and has led to owners telling me it’s the fullest their dancefloor has been that week. Some bars even book me to play a show when I return to their city on my next trip. It’s all about showing what Disco is all about, a night of so much happiness and memories, you’ll forget about everything stressing you out in life.
I want to prove that even people who may not listen to a lot of it, could love an unexpectedly fun night of Disco.
What will the future bring more of DiscoTwitter?
I’m working on a lot of remixes and planning a big event for my one millionth listen in Japan. I’ll be on tour from July through September of 2019 and you can check DiscoTwitter.com or DiscoTwitter on social media to see if I’ll be stopping in your city.
If ‘DiscoTwitter’ would be a magical spell, what would it do?
Make you dance away any negative emotions and create life lasting memories. I think that’s what the Disco era did for people in the 70s and I would love to bring that back.
Thank you!
DiscoTwitter is working with MN2S on developing his social media presence across several channels while boosting his profile internationally through PR outreach. More info here »