Our longtime homie and resident DJ, Justin Collins, has known both HCR founders for years. Justin actually met Kyle when they were both members of the Seattle crew Viva Recordings. Although Kyle moved on from that group as the pandemic hit, they remained friends and partners in other ventures. Justin has known HCR since back in the ‘House Cleaning’ show days, when we were just a Thursday night jam session and had close friends over to hang out and listen to good music.
Justin is part of the crew Oopsy Daysee and TONE - an events series he founded and hosted during his time in San Francisco. When he’s out and about DJing, he tends to move through different genres, but he plays all House Music genres and subgenres. His favorites are Classic, Disco, 2000s Tech House, Deep House, Progressive, Acid, and more.
He first picked up his first set of turntables when he was 15 and played on-and-off, but collectively for 17 years. He grew up in the Florida rave scene in the late 90s/early 00s. His friend's brother was someone he looked up to – could scratch DJ like nothing he’d seen before and inspired Justin to DJ. Other influencers he named included the Wicked Crew out of SF, with their genre defying, psychedelic grooves, and other scenes and sounds around the world, like Deep House in Prague, Minimal in Portugal, and Classic House in Seattle, SF, and other U.S. cities. He continues to be influenced by all the music he grew up with as well – classic rock, jazz, folk, R&B, and hip hop.
You can hear these influences when he plays out. You can also hear and expect time- and vibe-appropriate music. He’s pretty versatile with a wide range; for instance, he recently played a 2.5 hour opening set starting at 100bpm in the ambient trip hop category, then left off at 125bpm with some acid breaks. What he plays depends on the venue, sound, atmosphere in the room, time slot he’s playing, and the crowd he’s playing for. To him, DJing is a craft. Building trust with the crowd, locking them into a groove, then taking them places they didn't expect. It's about the journey and relationship between the DJ and the crowd. Music comes first.
We respect Justin’s point of view on DJing these days. We love that he understands that it takes dedicated time and hard work to truly master this craft of being a “disc jockey,” and selector of wax. He enjoys giving the audience what they need while maintaining the integrity of his personal style. This balancing act took him years to develop. He’s an avid vinyl collector and mainly plays on vinyl. For him, it’s a different vibe, and he enjoys a rawer sound.
Furthermore, when he plays for an audience, he likes to build trust. Build a groove. Lock them into a groove and a journey – take them places. He’s patient and reads the audience’s response to different selections. He doesn’t get in front of the music, he lets it drive. He thinks of performances from Jeno and Garth Wicked Crew, Doc Martin, his friends in Lisbon at Lux Club, his friends and crews in Seattle and San Francisco. He’s not easy to please, but these are his most notable memories.
We asked him about who he’d want to collaborate with if you could with anyone in the world and he said Matthew Anderson (Wex, Telomere Plastic) productions and labels. He mentions how he puts out really cutting edge releases. Also, Liquid Earth, as he’d love to sit down with him and learn his workflow.
He hopes to go back to Lisbon, Portugal to play, as they have an incredible scene there, and also explore South America, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Brazil. In the U.S. he’s apt to check out LA, Chicago, and NY. For now, you can catch him playing out in Seattle with crews here and HCR. We’re going to be partnering with him soon on some dope vinyl releases and other events. Keep an eye out!
SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/Csu3q
Instagram: https://instagram.com/justin_collins
