Senior Brian Scavo will bring his turntable talents to the Cla-Zel on Tuesday, Aug. 31, for Beat Day 5, the fifth annual electronic dance celebration of his birthday. Though the event has been occuring now for half a decade, this year marks the first time he has brought the event to a live music venue in Bowling Green.
Electronic music is more than just a hobby to Scavo; it permeates him entirely. Currently acting as electronic music director for the University radio station WBGU 88.1 FM, Scavo has hosted Electronic Enlightenment Live since 2006. The program showcases both his music, as well as music from guest DJs of his choosing, performed live on-air. The music has also dominated his academic directions, as he has tailored his own individualized major of recording technology and music technology.
Scavo attended his first rave in 2004 at an after-party to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, and he allowed the music and lifestyle to become him. His mid-back length dreadlocks found their birth that very evening, and he never looked back.
Over the next eight months, Scavo began pouring himself deeper into the sub-genres of electronic music, absorbing influence from the styles that appealed to him. He purchased a set of turntables and his own vinyls, which he then set in rotation as he self-taught himself various looping techniques and beat juggling. One year to the day of his first rave, Scavo adopted the stage name DJ What the Bleep and returned to that same venue in Detroit as a perfomer for a pre-party.
Following his first show, Scavo began traveling the country playing shows from Maine to California, and eventually at the World Electronic Music Festival in Toronto. He also gained his own show on the Netherlands-based website Jungletrain.net, where his music reached across the ocean to the ears of budding fans in Europe.
Though inducted to the scene by the happy hardcore genre, over time Scavo began to desire a greater depth to the message of his music. When he discovered the jungle style – also known as drum bass – Scavo was immediately attracted to the speed and energy of its music, which hums along at a brisk pace of 165-180 beats per minute. Next to enter the equation was the reggae influence he blended to arrive at his chosen niche: ragga jungle.
Scavo described his sound as “double-time hip-hop” with “reggae vocals placed on top of it.” Samples of his music can be found by visiting his website Djwhatthebleep.com.
The soldier theme of reggae vocalizations, born from Jamaican political unrest, speaks to Scavo. He referenced a pair of non-military-issued dog tags he wore with his name on them as he explained that this reggae soldierism can be extended beyond the martial sense, to apply to one’s daily struggles for their beliefs and personal achievement.
“I wear these not because I was in the military, but because it reminds me that every day is kind of like a battlefield,” he said. “You have to fight for what you believe in.”
Scavo’s carefully aimed zeal for his craft has not gone unnoticed. Banan Alkilani, director of marketing and talent provider to the Cla-Zel, said he was immediately impressed with Scavo’s professionalism from the first time he played a show there.
Following Scavo’s performance, Alkilani approached Scavo and expressed a desire for further collaboration on a regularly occuring event catering specifically to fans of the electronic scene, a genre Alkilani said is under-represented in Bowling Green.
“Honestly, [Scavo] is one of the most professional people I’ve ever met,” he said. “He has played here a number of times before and we’ve been very pleased with his talent and professionalism as an artist.”
Alkilani said Scavo has also organized additional artists to bring a visual element to the show. These acts will include break dancers, glow stick and hula hoop dancers, a juggler and even live-drawn art.
“He really likes to attract all the senses of all the people coming in,” Alkilani said.
The show will be headlined by the jungle genre act Greenleaf, whom Scavo has shared the stage with numerous times before. Opening the event is another University student DJ, Matt Oberle, performing under the name Several Robots. Oberle was invited on to the show by Scavo himself. The diversity of the styles Oberle utilizes, he said, also lent inspiration to the name of his act.
“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Oberle said, although his nerves are getting to him. “When I play a house party, if I play a tune and people don’t really like it I can just stop and no one will care,” he said. “At a club concert, if I get myself in a situation and I don’t really know where it’s going, I’m kind of stuck.”
Tuesday’s show will be 18 and over with a five dollar cover. Doors open at 8 p.m. with music beginning at 9 p.m.
