DJ LOCZI
LIVING THE “ELECTRIC DREAM” COME TRUE
THROUGH HIS PASSION FOR MUSIC AND FAMILY

“Electric Dream is basically a hybrid between a Las Vegas production show and a Las Vegas main room nightclub. The idea is to provide a surreal experience that has the opportunity to evolve from week to week, and even during the night, depending what people we have there (at MGM’s Studio 54). We have a drummer, a synth player, a guitarist, a vocalist, a rapper, eight dancers, eight aerialists, bungee jumpers coming from the ceiling, people walking on the walls, a totally customized animated series movie that plays throughout the night, and a custom LED wall experience. Emmy Award-winning animator Mark Butler, who did the animation on Heroes, the TV show, worked with me to build a virtual world in a story about the relationship between an individual (me) playing music and the people hearing the music and how music can bring color to people’s lives. We do that visually and show inspiration through music. Depending on what music is being played, the colors and tones of the wall would reflect that. You have things that are happening all around you and then you have live musicians playing with me,” relates Loczi. The “Electric Dream” takes place at the MGM’s Studio 54 every Friday night. He claims it’s a fresh new way to experience music as it evolves into the future. The show blurs the lines into the surreal with live performers, mesmerizing light shows and custom video elements. “The idea of it is that in a dream you never quite know what’s going to happen,” says Loczi. But he hopes it will leave the club-goers wanting more and more!

Just who is DJ Loczi? He’s one of the country’s most acclaimed and in-demand disc jockeys. He is also heard bi-weekly on 99.1 FM in California, on the internet’s #1 rated mix show the SHOCKWAVEmix. At 19, he was trained as a top-level producer and remixer at the exclusive Red Bull Music Academy (which only accepts sixty DJs from around the world and three from the U.S.) He’s a producer of music for motion pictures and television commercials, a mixing technician virtuoso who is a mastermind for reading crowds, and now is currently a resident DJ at the MGM Grand’s Studio 54 in Las Vegas. Playing such elite parties as Madonna’s Closing Tour Party, the Grammy’s After-Party, and San Diego’s Superbowl Party, he combines music from many different spectrums, including Joan Jett, Pink Floyd, Simon & Garfunkel, The Doors, Phil Collins, Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul, NWA, Naughty by Nature, and old Doc Martin warehouse mix tapes. He is currently promoting Soul of Our City, his hit CD of classic and modern mixes. SLV sat with DJ Loczi, whose first name is Zach, to find out what makes the man tick.

SLV: Tell me a little bit about how you got to where you are today.
LOCZI: I spent my first four years just outside Detroit, in Rochester, Michigan. My father was a car designer for GM at the time. Then my family moved to Europe and I lived there for a couple of years before moving back to California, which is where I grew up. Then I moved back to Europe for high school, and then came back to California for college and grad school.
SLV: What an experience.
LOCZI: Not bad at all. I think that at a young age, having the opportunity to go out and experience different cultures firsthand, made me have a better understanding that there are other people in the world, and other ways of living. I wasn’t looking at my life as though this was the only way people live, and this is the only food people eat. I knew that there were multitudes of different types of people in the world and it helped me in growing up.
SLV: It’s too bad more people can’t experience that. How old were you when you first really started to listen to music?
LOCZI: I guess when I was two or three years old. I used to run around the house with a little fake guitar and I used to sing: “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” by Joan Jett. My family used to put on the music in the morning and it would be loud and fill the house. We didn’t wake up with loud, blaring TV, it was more like the music was something to bring you awake. Since the time I was a tiny kid, there’s been a lot of music in the house. My dad always had these big sound systems and wasn’t afraid to play it loud. That became part of my reality as a young child and as I grew up I played a lot of competitive soccer and I used to travel extensively, and so I had really long plane rides and car rides. I was constantly having these in-between times, so I constantly had a Walkman in my head, listening to music. It was kind of my escape. As I got older, and I was in high school in London, the experience of witnessing a DJ and their relationship with the crowd was so different from anything I’d experienced in the States. Basically what I saw was a totally cool relationship, where the DJ was feeding off the energy of the people, and the people were then in turn responding, and they would play music that would emotionally affect these people. It was neat to see music transcend all the cultural barriers that had been put in place by culture itself, whether it was race, religion, sexual preference, and any type of ideology that you might have instilled in yourself. Music was able to transcend and break through all those barriers, even something as basic as language, and bring people together in one celebratory moment. That taught me something that was really powerful and I felt really comfortable stepping into a role of someone that would not only be enveloped in music, but also have an opportunity to orchestrate moments that bring people together.
SLV: Did your parents play a large variety of music?
LOCZI: The music was incredibly diverse. We might listen to Simon and Garfunkel one moment, Pink Floyd the next, the Mama’s and Papa’s next, Stevie Wonder after that, and then Survivor. It was a very diverse tapestry of music. My parents were really big into Eurythmics, Genesis, and at the time these groups were really progressive. Of course there was Madonna and Michael Jackson and things of that nature, but it was always: “We’re going to put the album on and let it play.” We had this huge collection of music, so I was very lucky to have a diverse education in music. Because of that, as I’ve grown up, it translates into the way I play music. I don’t find myself being pigeon-holed into one style of music, or one particular style of mixing. In a conversation I had the other day, someone kept asking me: “What’s your favorite kind of music to play and what music are you really passionate about?” I kept telling them that it’s anything that moves me emotionally, because music is there as a medium to touch people’s souls. Not everybody receives the same type of frequency or sound waves the same way. Some people need something really aggressive like metal, hard rock, or punk or something of that nature. Some people like it really smooth and soulful. Some people like both, depending on their mood; you have to understand which one they want. I’ve always been super diverse in what I like and I was lucky enough to be provided with that at a young age.

SLV: So if I asked you if you could only play one genre of music that would be a silly question, because you just like music.
LOCZI: Yeah, I do. The reality is that depending on the time, the place, the room, the atmosphere, the number of people, the level of engagement you have with the people, it totally dictates what type of music you need to play. That’s what a DJ is! In my mind, a true DJ is one who plays the right music for the right moment, and is willing to understand the moment enough, and have a wealth of music knowledge, to know what is the right music to play and how to play it.
SLV: You’ve played for such diverse parties and crowds. Did you have to adjust dramatically or not really?
LOCZI: Throughout my career there have been a couple of different things. In the first part of my career, I was just trying to balance between playing a certain style of music a certain way, to set myself apart from other people. Because I’m so diverse in my music, those crowds change a lot. What doesn’t change is my ability to connect with the people. When I did Madonna’s Closing Tour Party, they had rented this house in the Los Angeles area. They had everyone come to the house, including the dancers, the cast and crew, and it was a really intimate thing, so I didn’t know what the situation was until I got there. When I got there, I just had to play according to those people. I didn’t get into DJ-ing to make money; I didn’t do it to be famous or anything like that. I always just really loved music. It’s kind of like a double-edged sword, where you have this obsession and passion for music. You spend a tremendous amount of time listening and studying music and going through genres and figuring out how to fit these genres together. I did that seven to eight hours a day when I first started in my studio at home, just because I loved doing it. The other side of that is that I’m spending a lot of time with music and the result is that I don’t want to step into a situation feeling unprepared. Now in my career, people expect me to be creative and do something they wouldn’t see from another DJ and they expect me to have a high energy set, but at the same time, it’s not odd for me to play Aretha Franklin right in the middle of an electro house set. I’ve created my own style of DJ-ing and now people go to hear that. I still do parties, especially when I travel. I did a show in London a couple of years ago, and they told me I was going to play all house music. The first hour and a half I played all house music and people were into it, but weren’t truly connecting with the music. I played an original Stevie Wonder track and everybody lost their minds. So, for the next four hours I played soul and rare grooves and original breaks and funk and disco, and it was a phenomenal night! Sometimes a promoter flies you halfway around the world expecting you to play a certain style of music, thinking this is what the crowd wants to hear, but when you get to the moment, you sometimes have to very quickly change your game plan. I never go in with any preconceived notions.
SLV: You seem to be very gifted at reading the crowd.
LOCZI: I try to practice as much humility as possible, but I think the reality is if you’re going to be a successful DJ, you have to be in tune with people. It just won’t work if you’re selfish and you walk into the environment with an ego. It might be okay for a little bit, but I don’t think you’ll see longevity. I think for some people who are massively successful and they can kind of do whatever they want, it’s okay for them, but I think to be a successful DJ, you have to be able to read a crowd. Really, really, really read a crowd!
SLV: It’s something you have or you don’t. It’s like being able to hear a hit song or not.
LOCZI: Yeah, exactly.

SLV: Do you have a favorite sound-mixing tool?
LOCZI: Turntables.
SLV: What song, without fail, will break the ice and get a crowd going wild?
LOCZI: “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson.
SLV: What’s your favorite song or riff to “mash it up” with?
LOCZI: I’ve actually been mashing up that song with an electro progressive beat that I produced myself, which is called “Electric Dream”. It is the title track for the show I’m doing in Vegas. I’ve been mashing up the vocals and elements of that song into a hybrid of another Michael Jackson song called “Off The Wall”. I’ve taken both of those songs and put the electro beat under them and that’s been quite successful.
SLV: Did the Red Bull Music Academy alter your viewpoint on music, or just enrich you further?
LOCZI: I think it did both. It was highly enriching, but if anything, it totally evolved my perspective. It was the first time in my career where I was sitting down with the founders and creators of the craft that I was a part of. That’s the unique thing about DJ-ing, is that a lot of the DJs that really invented and created the actual DJ scene are still alive today. As opposed to, if you are a pianist, you can’t actually talk to the people who invented and created these art forms, because they’ve been passed away for hundreds of years. With DJ-ing, you have an opportunity to truly connect with the people who helped pioneer this craft to what it is today. What it gave me, was not only understanding that it’s a viable profession, but that there are good-hearted, intelligent, passionate individuals who are spearheading and pioneering this industry. There’s also people from all over the world that have the same kind of passion and love for music, and the craft of mixing and creating an environment through music as I do. When I went to this academy, there were only three people from the United States chosen and the other 57 people were from all over the world. Here I was in a room with a bunch of people who had the same type of drive, passion, determination and love for the craft that I did. It was really amazing! It was so cool to connect with people like that and to reassure you that you’re not a pariah, that there’s a lot of people who believe in it the way you do. It’s so funny because a lot of people aren’t educated about the craft of DJ-ing, and when I was younger people used to say to me: “When are you going to get a real job?” It was so crazy to me, because I was so real with my life. If I sat in a cubicle with khakis and a tie, staring at a computer screen all day and being closed off to the world, that would be their sense of real. To me, that’s my sense of unreal and complete unhappiness! Instead, I travel the world and I touch people emotionally and positively through music. I try to inspire people and give people relief from the stress that they get from being in those ridiculous environments. In all honesty, I take care of and provide for my family through doing it. There’s a lot of happiness in my own life, and in turn, there’s a lot of happiness in my family’s life. The funniest part is that I might travel all weekend, and there might be times I’m on tour, but I pick my daughter up every single day from school and do homework everyday with her. I never miss her singing in school; never miss her dancing classes or her dancing performances. I never miss any of her teacher conferences, and I’m here every single day for her because I can make my own schedule. I work incredibly hard and there’s times that I’ll do 16-18 hour days, especially rehearsing for the show, but ultimately, I live a life that allows me to genuinely connect with my children, my wife, my friends, and at the same time, I’m doing what I love.

SLV: Tell us about the CD you made, Soul of Our City.
LOCZI: I don’t play music for myself, except in my studio. I feel more like a medium, like I’m here to play music because that’s what people need. I’ve been blessed and provided with some really great skills that allow me to do that. I feel almost somewhat obligated to provide this type of music for people because I think other people need it. When I make these CDs and put them out, it’s really for others to enjoy and to have a positive experience. That CD has lasted 12-14 months, and had well over 100,000 downloads. It’s connecting with people in a genuine way. There are samples from close to 85-120 different pieces of music on there. It really is an orchestration of a musical journey.
SLV: You DJ, you have a radio show, and you create music like your Soul of Our City CD in the studio. Which do you enjoy the most?
LOCZI: They all serve different purposes. The radio is really cool, although at first, it was really disconnected for me. You’re in a room playing music and there are 800,000 people listening to you, which kind of blows my mind when I stop and think about it. Now that we have a lot of opportunities for fans with text messages and tweets, as they interact with us while we do our show, it’s a connection. In the studio, I love the studio! I love just being in there by myself with the lights really low. I lose myself in the music for awhile, whether I’m producing or mixing. It’s my own little happy place. I also like the collaborative effort of bringing people together and having all that creativity in one space and allowing it to flow. I would say ultimately, my favorite, favorite thing is really just playing in front of crowds and connecting with people and seeing firsthand the emotional reactions of individuals. It’s reassuring that people in our community still remember how to smile! SLV

Issue 58 featuring: Jade Bryce, Markesa Yeager & Taylor Vixen