- Artist
- Date: May 11, 2025
- Stage: Silent Disco
Hailing from the “all American city” of Paramount California, DJ Q45 got his start in mixing tunes at an early age, as a lot of children of the 80’s did, by making cassette to cassette mixes. Taping most of the music off stations like KDAY, college radio, and later MARS FM. The method was simple… Gather unique recordings on tape, put in a second tape, and edit the recordings together. His first mixer was a TEAC reel to reel with 4 channels. Plugging different sources into each channel and running it out to another recorder he made a few very lo-tech mixtapes with samples, guitar, vocals and some “street drums” or a Roland 606 drum machine. A child of the vinyl generation, he never stopped looking for that perfect beat. Digging in any crate full of records he saw has built him a large and obscure collection of hard to find tunes, comedy albums, soundtracks and other interesting recorded sounds. These can usually be found as intros or samples in his mixes. Heavily influenced by the early 90’s rave scene, he constantly seeks the eclectic, loud and bass heavy business. It wasn’t until 1999 that he actually owned a pair of Technics 1200’s. Originally learning on 2 shitty direct drive home turntables, a numark mixer, and some broken headphones, you could say he paid his dues from day one. He threw his first warehouse party in 2000 with some help from his friends and it went pretty well. He has been continually pushing both his event production and DJ visions into the future by presenting the past in an entirely new light. Recently his music has taken him on a self sponsored tour of the south, with stops in Austin TX, New Orleans LA, Miami FL, Charlotte & Asheville NC, and Greenville SC along with Jackson MS… A typical mix by Q.45 could have him mashing up Black Sabbath with Dubstep, Jimi Hendrix over a Too-Short beat, Hotel California with some obscure 140 bpm business, or Tribe Called Quest with some Drum and Bass. As a predominantly vinyl DJ, he stays true to the roots of the culture he was raised in, known to the world today as “Hip Hop”. Digging for records wherever he travels is a part of the experience, for him as an entertainer, as well as for the listener. How many “digital” DJs can say “I remember finding THAT MP3 at the bottom of a stack of records in a thrift store in Miami during that road trip”? If the music matters, then so does the source! In 2008 a crew was founded in the hopes of uniting the bass music communities in Los Angeles called Lets Get It Together or L.E.G.I.T.. An L.G.I.T. event may have any or all of the following going on: Beats, Rhymes, Dubstep, Live Graffiti Art, Breakbeats, BBQ, Water-toys, Bikinis, House, Techno, Drum & Bass, Body-Painting, Reggae, Fire Spinning, Dogs, Lakers Playoffs, Poppers/Breakers, Spoken Word, Squirt-guns, Live Hip Hop Bands, World Cup Finals, Cold Beverages, Hot Girls, and always GOOD VIBES! The positive influences on his art are too many to list. With friends in the film industry, live bands, to amazing artists from the streets of Paramount, Long Beach, Compton, Lynwood, South Gate, Hawthorne, Hollywood and beyond… He has partied with the best of them and come down on some strange couches but his daily routine is a lot different now. He is always out there hustling his art, but keep in mind he is a bit older than your average “Dubstep DJ” or promoter. He sees the world in a new light, through experienced eyes. Q.45 has played all of LA’s top underground clubs including: Respect, Timeless, LA Beatdown, I Love LA, Mind Control, Audio Science, and others across the country including The Drop in Cambridge MA, GMG Miami, DMC DJ Battles in Miami, Submerged in Jackson MI, and Bass Church in New Orleans LA… The list goes on both locally and nationally. Now expanded to digital forms, he continues to keep it fresh in any situation, But always with that old school vibe. If you’re looking for that unique sound to add to your event, need a house party rocked in every way, then maybe you should hire dj Q.45.
