SoManyDJs: DJ Beaubien is in the house

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      DJs who attempt to educate audiences with their erudite musical knowledge tend to end up lecturing to empty dance floors, followed by them losing their tenure at the club. Yes, “Not everyone understands house music,” according to the classic 1998 Eddie Amador track. But it is 2015, so you probably get it a little, as house has been around since the ’80s and its foundation, the four-on-the-floor beat, is the most ubiquitous in all of music.

      Lila Bujold (aka DJ Beaubien) is someone who understands the important balance of sharing one’s vast, passionate knowledge of the music while being dance-floor-friendly. You can catch her every other Friday at the Distillery Bar (1131 Mainland Street) spinning jazz and soul. Then every Saturday at 7 p.m., you can hear the influence of those genres on house music during her radio show, Carte Blanche Radio, at spinzfm.com/. Do either and she’ll take you on a musical field trip that’ll—gasp—induce the sensation commonly referred to as “fun” while helping you stay woke.

      Best gig ever

      I honestly think my best gig is yet to come and look forward to the opportunities the coming year will bring. That being said, this summer I was getting chills over and over while DJing at Chicas in the Afternoon, a Pride party. What made it so special was that it was a private garden party set outside the Sheraton Wall Centre in the middle of downtown on a blazing-hot Pride weekend, and I was DJing to a few hundred beautiful women who were loving my soulful house sounds.

      Top track right now

      Sebb Junior’s remix of “Leaving Me Again” by Todd Terry and Stuart Ojelay. I love the way this track chops up the vocals in the intro and outro. It makes it great to mix long and slow, and once you get into it, the dub-house melodies of the keys and the soulful, stabby vocals make me happy. If a song makes me dance at home and gives me chills, as this one does, then it also becomes one of my top tracks of the moment. I think DJs should never stop dancing!

      A song that cleared the dance floor

      “Spinnin’ ” by Souldynamic. It’s a funky house track that samples its melody from the instrumental of one-hit wonder Skee-Lo’s summertime jam “I Wish”. I love everything about this track and still do, but it just cleared the floor and I had to work hard to win them back.

      Favourite Vancouver producer

      Pomo. His tracks are always uplifting, happy, and really modern. While many producers today emulate ’90s house and garage sounds, which I do have a soft spot for, I find Pomo’s sounds are truly unique and of our time. That, and he just opened up for Disclosure at Madison Square Garden. Mad props to the man who grew up in Port Moody.

      What’s up with tweeting to get a radio show?

      I made a running mix for the Vancouver Sun Run, which I was tweeting about and hoping the Vancouver Sun would repost and promote. Instead I got a tweet from SPiNZFM, an Internet radio station based in New York, that asked if I had a radio show. I tweeted back, “No, but I’d like one!” and that’s literally how I got my weekly show, Carte Blanche Radio. The Vancouver Sun never did tweet about my mix, but I learned that sometimes the universe doesn’t give you what you want, it gives you something even better that you didn’t even think to ask for.

      Oddest request you’ve ever received

      This summer, I was DJing at Prohibition at the Hotel Georgia, and a man in his 50s approached the DJ booth and said that his friend was a world-renowned auctioneer and asked if I had a mike so his friend could jump on and “do his thing” for a couple minutes. I didn’t even have to make up something polite—there was no mike. Problem solved!

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