DJ continues to keep C’s games in tune at The Nat
Taylor Sinclair got into playing music at sporting events by accident or by incident, depending on how you look at it.
Sinclair, 27, handles disc-jockey duties for various teams, including the Vancouver Canadians. He worked his first game when he was all of nine years old. That night, his dad Brian was doing PA announcing for the old BCHL Langley Hornets and Taylor was there, causing a ruckus in the stands by doing things like taking the Cream-O packages from the concession stand and squeezing them at people.
Mom Kelly caught him in the act, and sent him to the PA booth with Brian to stop the shenanigans. The guy in charge of music for the Hornets was off that night, and Brian put Taylor on tunes to keep him busy. He enjoyed it enough that the following season, when the Hornets’ DJ job came open, he coaxed Brian into helping him land the gig.
That’s where he started learning a craft that has had him playing music for the C’s, the Vancouver Giants, Vancouver Stealth and the B.C. Lions. It’s how he pays his bills, along with DJing weddings and parties.
Brian, it seems, taught him well. “I didn’t know what half the songs were, but I could see that people in the crowd were clapping and singing along,” Sinclair admitted of that first night. “My dad showed me that.
“This is not about my personal preference. These songs that I play, half the time I wouldn’t listen to them in my car on the way home. I’m playing them for the people that are here.”
He contends that he makes many of his musical decisions on the fly by reading the crowd. He’s in his first year working Lions games and is finding it intriguing, with larger crowds than his usual jobs.
“Music is different game to game based on the people that are there,” he said.
“With the bigger crowds, I find there are more pockets of people to look at. It’s easier to read your demographic.”
His C’s duties also include playing the intro music for the players, commonly known as walk-up songs. He says that players routinely request changes, including things like picking a different verse or section of the song that they’re currently using.
“It’s usually after a road trip,” he said of when the changes come. “They’ve been listening to new stuff on their iPod or on the bus, and they want something different.
“And they can be very particular. If it’s off by two seconds, they will let you know.”
Sinclair’s walk-up song would be Rush’s Tom Sawyer, the 1981 track from the Toronto-area band. It gives you some idea of his own listening habits.
The tune would have fit in on his Stealth play list, since National Lacrosse League squad bosses wanted “rock, rock, rock,” when the team was on offence. He says that hip hop is the choice when the squad was on defence.
NLL teams play music throughout game action, making for another unique challenge for Sinclair during their contests at the Langley Events Centre.
“Lacrosse is very particular in their format,” Sinclair said.
The Canucks bought the Stealth earlier this summer from longtime owner Denise Watkins and are moving the team to Rogers Arena for next season, which begins in December. They ’re in the midst of a rebranding, with a new moniker and uniforms set to be announced in early September.
Sinclair isn’t likely to continue working their games.