ZJ Chrome: Shaun Chabal

Did you always want to be a DJ?

I always wanted to be a DJ, from high school. Therefore, I took the necessary steps to become one. After high school, I went to Northern Caribbean University where I studied mass communications to make my way on to radio.

How do you know when you have captivated the audience?

A lot of DJs play and don’t look at the crowd. For me, looking at the crowd and ensuring that majority of the crowd is moving, that’s how I know that I’ve captivated the audience. If more than 50 per cent of the crowd is not moving then I am not pleased. So, I think it’s very crucial to watch the crowd and keep them going.

Do you like taking requests?

I love taking requests on the radio and in parties also, because it gives me a fair idea of what my audience likes. However, some people push the limit. For example, they’ll hear you playing hip hop and ask you for ska or EDM song, and that’s just a little drastic, especially if you played within that genre they are asking for a few minutes ago.

Do you get approached by a lot of females?

I do get approached at parties, but that’s the old-school way. They’re more inside the DMs (direct messages). But yes, I do get approached, and handle it the way I’m supposed to handle it – like a professional.

What has been your most awkward moment playing?

My most awkward moment playing happened even recently – when I’m playing and nobody’s moving. It’s not that I’m not doing a good job. It’s just that they’re not there to dance, I guess the light is too bright, I guess something else is distracting them from enjoying themselves, and it actually feels awkward just playing the music and seeing no one move. I get that sometimes, especially the nowadays crowd with their cell phones.

What do you do when the crowd doesn’t (or listeners don’t) respond to what you’re playing?

Unlike artistes who have their songs that they sing and then they go home, we as DJs, it’s a lot harder. So if we’re playing music and it’s not working, we just keep changing until we get them. Sometimes we end up going too far and we have to go back. For a DJ, timing is everything, you have to know the right time to drop the right song. If I’m playing music and they’re not moving, I’ll try something different, different genres or different eras of music. Hopefully, something works. You can never please them all, so I just try to please the majority. If you’ve tried everything and a crowd is still not moving, there are times that you just have to do it for yourself, hoping that they will feel your energy.