DJ DalePlay,
The TVD First Date

“My first encounter with vinyl was through my mother who showed me some vinyl of this artist Oscar De Leon’s “Lloraras” back in Venezuela. It had a funny shape like a pizza and it had to be handled with care like a jewel or like a woman. It completely grabbed my attention and I will never forget that moment. But when you’re poor as F, some more joyful things in life have to be experienced by bits, but that also makes it more exciting if I am honest.”

“The most annoying part was that I couldn’t really experience it fully because we didn’t have the most important part, the “gramophone” or as they call it, “record player” or “turntable” (I am a bit lost for names as it has evolved through the years) which died (it took a break) and then came back to life and so on and on.

But vinyl is still here quite strong and it fascinates me to watch its comeback to the world of streaming and fast “fingertip” choices. My encounters with vinyl happened casually and without pressure through the years. As a DJ in this new era it can be quite easy downloading the latest tracks available to keep the crowd dancing and happy. However, truth lies on those particular treasures, tracks that nobody has and that uniqueness you find only by going into a record store and by spending a few good hours in there digging it, literally like treasure hunting.

I love the sound of vinyl and I already have ideas to making new music (new sounds) by exploring more of that side of music. It’s growing on me, the curiosity of it all, and my greatest respect goes to the DJs who came before me, who mixed by ear and who put so much work into it. Nowadays you will always find a laptop on a turntable and I see young DJs taking that for granted.

Back in the day they had to sort, play the record through to understand the structure, figure out the key by ear using a piano or guitar, label moods with coloured stickers, mark cue points with tape, and organize by genre which they defined on their own. I am not here to bash computer based mixing, but as we are talking about vinyl and its importance in music, for me vinyl has been more crucial for the evolution of DJing. Old school DJing is definitely an art that I want to appreciate more and more because it has been the foundation for the new era of DJs and a big part of the culture.

My latest encounter with vinyl has been a few months ago in London around Camden Town where I found this hippie selling old vinyl. I couldn’t resist and brought some classics back home with me. To be fair, I haven’t played them, but I am on it! I still need to buy myself a “gramophone” or whatever it’s called. I love vinyl and I truly want to get more intimate with the whole art of it.”
DJ DalePlay

Jesus “DalePlay” Herrera is an award-winning Miami based producer and DJ. Signed to Warner Chappell under his producer name, DalePlay, he has become quite the emerging producer in the Pop, EDM, and Latin world. He caught the ears of Diplo and Skrillex’s camp early on in his career and continues to collaborate with some heavy hitters. By the age of twenty, he won his first BMI Latin Award and since then, he’s actively collaborated and/or had placements with Marc Anthony, Will Smith, Bad Bunny, Jennifer Lopez, Ozuna, Enrique Iglesias, Prince Royce, Maluma, MØ, Becky G, Natti Natasha, Jen Carlos Canela, Mau & Ricky, Gente De Zona, Silvestre Dragon to name a few.

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