DJ Madrid is without a doubt one of the hottest DJ’s around and his vision and sense of style proves it. His interest in music began at a very young age when he received a Fisher Price record player. The bug slightly bit him to start spinning records at age 13, when his cousin got two turntables and a mixer for Christmas. Madrid is a visual artist and studied fashion illustration at Columbia College. Music was always his driving force that he eventually figured out later. “Even when I would see things visually there was always a sound track to it,” said Madrid. As he became more aware of his driving force, his desire to deejay became stronger. Madrid was an accomplished jewelry designer, before he took to the headphones and turntables. He was featured for his designs in national publications and even had Spike Lee as a client. His visual arts profession allowed him to travel and discover more music. He started representing deejay’s from New York City and it became more apparent that he needed to something that spoke to his heart.
Madrid loves to entertain and make people happy. He often hosted dinner parties at his house and played his own mixtapes that combined perfectly with the food. The combination really set the ambiance for the night and the experience left an impression on his guests. Feedback from his friends prompted him to drop off one of his CD mixes at the Virgin records store in Chicago. The day after he left the mix he was immediately hired as their resident DJ. While working at Virgin Madrid was able to meet Oprah Winfrey. The former talk show host loved Madrid’s music so much that she hired him to travel with her around the world to DJ parties for her friends. He traveled to Barcelona, Rome, Malta, Athens, and Santorini with Oprah spinning music in unimaginable places like palaces. “I always tell up and coming DJ’s that no matter how big you get, don’t forget that you’re making a lot of money playing other peoples music,” he exclaimed.
Madrid thinks that what makes a DJ unique is their ability to pick and choose music to play at the appropriate time. He plays music to make people feel cool and to bring them together. The first time that he knew he was doing something special was when he played a gig for MTV in Caracas, Venezuela. Madrid was the opening artist for Juan Atkins, another famous DJ, and one of Madrid’s idols. He rocked the crowd and Juan Atkins. Atkins told him that he had never heard music like that before. Madrid is a big history buff, which helps to balance his approach to finding music. He’s not genre specific but more vibe specific and likes to go with the flow. He’s plays what he thinks people need to hear, but loves to field requests from the crowd. “I’m always observing the reaction of the crowd and look for signs. I know I got them when their heads are bobbing and feet are tapping. I’m always trying to take my music to the next level and my vision is to go global with what I do.” Madrid recalls his most memorable moment while playing in Rome at a party. “The news that Michael Jackson died had just been announced and I changed the course of my set and started to play a run of Michael Jackson hits. The crowd went absolutely bananas and it was both epic and spiritual.” That random high point solidified that Madrid was where he was supposed to be as a DJ. Madrid hopes to unify people more and more with his music and has big plans to do so. One can only imagine what his next level will be.