Behind booming speakers

Jordan Moody, a junior telecommunications major, will perform in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend at the RedBull Thre3style event. Moody performs as a DJ under the name Jordnmoody. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JORDAN MOODY
Jordan Moody, a junior telecommunications major, will perform in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend at the RedBull Thre3style event. Moody performs as a DJ under the name Jordnmoody. PHOTO PROVIDED BY JORDAN MOODY

MARG:
What: Red Bull Thre3style University: Indiana, DJ competition
When: 10:30 tonight
Where: Kilroy’s Dunkirk, 430 E Kirkwood Ave. in Bloomington, Ind.
Price: No cover charge

Party orchestrators: the people behind the speakers
Anna Ortiz | features editor
features@bsudailynews.com

The beat of a song begins pumping through the crowd of people. Jordan Moody, the man behind the party, looks at the tempo and measures the beat, feeding on the crowd’s energy. The sound pounds in his ears and vibrates through his fingertips.

The junior telecommunications major begins to mix in another song. The basses flow together and converge until the climax of the song, where he kicks into high gear with another tune, setting the dance floor into waves of partygoers jumping to the beat.

Moody, who performs as Jordnmoody is “taking them into a musical journey,” the best way he can describe being a DJ in the midst of a party.

“It’s definitely a rush once you get one song going and then the second song — you’re vibing out the crowd, and then you let it go,” he said.

Moody was selected to represent Ball State tonight in Bloomington, Ind. Red Bull Thre3style University handpicked five students to represent their schools in the competition, where they will compete for Indiana Champion.

Each student DJ will have 15 minutes to exhibit their best spinning and mixing skills and shoot for the title. The winner will receive a $1,000 prize.

DJ Nicolas Rage will represent Butler University, DJ Knockout will represent Indiana State University, The Dub Knight and Jodyfree will represent IU.

Three professional DJ judges will score the participants on different criteria like track selection, creativity, mixing skills, stage presence and crowd reaction. Indianapolis-native Nick Saligoe, also known as DJ MetroGnome, helped organize the event, pick the competitors and will be a judge.

“Naturally, Indiana has quite a lot of talent in this,” he said. “People tend to overlook the amount of talent we have. We have a rich DJ scene in not just Indianapolis, but in the college areas, too.”

Saligoe said Moody was on his list of notable DJs and was recommended by many other area DJs, with whom he consulted. Saligoe said Moody has a lot of talent and a distinct style, which got him into the lineup.

Moody has been mixing for three years and performs near Ball State and IU. He first got a taste of the trade when he snuck into a Muncie bar his freshman year and saw a DJ busting out mixes. Walking away from the dance floor that night, he said he knew what he wanted to do.

“It’s kind of like being a one man band,” Moody said. “You’re up there doing your own thing.”

Moody described his style as reaching several genres, from ‘90s hip-hop to electronic dance music.

Getting ready for battle, Moody prepared since Sunday and pulled all-nighters to put together the perfect playlist, fitting songs together like a jigsaw puzzle. Mapping out the transitions and mixes. He said he hopes this competition will put him on the map.

Moody listens for tempo, beat, bass, genre and a dozen other musical keys when creating a playlist. He said he hopes his diversity in music choice will set him apart in the competition.
DJing takes up every weekend for Moody, he said, so he has little to no time to enjoy the party on the other side of the speakers in the few days of freedom he gets between classes.

Saligoe is a professional, full-time DJ in Indianapolis and has performed for the past eight years. Moody said it would be a dream come true to be a full-time DJ, but Saligoe said it’s a tough road. Like learning to play the guitar, he said someone can’t “just go up there and expect to shred like Jimi Hendrix.”

“It can be quite challenging and it takes a lot of work — not just to be physically out there at the events, but they have to have a professional understanding on how to market themselves, and how to be diverse and not be locked into one party genre,” Saligoe said.

Saligoe and Moody both agreed being a DJ requires much more work and skill than most people think. Saligoe said there’s simply no way DJs can be replaced by an iTunes playlist.

“I do think turntables are instruments,” he said. “You think about what you’re trying to convey. You have control over people’s emotions. … It’s not just the tactile side of flipping and scratching the records.”

_ ***** Editor’s note: Jordan Moody is a former Daily News reporter. _

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