Spinning on top of the world

HE WON THE 2015 edition of the Red Bull Thre3Style DJ Thailand Championships but came unstuck at the world final in Japan, but DJ Bomber Selecta, who once again swept the winning prize at this year’s competition, is determined that history won’t repeat itself and he’ll bring the top award home from Chile when he competes there later this year.
“The judges were very impressed by DJ Bomber Selecta’s stunning show. I was looking at the reactions of Chile’s DJ Byte and Japan’s DJ Shintaro, who were crowned champions in 2015 and 2013 respectively, and there were blown away by his presentation,” DJ Mister Meeh told XP during the final round of the Thailand contest at rooftop bar Ce La Vi.
“He has developed over the last 12 months and showed a good balance of skills, track selection, personality, originality and crowd response.”
Now in its seventh year, the Red Bull Thre3Style Thailand Championships are considered one of the toughest tests for up-and-coming DJs, requiring them to mix at least three music styles and impress the judges and the crowd with their art in just 15 minutes.
 “I created my set from reggae, hip-hop, funk, house and rock. I don’t believe there’s a boundary between genres. I was focused but aware that people were looking at me, which was great. I think people are starting to understanding more about the art of DJ-ing such as scratch, juggling, cutting and mash up,” says the 34-year-old, whose real name is Pittaya “Bas” Imlamai.
“Last year, I had a very bad attack of stage fright during the world final in Tokyo and that affected my performance. I lost out to DJ Byte who put on a great show, getting the judges up on their feet and dancing,” he recalls.
“But it was good experience. I got a lot of ideas and learned the importance of attitude from some of the leading DJs in the world. They are passionate about their work and totally positive in their way of thinking.”
Pittaya snatched victory from the five other local finalists, namely DJs Istyle, Whatdatfrog, Nutty, Paka and Butung.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m better than the other finalists, who have differences in skill, style and character. The competition has five dimensions. The first is skill and here I think all finalists are equal or with differences so small as to be negligible. The second is the song selection and that depends on taste. The third is originality, which requires us to create our own set with our own style, mixing songs in three music styles with an emphasis on tone, melody and lyric. The fourth and fifth are personality and crowd response respectively. And the most important criterion of the competition to surprising and wowing the audience,” he says.
 “The successful DJ must balance all five dimensions. Some will have good technique or good song selection. Even if your song selection in excellent, without skill you won’t be able to put on a good presentation.”
As a child, Pittaya says listened to a variety of music. His dad was a luk thung (country folk) fan while his elder brother preferred songs-for-life.
“I’m lucky that my family loves listening to music. My father was a major follower of Yodrak Salakjai. In the ’90s I was into punk rock of the sort played by Green Day as well as nu metal and hip-hop. I love reading too,” says Pittaya, who played trumpet and guitar during his student days at Kasetsart University’s engineering faculty.
 “A DJ aims to make his audience happy but you also have to guess how the audience is feeling at any given time. I remember one clubber asking me what I was playing. He didn’t know it but found it enjoyable. That’s what I call a success.”
After graduating, Pittaya worked as an engineer for two years but the call of music proved too strong.
“I used to hang out at a pub at Ratchada Soi 4 and the DJ there was always able to make the
 audience go wild. I asked him to teach me about DJ-ing and he agreed. The pub eventually closed but I continued to practise. I got an unexpected chance to work in a club full time after the original DJ left and I loved it. I would be on the deck for five or six hours, often forgetting to eat. It was tiring but I was happy.”
From Ratchada he moved to Khao San Road, spinning mainly reggae. “I like hip-hop best though,” he admits. He’s now opted out of the resident DJ game and has set up his own studio, Kreatah DJ Skool in Lat Phrao’s Town in Town area, teaching students ranging in age from nine to well over 40.
“Students have different reasons for coming. Some want to DJ as a hobby, others want to work as a DJ at pub,” he says. “The studio gets is name from the slang for creator – Kreatah – is a slang for creator, while Selecta means DJ in Jamaica.”
He’s planning to create an original set and distribute it on iTunes, Beatport or Traxsource but for now, he’s working on sharpening his skills before going to battle with DJs from 24 countries in the world final of the Championships in Santiago, which take place in December.
“Practice is part of my lifestyle; I do it every day. But I have added a separate session where I rehearse my technical skills such as scratch,” he says.