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Farming out creative projects

Snoop and Dr. Dre’s turntable master visits Whistler
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Legend and Legend in the Making DJ Jam may be the spin behind Snoop's 20,000-plus crowd shows, but the L.A. artist stands out front on his own creative merrit.

Who: DJ Jam

When: Friday, Aug. 31

Where: Moe Joe’s

Tickets: $10

As the personal DJ behind legends Snoop and Dr. Dre, every one of DJ Jam’s projects is heavily scrutinized.

He has a lot to live up to.

“It’s a really good experience to be working with people who are on top of their game; it helps me be all I can be,” Jam said. “I just have to be careful when I do my thing and I need to make sure I put time and effort into whatever I do. I DJ under these big names and I try to be different and do something new and innovative, and be on the level they are on.”

Watch Jam meet Snoop and Dre’s talents eye to eye or at least table to table on Friday, Aug. 31 at Moe Joe’s.

Jam credits his creativity to his ability to stand out from the crowd. The company he keeps at home also sets him apart from the rest.

Jam steps outside of his valley home in L.A. for a break from his recording studio. He watches a squirrel grab a nut, which is meant for his pigs. He has a few. Neighbourhood cats hang out among Jam’s other barnyard friends, which include monkeys and tortoises. Humming birds hover over green plants later to be picked for the tortoises’ dinner.

In his own Garden of Eden, this modern day Noah takes a minute to refresh his imagination — the source of his success.

“Whether DJing or working on remix, something like that, I try to do something diff, being creative and not trying to follow what others doing. That is my specialty. That is probably why the people who come to me, do.”

He draws on the image of a dark cave, these creative originals, leaders. And from this dark cavern a light reaches out as people stumble forward seeking it out.

“Because these people choose to do different, when they are put in the spotlight they do well because they stand alone.”

Jam’s work will soon stand alone in music stores — or at least on a separate wrack from the usual lineup of CDs. He is currently working on projects such as R&B-driven Mid-nite Grooves and club-oriented Hot Spot albums. But instead of the usual CD delivery, visual imagery is ramping up his famous mixes on DVD.

“I think with the visual added, it just gets you in tune with the audience that much more… If you are trying to get Johnny’s attention down the street and he puts in a CD of a new artist to listen to his song, but then you can listen to that song and see a video of the song, now you’ve got a kid saying, ‘that is what he looks like. That is how his swagger is.’ Now that consumer is more attached to that artist, so his fan base starts to grow faster. More people get tuned in to what he is doing.”

Music videos of Jam’s music selections, like the music, will ebb and flow on the DVD. “Disc jockey” will take on a whole new meaning.

Visuals are not integrated into his show, although he talks about how new technology will allow DJs to feed visuals to plasma screens in a club, the same way their turntables spin sound out of speakers.

He speaks freely about his ideas, as if so bountiful, nothing needs to be hoarded away. If someone steals it, another is just a pig pen away.

“I am putting together some animal mix CDs, using excerpts of songs that have animals in it, so if a song has a phrase like ‘monkeying around’ then I put it in a folder where I am collecting songs about animals.”

Of course his pigs, monkeys and tortoises will be the star visuals of the DVD, with a few neighbourhood cats as extras.

“It will be totally different. I have never seen it be done before. I am always trying to be different.”

Different is a running theme even into his DJ sets. His music is east coast, west coast. He’s hip hop, R&B, reggae, funk and soul classics. Shows are sometimes intimate club venues in the hundreds and then 60,000-crowd arena performances with Snoop.

For almost two decades now, Jam has kept Dre and Snoop company on the turntables. He remixed their G-Thang on the double-platinum album, Death Row’s Greatest Hits and he has appeared on every late night show you can think of, from Letterman and Leno and award shows such as MTV, BET, Vibe and American Music Awards.

Jam just wrapped up Wballz , a hardcore street music album with Snoop hosting.

But it will be just Jam and his animals for the next two months. He is taking time off from touring to concentrate on his own work.

His next project, Sin City Live , is due in stores within the next three weeks. The double CD farms out a mash up of hip hop, R&B and rock. (Visit djjam.com for details.)