Bryan Coonrod aka DJ Bryan C is a familiar face amongst vinyl crate diggers in Dallas. He is long in the tooth in DJ years, only a few years shy of the three decade mark. He has witnessed DJ culture in Dallas from the ground up. As a vinyl reseller he can be found selling records at various vinyl swaps around town and is a prime mover behind the Dallas Beat Swap. His depth of music knowledge is as deep and bottomless as a well. From country to house he has heard it all.
See also: The 10 Best Dance Clubs in Dallas DC9 at Night Mixtape with Dave Paradice
For this week's mixtape, Coonrod drops a highly focused mix of Ghetto Funk. Ghetto Funk is a niche genre of electronic music that blends breakbeat, funk, hip hop and bass music popularized by a blog out of Bristol, U.K. It's some mighty fine party music. In the Q&A, Coonrod delves into his roots as a DJ and where it has brought him today.
DC9 at Night: How did you get started DJing? How long have you been at it?
DJ Bryan C: My first gig as a DJ was in high school in 1988 using two tape decks and a bunch of cassingles. My first nightclub gig was in 1993 I believe.
Is there a particular theme for the track selection?
These tracks were all in the vein of Ghetto Funk, mostly Motown, funk and soul tracks that have been remade with heavy basslines.
Where do you dig for tracks for your sets?
Many of the tracks were found on Soundcloud, others were found on Beatport and Juno.
How long have you been selling vinyl?
I have been selling vinyl since the early '90s. I owned Rush Records, a store in Vikon Village, from 1993 to 1998. I sold much of the store when the MP3 era began to take over, but I still had thousands of records in storage
What got you into being an independent vinyl dealer?
With the vinyl resurgence starting up in the mid-2000s, I started pulling out records from storage and was selling online. During this time I started acquiring collections from others and buying stores out when I could. I then got involved with some other collectors for local swap meets like Mark Ridlen's Vinyl Tap, DJ Sober's swap meet and a few others.
How did Beat Swap come about?
Beat Swap Meet came about by accident I guess. Dallas had long had a record show every year at a hotel in Richardson and it had faded away for some reason. I was looking online at what other cities were doing and came across Beat Swap Meet in L.A. and noticed they were doing some really cool things that included urban culture with artists, b boys, bands and the like and were popping up in other cities. I had contacted them about coming here and the ball started rolling from there and now we will have the third one at Club Dada on April 4 and looking forward to seeing that grow bigger here in Dallas.
What DJs and producers have had a significant impact on you as an artist?
DJ-wise that goes all over the board. When I first started going to clubs there were a few guys I looked up to that I became friends with that I guess you can say got me going in a direction. Wild Bill Stanley, Rob Vaughan, Mark Joslyn were all playing in clubs I went to and I kind of decided I wanted to make a career out of this DJ thing after seeing those guys doing it and having fun. Producer-wise I am all over the board. I love the '80s so anything in the New Order/Depeche Mode vein really stuck with me. In the '90s I got into breaks and house music and Dallas has a lot to offer there music-wise with guys that are known worldwide like JT Donaldson, Brett Johnson, Luke Sardello, Redeye and A1. Just so much great talent here.
What is your most memorable music experience of the past year?
I always enjoy going to the Metalachi live shows. They are a heavy metal mariachi band -- one of the most unique and entertaining shows you can go to. Just the idea of Guns 'N Roses done mariachi style was enough to get me hooked with those guys. DJ-wise Breakbeat Lou was a great experience, not only as a show where he was phenomenal but bonding with him as a person the day of the show and after left a great impression on me. That guy has pure passion and willing to teach others with his wisdom. Every DJ should strive to be like him as a person.
What is your most memorable DJ gig to play?
You would think it would be some of the larger packed places I have played over the years, but no, in the early 2000s I played a small club in Fort Worth called Vivid, we did an 80's night on Sundays. Those kids were wild they would come dressed in '80s attire and knew every song by heart and sang along loudly. The cool thing about that was several bands started by regular attendees from that event that had a very '80s retro vibe to their sound.
What other genres of music do you enjoy outside of ance music?
I am pretty diverse, from old Texas country, jazz, blues, Latin and world music. I have a rather large music collection that covers almost every genre... I can usually find something unique I like in any genre and have been lucky to have nights where I can play and share this music.
What gigs do you have coming up?
I keep a pretty busy DJ schedule. You can find me Tuesdays at Off The Record doing old school hip hop, Wednesdays at Crown & Harp for the weekly Vinyl Tap swap meet, Thursdays also at Crown where I rotate nights of 80's retro and classic house. Fridays I am at a new place called the Tipsy Chicken and Saturdays I am at J Black's. I have some other monthly gigs I do you can find me at the Fresh 45s gig selling 45s and sometimes playing there, the new started yacht rock theme Yacht Club at Gin Mill and my Honkytonk Jukebox night which is old country played on 45s
Tracklist: 1. Rock Steady - Ghetto Funk 2. Mr Big Stuff - Ghetto Funk 3. I Just Want To Celebrate - Ghetto Funk 4. Come Together - Ghetto Funk 5. ABC - Ghetto Funk 6. Superstition - Ghetto Funk 7. What I'd Say - Ghetto Funk 8. It's Your Thing - Ghetto Funk 9. Fire - Ghetto Funk 10. Beat It - Ghetto Funk 11. Lady Marmalade - Ghetto Funk 12. Soul Man - Ghetto Funk 13. Mustang Sally - Ghetto Funk 14. Think - Ghetto Funk 15. Respect - Ghetto Funk
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