Dismont Robinson discovered when she spoke to three local DJs and an emcee, first Cyril `Beatnik' Rubaine and Gary `Kaos' Davis, below left Hi-top Spence and below right Lethal Weapon.

I sat down with Cyril (Beatnik) Rubaine and Gary (Kaos) Davis over a cup of coffee at Rock Island last Saturday.

Some may be familiar with the DJing talents of Beatnik, who has shown off his mixing skills at many art show openings, Latin parties, Flow Sunday at Coconut Rock, last year's Bermuda Film Festival -- as well as his regular mobile gigs.

And Gary (Kaos) Davis, who's been DJing for about nine years, currently plays at Studio 55 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights.

Beatnik, who has been DJing since the mid-80s, refers to himself as a "turntablist'', someone who has the skills to totally manipulate the music, rather than just a DJ -- a distinction he said comes from "the need to distinguish what's real from what's Memorex''.

"A DJ is someone who has skills as far as manipulating the records, it goes and comes out of a natural desire as a human being to take something and add on to it -- they're putting their signature on it every time they play,'' said Beatnik.

"You take the necessary steps to elevate a song by doing live remixes... even though a DJ is playing songs you hear on the radio, when you hear a DJ it's totally amped -- it's gone up three octaves,'' he added.

"The state of DJing in Bermuda from a professional standpoint is really big, but when you talk about people with talent, they don't necessarily get a chance to shine.

"When it comes to people with skills, it's decayed to the point where anyone can call themselves a DJ just because they play popular tunes. People in the pubs don't really have an appreciation for people with skills because they're uneducated about what a DJ is.'' Beatnik explained that each genre of music -- whether it's hip hop, reggae, house or Latin -- has its own peak in terms of how best to mix it.

"For example, with house music you wouldn't be doing a whole lot of scratching the way you'd do with hip hop -- you'd be taking the breaks in the house records and going backward and forward,'' he explained.

"But there are basic standards in all types of DJing -- it's not just about mixing a record into the next record.'' Beatnik said he has more respect for DJs who use turntables instead of CDs because he's a `traditionalist' -- although he noted there were some local DJs like Scientist who used both CDs and turntables very well.

"With turntables, it's a more hands-on approach -- it's like the difference between having a table made out of teak versus chipwood,'' he said.

And Kaos added that his love for DJing came from his experience as a club DJ.

"It's all about taking the crowd on a journey in your own way. I like the control of it -- at the end of the night, I'd like to say it's my party and people enjoyed themselves... they're hearing me, not just what's on the record,'' said Kaos.

Both Kaos and Beatnik said their early local influences included Rap Explosion, DJ MAR, Funkmaster Bim and Soundmaster OBE.

Turning the tables: Being a DJ these days is more than just spinning a few records. It's more to do with layering sounds and manipulating the music -- as local members of the fraternity like to put it.

Cyril `Beatnik' Rubaine