By Jennifer R. Hill
Beck’s DJ anthem “Where it’s at!” inevitably plays in the back of your mind when talking to Mike Relm.
Where it’s at!
I got two turntables and a microphone
Where it’s at!
I got two turntables and a microphone
I got plastic on my mind…
Relm has much more to work with than two turntables and microphone, though.
“Everything I do is hard to describe,” he said.
He’s a DVJ, a cross between a DJ, or disc jockey, and a VJ, video jockey. A DVJ is a DJ that performs live using an audio-visual music player.
Relm will open up for Blue Man Group Wednesday night at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville.
“I try to take my favorite things and mix it all together,” he said. “My goal in every show is to get as many crazy reactions as possible.”
Relm’s match with Blue Man Group is just right.
The Blue Man Group and Relm work from their audience’s reaction to their visual and audio effects. Both put on a show that stimulates all of the senses.
Relm, decked out in signature black suit and tie evocative of a Quentin Tarantino character, dishes out a smorgasbord of pop culture. He spins mixes, including various genres of music ranging from Bob Dylan and the Beatles to Rage Against the Machine and the Wu Tang Clan.
Behind him, on two giant screens, he splices together montages of clips of “cult films” and his own creations that are coordinated to his music.
Relm has been featured at several festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. He has been on bills and performed with the likes of Mos Def, Blackalicious, Mike Patton, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Del the Funky Homosapien, Money Mark, NAS, and many more.
Relm has many scoring and soundtrack credits as well having completed remixes for Adult Swim in conjunction with the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, scored Disney’s short film “Too Many Robots,” did a mega mix for Nickelodon’s Yo Gabba Gabba, and worked on the soundtrack and was featured in “Along Came Polly,” starring Ben Stiller and Jennifer Anniston.
The San Francisco native has been turning tables since he was about 15 years old.
He was fascinated by radio stations in the area that would mix live on the air, he said.
Classmates mixed at parties and events in high school and made it sound so easy, he said.
“It’s kind of cool that they down played it like that because it put it in reach,” Relm said.
Relm’s DVD “Clown Alley” will debut April 1. The self-produced, directed and edited project features clips of Relm’s live show, original productions, and 3-D skits (glasses included) of Relm being held captive by “The Side Show.”
Relm will join Blue Man Group How To Be A Megastar Tour 2.1 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 at the VBC in Huntsville. Ticket prices range from $51.50 to $77 and are available at the VBC arena box office, www.ticketmaster.com or Charge-By-Phone at 1-800-277-1700.
