You're on the music page of David Bishop, also known as Dr. Z. What a person listens to musically can give insight into them in a way that nothing else can. That said, my tastes tend to be eclectic. I dig everything from Jazz to Metal to Alternative Rock. My personal music collection runs the genre gamut - Reggae, Rap, R&B, Rock, Zydeco, Urban Contemporary Gospel, even a little Celtic Punk thrown in for good measure. You really have to love music to be a DJ – all types of music – because people will ask you to play everything and anything. Is there a type of music I absolutely won't play? Hmm… I'd have to say anything that incites people to hate. There's enough hate in the world. Music should bring people together.
I got my start as a disc jock back in college, but my love of music has been with me my entire life. I've played the trumpet since I was a kid, and recently picked up electric guitar. I'm father to six very musical and artistic children. We have a recording studio in our home, and on any given night our family enjoys hanging out together and playing music. Even the dog gets into it. It can get crazy when we're rehearsing for a gig with all the equipment taking over the house, and all the lights going, but music is something that brings us closer together as a family.
I spent a few years living in New Orleans where I got exposed to music at a grass roots level. In that city it's all about music. You feel the soul of it as you wander through the French Quarter, or stand on the quiet banks of the lazy Mississippi River. The people of New Orleans know how to celebrate life, and you can't experience life in their city without developing a greater appreciation for music. I also lived in Dallas for a while, and that was a whole different culture to absorb. When I think of Big D I think of one of my all time favorites – the late great Mr. Stevie Ray Vaughn.
At MobileSonic, a company I own along with my two oldest sons, I work as both DJ and VJ. The video jock thing is something I'm really getting into. We believe music should be a multi-sensory experience – sound you can see and feel, lighting to add punch, visual tone and volume, and I guess you could say the video is sort of a visual melodic accompaniment to that. It's also a great way to further personalize the experience for our audience. We'll run a live feed of the dance floor into the mix so people can see themselves up on the big screen. It's a great interactive tool.
