Is this your first Kings game?
I’ve been to the arena several times. I was here when it was ARCO Arena. I was here during the Peja, Bibby, “White Chocolate” days.
Who’s your all-time favorite Kings player?
That’s hard to say because they had a team that was amazing, but I would say [Jason Williams] because of his flavor and his handles.
Will you have a chance to see the new Golden 1 Center while you’re in town?
I’m excited to check it out!
What’s your favorite thing about DJing in a pro sports atmosphere like this?
It’s very similar to festival concerts as far as crowd reaction and whatnot. This is going to be extra special though because it’s the last game in the facility. It’s fun! You have people of all ages there and they get to witness something special.
Have you done anything like this before? (NBA game)
Yes. Actually my headphones with SkullCandy were the official headphones for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.
Saturday is a throwback Game. What are your top 5 favorite throwback songs to mix?
Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, that one is infectious. Van Halen’s Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love is also good. A lot of the classic rock anthems get the crowd amped, and whatever gets the crowd amped is important.
What are some of your favorite memories from your time with the Beastie Boys?
Being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is the top of the top, but I’ve had so many experiences with those guys. It’s been such a blessing. We did the Live Earth concert (2007) in London, which was amazing.
I remember doing a show in Hamburg, Germany in front of 300,000 people at a festival, and I think that was my first-ever show with those guys. So I got broken into the band in a pretty big way.
But we’ve done Letterman and Conan, there are just so many experiences.
In Beastie Boys album ‘Hello Nasty’ you were on a taped telephone call saying that you were in Sacramento. What were you doing in Sacramento and was that your first communication with the group to collaborate?
Well I was actually living in Sacramento at the time – I lived there for four years, but before I moved out here I met Adam Yauch in New York City and gave him my business card. This was around the time when I was the 3-time DMC World DJ Champion, and I used to send him videotapes of myself winning these competitions. That was one of the messages I left on his answering machine and it appeared on the record.
I think that was like a 4 a.m. call when I had been up all night practicing or something. That was just me feeling like I had something to show those guys, so it was me sending out the bat signal. The following month they called me up and flew me out to work on ‘Hello Nasty.’ After that session they asked me to become their DJ and the rest is history.
Tell us about the current tour you’re on. What have been some of your favorite stops?
A couple months back we did the Special Olympics and it was just such an amazing day with all the kids from all over the world. It’s something that’s going to stick with me forever. Just being with those kids does something to your soul. I’ve had so many blessings throughout the year and that was me giving back. At this point in my life we’ve had so much that it’s like what do we do? We do Michael J Fox’s Parkinson’s Disease Foundation events, we do Operation Smile, we raise money to repair children’s cleft palates. I also get with some of the big skaters like Tony Hawk, Andy Macdonald and Bucky Lasek to do Clash at the Clairmont where we raise money to aid cancer patients and families.
I’ve also performed at the White House for the Kennedy Center Honors and President Obama. That was amazing. I did a tribute to Herbie Hancock and it was awesome!
So that’s most of what I’ve been up to these days.
Do you have any favorite mixes you’ve done in the studio? Live?
Yeah! My new project that’s out right now – It’s called Magma Chamber and you can download it for free on SoundCloud. It’s probably my best work to date.
We’re actually working on a VR visual project to go along with it. Magma Chamber is an hour-long piece of all my unreleased remixes. All of the artistic direction on the project is done by my good friend Tony Washington. He does a lot of work with Marvel, Lady Gaga, and the music really speaks for itself. You hear it and it’s just aggressive, it’s challenging and it’s educational.
Any new collaborations in the works?
Right now we’re just working on this VR music project, which is going to launch in a couple months. It’s a full-on album, but you’ll put the headset on and you’ll get the true video experience along with the music. It’s the first of its kind and nobody has really done it like this.
This is going to be some pretty groundbreaking stuff. We’re in 2016 and I’ve always pictured myself in the year 3000. So it’s about time for something like this to happen – it’s also so cool that sports teams are implementing this. It’s just amazing.