Classes
over, it's DJ time
By Eddino Abdul Hadi
They fall below the legal drinking age but teenagers Charlotte
Cheong, 13, Jonathan Foo, 15, and Marcus Koh, 16, are playing
regular sets as deejays at beach bar Azzura in Siloso Beach,
Sentosa.
Charlotte has to stand on a stool to reach the controls but the
petite deejay knows what tracks get the bikini-clad and
board-shorted sun-lovers up to dance.
The trio are graduates of local deejay training institution Swee
Lee DJ Academy.
Thanks to Charlotte's parents, who co-own the family-friendly
Azzura, they spin electro, hip-hop and R&B tracks every Sunday
from two to six in the afternoon before the regular house deejays
take over.
While Azzura is their only regular gig, they have also done guest
sets at public events such as IT and car shows and even a New Year
countdown set at Gusttimo Di Roma, a restaurant at Ion Orchard.
"My friends think it's quite cool," says Charlotte, also known as
DJ Charlotte C and who is in Secondary 1 at Saint Joseph's
Institution International. "I was very nervous when I first started
spinning to a crowd but it makes me really happy when I see people
dance, it motivates me."
It was her father, Mr Cecil Cheong, 46, who first suggested the
idea of taking a deejay course.
He says: "She is so passionate about music, and she has her
headphones on all the time. I have a lot of friends who are deejays
so I asked her if she would like to try it out."
Jonathan is her schoolmate, although he is in Secondary 3, while
Marcus is a Secondary 5 student at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary
School.
Marcus is also a national yo-yo champion who picked up the
turntables after being inspired by deejays who were spinning at the
yo-yo events he took part in.
"It has become my goal to either become a professional deejay or a
yo-yo performer," he says, adding pragmatically: "Although I do
intend to go through polytechnic and have a diploma to fall back
on."
His father is a manager in a telecommunications company while his
mother is a housewife.
Unlike Charlotte, whose father is always with her at Azzura, the
boys' parents are usually not present at the gigs although they are
accompanied at all times by their instructor from the deejay
school, Janrius Y Rogers, who also gets them their slots.
Jonathan, who is also known as DJ Lil' Jon, is also accompanied by
another chaperone provided by audio-visual company Pioneer, which
was so impressed with his skills that it sponsors his deejay
equipment.
"I really like making music, it helps me to relieve stress," says
the teenager who is influenced by Canadian electro deejay Deadmau5,
French house deejay David Guetta and Dutch trance deejay Armin Van
Buuren.
His father, Dr Foo Fatt Kah, who works in biotechnology, says that
"it is thrilling to see him enjoy something he's good at".
His mother is a clinical director at James Cook University.
They are both assured that their son is well protected from the
less savoury aspects of dance clubs as he is always accompanied by
adults they trust.
Instructor Rogers, 39, says he has seen more teenagers pick up
deejay-ing in the past two years although they make up only 10 per
cent of his students.
"A lot of parents are hip now, and they would rather their children
pick up a skill such as deejay-ing than idle around in their free
time," he says.
"It's an alternative to other extra-curricular activities such as
swimming or piano lessons."
