CWMA DJ of the Year 2013 

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CWMA TOP DJS

Contributors: Austen Diamond, Colin Wolf

Scene Promoter
Roots Rawka
Roots Rawka is a staple of the State Street club circuit, spinning at bars like Bar Deluxe and The Woodshed. He’s also known around the valley as both a DJ and booker/promoter for an abundance of national touring reggae bands. The primarily reggae DJ competed in the 2011 CWMA DJ Spin-off and is a guest host on KRCL’s Friday Night Fallout Show, where he shows off his hip-hop proclivities. (AD) RootsRawka.com

Alien Talker
DeCay
Over his 16 years of DJing, David Gillette, aka DeCay, has hit his stride playing “anything with breakbeats—trip-hop, dubstep, glitch-hop—anything with a broken beat.” The Hive Collective co-founder produces the majority of music he spins at underground shows and festivals, like Burning Man and Element 11. “The sound design and beat structure is so unique—some people who’ve never heard it before say it’s like aliens talking—that it’s hard to describe,” DeCay says. “It just grabs ahold and makes me want to move.” (AD) TheHiveCollective.com

Deep & Dirty
Alastair
Fans of Utah’s impressive, ever-growing house scene are definitely familiar with DJ and producer Alastair, of D_rty Productions. Though the deep-house aficionado has been DJing a mere three years, this will be his second CWMA DJ Spin-off. Alastair has made a name for himself in SLC’s club scene by opening for big-name acts like Tiesto and Tommy Trash, and with his monthly night, Delve (Deep), at Zest Kitchen & Bar. (CW) Soundcloud.com/AlastairNee

Duke of Dubstep
illoom
For a six-year stretch, James Loomis—aka illoom—has held down Dubwise, now at The Urban Lounge, making it the third-longest-running dubstep night in North America. Illoom is what he calls the “holy grail” of music-makers: a producer and a DJ. He’s been focusing on production of late, mostly riddims in the traditional Jamaican dub style. But don’t be fooled: He’s not rusty. Illoom can cut it hard and fast during a DJ set, as he did at the 2012 CWMA DJ Spin-off, which he won. (AD) Soundcloud.com/illoom

The Unsinkable
DJ Electronic Battleship
DJ Electronic Battleship might be the definition of an open-format DJ. Though he’s only had residency at Ogden’s Copper Club for a little more than a year, Battleship is no rookie behind the decks. For the past eight years, Battleship has cut his teeth as an opening DJ for live hip-hop acts like DopeThought, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Schoolboy Q, to name a few. (CW) Soundcloud.com/ElectronicBattleship

Ja ck of All DJ Trades
DJ Bentley
Though he hasn’t won a CWMA DJ Spin-off yet, Holladay-based DJ Bentley is a regular fixture at the annual party. For the past six years, Bentley has cut his chops at just about every club in the valley, and is currently Park City Live’s go-to DJ. Bentley delivers technical sets with plenty of beat-juggling, scratches and sounds ranging from drum and bass, breakbeats to trap. (CW) Facebook.com/DJBentleySLC

Vinyl Hoarder
J Godina
Justin Godina—aka J Godina—lives in two worlds. The Top 40 club world is where he spins EDM, hip-hop and old-school tunes at his sell-out residency at Maxwell’s on Friday and Saturday nights. His other world, the one where he got his start some 15 years ago, is his one true love: spinning vinyl. Godina owns more than 10,000 records and spins a good number of soul and hip-hop cuts on Mondays at Bar-X. (AD)

Stripper Approved
DJ CWell
When City Weekly said DJ CWell was the dark horse of the spin-off—he’s not a familiar name in the downtown club scene—the Bountiful-based DJ took it to heart and performed part of his set wearing a horse mask. Nice. Over the past eight years, this open-format DJ has worked at literally every outskirt club in Utah. He has multiple residencies, does countless parties and considers his daily strip-club gig at Southern X-posure his “9 to 5.” (CW)

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