Disc Jockey Vies for Top 10 Title
By Jesse Davis, Goshen News, Ind.
Jun. 27–Many Goshen-area residents know disc jockey Sticky Boots, either from his work with The Music Place sound and light or his Friday night show The HyperMiXx on radio station U93.
What they don’t realize, however, is just how far the Goshen native’s music has spread.
Sticky Boots, aka Blake Eckelbarger, is a nominee for DJ Times Magazine’s third annual “America’s Best DJ” contest, along with 99 other DJs including such stars as Grandmaster Flash, Crystal Method, Felix Da Housecat, Josh Wink and Bad Boy Bill.
Beyond gaining the nomination, he received more votes than any of the other 19 fan-nominated DJs and was recently told he is currently running in the top 10 overall.
“It’s really exciting to me that I can crack the top 10,” he said. “It’s an honor just to be a part of the list. My original goal was to be in the top 80. I hope to win, but I don’t expect to.”
Eckelbarger began working as a DJ for cash at his father’s business, The Music Place, when he was 13 after seven years of helping to run their lights and equipment. Eventually he decided to get into the business full-time, which led to his current career in the field.
Now 33, his mix shows are broadcast on 19 radio stations from Long Island, N.Y., to Lihue, Hawaii and the Grand Cayman. He is also broadcast on Sirius satellite radio on “The Beat,” AOL Radio on the “DJ Set Channel” and on a radio network on Sprint and Nextel phones signed up through U.S. Cellular, as well as online at iPartyRadio.com, PartyRadioUSA.net, SuperRadioMix.com, TheRealMixshow.com and Maxx FM.
In addition, he will be featured on a new service starting within the next month called the “MoveRadio Network,” which will be available on all Nokia phones regardless of carrier. According to Eckelbarger, he is broadcast on more stations than any other individual DJ in the country.
“In this game it’s half skill and half about marketing and self promotion. You have to have both,” he said.
For him, it’s all about the impact on people.
“At the end of the day, it’s entertainment,” he said. “When you’re in the zone and things are going well and 1,000 people are hanging on every note from the turntable, that’s the ultimate high.”
True to that belief, he sticks to popular music with a broad variety, leaving the more underground music to other DJs.
“My show is unique in that it has both dance music and rap/hip-hop. I’ve also chosen to stay commercial, and I’ve taken some flak for that. I’m trying to appeal to the broadest group of people I can. It’s a business for me,” he said.
Sticky Boots has spent quite a bit of time marketing himself, networking and increasing the general awareness of his work, an effort that has paid off in appearances at major events and participation in DJ panels.
He was one of three DJs to perform during the 2005 DJ Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, he spun the 2006 Cheerleading Championships at the Elkhart County Fair (one of his favorite events to work), he was on the cover of the August 2005 issue of Mobile Beat Magazine, he was a guest panelist at the DJ Times International DJ Expo in Atlantic City, N.J., and is a contributing writer to DJ Times Magazine. He has also been named the no.1 reporting DJ in the United States according to the Deet Promotion’s Mix Show rankings in New York City.
Sticky Boots keeps updated news, tour dates and content available online at DJStickyBoots.com and on MySpace.
Voting for the America’s Best DJ contest is open until midnight on Aug. 8. Votes can be entered on its Web site at AmericasBestDJ.net, and those 18 and older who vote are automatically entered to win free music downloads, Sirius Satellite Radio receivers and two grand prize all-expenses paid trips to Las Vegas, among other prizes, provided by Pioneer Pro DJ, Beatport, Sirius Satellite Radio and DJ Times Magazine.
—–
To see more of the Goshen News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.goshennews.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, Goshen News, Ind.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:S, NASDAQ-NMS:NIHD, AMEX:USM, NYSE:NOK, NASDAQ-NMS:SIRI,