DJ Qbert Interview

DJ Qbert is a turntablist and composer from San Francisco, CA. He began playing with records at age 15, and later joined a group in 1990 with with Mix Master Mike and DJ Apollo called FM20. He was first recognized in 1985 for his technical DJ skills and is credited for perfecting the turntable as a musical instrument, inventing original techniques of scratching. In 1994, he released a scratch and breakbeat mixtape, Demolition Pumpkin Squeeze Musik. Qbert is a founding member of Invisibl Skratch Piklz, the first turntablist “band” that layered turntablism, drums, basslines, and scratch solos on top of each other. The group won three years in a row at the DMC World Championship. In 1998, Qbert released his debut album, Wave Twisters, along with an animated film created by Dug-1 to sync with the music. Qbert was featured in the film Scratch, as he is knighted by GrandMixer DXT, and was inducted into the DMC DJ Hall of Fame along with Mix Master Mike. Qbert has worked with Vestax to develop the scratching instrument, QFO, which combines a turntable with a crossfader. In 2009, Qbert launched the Qbert Skratch University, an online school and community for DJs.