Justin Evans
DJ Name: DJ Zilla
Exec Position: Assistant Coordinator for SUA’s Live Music Committee
DJ Shift: Breakfast for Beatlovers, Fridays 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Year: Senior
Major: Cultural Anthropology with a minor in French
Favorite Color: Deep sea blue
Favorite Word: Pamplemousse (French word for grapefruit)
Angie Baldelomar: When and why did you join KJHK?
Justin Evans: Before joining, I had a lot of friends that were in it, especially my freshman year, a lot of people I hang out with. They started at KJHK and then I didn’t join the station until last year. Because of all of my friends, I basically hang out with friends outside of school, and they’d go and do all their DJ stuff and I’d just be left alone sitting, out in the rain. So I thought may as well just come inside and do the stuff. All my friends are execs now at the station. It’s pretty cool to see them all grown up and doing their stuff. I’m glad I joined.
AB: Do you have a favorite song?
JE: No, I don’t have a favorite song because, you know, I’m looking for music all the time, since I’m on live music, so I need to broaden my horizon, but… I’m really into 80s, 70s R&B disco funk type stuff. That’s really cool, but I also listen to contemporary stuff and alternative sound. Maybe like my favorite artist maybe?
AB: Sure, that works too, if you have one.
JE: I went to Bonnaroo two years ago, and I saw Kendrick Lamar live so yeah, he was pretty exciting. Ever since that performance, I see him in a better light, I appreciate his music more, as a performer and all of that stuff. Thundercat is also dope.
AB: If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would those be?
JE: Ambitious, curious, and “sympatique,” which is a French word that means more than just sympathetic. It’s really caring for human life and human nature.
AB: Besides KJHK and school, what other hobbies do you have?
JE: I love to play soccer. I’m the biggest soccer fan. My team is Liverpool and my roommate’s team is Chelsea so every day we’re at it playing FIFA. I got him like 5 games to 1 on FIFA, so yeah, I’m a huge soccer fan. I watch it all the time.
AB: Me too, actually. I love soccer.
JE: Do you have a team?
AB: From England, I’d say Liverpool.
JE: What’s your all-time team?
AB: Barcelona. I’m a huge Messi fan.
JE: Barcelona is good. I think Neymar just got hurt in his international break.
AB: Yeah, I saw the pictures, and he was bleeding from the head.
JE: Oh really? I just saw the headlines, but oh well, you got Suarez, which is a badass dude. I watch soccer all the time. It sucks that we can get the other leagues. I think the only time I’ve been able to watch a Barcelona game is at Cielito Lindo’s. The only league I can get is the Barclays league.
AB: What type of music has most influenced you?
JE: I like a lot of music that will influence me. To be very generic, I guess a lot of hip-hop, new lyricists, people who put a lot of work into their lyrics. That’s pretty inspirational. Also, that and from the other side: if somebody produces their heart out into a song, you can really feel that. That always inspires me and gets to me. I’ve always loved Kanye. I think he is an amazing producer. Like I said, Kendrick, his lyrics are awesome. Whenever somebody puts their whole heart and passion into something, I get inspired.
AB: If you could travel back in time, what time frame would you visit and why?
JE: See, I’m a cultural anthropologist major, so we go millions and millions of years ago. I think it’d be dope to witness mongol China. Either that or the manifestation of Russia, from now all the way back to before Stalin, when I guess even before the Soviet Union formed. I’d like to see the whole timeline, or how China came to be, and like mongols vs. the Chinese.
AB: What’s the best part of working as a DJ?
JE: The best part is the independency of what you can do with your music within the FCC rules. The independency and the vast amount of music and all you can do with it. I’ll have records and CDs in here and I’ll mix that with stuff that’s in the digital archive. I’ll transition and do all these crazy stuff. I just play with different equipment and see what I can do with it. I love that and the networking. Everybody loves music here, which is really cool.
Photo credit: Angie Baldelomar