DJ Jimmy Sullivan spins dancers, hecklers and tunes

DJ Jimmy Sullivan
‘Jimbo’ Sullivan gets it going at the Shore. Photo by Larsen Sotelo
DJ Jimmy Sullivan

‘Jimbo’ Sullivan gets it going at the Shore. Photo by Larsen Sotelo

It’s 9 o’clock on a Saturday night, and as the ocean fog rolls onto the Pier Plaza, “Jimbo” — DJ Jimmy Sullivan — stands inside Sharkeez behind a pair of turntables and a mixer, headphones on, ready to get a young jeans-and-T-shirt crowd onto the floor.

When it’s slow, a club scene can look like a school dance. But as alcohol saturation reaches 50 percent of the room, the lean, athletic 29-year-old spins “Take Over Control” by Afrojack and “We Found Love” by Rihanna and Calvin Harris, touching off a metamorphosis from school dance to spring break.

Women in their 20s and 30s snake their hips and toss their hair, while men hop up and down and pump their fists in the air.

Through the night, Sullivan will show off a clever and sometimes cynical humor on the mic, and pepper his four-hour, headline set with drop-ins like “no breasts, no requests,” recorded by one of Hollywood’s top voiceover talents.

The local nightlife is populated by three predominate kinds of DJ: the house type who plays electronic dance music, perhaps with added percussion or other elements; the hip hop DJ who sticks to rap; and the open format guy who spins all genres of music. Sullivan is something of a hybrid – an open format guy with an emphasis on house.

“Every DJ has their niche. My niche is, I do videos,” said Sullivan, of Redondo Beach. “The screen lights up and a lot of that is a result of my college television production background. Without that production knowledge, I would just be a normal DJ. Very few, if any, DJs in this area have that background.”

He edits most of the music videos he plays, and distributes them to DJs all over the U.S., and often collaborates with Quasar, an old high school friend who has gained a loyal following as a house music DJ.

Asked why few women spin in local nightspots, Sullivan sighed.

“There really aren’t many, because club goers have a hard time taking women seriously. It’s the same reason why you don’t have too many women standup comedians. It really makes me sad because I think women are quite capable. They just have to work twice as hard as guys do,” he said.

“Hey, if that perception ever changed, guys would have a real run for their money, as most clubs would prefer to hire well-endowed babes to spin tunes, if they could really draw the crowds,” he said. “Club managers are interested in the head count and nothing else.”

He was quick to say that age discrimination can play a factor for employment in his field. He is considered a little over-the-hill in comparison to his younger, early 20s competitors.

Lovers, fighters

Sullivan, a Redondo Union High School and Loyola Marymount graduate, started out as a DJ working weddings.

“I think it’s the best training ground for a prospective DJ, and just being an entertainer in general. And that’s because you’re given a group of people who don’t necessarily want to be there. So if you can make them dance and have a good time, you have what it takes to be a good showman,” Sullivan said.

People who go to the clubs want to be there, and it’s a lot easier getting people to dance and mingle.

“They are not there to really meet you, they are there to meet other people and have fun. It’s just a lot easier to put a soundtrack to it and make people have a wonderful time,” he said.

“As long as you don’t fall into the pitfall that people are there to love you, you will work clubs well. They are not there because they are your fan. They’re there to do what they are going to do, and it usually means trying to connect with someone of the opposite sex,” he said.

“Just about every DJ gets heckled because you are in the spotlight. People love it that you are up there and getting a lot of attention. But they also hate it, particularly guys, because they aren’t getting it,” he said.

“The way I deal with situations involving hecklers is by trying to let it just roll off my back, or attack it head on, and I love doing that. Hey, remember, I have the microphone – my voice is much louder than everybody else in the club. And, trust me, I will single you out and embarrass you, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” Sullivan said.

The 6-foot-2 Sullivan holds a third degree black belt, which he keeps to himself.

“But look, I know how to put on a stance if someone tries to get physical with me while I’m performing. It’s like my body language will let people know that if you come any closer, you’re going to have some problems. That really helps, especially in a dark club,” he said.

“Actually, one guy did take a swing at me, but he missed,” Sullivan said. “Needless to say, that was pretty hilarious. As it is with all human interaction, it’s a power struggle. Everyone is trying to get power over others. And when they see someone like me in the spotlight, they want to steal some of that spotlight.”

Sullivan got some good advice when he was starting out.

“I was working for one of the top entertainment booking companies in the area, VOX Entertainment, and I remember one of the main guys telling me that for every gig I do there will be some girl in the crowd who wants to have sex with you – or some guy, whatever your preference,” he said. “Just figure out who the guy is that wants to fight you, and make sure you single them out and deal with it quickly.”

He said he is not typically propositioned as he spins, “But when the alcohol starts to flow people tend to get a little loose, and you never know what’s going to happen.”

Hip hop hassle

Sullivan most enjoys his weekly gig at Sharkeez, a busy establishment that draws a diverse and upbeat crowd. He also favors Ocean Bar, and the Shore, where he started working nightspots in 2006.

He said some club managers want to control DJs’ play lists, aiming to avoid genres they think will attract “a certain element” not conducive to law and order.

“Look, there is admittedly a lot of hip hop music that is aggressive and misogynistic and isn’t necessarily lyrically attractive,” he said. “But rap music is very, very popular and I think it is important to remember that it has been widely assimilated by much of white America, so the reluctance by some managers not to want it played just doesn’t jive with what many club goers want to hear.

“I can tell you that Next Episode by Dr. Dre is something that just about everyone knows the words to, and they like to hear it,” he said.

“It’s kind of like being a standup comedian and not being able to do observational humor. That’s a big part of a comedian’s act. And it is tough being a DJ when I can’t play something like hip hop. As a white kid from the suburbs, I am obviously not going to do anything too crazy, but I really would like to play some of this type of music,” Sullivan said.

“Ghetto is not really where you’re from, in my opinion; it’s a state of mind,” he said.

Changing game

Spinning at nightspots was a different game when Sullivan started out.

“They didn’t have the technology they have now. I started with CDs, but I was trained by DJs who used vinyl,” he said.

“Those guys really had to work for their tracks. They had to go to record stores and build relationships with record company executives in order to get their music. But once you got your name out there and you had sources for tracks, no one could really touch you as a DJ,” Sullivan said.

“Now you can go on the internet and just download tunes because they are so accessible. While it has its pluses, it certainly has added to the number of guys doing this type of work,” he said.

Anyone can run down to Best Buy, grab a cheap laptop and little control mixer, and do a decent enough job to get some interest from local clubs, he said.

“Hey, it doesn’t mean they’re going to do a great job, but they could probably do well enough to make a little bit of money and make it more difficult for those of us, like me, who take it very seriously and for whom it is our main source of income,” he said.

“Today we do so much more legwork just to stay in the middle.”

Most DJs don’t want to do radio anymore, Sullivan said. They prefer the club scene and the live interaction with club goers. To many DJs radio is a dying medium, and they would rather have their podcasts available for download.

“Look, they can record stuff in their bedrooms and put it on the internet and get a worldwide audience,” he said. “Working in commercial radio, they would have to worry about FCC regulations, but on a podcast they can curse as much as they want and do whatever they want. Being on the radio is just not as prestigious as it used to be.”

But Sullivan said if he was offered a radio gig, he would jump at the chance, even though it wouldn’t necessarily help his career as a club DJ.

“There’s a very popular DJ by the name of Ingwell who also does radio work on Power 106,” Sullivan said, “and that’s a huge compliment to his talent, because you have to be technically flawless to do an actual radio gig.”

Comments:

comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday.