A few weeks ago, Brooklyn DJ Vikas Sapra got a call seeing if he was available to DJ a party on the last night of the Democratic National Convention. The party promised both celebrity and political attendees. Sapra rescheduled previous commitments and headed down to Charlotte. We caught up with him this week to see how the party went. Here is what we learned. President Obama put people in the mood to party — The GooglePlex attendance jumped from about 100 to over 500 right after the president’s speech. Talk about inspirational rhetoric.  Political events draw all kinds — Sapra said this event was different than many other celebrity events he has done “because of the diversity in age — it’s a bit more creative musically.” The upshot? Sapra could dig into parts of his catalogue he normally avoided. The hit of the night: Automatic by the Pointer Sisters. The DNC loves hiphop — Even given the wide catalogue available, hiphop played better than any other genre, from old school to new school. “Definitely a hiphop crowd.” MC Hammer is not interested in partying to his own tunes — Sapra told us some artists love the sound of their own voice when they show up in a club and others … not so much. Put MC Hammer, who was in attendance, in the latter camp. Politics matter in the DJ community — Had he been offered a gig at the RNC, Sapra would have declined, though it’s not just a matter of personal politics. Says Sapra, “It’s just another gig, but my political views … I look at if from a business and a brand perspective, professionally and personally. I’m very particular about the events I do; I say no to a lot of things.” So the RNC would not have been cool? He continued, “creators are generally progressive and we tend to skew Democrat — it’s hard for the Republicans who want that hip young vibe and the creative community behind you.” You can make a living in this scene — Sapra picked up a fist full of business cards from politicians and policy advisors — so many, he has yet to sort through them all. “The nice thing about DJing is I don’t just go to a party, show up and leave. I can build relationships that I find rewarding. I’m not interested in being a celebrity DJ but I do like meeting interesting people.” Let’s hope he finds The Hill interesting because he may be heading there more often now. - Jason
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A few weeks ago, Brooklyn DJ Vikas Sapra got a call seeing if he was available to DJ a party on the last night of the Democratic National Convention. The party promised both celebrity and political attendees. Sapra rescheduled previous commitments and headed down to Charlotte. We caught up with him this week to see how the party went. Here is what we learned.

  • President Obama put people in the mood to party — The GooglePlex attendance jumped from about 100 to over 500 right after the president’s speech. Talk about inspirational rhetoric. 
  • Political events draw all kinds — Sapra said this event was different than many other celebrity events he has done “because of the diversity in age — it’s a bit more creative musically.” The upshot? Sapra could dig into parts of his catalogue he normally avoided. The hit of the night: Automatic by the Pointer Sisters.
  • The DNC loves hiphop — Even given the wide catalogue available, hiphop played better than any other genre, from old school to new school. “Definitely a hiphop crowd.”
  • MC Hammer is not interested in partying to his own tunes — Sapra told us some artists love the sound of their own voice when they show up in a club and others … not so much. Put MC Hammer, who was in attendance, in the latter camp.
  • Politics matter in the DJ community — Had he been offered a gig at the RNC, Sapra would have declined, though it’s not just a matter of personal politics. Says Sapra, “It’s just another gig, but my political views … I look at if from a business and a brand perspective, professionally and personally. I’m very particular about the events I do; I say no to a lot of things.” So the RNC would not have been cool? He continued, “creators are generally progressive and we tend to skew Democrat — it’s hard for the Republicans who want that hip young vibe and the creative community behind you.”
  • You can make a living in this scene — Sapra picked up a fist full of business cards from politicians and policy advisors — so many, he has yet to sort through them all. “The nice thing about DJing is I don’t just go to a party, show up and leave. I can build relationships that I find rewarding. I’m not interested in being a celebrity DJ but I do like meeting interesting people.” Let’s hope he finds The Hill interesting because he may be heading there more often now.

- Jason

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