Bahrain-based DJ on international superstars and local talent
How long have you been DJing and how did you get started?I’ve been a DJ for about seven years now, I started in 2006. I was 13 years old when I first started and I was influenced by my elder brother who was a DJ ‘DJ Jackson’. I was always at home with him and I would watch him all day and all night, so it came to me that I wanted to become just like him. I started with ‘fade in and fade out’ it’s a simple technique on the DJ set and once my brother realised how extraordinary I was for my age and that I had a musical ear, he started to teach me other techniques until I gained my own skills and was starting with my own style of spinning.
What sort of music do you play?I play all types of house music ‘tech-house, minimal house, electro house, dirty house and tribal house... etc.
What are your main influences?In my personal opinion, I would say my main influence would be ‘DJ Jackson’ who is my elder brother.
Will people have seen you playing in Bahrain or do you have any youtube videos where people can get an idea of what you do?Yes, I’ve played at many big events and gigs all over the country. You can login on Facebook and go to my page at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VJ-MP3/163321320348300 and check out all of my music, photos and videos. You can also follow me on twitter @VJ_MP3 to get all my updates.
How did you feel about the competition, were the other players also good?The competition gave me a thrill. At first, I felt really nervous, but once I got up in the DJ booth my confidence stood strong and that’s when I realised that I could do this. Other DJs were outstanding, they had their own ups and downs, but they also had their own skills which I respect.
You must be very excited at the prospect of playing alongside the big name DJ Cloud 9 is promising to bring in, who are your DJ idols?Yes, I am very excited to be the warm-up set DJ for the big name, it satisfies me to see how far I have reached. My DJ idols would be David Guetta, Chuckie, Bob Sinclar, Deadmau5, Tiesto and Armin Van Buuren
What are your ambitions for the future? My ambitions are to create albums which I have already started doing and to become the Middle East’s finest DJ. Throughout the whole process I will also bring fame to Bahrain and I will make sure that Bahrain gains respect and loyalty, it’s my home country, love you Bahrain!!
Where did the name VJ MP3 come from? When I was young I was selfish I wanted to become a disc jockey (DJ), a visual jockey (VJ) and a producer, the three professional musical names are from where I got the 3 in my name. And MP stands for Mohammed Professional, so over-all the name stands for Mohammed Professional (DJ, VJ, and Producer ‘MP3’). VJ was just a nickname, because I kept bragging to my friends about being a visual jockey and in time they decided to nickname me VJ and I thought to myself that almost no-one in Bahrain has the nickname VJ. I liked the nickname, so I combined it to VJ MP3. It’s complicated to understand the complexity and strategy of this name, but it describes me in every single way.
By Time Out Bahrain staff
Time Out Bahrain, 31 July 2012
