Mash-up is strongly inspired by Baltimore Club Music, and the general approach is to throw everything into the audio blender - vocal samples, accapellas, sound effects - set it to a pumping uptempo beat and see what emerges. In his 18 years as a DJ, Ai-va's played all of the elements of mash-up individually - Hip hop, Funk, Reggae, Breaks, Disco - as well as in hybrid form.
His activities are far from limited to the clubs, however. He promotes and organises Hip hop shows and tours, presents the weekly ‘Remix Show' on Latvia's Radio QBS, and runs Riga's Rhythm Institute, which tutors aspiring DJs in the art of mixing, and in music industry business skills.
(Incidentally, Ai-va's real name is Aivars. a quirk of the Latvian language sees an extra ‘s' being added to the end of names; our Consulatnt Editor would be Bobs Killbourns, therefore. Strange but true.)
For further info., check out www.myspace.com/djaiva2
