Interview DJ Intel on Dre Day

Deep in the heart of the coldest part of the year, February isn’t exactly a month known for courting celebration. Sure, there’s Presidents’ Day and Valentine’s Day, but there’s no holiday event for folks who aren’t in a relationship or a U.S. president. Well, nothing except Dre Day, a celebration of all things Dr. Dre held on the hip-hop icon’s birthday.

Minneapolis’s Burlesque of North America launched Dre Day, and Chicago is the fourth city to pick up the party toasting the legendary L.A. producer and rapper. Jason Deuchler, who spins as DJ Intel, has been involved in Dre Day celebrations since its local inception three years ago. For this year’s Dre Day, Deuchler will perform as part of The Comeups with DJs Maker and Pickel.

Before Dre Day kicks off at the Double Door on Feb. 18, The A.V. Club spoke with Deuchler about Dre Day’s local history, the Dr. Dre remixes he contributed to a free Chicago Dre Day 2011 compilation called Deep Covers, and listening to NWA in his parent’s basement.

The A.V. Club: What’s Dre Day’s local history?

Jason Deuchler: This is our third year in Chicago. The first one we started at Small Bar on Division Street. It was kind of a small, little party, just a few friends. It was crowded, but in a small, small space. We moved to Darkroom the following year, which has a much bigger cap than Small Bar, and this year we’re at Double Door.

So, yeah, I’ve been involved all three years, and just our friends started doing it up in Minnesota. Actually, DJ Pickel went to college with the guys who started Dre Day originally. So we’ve kind of been doing it with our close DJ-friend network.

AVC: How has Dre made his way into your musical life?

JD: I’ve been listening to rap since I was a little little kid. I remember first getting the NWA tape, one of the first kinda gangsta rap things I ever heard in my life. I was always kind of intrigued by it when I was a little kid; it was a little on the violent side, a little on the vulgar side, so it was kind of like exciting for a little kid, and also because the production quality of the songs were all really, really fun. So, I was hooked to it ever since then, listening to tapes sneakily in the basement of my parent’s house.

AVC: Can you talk about the tracks you contributed to Deep Covers?

JD: Sure.

Mos Def vs Dre—“Still Travelin’ (Intel Remix)”