I Am A DJ: Klaw, Deftron, and El Brian

Three local DJs dish on what moves a crowd

Mommy's Little Monster DJ El Brian at Bender's Tavern.
by Robin Edwards December 18, 2008

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Mommy's Little Monster, the latest weekly DJ night at Bender's Tavern, covers musical ground far beyond what its namesake (a Social Distortion reference) would lead you to believe. Initially founded by DJ Klaw as a dance party in Las Vegas—which he still flies back for every Sunday—Mommy’s Little Monster has doubly taken over the Thursday night slot formerly held down by Night Of The Living Shred. Along with Klaw, resident DJs El Brian and Deftron round out the Monster crew. Spinning for a diverse Capitol Hill crowd every week, the three are always working toward one goal: getting the crowd to dance. And just how do they do that? Decider wants to know.
Klaw
DJ Klaw is busy. Really busy. Between flying back and forth from Denver to Vegas every week for the two Mommy’s Little Monster incarnations, and manning nights at both Beta and Wicked Garden, Klaw spreads his eclectic blend of hip-shaking tunes around and around. With roots in jazz as well as '80s hardcore, Klaw subscribes to the punk DIY outlook even though his tastes have expanded. “Punk rock has become so commercialized in a lot of ways,” he explains, “but I think the aesthetic and morals of punk are still really in place. Punk rock music, to me, is like electronic bands.” 
His sets defy genre boundaries, playing a meld of artists from electro favorite Drop The Lime to the indie hip-hop of The Cool Kids. Never completely planning out a set beforehand, Klaw prefers to consider the space and audience and match his songs to the vibe of the room. This sensitivity in his ten years of DJing has earned him stage time with big names like Steve Aoki, Tittsworth, and Flosstradamus. Always conscious of what he describes as the “really cliquey” DJ culture of exclusivity, Klaw wants Mommy’s Little Monster to be something different. “It’s really a place where I want to bring in the scene," he says. "We’re definitely open door policy for DJs to come through and perform.” 
Deftron
Deftron defines his DJ style by keeping it "aggressive." Avoiding the banality of simply playing one track to another, Deftron prefers the ’90s hip-hop technique of rubbing in and out of tracks. Furthering it, he pushes his rubs outside of the hip-hip scope to genres from funk to nu-disco. He matches moods and sounds in songs, creating a toe-tapping atmosphere with artists like Rick James and Climax—and he hopes no one will be able to resist. “The thing about getting people to dance is you have to play crap they know,” Deftron explains, “You have to throw a song out of five that is recognizable or remixed, and usually that’ll get those wishy-washy people onto the dance floor.” You can also catch Deftron every Sunday night at Tooey’s Off Colfax.

El Brian 
 Receiving his first set of turntables at age 15, El Brian has been spinning his self-described “hot party jams” ever since. As the resident DJ for FM Magazine, El Brian spins his sets at magazine release parties and other one-off gigs around town. He blends a variety of musical styles including, as he says, “electro, hip-hop, and rock 'n' roll” to mesh with the crowd and venue. Whether he’s playing his current favorite, South-African house tune “Township Funk” by DJ Mujava, or tried-and-true staples like Chromeo and Kid Sister, El Brian dishes out the beats generously.

The in-demand El Brian avoids the egoism of big-name DJs, maintaining the oft lost attitude that mixing songs is not just a moneymaker, but can also be a blast. “I try not to make it about being a business as I do about remembering that it's supposed to be fun,” he says. “Too many people just get way too serious about it. People seem to forget that, although it is an art form and you're mixing stuff together, and you have to have some talent to do it, that in the long run you're still playing other people's songs.

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