DJ turn it up: Student pursues musical ambition through mixing beats, performing at venues

It's 9:45 p.m. and James Saulsky can't get the audio cord to stay plugged into the mixer.

Electronic music fades intermittently from his disc jockey setup, the heavy bass and David Guetta sample breaking up because one stubborn plug refuses to stay in place.

"It's conking out on me again," said Saulsky, a sophomore public relations major, laughing and trying to jiggle the cord back into place. "I'll fix it, though. No biggie."

This past weekend was a hectic one for Saulsky. Thursday and Friday were a whirlwind. He opened for trance group Above & Beyond at the Westcott Theater on Thursday and played at a fraternity party on Friday night. The New Jersey native juggles his hectic school schedule to try to play at least two shows a month.

Just before the start of Winter Break, Saulsky signed to Royal Fetish Records. He is the older half of electronic duo Synchronice. His younger brother, Will, is his partner. The two joined forces during their opening set for Above & Beyond. Will, a junior in high school, cut class and made the 3.5-hour trek to Syracuse to perform with his brother.

Frenetically remixing and intuitively turning knobs, Saulsky reflects on shows of semesters past. From house shows to events on the Quad, he has played his fair share of venues.

"One time when I performed at the Westcott, a fight broke out right after my performance," he said. "Luckily, it didn't happen again."

But on Saturday night, the house lights are still on and the dance floor is empty. Only a few fraternity brothers are milling around at Phi Kappa Theta. Saulsky, tinkering with the mixer and jamming the plug back in, looks out the window at the snow whipping in the breeze. With sorority recruitment in full swing and conditions deteriorating outside, the street outside isn't paved with partygoers.

"It's going to be a pretty quiet night," he said.

Saulsky has been a DJ for about a year, after playing guitar for eight years. He used to play in a rock band in high school and still treasures his Les Paul, still strumming it from time to time.

"It's different," he said. "When you're in a band, audiences only really react to you at the end, so you don't know how you're doing. When you're a DJ and you put in a really cool drop during your set, everyone goes wild right away."

Electronic music didn't come naturally for the self-taught DJ. It wasn't until his junior year of high school that he finally understood the genre's appeal.

On a camping trip in the backwoods of New Jersey, Saulsky lay in his tent with his headphones planted in his ears. When a trance song recommended by a friend popped up on shuffle, he savored the soothing sounds of the track.

"I was just like, ‘Whoa, this is awesome.'"

At 10:30 p.m., the only audience Saulsky entertains is a handful of fraternity brothers milling in and out of the room. While looping a synthesizer, he double checks to make sure no one is coming before subtly clicking onto Campusfood.com.

"I don't get the chance to eat sometimes before I play a party," he said. "If it's not too packed, I can get away with ordering food while I work."

The speaker crackles with static and drops the beat again, leaving Saulsky scrambling to finagle with his controller until trance music danced its way back out. He's battled bouts of technical troubles, everything from blown speakers to faulty wiring. He keeps his fingers crossed that his software won't glitch during a gig.

"People trip over wires all the time at parties, and then they look at you like it's your fault," Saulsky said, tapping his fingers anxiously on the controller.

It's 10:56 p.m., and the dance floor, like the snow-driven Ostrom Avenue, remains vacant. Like the dying bass chords meandering from the speakers, all illusions of a Saturday night party to remember are dissipating.

"Not every night I DJ is glamorous," Saulsky said.

Saulsky fades out the electronica in favor of some soft rhythm and blues. Scrolling through his music library, he jokes about the shuffled songs. His is filled with eclectic tunes, including Russian folk music, which Saulsky claims is relaxing.