Once, just over a year ago, I was wasting away yet another evening on a chat site (I was jobless then), when this new handle showed up in the room enjoining everyone to check out some live broadcast of "good House music."

This in itself was by no means unusual for isn't this kind of behavior what the Net is all about: self-promotion and the epitome of the do-it-yourself ethos? Of course ... So, my curiosity having been spurred, I left the oft-boring chat board to check out the site in question and I didn't regret it.

That site was Control Team's site whose principal attraction is the Terraforms show, a weekly live broadcast featuring three, sometimes more, DJs from L.A. and elsewhere.

I was a relative latecomer to this happening. As it turns out, Controlteam/Terraforms was incepted in late 1996 and, as such, was one of the very first live internet broadcasts. Among the founding members is Kenneth Graham, a well-known producer/DJ whose releases can be found on the Plastic City label, among others.

But I digress ... The person behind the new handle was someone whom I would stay in contact with, a DJ and percussionist named DJ Kuya and whom, I would later learn, was in fact in charge of the whole Net broadcast aspect of the Controlteam's Web site.

DJ Kuya, also known as Michael Zafra, was born in Davao, Philippines, in September 1973, and started his DJing career circa 1990 with a local DJ crew. Later, in 1994, he became involved in an alternative band as a live percussionist, all the while never losing touch with DJing.

In February 1997, shortly after the first Terraform broadcast, DJ Kuya was invited as a guest DJ and his performance was so well received that he was asked to come back every week. Then, one thing leading to another, he was also asked to be in charge of the whole project. Known primarily as a DJ, Kuya has recently started exploring the realm of producing with the likes of Kenneth Graham and Terry Lee Brown Jr. as well as on his own.

I propose to you a brief Q&A with a genuinely nice person and someone, in my humble opinion, whose values all up and coming DJs should take heed.

DJSC
March 1999

The following interview was conducted by DJSC in February 1999:

Hello Mike!

Hello Seb!

Mike, does "KUYA" mean anything?

Yes, it does. It means "respected older brother" in Filipino. My younger sister, Noelle, is the reason I'm called Kuya. She's the girl on the cover of Sunkiss' "Unfiltered Sky" release on Plastic City.

What is your first memorable contact with music?

Dancing to Michael Jackson's "Off The Wall" on an illuminated dancefloor like the one in "Saturday Night Fever!"

What would you consider as your musical influences?

I was interested by Jazz, Rock and Disco when I was younger, then I got into Reggae and Hip Hop as I grew up.

Tell me about your first contact with DJing. What made you say "Wow! I want to do that too!"

I was watching my cousin's friend playing doubles with Frankie Knuckles' "Whistle Song" and then he started scratching it ... I was hooked!!

With the experience you acquired over time, how would you describe what being a DJ means or should mean.

Always have fun and enjoy expressing yourself through music ...

How do you approach your "job" as a DJ, your goal, if you will...

I know I'm going to have a memorable set when I get the ladies out on the dancefloor. That's what I always try to do. If you get the ladies on the floor, the guys will follow!

Do you have memorable moments as a DJ that you would like to share with us?

Sure. One of the best memories I have is playing a sunrise set out in the Mojave Desert and a girl walked up to me and handed me a beautiful poem. She said I inspired her to write it while she listened and watched me and she said I had an aura of energy and radiating light around me ... and she was sober too!

Yeah! I've had a similar experience. It is quite wonderful when that happens! Anything else?

Yeah. I've had two other pretty weird experiences. One of the worst is probably when I showed up to this party and there was no one, I mean absolutely nobody. It was just me, my friend who drove me and crickets. The party had been busted a couple of hours before and no one was able to reach me ... Then there was this one very strange night when I was playing one of the darkest and eeriest sets I ever played. I myself couldn't understand why the music was coming out like it was and even my friends were perplexed, to say the least. It was, for some reason, the way I was feeling at the time. Then, after I got home a couple of hours later, I got a phone call from NYC ... My aunt had passed away exactly at the same time I had begun my set ...

Is there somewhere you would like to play as a DJ?

I would like to play for a tribe of indigenous people...

Why's that?

I wonder how they would react to House/Techno or Hip Hop. Or even how they would react to the whole concept of trippin' with two turntables and records. I think it would be great fun ... unless they start thinking I pose some threat to them and start throwing spears and rocks at me!

I agree that that wouldn't qualify as good ol' fun! I've read in your bio that you are also a percussionist. Tell me more about that aspect of your artistic expression...

Drums and percussion to me are an outlet for releasing my primal instinct ... I've always loved to pound and bang on things, ever since I was younger! Around sixth grade, I started jamming with some friends and I've been hooked since then. I haven't played in a while though, since the days of "Surfunksoul," the band I used to play with about two years ago ...

What do you see as your "mission" within Controlteam/Terraforms, or the mission of the collective in general?

Controlteam's mission is to make music we enjoy and hopefully reach out to some people ... Terraforms is our outlet to try and reach those people who we hope are listening: DJs, music lovers and anyone who's interested is always welcome to join our weekly takeover of the Internet!

What is your all-time favorite?

My all-time favorite list is endless! But if I was to get stranded on a desert island right now, I would want my Sarah Vaughan Jazz Masters CD (Verve).

In closing, what is your favorite color? Just kidding! Thank you for your time, Mike, and keep up the good work! Godspeed!

Thank you!

The Terraforms broadcast and, regularly, DJ Kuya can be heard weekly, on Tuesdays, from 9 pm to midnight (Pacific time, you figure out yourself when you have to log on!). Just go to www.controlteam.com and choose Terraforms. Of course, you will need RealPlayer. Past shows are archived for your listening pleasure for a few weeks and, for those who are interested, you can purchase some of the Team's releases on the site, including a CD-ROM containing all of the Terraforms broadcasts in their entirety. If you still need some convincing, here are a few better known guest DJs who have appeared on the Terraform broadcast: Terry Francis, Eddie Amador, Hyperactive, Steve Loria, Terry Lee Brown Jr., and David Alvarado to name just a few. But only if you really needed some further convincing, well ...

Peace!