DJs pick up the pace at Carboz

Dave Decibel and DJ Gaugh spin the latest mixes as Carboz’s house DJs

Factoid:Carboz nightclub is open from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Thursday is Fight Night.

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Over the course of a typical weekend, Carboz nightclub, located at 760 E. Grand Ave., serves as a Mecca for all kinds of people. There’s a wide variety of people from those who are looking to hook up with that special someone, or even just folks who want to shake their “groove thang.”

It can turn into a virtual sea of dancers bearing midriffs, platform shoes, cocktail dresses, sequined dress shirts and everything in between. Bodies glisten with sweat as they writhe in sync with the pulsating rhythms and menagerie of flashing lights.

For DJs Dave Bass and John Gaugh, this is all in a night’s work.

One of the most crucial elements of being a good DJ is to understand what gets people’s partying juices flowing. Bass, also known as Dave Decibel, said that part of how he keeps on top of things is doing his research.

“I usually check out a lot of play lists from Radio 1 off of BBC,” Bass said. These play lists indicate what mix producers are playing the most, giving Bass an idea of where the latest trends in dance music are going.

Although Gaugh looks at the charts as well, he said he plays mostly music produced in the United States and that mixes on the European charts aren’t quite as marketable in this particular area like they might be in larger cities.

In the end, music selection can be a critical element, putting a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the DJ. Playing too slow a mix or playing something at an inappropriate time can be disastrous and kill the crowd’s energy.

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“A DJ’s job is to keep his crowd at a decent energy level,” Bass said. “If they’re having a good time, that’s the most important thing.”

“You can delete out the cigarette smoke and the alcohol, and people would still come,” Gaugh said. “It’s about being new and fresh.”

Sometimes the energy in both the music and the crowd response can reach into the extreme. When asked what some of wildest or most amazing things are that he’s seen while DJ-ing, Gaugh replied that sometimes people will dance alone, doing “their own thing.”

“Then there’s the girls dancing with girls; girls kissing girls. The typical stuff,” Gaugh said.

“I play whatever I can get away with. I like to push things to the limits,” Gaugh said.

With the changing club and dance scene in America and the influx of new music elements from Europe and elsewhere, it seems as though there are no limits to what these DJs and others like them can attempt to achieve in Carbondale.