Making up the DJ duo of Choyboy are Joey Sides, the “Choy” side after a tragic misspelling of his name on a Starbucks order, and Jens Peterson, the “boy” side for reasons that, in short, relate to his Instagram name and his proposed name for the duo. Both men have known each other their whole lives growing up in the Valley so to collaborate at this point came naturally. Jens roasts coffee for his parents coffee businesses, Grace Organics and K&K Mountain Roast (and is also in the process of starting a branch-off coffee roasting operation called Maps Coffee). He found himself doing production and DJ work on the side quite often. Joey got a MITI controller (a DJ tool) for his birthday and after tinkering and being sidelined from his hockey career by a shoulder injury (Joey played for the Colorado Eagles and the St. John’s Ice Caps), he decided he really wanted to give DJing a try. Choyboy was officially born.
While each of these men have their own style, musical interests and knowledge when it comes to DJing, together, they truly find a groove. Says Jens, “It’s way more fun DJing together, rather than solo.” Adds Joey, “There’s also this thing where you’re trying to match each other, trying to up-the-bar for each other, trying to vibe and go off each other.” When playing a gig the two may appear to be in their own worlds, rather than collaborating; after all, there are two controllers, two computers, two men with different musical tastes and playlists. But in reality, they’re very in sync. “It’s a lot of paying attention to the other guy. You try to match them since you’re playing a song and then he’s coming in with his song so you’re slowly fading out,” says Jens. The two will often make a playlist with three times the amount of music they need just to make sure they have enough of every sound. Each gig is essentially a practice for improving on meshing together, assessing the audience mood and vibe, and playing to that.
And each gig certainly has been upping the ante. This year alone they’ve played the WRHS Senior Prom, a Play Hard Give Back party, Whiskey Jacques, and the Death to Day Jobs gallery exhibition, to name a few. While each venue has its own circumstances and audience, Joey says that in general, “We like to play stuff for people to dance to, that’s the most fun.” But, of course, no DJ would truly be a DJ without turning people onto bands they don’t know. “Anyone can put on a really popular playlist and press play. You don’t need a DJ for that,” says Jens. Some of the duo’s biggest influences and favorite producers right now are 20syl, RJD2, and several others (see Playlist boxout). The duo find themselves researching music quite often to stay up on what’s new using blogs like Hypemachine and Salicious Sound and checking sites like Soundcloud and Spotify that allow access to free and new musicians, songs, producers, remixes, and mashups.
As our thirty-minute interview comes to a close, I ask what’s up next for Choyboy before Joey takes off in August for hockey training in Toronto. Until next summer the two will be collaborating remotely, working on recording their own original tracks and possibly venturing into using vinyl for DJing (FYI, anything can be printed to vinyl). But next summer, they will be back with a vengeance, fully committed to playing lots of gigs and collaborating.
Jens’ and Joey’s Summer Playlist
“The Beat”-C2C
“Warm Water” – Banks, Snakehips remix
“Tennis Court” – Lorde, Flume remix
“Keep Her Close”-Odesza
“Younger”-Seinabo Sey, Kygo remix
“Man of the Year”-Schoolboy Q
“While I Was Playing Fair”-Gramatik
“Stay” – Rhianna, 20syl remix
