Interview: DJ Johnny Mac (Crooklyn Clan & The 914 Hit Squad)

Published 3/26/2012

North Florida’s Johnny Mac has spun all over the East Coast, performed at world-renowned festivals (including Ultra Music Festival), and shared the stage with some of biggest acts in the industry: MSTRKRFT, Bad Boy Bill, Diplo, Steve Angello, Dillon Francis, Robbie Rivera, LMFAO, Miami Heat’s DJ Irie, and many more.

He also uses his musical talents in the studio where his mixes can be found on XMIX Chartbusters compilations and world-renowned CrooklynClan.net with the Nine1Four Hit Squad. Johnny Mac can also be heard as host on weeknights and weekends while working as the APD on WHTF Hot 104.9 FM in Tallahassee, FL. Johnny Mac was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to speak with us.

Q: How did you get the name Johnny Mac?
At the time I was starting to make a name for myself as a DJ I was also beginning to work for WHTF Hot 1049 in Tallahassee as an on-air personality and remote broadcast talent. I didn’t want to be that guy who’s on-air name started with “DJ” and wanted to be relatable with the station as much as possible all while also wanting to use something close to my actual name. So, some friends and I collaborated, and Johnny Mac was the end result.

Q: How did you get into DJing?
I originally got into the business as a club promoter. Networking with venues and throwing events, you learned real quick which DJs had the most to bring to the table, who really could rock a party, and who was worth being paid for their slot. Long story short, while still enrolled at FSU, I bought some legit mobile speakers and a full DJ rig, starting spinning frat parties, house parties, and pool parties, a couple months later I landed my first venue residency, and rest is history.

Q: Who are some of your influences?
Part of growing up in Miami, going to girls’ Sweet 16s and Quinces while in High School were a frequent occurrence. Truth be told, a huge early influence of mine came from knowing you learned real quick that if the girls at your party aren’t dancing, the party sucked! The best DJs knew how to get the ladies dancing and the party jumping off, being around enough bad DJs it was easy to learn from their mistakes lol. Musical influences of mine have come from DJ AM, some early Girl Talk stuff, Michael Jackson, Scott Storch, JR Rotem, Chuckie, Kaskade, early Klaas remixes. and currently I’m really digging the sounds that Zedd, Bingo Players, and Tommy Trash have been putting out.

Q: You’re a member of 914 Hit Squad and also a featured artist on CrooklynClan.net. How did you get involved with the other 914 Hit Squad members, DJ CJ and Dino Roc?
At the time I first linked up with those guys they were still a featured artist on Crack4DJs.net, mashups and transitions were just becoming all the rage, and they were an up-and-coming duo out of New York putting out quality tracks every week on the site. Dino and I actually built up a relationship through his blog Dinoroc.com before they got onto that site, I’d shoot him feedback on stuff he made, send him tracks of mine I was making, and more of the like. I was just starting to build a pretty solid library of my own tracks, releasing some through my soundcloud account and others sent out in an email blast, and then some time after I released a mixtape called “Synergy” a couple years ago, a mixtape that featured 86 samples of all genres into a 35 minute mix, they recruited me to release tracks with them on Crack4Djs. In the first 4 months I released tracks with them we were #1 selling among 130+ other producers for the first 2 months, and #3 selling for the next 2 months. It became clear other DJs were really digging the tracks I was releasing and dance floors were responding positively nationwide, finally in December of 2010 we made the transition to CrooklynClan.net as featured artists.

Q: What was it like to perform at Ultra Music Festival?
In one word, unbelievable. It wasn’t main stage or anything like that, nor was it a primetime set, but spinning in the Dayglow tent and being associated with the production was absolutely amazing.

Q: Where are some of your favorite places to play?
My favorite spots to play outside of my current residencies are Monarchy Nightclub in West Palm Beach, FL, Jacksons in Tampa, FL, and Down in Boston, MA. The promoters, resident DJs, and staffs have become good friends and always are a blast to work with. It’s great to call spots like those a home away from home.

Q: What’s in your DJ bag?
Laptop, 1.5 TB Seagate hard drive, Pioneer HDJ-2000 headphones, backup hard drive, Serato box, Monster RCA cables, Serato CD controllers, iPhone charger, and probably a bunch of demos and mix cds that I’ll never listen to

Q: What TV shows are you currently watching?
When I can squeeze in some down time to watch the tube, “How I Met Your Mother” on Netflix has resulted in many lost hours of sleep these days

Q: What’s your favorite song of all-time?
A: Of all time? Pick a Michael Jackson song, any song, and it’s my favorite. As a kid, “The Way You Make Me Feel” was my jam. If I had to pick one, we’ll call that one the winner.

Q: What do you like to do for fun?
I’m quite blessed that what I do to pay the bills happens to be what I’ve always loved: entertaining people, playing good music, and making good music. However, when not doing any of those, doing crazy shit with friends, hitting the beach, and doing fun stuff with my dog are what I do for fun.

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with all your talents?
The end goal is to be remixing and collaborating with top 40 labels and artists, eventually putting out an EP, some day a full album, playing at bigger venues and events across the country and overseas, and maybe way down the road start a label. I’m actually currently finishing up a remix with Island/Def Jam, hopefully it’s the beginning of something cool!

Follow Johnny Mac (Tallahasse, FL)
Website: dj-johnnymac.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/johnnymacmusic
Twitter: @djjohnnymac
SoundCloud: Soundcloud.com/johnnymacofficial
Reverb Nation: Reverbnation.com/thedjjohnnymac