Mash it up

Super Mash Bros. are three Los Angeles-based mashup DJs with a great band name. Their first mixtape, the hilariously titled "Fuck Bitches. Get Euros," was filled with musical alchemy: Nelly plus Creed, Darude plus Soulja Boy and many more oddball combinations. The group will be opening for B.o.B at Quadrangle Club for Lawnparties on Sunday. Street sat down with DJ Nick Fenmore to talk about Tina Turner, musical nostalgia and the importance of silly banter.

Q: Do you remember the first time you realized that a mashup could be so much more than putting one song on top of another? Is there one mashup in particular you remember hearing that was a lightning-bolt moment?

A: Yeah, it was probably one of the first times I tried DJing. I had no idea what I was doing, and I was just trying to mix one song into the next but then realized that the layer I had created was actually pretty awesome. This realization definitely opened up a whole new door for what mixing and DJing meant to me. The first mashup I ever created was Daft Punk's "Television Rules the Nation" with Fergie's "Glamorous."

Q: What can we expect of your performance on Sunday? How do you turn two guys with laptops into a crazy show?

A: We try to keep the crowd as engaged as possible. Whether it be through our music, the live visuals we project or our silly banter, we establish a connection with the audience very much like a band would. Our act is much more a performance than a DJ set.

Q: Do you think being mashup DJs has really changed the way you look at music?

A: Definitely. It has taught me to appreciate a different kind of creativity and production. I grew up writing music for actual instruments and never thought that I would end up creating music on a computer, let alone using other peoples' music to create it.

Q: Can you briefly describe your process of making mashups? How it all goes together?

A: Our process, I believe, is not that different from other mashup DJs'. It all starts with an instrumental or a vocal part that we really like, and from there it's a lot of experimentation with different combinations to find a perfect match. For us, it is most important that our selections are songs that bring back a certain nostalgia or have an "Oh, man, I can't remember the last time I heard that song!" kind of reaction. We try and make all of our mashups long enough to really savor what's going on musically, but also short enough so that it doesn't get boring. Ideally, the audience should be able to sing along to the majority of our sets.

Q: How many songs are there in your music library? Do you just have a little bit of everything?

A: 11,326, but that's not including the Tina Turner discography set that's downloading right now. I have a little bit of everything. After all, our albums came out of this computer!

Q: What advice can you give to up-and-coming DJs? How can you stand out from the pack?

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A: Find your niche and style and stick strongly to it, but never be afraid to go out of your comfort zone when playing live. Let the music speak for itself.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Adam Tanaka and Isabel Schwab.