DJ Belly (aka Kevin Miller) is a staple of the Champaign-Urbana hip-hop and dance music scene. You can see him provide the beats for Trouble Chasin’, or by himself onstage creating music that makes you move. He’s one of the organizers of Spindepdence, a festival for DJs that takes place July 5th and 6th on The Beat stage, right around the corner from Pour Bros. You might also catch him spinning tunes at the Spindepence Pre-Party at Gallery Art Bar this Saturday, starting at 7 p.m.
Smile Politely: If you were to create a signature drink to represent your DJ style, what would it be called and what ingredients would it have?
Kevin Miller: This is an easy one. Most certainly a tequila shot. It goes down smooth. Add salt and/or citrus to taste.
SP: If you ever attempted to create a crazy mashup of wildly different genres of music, what would they be, and what would you call the result?
Miller: So this is something I already do quite often when I play. I love mixing baile funk (Brazilian dance music) with house or hip-hop. I kinda jokingly call it Favela Trap. In general, I love flipping the genre of music when I play live. Turning a hip-hop track into a reggaeton banger always surprises the crowd and keeps you sounding unique. DJs should draw on lots of styles of music to keep the dance floor moving in a fun way.
SP: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you during a live performance, or what’s the wildest thing you’ve seen on the dancefloor?
Miller: So this is a very loaded question hahaha. I probably shouldn’t share some of the crazier things I’ve witnessed doing the DJ thing. I have played some INTERESTING events. However I can share one of the wildest dance floors I have ever witnessed. When I DJed for Big Freedia at the Highdive during Pygmalion Music Festival, and the room was ELECTRIC. I’ve never seen a dance floor that crazy in CU ever since.
Check out DJ Belly on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud and Bandcamp.
Spindependence 2024 Pre-Party
Gallery Art Bar
119 W Main St
Sa June 29th, 7 p.m.
free
Spindependence 2024
Downtown Champaign (The Beat Stage)
F July 5th, 8 p.m.
Sa July 6th, 2 p.m.
free
