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DJ RUSH was born on 09. Januar 1970 in Chicago as Isaiah Major.

The reviving disco and house music scene inspired him and he quickly got pleasured by electronic dance music. Every weekend he played in trendy clubs of the city and made the crowd dancing.
In 1991 he had his next „jump“ in his career – he released his first single „Knee' Deep“ on Trax Records and got famous.

In 1998 he had his breakthrough in Europe with „Motherfucking Bass“. His musical development made him go new ways and his productions got harder and more minimal. He is the pioneer of today's hard techno. He calls his style „Hard Energy“.

So get ready for what you can find out about DJ RUSH in the following interview.

Hello DJ RUSH, thanks that you take time and do this interview with me.

I read different pages about you and didn't find information before the year 1991. When did you start to spin the records? How was your musical Beginning?

Well I started getting into music at a very young age. I heard music in the house almost every day and on the weekends the music was loud while the parent cooking and the kids dancing around the house. Music kept the family happy and together. I remember my mother asking me to play songs to keep them entertained so I pretended I was a radio dj and played records, I guess I was around 8 or 9 years old. When I started to play records as a professional dj it was around 1980 and 1981, playing for local school parties and block parties around the neighborhood, then upgraded to high school parties. The Journey was a challenge, because I knew what I wanted to do and I teamed up with a few friends and we started making our own events in garages, basements any where we could set up and promote our events.

I'm sure there are unforgetable moments in your life and I could imagine that one of it is your first DJ gig. Where and when was your first time you played in front of an audience? How did you feel?

The first time I played in front of an audience was in 1983 I played for a high school party, which was pretty cool. Being as young as I was during that time and having the opportunity to play music you love and seeing the people happy and enjoying themselves. My generation would sing to the music.

Many famous artists had an idol or mentor in the Beginning. Is there any person who inspired you or even helped or pushed you? Is there anyone who you want to thank for the support or inspiration?

My inspiration comes from my family, because I grew up with music. My family would play music almost every day, while cooking, socializing or just sitting around on the porch. The weekend was the time when everyone would come together and I would pretend to be the disc jokey. My mother, Aunt even my grandmother would hear a song on the radio and she would give me 1 dollar to go down the street to the neighborhood record store and see if they had one of the song they heard on the radio and I would buy at least 3 songs, come back home and play them and watch the family sing and dance. It felt good to be the one playing the songs and seeing everyone happy. My mother knew I had it in me, she supported me all the way, she would go to the record store and pick up some vinyl for me while I was in school. She even came to some of my gigs when I started getting a name for myself in Chicago, all my friends knew my mother.

Nowadays many people think that DJ / producer is no real job. How did your family and friends react when they realized that you're a full time DJ? Did they support you?

In the beginning its was a hobby, then things change and the more I wanted to search, collect vinyl and make people happy. I saw and felt how my family enjoyed the music I was playing and the music they listing to made them happy, so I wanted to share this joy, because it made me feel good. I had 100% love and support from my whole family. My friends also wanted to do it and we would play music together.

I saw in your biography that you made your first steps in producing in your bedroom. How was this, what technical possibilities did you have?

A friend let me use his drum machine.It was a Mattel SynSonic, my first taste of doing my own beats and having the chance to let other hear your beats. I remember trying to imitate the drum patterns from vinyl's I was into so when I played the records I could bring in my own beats with it.

When you released „Knee' Deep“ in 1991 your fame got bigger. What musical genre is it in your opinion and what's the difference to nowaday's music?

The music I was making is consider house tracks, beat tracks even house music. I come from the city of house music and we have so many different variation of house, but when Europe got a hold of my music, they didn't understand the concept of the music so they called it techno, it didn't matter how many interviews Ive done to try to explain, it never registered because they just couldn't understand so they continue to put my music under techno. Now days my music has a touch of everything, you can hear my background in my music, soul, funk, disco, jazz, beat and drums, its all in there.

Every DJ / producer expresses his own personality with his work. Which of your characteristics do you express with your work? Which of your characteristic do you and others appreciate?

My music show my funny side. You can be entertained when dancing and listing to my music. I don't take things to serious its about having fun and trusting your craft.

You lived in London and Berlin. Why these European cities? Where do you live now and why?

I never lived in London. My second home was Berlin, which I spent many years, and my career went from 10 to 100. Djing in Berlin was like being in Chicago, everyone was excepting and just wanted to let loose and have fun. People reached out to you and pulled you into their circle and gave you a chance. But things changes after 911, but that's another whole story, then I decided to move. But now I am living in Beautiful Portugal. I have seen the world, I played non stop and I wanted something different, I need new experiences and I wanted to feel like I was home. Visiting or played in Portugal I felt all of this, it was like I was home with family and friend. I was able to connect really well with the people, the culture, the food (OMG the food)win and the best part the weather all year around. After so many years of djing and traveling it feels good to come home to nice weather, the best food and humble people, its like a vacation everyday for me.

Leisure is very precious in the stressful life of a DJ / producer. What do you do in your leisure time? What's your best method to relax?

I enjoy being in my garden, hearing the birds. I take the pleasure of cooking listen to Jazz and soulful music as well. I also like to stretch out on the sofa and watch my childhood cartoons, the flintstones and tom and jerry This relaxes me so much (No Shame In My Game).

Last but not least I'd like to know what aims you have for your future. What do you want to reach in future?

I have set a lot of goals for myself and I have achieved most of them, at the moment I just want to get through this pandemic were in and get back to living a normal life without worrying if I am going to get sick, if my family and friends are safe from harm. I need to survive this first. Once this has calm down, I will continue traveling and putting smiles on people faces, even if I am not djing I will be doing something with music and when the next time you see some one happy, hopefully its because of me.

More info about DJ RUSH:
https://www.facebook.com/Isaiah.Major/
https://www.instagram.com/majorrush/?hl=en