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Photo by Devin Courtright/The Advocate
Dan Moe, or D Moe Funk
DJ Moe Funk brings mo' fun to MHCC dance
The Advocate
MHCC student Dan Moe, an education major, has been a professional DJ for more than 12 years and his combination of mash-ups and super hot tracks create his persona of D Moe Funk.
D Moe Funk was scheduled to perform at this year’s Halloween dance Thursday, which was organized by MHCC’s Student Activities Board.
Moe has always liked music and decided to pursue a DJ career while helping his mother run their karaoke business, Karaoke On Call, from 1996 until 2000.
Moe bought a mixer and soon after that he played dance music, along with the “karaoke event hosting services.”
“I just liked music. My mom sang and we had a karaoke business when I was 16. I would just run the equipment and then sometimes we wanted to dance instead of sing,” said Moe.
According to Moe’s website DMoeFunk.com, he later bought turntables. In 2001 Moe got his first weekly job as a DJ at Diablo’s Downtown Lounge in Eugene, where he learned the DJ business.
“I took an in-depth study into the art of rocking a crowd and advertisement,” said Moe’s website.
While DJ-ing at Diablo’s, Moe started a radio show on the University of Oregon’s KWVA called “The Disco Sitdown,” and soon after created a similar radio program in Portland.
“Its (The Disco Sitdown) success later inspired me to create a similar podcast based out of Portland. You can listen to it at discositdown.com,” said his website.
One of Moe’s favorite bands is Rodrigo y Gabriela, an acoustic/folk rock/metal band. “They’re metal guitarists turned flamenco. They’re killer, they actually totally rip it up so hard,” said Moe.
Primarily a Portland DJ, Moe played in such venues as Doug Fir, The Crown Room, Crush Bar and North Bar. He’s also played a weekly show at Barca in Seattle for a year with fellow DJ Mr. Romo.
“It (Barca) was cool because it pays really well, it’s packed, and it’s always a great night,” said Moe.
Moe used to play monthly gigs at Crush but recently the bar cut back on hiring DJs.
“They (Crush) decided not to have DJs anymore, except for special events. They scaled back. It was getting slow, I guess. It kind of sucked. It was my monthly (gig) for dance parties,” said Moe.
As a result, Moe looked around and found a venue named Rotture, where he’s thinking about playing future shows and to host his 30th birthday party.
“They have lots of shows there and my 30th birthday party is coming up pretty soon,” said Moe.
Moe has also decided to play less at clubs/bars and more at weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and art openings.
“Weddings are my favorite event to DJ. I love the challenge of getting everyone to come out onto the dance floor and have a good time,” according to his website.
Moe said, “I do play some mash-up but not all mash-up. I mainly play super hot tracks that would make you want to dance,” said Moe.
Moe uses turntables, “light-emitting diode (LED) lighting technology with the Revo III and LED strobe/wash,” a fog machine, a disco ball, and computer software called “Serato Scratch Live;” which creates the sound of real vinyl records for “traditional style vinyl mixing” and scratching.
“I am able to access thousands of music files on my MacBook Pro utilizing the classic mixing and scratching techniques of turntablism,” according to his website.
Moe said his plans for the Halloween Dance included making a digital folder of “super hot jams,” playing his remixes and mash-ups, and taking music requests from the audience.
“Of course I’m going to play “Thriller,” at least once, because generally people totally freak out with that song. I’m not going to try to go too crazy with all the traditional stuff, because I’m going to create more of a cool environment,” said Moe.
He is working on a new remix and will come out with a mix tape sometime in the near future. After he performs at MHCC’s Halloween Dance, he will play a show in December at the Report Lounge on Burnside with Mr. Romo.
“I’m just going to rip it up as much as I can while I’m in school, which is kind of difficult,” Moe said. “I’ll have more time in the summer to work on remixes and other stuff.”
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