10:55 AM CST on Friday, January 28, 2005

Welcome to the first installment of Five to Watch, an occasional series in which our mission is to identify promising young talent in the area.

We start with the turntable stylings of five DJs who spin everything from hip-hop to house, trance to drum-n-bass. They aren't associated with radio stations, they're out there in the clubs. Check out these up-and-comers who get the party started in Dallas and keep it flowing all night long.

Lori Price

JASON JANIK/Special Contributor

Real name: Tony Johnson

Age: 32

Style: New- and old-school hip-hop and R&B

Spins at: Blue, Purgatory and Gypsy Tea Room

Path to DJ life: "I always loved music as a kid. My mom would give me a pacifier, and that didn't work, so she gave me headphones instead. I liked music, but since I couldn't really play it, I just got into playing other people's music instead of making my own."

Turntable M.O.: "I'm a DJ and a tablist. I mainly play hip-hop, but I'm versatile. I like to blend in some old-school sounds and pioneering hip-hop with new-school cuts."

Perfect mix: "That's My Hood" by Young Nino; "Eric B Is President" by Eric B. and Rakim; "Peter Piper" by Run-DMC; "I-20 Twerk" by me. It's a compilation of the "Down 4 My N's" by Snoop Dogg, "Shake Dem Haters" by Quint Black, "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground and "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep.

What he listens to when he's not spinning: "Comedy and comedian albums. I have Sirius radio, and I listen to the all-stand-up channel and audio books."

Real name: Juri Koshikawa

Age: 26

Style: Top 40 hip-hop

Spins at: Tantra, Nairobi

Path to DJ life: "I've been a DJ since I was 18 and living in Japan. I just moved to the United States a year ago. When I was young, I tried to breakdance and all that, and I love hip-hop, so I also tried to rap. But DJing was the one thing for me, and I just kept doing it. As a DJ, I used to open up for hip-hop artists in Japan."

Turntable M.O.: "I like to make people dance more than doing a lot of scratching. I'd rather make people dance than make people watch what I do. My English isn't that good, but my music is fluent. I guess I'm trying to speak to the world through my turntables. To me, music is the only international language. This music thing is my life."

Perfect mix: "Disco Inferno" by 50 Cent; "1, 2 Step" by Ciara; "Soldier" by Destiny's Child; "What U Gon' Do" by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys; "Bring Em Out" by T.I.

What she listens to when she's not spinning: "When I came to this country it was the Dallas underground scene that hooked me. So I like to listen to the different CDs given to me on the street and in the club. Also, there are a couple of locals whose music I always have in my CD player, like Headkrack and Colby Savage."

JASON JANIK/Special Contributor

DJ Format plays all different types of house music, and he sometimes alters his sets to match the mood of the crowd.

Real name: Mike Bentley

Age: 25

Style: House

Spins at: Martini Ranch, Republic, Nikita and Spike

Path to DJ life: "I've been a DJ since I was 16. I got introduced to house music and techno through the rave scene as a teen in the early '90s, and over time it went into the club scene."

Turntable M.O.: "I always try to feel the room out. I like to play house music, but I always try to brand the room with a certain type of house music, so I sound different every time I play. I think it's important to bring the music a little further and not get stuck in one style. It will all sound the same unless you push it."

Perfect mix: "Spanish and Brazilian house are both having a huge impact on this area right now. It seems to capture crowds the most."

What he listens to when he's not spinning: "I listen to Atmosphere, Little Louie Vega and Lazy Dog. I gotta change it up. I can't listen to house music all the time."

NAN COULTER/Special Contributor

When he's on the turntables, Squirt is all about drum-n-bass, but when he's in his car, he listens to talk radio.

Real name: Aaron Wilkerson

Age: 27

Style: New- and old-school hip-hop and drum-n-bass

Spins at: Mick's Bar, Slip Inn

Path to DJ life: "I've been doing it for 11 years. I just kind of fell into it, being a little kid and going to parties and raves and just being around it. I picked it up and never put it down."

Turntable M.O.: "When I'm doing drum-n-bass, I'm just there for the dance crowd. With the hip-hop and club gigs, I love to see people dance and I love to do more turntable stuff. I kind of feel the crowd out, and it depends on where I'm spinning. Some people just want the mainstream, so I give them that. Some people want to hear the art of it, and I do that, too. I mix it up."

Perfect mix: "Anything that's dark, underground drum-n-bass. It doesn't really matter who the artist is. I have 15,000 records, so I can pretty much find anything anybody wants to hear."

What he listens to when he's not spinning: "Talk radio. Sometimes, I don't even want to hear music."

NAN COULTER/Special Contributor

Real name: Kelly Lewis

Age: 25

Style: Deep house, drum-n-bass

Spins at: The Pharmacy

Path to DJ life: "I've been a DJ for eight years. I became heavily submerged in the dance music world at a young age and have always wanted to pursue a career in music due to my father's own success in the industry as a rhythm and blues guitar player. In 1997, I met the man who would later become my husband, DeMarkus Lewis, and he sparked my interest in DJing. He was already an established DJ, and the lure of the music, culture and the power to control a dance floor was too much to resist."

Turntable M.O.: "My main goal as a DJ is to get people on the dance floor and keep them there. House music transcends all boundaries and provides a release for your mind, body and soul, which makes it the perfect music to groove to in any setting."

Perfect mix: "Dweet Dat Doo – Llorca Remix" by Danielle Spencer, featuring Down Town; "Cross Country" by Mario Fabriani; "I Ya Ya Ya" by Terry Hunter; "Like Jazz" by Halo & Jay-J; "Media Light" by DeMarkus Lewis.

What she listens to when she's not spinning: "I listen to classic rock, soul, R&B, hip-hop, drum-n-bass, down-tempo/dub, alternative, jazz, Latin jazz, salsa, disco, '80s one-hit wonders, classical. As far as radio, I'm really digging Jack FM right now for their variety."

Let them entertain you

Want to see and hear these five DJs spin? Here's where they perform.

Blue: 1930 Pacific Ave. 214-880-0888. www.bluevip.com.

Purgatory: 2208 Main St. 214-651-8850. www.purgatorydallas.com.

Gypsy Tea Room: 2548 Elm St. 214-744-9779. www.gypsytearoom.com.

Tantra: 1917 Greenville Ave. 214-821-3041.

Nairobi Grill: 2656 Main St. 214-742-7822. www.nairobigrill.com.

Martini Ranch: 2800 Routh St. in the Quadrangle. 214-220-2116. www.martiniranch.com.

Republic: 2922 Hall St. 214-740-1111. www.republicdallas.com.

Nikita: 3699 McKinney Ave. in the West Village. 214-520-6454.

Spike: 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird Station. 214-828-2229.

Mick's Bar: 2825 Greenville Ave. 214-827-0039. www.micksbar.com.

Slip Inn: 1806 McMillan Ave. 214-370-5988.

The Pharmacy: 2820 Elm St. 214-747-7467.

THE DJ DICTIONARY

What's the difference between techno and trance? To help explain the intricacies of different DJ styles, we turned to electronic music producer Jeff "Skin" Wade of Dallas' experimental hip-hop group Hydroponic Sound System. Here is his glossary.

House emerged from the ashes of disco. The electronic dance music fueled the Chicago club scene frequented by the working class and the gay crowds. It has varied nuances often associated with specific regions (the soulful deep house of New York and New Jersey, for example). Dallasites Brett Johnson, JT Donaldson, Luke Sardello and Tim Shumaker have made names for themselves internationally as DJs and producers.

Easily the most above-ground, mainstream sound of the club culture, the decidedly Euro trance is a sort of merging of techno and house (though most house aficionados would find that notion repulsive). It is heavily produced and emphasizes big-sounding pads and strong synthy melodies. This is the sound of "superstar" DJs such as Paul Oakenfold and John Digweed. You're more likely to stumble into a club and see a 50-year-old man in ill-fitting slacks attempting to dance to trance than any of the other electronic dance genres.

Drum-n-bass is characterized by classic hip-hop breaks used at double-time and low-frequency dub-inspired bass lines. It is more than a decade old and is associated with styles ranging from the jazzy-inflected broken beat to the manically aggressive and more menacing tones of jungle (think the theme song to Da Ali G Show). Roni Size's New Forms was the record that broke this sound into the mainstream.

Detroit is the home of the techno sound. Electronic musicians in the '80s such as Juan Atkins and Derrick May combined the newer technology with American club music to expand on what pioneers like Kraftwerk did in the '70s. At its most soulful, techno can sound like Hal 9000 bangin' out deep house, but the electronic blips and bleeps are the core element. Current Detroit stars Carl Craig, Theo Parrish and Moodymann continue to blur the lines between techno and house. Dallas-based label Down Low is well-respected.

Breaks relies heavily on the classic rock, funk and soul drum breaks first utilized by hip-hop DJs and producers, but at a much more frenetic pace. Mainstream artists such as the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim have achieved massive success with their twist on the form, with more emphasis placed on the energy and hard sonic quality of the beats as opposed to the soul of the groove.

This is the flavor of the moment. It's most associated with house, leaning heavily on moogy bass sounds and an overall aggressive approach, but still with the house beat. Much like David Hasselhoff's well-maintained hair helmet, it's huge in Germany. Chicago's Felix Da Housecat is making noise here.