Dopey, hailing from Canada, is best known to most as a battle DJ, and the winner of the DMC world champs 2003. Since his victory last year Dopey has been busy reaping the rewards of his hard labour, touring the world, training in the studio and working on releases, as well as being part of a live band and putting back together the Turntable Monks crew. Unable to catch some words with him last year (ed note: try fighting everyone else for a piece of attention!) we managed to catch up with him by email ahead of his UK tour this month, which starts on the 22nd at the Elbow Rooms in London. Sit back and enjoy as Dopey tells his story, speaks on the music and the battles and tells us what he really likes...

First off can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from, how long you've been DJing for and how you got into it?

Dopey: My real name is Jon Santiago. I'm a 24 year old Filipino/Canadian just trying to do my thing in this business. I've been DJing since I was about 16 (bit of a late bloomer); it took me a bit of time to save up for one turntable and a skratchmaster Gemini mixer. Then I convinced my mom to buy me another turntable which was my first Technics 1200. What first got me interested was my older brother's interest in it. We use to try to imitate cuts on our home entertainment unit with the built in turntable on top of it, that shit was too funny.

What was it that first made you want to be a DJ?
D: Battle wise the movie JUICE was what got my attention. The battle scenes in the movie just looked so raw that I knew that I had to get into this art form. In regards to just straight DJing I used to listen to late night radio shows by this DJ named Mastermind from Toronto and he just did it up nice on the mix and inspired me to wanna try it. Another thing that really got me interested was listening to mixtapes from my man's crew 2 Swift Household. They always did it up nice and found a way to merge comedy and hip-hop which just amazed me.

You've had a long history on the battle circuit, winning DMC and ITF titles regionally and nationally and finally last year winning the DMC world champs. What was it like to finally get that title, which some people thought you had deserved before but always seemingly fell short of?

D: It was fuckin amazing!! It felt soooooo "mutha-fuckin" good, and I just couldn't believe that I finally won. The thing is, like you said, I've been in this battle circuit for a while and I was really at the end of my wits battling and was ready to move on and concentrate on other things. So winning it was a bit of a rejuvenating shot for me and just the sense of accomplishment also feels mad good.

Will you continue to battle after winning the world or are you now going to concentrate on other work and musical avenues? If you aren't defending what you would say to any upcoming DJs at this year's world finals? And if you are what would you still say to them?

D: I really would like to defend the title and I've been working towards battling one more year but I've just been busy with projects as well as shows, so we'll see how I feel in a couple of months. Since I am trying to battle I'll just say to the other DJ's "bring on the heat or don't bring it at all".

In your opinion what would you say are the main differences between the battle scene in the US and Canada and the scene in Europe? Which part of the world (battling wise) are you feeling the most?

D: I honestly don't see much of a difference in the actual scenes. I mean there are definite differences in the styles and the way different DJs battle but in regards to the scenes themselves I find them very similar. A couple of years ago there might have been a more distinct difference but since Turntablism has grown so much on a global level, the scenes seem to be fairly similar to one another.

What would be your best battle memory?

D: Well it's hard to top last year's win but since we've spoken about that already I'll say the ITF Toronto elimination battles (advancements). I think it was 98 or 99, those battles were soooooo heated, the Turntable Monks and the Funky Technicians were on such a heated rivalry at the time that it just got mad personal. I have never been so emotionally attached during a battle, and I just remember our crews going blow for blow and the crowd was soooo hype, it was crazy!!! And coming out on top after the dust cleared was even more amazing.

What would you say has winning the DMC done for you as a DJ and an artist? What doors has it opened and where do you want to take it? Many of the past winners have gone onto different things like club DJing, radio, production, where do you want to end up?

D:Oh damn, it's opened so many new doors. It's allowed me to really get recognized internationally and gain international contacts. It's also given me the opportunity to start working with artists such as Frank n Dank and the punk/rap group that I work with, Dead Celebrity Status. It's also given me a little bit more financial backing for building a good basement studio that I never had the opportunity to build before. I can pretty much take it any road that I want, it all depends on how I want to shape that route, but I'm most def getting more and more interested in production and the behind the scenes work.

Do you agree that the battle scene has reached a point where it isn't as groundbreaking as it used to be? It has now become more of a forum for DJs to hook up with each other and for companies to market their products to kids and aspiring DJs? Is that something you have experienced yourself?

D: Yeah I can see why you would say that. The scene has definitely changed; everyone now seems to be on a more even level than before. The past couple of years at the DMC there hasn't really been a clear cut favourite to win the championships and that's good as it goes to show that everyone is on point across the globe.

Is your crew the Turntable Monks still going? Who is part of the crew and what are your plans, if any, for this year production and DJing wise? Will you be releasing any new work?

D: The Monks are still going, although we have lost some of our members J-Tec and I are really trying to re-build at the moment. The crew originally consisted of myself, J-tec, Koolkat, illBuddah, and Tantrum but now we're pretty much down to J-tec and myself. We're planning to just re-build this year so there probably won't be any major projects but we are most definitely still going to try and release something in the future.

You have worked outside of the battle arena, most notably with your crew the Turntable Monks as well as with a jazz quartet and a funk band. What is it that attracts you to work with such musicians?

D: Well I just love that being in the band feeling. I like contributing to make the sound total and unique, and that's what really attracted me to work with the jazz quartet as well as the funk band. It also helped me as a turntablist to expand my musical knowledge by challenging myself with different situations such as the two collaborations I participated in (a jazz quartet and a funk band).

How would you describe your role as a musician within the groups with which you have played/are playing?

D: With the jazz quartet I really took on the role of a percussion instrument. They had 4 brass instruments going at once so I filled the background with some beats & cuts. As for the funk band, I was more of a guitar player/effects board. They gave me a couple spots to fill in with solo cuts but more often then not I was trying to add little cuts to make for a fuller sound. In regards to the band that I'm working with at the moment (Dead Celebrity Status/D.C.S) I'm definitely more like a guitar player. We're going to work hard to incorporate turntablism in the album as well as our live shows.

What would you want your role to be as a musician within a band (ideally)? And what type of band would you want to be a part of?

D: Ideally I would really want to be one of the instruments. I don't want to just be a stage prop and occasionally cut I want to be a part of every song and skit if possible. Right now DCS is more on the Punk/Rap style but I would love to have the opportunity to work with a funk band again.

Are you also working on production for yourself, I know you did some production for the Turntable Monkz CD? If yes what type of production do you work on, is it all scratch based or more traditional or do you blend both together? Are you planning to release any solo material this year, if so what can we expect?

D: Yeah for sure, I'm just learning all the tricks of the production trade at the moment but will most definitely be producing beats whether it be turntable based, traditional, or a little of both. I just got all my gear together so I'm just slowly learning from peers such as DJ Serious and J-swift of the Needillworks crew. I probably won't release anything production wise myself this year just because I'm not fully confident of my beats just yet but I will for sure co-produce some of the projects that I want to release such as a battle record and an album.

Do you use any digital technology like CD decks or Final Scratch, both live and in the studio?

D: Yeah I do when needed. I just think it's a huge advantage these days when you don't have to press dub plates anymore. It's so amazing how far our DJ technology has come. I do use Final Scratch live once in a while, when on tour it's just much easier having your laptop rather than bringing 3 crates. I still prefer vinyl over final scratch; it all depends on the show and situation.

Does such technology appeal to you as an artist and musician? What do you think are its advantages/disadvantages?

D: Yeah it definitely appeals to me, although I will never ever give up using vinyl and turns the technology definitely has its advantages. With the new technology it really allows me to use more of my own music and creativity as it allows you to break barriers between digital and analogue. What I don't like about the new technology is that it lacks that sound that vinyl gives and it's not as manipulation friendly as vinyl.

What's your setup like at home/in the studio? What equipment do you use to practice and produce?

D: I got a couple of setups; the main setup that I practice Turntablism on is a Vestax 07 Pro with Technics 1200 M5G's. In my basement home studio I got four decks setup with a pair of Vestax Pdx's and Numark ttx's. On the Vestax tables I got an 06 Samurai series mixer and for the Numark decks I use the Bronze Technics mixer that I won 2 years ago from DMC. As far as my studio gear, I rock an MPC 2000xl accompanied by a Logic Platinum based computer.

In terms of production and scratching even, what tempo are you most comfortable at? Which tempo do you find the most challenging to produce at or practice/play over?

D: I'm really comfortable at about 90-95 bpm for scratching as well as production. I find it a little more challenging cutting to beats at about 80, production wise I guess I find the slower beats tougher to produce.

What do you think of the recent work by live turntable bands such as Ned Hoddings and Gunkhole? Is that type of work something that appeals to you, as you have previously worked in live situations as part of a more traditional musical band?

D: I think they're amazing groups. It most definitely appeals to me, the main problem with my situation is I haven't really found the right people to work with. I have people in mind but everyone seems to be really busy and not able to really work on the group music. But hopefully in the future I can get them going and we can do something up.

Do you agree that there is a need to push turntable-based music towards a more musically rounded level and away from "technicality for technicality's sake", which can be seen as a mainstay of most battles?

D: Most definitely, I would really rather hear something that I can understand musically rather than see a guy go crazy on the decks and not have any rhythm or funk. I know it looks good and all being so busy and fast but if peeps can't understand what you're doing then you're pretty much just "fakin the funk".