Meet James Corbett | DJ & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Corbett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I was taught that, you haven’t failed until you give up. The way I see it, if there is something that you care intensely about, and brings you the upmost passion and joy. Go as far as you are capable of taking that passion. Life also has a way of steering us in different directions to make us more well rounded. Sometimes trusting your gut and ending something that doesn’t suit you anymore can also be very important to your overall growth.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I find that with being a DJ, you are also a sound provider. It’s important to know the space in which you will be performing and what kind of audience will be listening to the sounds that you play. Learning to integrate different genres and songs from different countries, and eras in time, can help broaden your horizon and your song library. My goal as a DJ is to get people to dance no matter the genre, or the country the music is from, or the decade the music was released.

As I mentioned earlier, personally I feel that I started at this event called The Rec Room. DJ MyGodComplex helped to bring a community event together for people who collect records to play them on his turntables and mixers. My set was only 20 minutes but that was enough time to persuade me to give this DJ career a try. About a year later I end up on the live stream for RecordBar Radio, followed by my first gig at The Churchill 6 months later. This process has had its perks but I will admit that it has not been easy.

When you’re starting out as a DJ you have to put a lot under consideration. For example, will I go old school and have the two turntables and a mixer? Should I just use a controller and a laptop? What’s my budget? Where will I get my music? How do I get my name out there? Where should I perform? What kind of crowd does the venue bring? Do I have the music that suits this crowd?

All these questions I still ask myself to this day, even though this is my second year of being a DJ I still feel like a rookie and have much to learn. As I’m still figuring out the overall brand and image of DJ Orbit Corbett, all that I want is for people to come dance and have a good time whenever they come to see me DJ.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The itinerary would be to hike the Mormon Trail on South Mountain, have tea at Cha Cha’s Tea Lounge, ice cream at Novel, and go to some of the following record stores. Grand Ave Records, In Groove Records, and Record High. Crescent Ballroom and Valley Bar have a lot of fun events. Dive bars like Gracies, and The Lost Leaf is a fun place to hangout for drinks. Coffee at MFG, Luana’s, and Lola would be highly recommended. As for food, Ramen Kagawa, MOIRA Sushi, Welcome Diner, Barrio Cafe, and Taco Chelo are solid options. Lastly, The Phoenix Art Museum is has some incredible visual pieces of art.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to thank God to start. Followed by my family that have been very supportive in my musical career. I also have to thank the DJ’s I watched perform before I even considered getting behind the boards. DJ Malcolm Alexander, JME LEE, Stoney Pie, and DJentrification. I also have to give a special shout out to the organization Basement Tapes a collective of DJ’s including Rickie Tee, MyGodComplex, and Vex Brown (R.I.P.) DJ MyGodComplex is the one that assisted with a great amount of questions that I had and also invited me to an open turntable event called “The Rec Room”. There I brought a pair of records and experienced my first time being a DJ for 20 minutes. That alone was enough to plant the seed of being a DJ in my mind.

Website: https://linktr.ee/orbit_corbett

Instagram: @orbit_corbett

Twitter: @orbit_corbett

Image Credits
Anna Wellington, Iryna Glavnyk, Julian Diaz, Alexandra Gaspar