by: DJ Intern Sam
Comedian DJ Douggpound has been performing his unique style of DJ comedy for the past few years, both locally in LA and on tour opening for Adult Swim stars Tim and Eric. This last tour, DJ Douggpound put out his first EP, “Pound It,” which includes all of his beloved favorites from his early days of comedy. It’s a compilation of comedic remixes, cameos from friends including Jessy Schwartz, and knock knock jokes, plus bonus soundtracks from Douggpound’s short-lived webshow, The Poundcast. He was recently interviewed by DJ Intern Sam, host of the KUCI program Naked Comedy.
Naked Comedy: Your comedy is a really cool balance between jokes and real remixing. How did you first get into DJing?
DJ Douggpound: Well, back in Chicago I used to DJ for real with actual records and stuff. I would sneak in some silly tracks here and there. The goal was to make people dance and laugh at the same time. I also had a sampler and I would tinker around with making computer music. Eventually I moved to LA to get into the TV/comedy biz. Then I started writing some jokes and doing stand-up on the side. One day I looked at my sampler sitting on the shelf and all of these mildly successful things I had been doing came together in a major mildly successful way. My goal is still to make people laugh and dance at the same time.
NC: You have some amazing samples in your remixes, from songs on Shamwow to porn. What's the inspiration for your jokes? Do you base your jokes on the samples or vice versa?
DP: Usually the joke comes first then I think about what samples would work for the remix. Sometimes there's no joke at all, like the Shamwow sample. I just loop, "Hi, I'm Vince from Shamwow," and then put a Miley Cyrus beat on it and people laugh. I'm not sure why.
NC: A lot of your act is based on your performance, with stuff like keeping your hat and glasses on, audience interaction and (my personal favorite) doing Air Rails. How was it translating your act to audio?
DP: Sadly, I couldn't translate the visual gags to audio. It would have been nice to include a strobe light with each disc! I'd been wanting to make a CD for a few years; there were some old jokes that I needed to retire. It was fun, I called up some friends and recorded some skits. Johnny Pemberton helped me make some of the new songs.
NC: You recently came back from opening for Tim and Eric on Awesome Tour '09. It was also on Awesome Tour that you first got your EP, "Pound It", out on sale. How much do you think your relationship with Tim and Eric has helped you in getting your own career going?
DP: I owe TONS to those dudes. Tim and Eric have an insane and rabid following, the tours have been amazing and I've done three of them now. The crowds are always mega pumped to see the show. I feel really fortunate for hooking up with them. I've worked with them for several years before these tours though, I'm really a video editor and a writer. To have this other career as a "comedian" performing live is unbelievable.
NC: This year was the first year Awesome Tour was booked mainly in big venues like the Nokia Club in LA and such. Having seen you perform in smaller clubs, it was amazing to see you on a huge stage with flashing lights and smoke. How was it for you to perform in such elaborate venues with such large audiences?
DP: I'm actually far less nervous performing for a thousand people than I am for 15 people. The energy of the big crowd is a huge rush. Sometimes I miss the punk rock-ness of the small places though.
NC: Well, I'm super excited that you finally have a CD out with all of your best hits ("Gennie Genie" and "Numb my Gummies" are my all-time favorites). Now that Awesome Tour is over, where can people get your EP?
DP: Hey, thanks! I'll have information on how to download the tracks on my Myspace page.
NC: Thanks so much for chatting with us. Everyone here at KUCI loves you and maybe sometime you can come down to the studio to drop some beats for us live!
DP: Preach.
Check out DJ Douggpound's Interview with DJ Intern Sam on Naked Comedy or download it on iTunes (podcasts>Naked Comedy).
DJ Intern Sam is the host of Naked Comedy, which airs every Thursday morning from midnight to 2 am on KUCI.
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