By Tamara Devers
Music Producer and DJ, JT Donaldson is a well known fixture in the Dallas landscape. When he’s not spinning for the masses, and creating dope beats, this self-proclaimed recluse enjoys being a homebody and cooking. Who knew?! We chopped it up with the DJ extraordinaire about his travels, his turntables and why Dallas always draws him back.
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Marco Smith: We’re going to start off real basic. Kinda give me that background on you, you know, DJ’ing, music. How long you been DJ’ing, what got you into it?
JT Donaldson: I was born in Memphis. My father was a drummer, so I guess that might’ve contributed to some of it. I didn’t really know my father that well, so, who knows? But I had an older brother, as well. He was seven years older than I was so, when I was ten he was already going out to teen clubs and listening to electronic music and dance music and stuff. So I had a pretty early exposure to electronic music and hip hop, especially. Mid-80’s stuff, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, all the early stuff.
Marco: You were still in Memphis at this time?
JT: No, we moved to Dallas when I was three, just to back track. But I have Memphis roots as well, where my uncle is this guy named Don Nix, who’s part of Stax Records and was in with Booker T and the MG’s when they were in a high school band called the Mar-Keys. I didn’t know any of this stuff until you start to get into music and you start to trace your roots and you’re like “Wow, this is starting to make sense. This is really cool.” So, there was a little bit of a lineage there but mostly moving to Dallas I didn’t know anything about that. I would just listen to the stuff my brother would bring back and started messing around with buying records and trying to get pawn shop turntables when I was about thirteen. And after about a year of buying records, I was really interested in how they were made, how the music was made that was on the records and I started toying around with trying to find a sampler and drum machines and things like this. When I was about 17 was when music production started.
Music Producer and DJ, JT Donaldson is a well known fixture in the Dallas landscape. When he’s not spinning for the masses, and creating dope beats, this self-proclaimed recluse enjoys being a homebody and cooking. Who knew?! We chopped it up with the DJ extraordinaire about his travels, his turntables and why Dallas always draws him back.
***
Marco Smith: We’re going to start off real basic. Kinda give me that background on you, you know, DJ’ing, music. How long you been DJ’ing, what got you into it?
JT Donaldson: I was born in Memphis. My father was a drummer, so I guess that might’ve contributed to some of it. I didn’t really know my father that well, so, who knows? But I had an older brother, as well. He was seven years older than I was so, when I was ten he was already going out to teen clubs and listening to electronic music and dance music and stuff. So I had a pretty early exposure to electronic music and hip hop, especially. Mid-80’s stuff, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, all the early stuff.
Marco: You were still in Memphis at this time?
JT: No, we moved to Dallas when I was three, just to back track. But I have Memphis roots as well, where my uncle is this guy named Don Nix, who’s part of Stax Records and was in with Booker T and the MG’s when they were in a high school band called the Mar-Keys. I didn’t know any of this stuff until you start to get into music and you start to trace your roots and you’re like “Wow, this is starting to make sense. This is really cool.” So, there was a little bit of a lineage there but mostly moving to Dallas I didn’t know anything about that. I would just listen to the stuff my brother would bring back and started messing around with buying records and trying to get pawn shop turntables when I was about thirteen. And after about a year of buying records, I was really interested in how they were made, how the music was made that was on the records and I started toying around with trying to find a sampler and drum machines and things like this. When I was about 17 was when music production started.
Marco: Tell me a little bit more about that.
JT: I put out my first record with some guys here in Dallas. Fairpark Records. We started our own thing, pressed our own music, got A&R down off Industrial Blvd. That was 1996, ’97. And once I started putting music out, I just kept doing it.
Marco: What is it? Is it the love of the music? Is that what drives you?
JT: Yeah. It never bores me, it always keeps my interest. And the people that you meet along the way, too. Because I’ve met so many great people that I know I would have never met if it wasn’t for doing what I do. That’s become a huge, important thing as I get older, too. Those relationships that you form with people. And it’s crazy to be able to get paid and go travel and share music with people and…it’s crazy.
Marco: So far, what’s been the highlight of your career?
JT: I had a good run for a minute there, I will say. There was a good group of years where we were doing Japan and Tokyo and we were in Southeast Asia and Dubai-
JT: I put out my first record with some guys here in Dallas. Fairpark Records. We started our own thing, pressed our own music, got A&R down off Industrial Blvd. That was 1996, ’97. And once I started putting music out, I just kept doing it.
Marco: What is it? Is it the love of the music? Is that what drives you?
JT: Yeah. It never bores me, it always keeps my interest. And the people that you meet along the way, too. Because I’ve met so many great people that I know I would have never met if it wasn’t for doing what I do. That’s become a huge, important thing as I get older, too. Those relationships that you form with people. And it’s crazy to be able to get paid and go travel and share music with people and…it’s crazy.
Marco: So far, what’s been the highlight of your career?
JT: I had a good run for a minute there, I will say. There was a good group of years where we were doing Japan and Tokyo and we were in Southeast Asia and Dubai-
Marco: When you say ‘we’, we’re talking about?
JT: I toured a lot with Lisa Shaw from Naked Music. Between what I was doing and her need for a DJ to do her live shows it really worked out well. Yeah, there was a good run. Touring with Lisa was a pretty good time. I would say the traveling in general has been a highlight.
Marco: With In Transit, we like to focus on Dallas and highlight the cool shit. With all the places you lived and traveled, is there a reason you chose to live here?
JT: My family’s here, which is a big part of why I came back. There’s also a lot of opportunity here and I think that’s part of the reason that keeps me here. It’s a challenge to be in this arts and culture realm because it’s not as communal as it should be in a lot of ways. I feel like a lot of people are interested in music, arts and culture and fashion but there’s very few times you see all that in one event. I don’t get out and go to everything so I could be speaking off base. But at the same time, I like it here because if you try 1 out of 10 times you’re gonna have a really good experience at least once where you’re like “I have hope. This is really great.” It’s difficult. I think a lot of the people that live in Dallas and the majority of the youth maybe haven’t traveled around, maybe haven’t seen how things go down in New York and L.A. and gone to some of these events that I would like to bring to this city. It’s frustrating sometimes. Then we have our moments which excite me and bring me hope.
JT: I toured a lot with Lisa Shaw from Naked Music. Between what I was doing and her need for a DJ to do her live shows it really worked out well. Yeah, there was a good run. Touring with Lisa was a pretty good time. I would say the traveling in general has been a highlight.
Marco: With In Transit, we like to focus on Dallas and highlight the cool shit. With all the places you lived and traveled, is there a reason you chose to live here?
JT: My family’s here, which is a big part of why I came back. There’s also a lot of opportunity here and I think that’s part of the reason that keeps me here. It’s a challenge to be in this arts and culture realm because it’s not as communal as it should be in a lot of ways. I feel like a lot of people are interested in music, arts and culture and fashion but there’s very few times you see all that in one event. I don’t get out and go to everything so I could be speaking off base. But at the same time, I like it here because if you try 1 out of 10 times you’re gonna have a really good experience at least once where you’re like “I have hope. This is really great.” It’s difficult. I think a lot of the people that live in Dallas and the majority of the youth maybe haven’t traveled around, maybe haven’t seen how things go down in New York and L.A. and gone to some of these events that I would like to bring to this city. It’s frustrating sometimes. Then we have our moments which excite me and bring me hope.
Marco: Can you tell me about one?
JT: The Dilla party was really nice. I had a really good time. And it was a lot of people from different places, there was a lot of new faces. People I’ve never seen, people I haven’t seen since. And that was exciting to me. I felt like I was in another city ‘cause half the crowd I didn’t even know. Usually I know everybody.
Marco: Ok, so the whole thing about In Transit is that it’s a state of mind. I look at individuals who are coloring outside of the lines, marching to the beat of their own drummer, being true to themselves. What would you say about yourself that makes you In Transit?
JT: For me that is the norm, that is my everyday life. It’s like when something chooses you. You’re like “Ok, this is it.” And when you decide that’s what you’re gonna continue to do, you almost set yourself up with this fear of, “Well, I can’t do anything else. What else am I gonna do? This has been working.” So, you keep moving with it. And moving back home, what keeps me motivated to do things is the lack of what I experienced in other cities. I’d like to bring that to Dallas.
Check out JT at The Standard Pour every Thursday and Friday - So & So’s every Saturday - The Crown and Harp every 3rd Thursday with DJ Spinderella and DJ Jay Clipp.
JT: The Dilla party was really nice. I had a really good time. And it was a lot of people from different places, there was a lot of new faces. People I’ve never seen, people I haven’t seen since. And that was exciting to me. I felt like I was in another city ‘cause half the crowd I didn’t even know. Usually I know everybody.
Marco: Ok, so the whole thing about In Transit is that it’s a state of mind. I look at individuals who are coloring outside of the lines, marching to the beat of their own drummer, being true to themselves. What would you say about yourself that makes you In Transit?
JT: For me that is the norm, that is my everyday life. It’s like when something chooses you. You’re like “Ok, this is it.” And when you decide that’s what you’re gonna continue to do, you almost set yourself up with this fear of, “Well, I can’t do anything else. What else am I gonna do? This has been working.” So, you keep moving with it. And moving back home, what keeps me motivated to do things is the lack of what I experienced in other cities. I’d like to bring that to Dallas.
Check out JT at The Standard Pour every Thursday and Friday - So & So’s every Saturday - The Crown and Harp every 3rd Thursday with DJ Spinderella and DJ Jay Clipp.
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