DJ Contra 

DJ Contra began life in Munich, Germany, on the left side of the Berlin Wall. He spent his teen years around Washington, D.C., and as an adult, he finally wound up in Miami. Since then, he has traveled around the world, racking up passport stamps as the tour DJ for M.I.A. and, currently, Santigold. But more than that, he has gained musical knowledge and friendships created along the way. These days, his DJ sets reflect a global diversity and boast enough energy to keep the faithful at LIV and Purdy Lounge moving.

If you've read The Alchemist, you know it's not about the destination, but how you arrive there. Contra arrived by getting his start locally on WVUM's show The Underground in 2000. He took listeners on trips through his expanding crates, introducing broken-beat and drum 'n' bass sounds to hip-hop heads while taking advantage of record label promos to get up on new music. A decade later, he's doing a similar thing at select spots around the nation and with his weekly gig at the Dirty Hairy party at LIV — just on a larger scale, with some "open format" mixed in.

Click here to read the full Q&A on Crossfade. — By Bernard Hacker

Website: http://myspace.com/upupdowndownleftrightleftright