As a musician who passionately cares for his craft, DJ Homicide (real name Craig Bullock) first discovered his love for the tune in 1985. "One of my buddies bought some turntables and he really wasn't into it, so he would let us come over and mess around with them." To find the right sound, "we used to listen to this station, KBLA 1580, in Los Angeles. That station was very influential for me.
Before all of the fame, women and the serious car collection, Bullock's first DJ gig was performing at a high-school dance. While it was fun to explore his passion for performance, it clearly was the pay that kept his interest in the line of work. "People were like, 'Wow, you just got a hundred bucks for that?'" And that's in 1985 dollars! Originally spinning by the moniker DJ Que Ball, Bullock found his ultimate DJ name during a late-night competition. "I was in this DJ battle one time and my buddy walked up and said, 'Man, you just killed those guys, dude! You're like homicide, you just kill all of the competition!' It just stuck. Now I'm 30 years old, and I'm still stuck with it," he says, laughing.
In 1994, DJ Homicide joined the up-and-coming group Sugar Ray late in the recording of their first album. After some initially sluggish sales, about 60,000 sold worldwide, Homicide helped the band break out of obscurity with the single "Fly," and they continued on to sell over 9 million records throughout their career. "I'm really thankful I got to do something like that in my lifetime," Bullock told us. "It was an experience that I feel blessed to have been a part of." While the band no longer tours, they are planning to get back together soon for an EP. "I'm actually touring more than anyone else right now."
With more than 20 years experience, and performing an average of three or four shows a week, Homicide has an in-depth knowledge of recent music history—and, more importantly, what crowds like. "Not a lot of great music comes out anymore," Homicide continues. "It's rare that you'll even get two or three big hits a year. Now, thank God Justin Timberlake has his album out!"
Homicide obviously selected just the right mixture of tracks at one of his recent performances at Rumjungle, and management took notice. "They called me back and asked me if I would play there weekly." It took him all of five minutes to accept the offer, as Homicide explained just how much Las Vegas means to the DJ community: "If you're a DJ in Vegas, that's basically the mecca. It's validation as a DJ, because they only want the best in Vegas."
Spinning every Friday night at Rumjungle, DJ Homicide aims to provide "a collage of music from all genres, all ages, and all walks of life. Just expect to hear your favorite tunes with a whole lot of energy." Consider us there.