Campus Celebrities: Chazz Higginbotham & Matteo Mobilio of Arizona Beach Club

Remeber dancing it out at “Battle of the DJs” to the awesome DJ Duo known as Arizona Beach Club?! Well, lucky for you, they won the Battle and will be DJing the Saturday night dance of Fall Weekend: Autumn Lights! Meet the men behind the music, this week’s campus celebrities: Chazz Higginbotham and Matteo Mobilio! 

Matteo Mobilio (Left)

Class Year: 2016

Major: History

Hometown: Brooklyn

Chazz Higginbotham (Right)

Class Year: 2016

Major: Philosophy and Psychology

Hometown: Wilmington, Delaware

When did you start DJing?

Matteo: I started DJing about halfway through my senior year in high school.

Chazz: I learned how to DJ the spring of my senior year, and received the proper equipment last Christmas.

What do you like best about DJing?

Matteo: It’s a rush. A lot of things are going on and you’ve gotta make sure that they’re happening in a precise order. Not to mention, I love turning people on to new music.

Chazz: My favorite part about DJing is the energy that’s exchanged between me and the crowd, it’s just so pure.

Favorite DJ?

Matteo: Diplo is killing the game right now, as a producer and a DJ.

Chazz: Kaskade. I saw him live the summer of 2012 and it changed my life. It dramatically increased my appreciation for House, and other electronic genres. 

Favorite artist?

Matteo: People want to criticize Kanye West for being outspoken about his beliefs and talent, but they forget that Kanye not only changed the direction of pop music but of fashion as well. Yes, he’s egocentric but that doesn’t de-value the amazing work he continues to put out. Miles Davis was a narcissist too but Kind of Blue is still one of the best selling jazz albums of all time. People should stop listening to the sound bytes that the media pulls to frame Kanye as “crazy” and start actually listening to what he’s saying in his interviews because in fifty years, Kanye is still going to be discussed, not as an insane rapper, but as the musical genius that he is. 

Chazz: Like Matteo my favorite artist is Kanye West he has always been my favorite rapper and I just have a lot of respect for him as a creative being. He does things that nobody else does, like nobody else could have made Yeezus, it’s such an original work. That’s something that not a lot of rappers could say about their last album. Another thing about Kanye that I like is that all of his albums are dramatically different from one another and different from albums that other artists release. And, he is such a trendsetter its crazy. 

What other activities are you involved with on campus? 

Matteo: I write occasionally for the College Voice and I also make videos for College Relation’s student blog.

Chazz: I am on the Basketball Team and an aspiring Campus Cutie.

How did you start DJing together?

Matteo & Chazz: We met in Film 101 last year and realized we were both DJs. We considered collaborating on multiple projects but didn’t actually play together until we tried throwing a party in the tunnel. After that failed, we got the chance to DJ the Floralia afterparty. Since then, it’s been nothing but magic.

Where does the name Arizona Beach Club come from? 

Matteo & Chazz: After weeks of deliberation we had narrowed it down to about 6 names or so that were all pretty good and while deciding between, we came up with Arizona Beach Club and it just blew those other names out the water. So we stuck with it and here we are. Fun fact, we were almost the Utah Tanning Club.

Like what you see? Come to Autumn Lights under the Tent this Saturday. Arizona Beach Club will be spinning from 12-2am after Bear Mountain  performs!

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