“If Peter Clark doesn’t watch himself he may end up being the next President of the United States one day.” –Barstool Sports
Who is Peter Clark you ask? Whether you’re a freshmen or a senior and if you go out on the weekends chances are you’ve been to a party with Peter Clark aka DJ FAH-Q. FAH-Q can always be found DJing with the best equipment from Musician’s Friend at the most epic parties around the UMass campus. It may be at a quad party, a tailgate, or house party-if you find the party with Peter, chances are in your favor to have an amazing night. Barstool Sports wrote an article about him last fall and referred to him as a “UMass hero” which many UMass students strongly agree with (you can read the Barstool article in full, here). FAH-Q also opened up for MiM0SA at Pearl Street in Northampton this past October and was also on the decks at Mesiba’s insane open bar night at Monkey. He defines what it means to be a campus celebrity, here’s a little more about DJ FAH-Q.
How did you become involved with DJing?: I actually remember a specific party where I basically commandeered the music with my own iPod. That was the first time I realized that people enjoyed my taste in party music. The whole party loved pretty much every song I played. It was then that I decided to get into DJing.
How would you describe your music?: The music that I make goes anywhere from electro house to trap. Ive experimented with a little bit of everything in production. As far as parties go I play just about everything. I usually start out with some hip-hop. From there I transition to electro house and if the party gets late enough I will move to dubstep and eventually some oldies like “September” by Earth Wind and Fire or Michael Jackson. My strategy for parties is similar to how you would look at a song. If your just blasting at full volume the whole time the hard stuff has less of an effect. Just like any song there has to be diversity and variety. You have to build up to the “raging” music as some people would call it, otherwise you loose the desired effect.
Who are your biggest influences?: It is hard to say. I take influence from all over the place. A lot of people probably assume that I only listen to EDM because I am a DJ but the fact is I was a guitar player first. I listen to a lot of classic rock and jamband music. I actually rarely listen to electronic music when I’m just hanging out. When it comes to electronic music though, there are so many artists its like picking your favorite child. If I had to pick my most influential DJ’s though I would say Pretty Lights, Dillon Francis, Diplo, and A-Trak. I like DJ’s that jump around between styles. It is so much harder to do that in a set not to mention it’s more fun to listen to.
What was it like to open for MiM0SA?: It was awesome to finally be on the other side of the show. I mean I’m not gonna pretend I was playing the Garden or something but it was a great experience and now I can put that on my resume and hopefully move on to bigger things.
Where have you had the most fun DJing? What about the craziest party?: By far house parties are the best. Anyone can get in and anything can happen. I’ve played probably over 100 parties at UMass and it never gets old. Thats why I started this in the first place. I just want people to have a place to go have fun. I love parties and if I can help people have a good time then I’ve succeeded. I mean we will spend an hour setting up for a party that lasts not even that long. I don’t get paid for this, its just awesome. I just got my friend Sam working on controlling the lights which has brought it to a whole new level. The craziest party by far though was last year’s Meadow St party. If you were there you know what I mean. That was a concert not a party. While I don’t agree with the bottle throwing and what not, that was really something. They say there were 2000 people there and I can’t say that they were wrong.
What are your plans for the rest of senior year and after graduation?: I had a rough freshman year to say the least, so I have a few more years left. I hope to continue making music and maybe turn this hobby into a job. Having said that, “after graduation” is a scary phrase and I don’t really want to think about it just yet.
Your motto?: “As long as I’m here there will always be a party.”
Be sure to ‘Like’ FAH-Q’s facebook page here & check out his soundcloud where you can listen & download his mixes!