Get familiar with a DJ by the name of ‘Kap Slap’ because he’s talented, humble, good looking and you’re not going to want to miss a minute of his burgeoning career. Having started out doing mashups, or “frat party music,” Jared Lucas is a recent Lehigh University graduate about to release his first original track later this year. Don’t worry, you’ll still get plenty of his signature bootlegs and Slapcasts, but get ready for even more amazing music from him as he transitions into original production. We got to sit down with Kap Slap before his OC show at Yost Theater to chat about the road so far. Keep reading to get to know him better and for links to download his free music!
Crowd surfing @ Yost Theater in Santa Ana 6/12/14 – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
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Her Campus: Where does the name âKap Slapâ come from?Kap Slap: [Laughs] Good first question. So, a friend of mine came up with a drink. The drink name is called a âKap Slap. â And what it isâ have you heard of a funnel before? Like a beer bong, something like that?HC: Iâm in college, yes.KS: Ok, yeahâitâs a college thing. You take a funnel of beer and as soon as you start it, you pour a shot of [Bacardi] 151 in at the top. So you take a gulp, and itâs like âOkay, normal.â You take another gulp and itâs like, âOohh.â The last gulp is just like, a slap in the face, basically. Thatâs where the âslapâ came from.
FUN FACT:Â Kap Slap was actually in a fraternity in collegeââ Kappa Alphaâ Societyâ and so his fraternity big bro coined the term ‘Kap Slap’ as their family drink. Anyone willing to try one?
HC: I understand you play guitar, bass, and drums.KS: Yes.HC: What would you say is your favorite instrument out of those?KS: It actually changed. I used to be very, very into guitar back before college. Back in high school, very much hardcore into guitar but just the rhythm of drums and being able to just sit down and just jamâI think they might have taken its place. Guitar, you have to kind of keep up with it a little bit and with drums, you can just hop right back on, and within a couple minutes, youâre in the groove. I really love the rhythm of drums.Â
HC: How did you stay on top of everything from being a full time student at Lehigh and doing a 25 show tour your junior year?KS: [Laughs] Ahh, I wish I knew. I wish I could tell you. I donât know, I was just very focused. It was all very new to me. I planned ahead like, âOkay, I have a test coming up next week. I should probably study a little bit now,â on a Friday when I didnât have a show.HC: Just do a show in between cram sessions, you know. No big deal.KS: [Laughs] Yeah, like Friday/Saturday Iâd be at some show. Sunday, come back and rest. Monday, thermodynamics test. You know, brutal. [Laughs] My GPA went down a little bit, itâs fair, but I still graduatedâstill kept it up there. It was literally just time management, I guess. It was definitely tough, for sure.
HC: When you started doing mashups. DJing , is it something you want to eventually end up doing full time? Did you think this is what you were going to end up doing?KS: At first, I had no idea. I never dreamed of doing this at all. If you asked me 6-7 years ago, âWhat are you going to be when you grow up?â Iâd say Iâd probably own my own business, be a consultant for something, something of that nature. I kind of just started doing this for fun and I kind of realized I can support myself making myself happy making music and actually exploring my creative side. I had to pursue it. Itâs a very exciting road to go down.
HC: The first time my friends & I saw you was at Marquee a year and a half ago.KS: Wow! Really? I was closing for Cedric Gervais, no?HC: Yeah!KS: That was great.HC: That was our first time seeing you.KS: Was that fun? Was it good?HC: Yeah, it was. It was great.KS: Oh, awesome!HC: It was for my friendâs 21st birthday.KS: [Laughs] That was my first time in Vegas, actually.HC:Â So that was your first time playing in Vegas. And recently you just sold out your first LA show at the El Rey here in CA last monthâKS: Yes, that was huge.HC: Â And this past weekend you played your first Vegas pool party at the new Draiâs Beach club. How are you feeling after all that?KS: It was really cool because of the fact that yes, it is a Vegas pool partyâa rooftop pool partyâ but it was also my managerâs birthday. Alexâs birthday was that night and so everything worked out perfectly. All of his buddies, anything on the West coast, we try and bring as many people as we canâsome of my friends, some of his friends. So all the boys were out for this whole weekend. This past weekend was amazing, so fun.
Kap Slap @ Drai’s Beach Club, Las Vegas – 6/7/14 – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
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HC: Whatâs been your most memorable show experience thus far?KS: [Stays quiet for a while] Oh man, which kid is my favorite? Is that what youâre asking me?HC: Yeah, basically.KS: I mean, itâs very hard to pick, but what stands out in my head right now is SnowGlobe 2013 in Tahoe, California.HC: I had a couple of friends go to that. They were tweeting nonstop about you.KS: Oh my gosh, that was unreal. The fact that, again, all the boys came out. We all dressed in these 90s onesies. You know, thoseâHC: I saw that on Facebook!KS: Yeah, we dressed up in that. My set was an okay time slot and I didnât know what to expect. I started playing and it was kind of a small, not that many people there [at first] and [suddenly] people just started flooding over. By the end the tent was entirely full. There were like, 1000 people in the back, fully overflowing. It was just so much fun. I definitely had a great time with that set. Thatâs definitely standing out, for sure.
The Onesie Crew @ Lake Tahoe – via Kap Slap’s Facebook
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HC: January 1st, 2014 you said youâd be releasing your first original track this year.KS: Yes.HC: Do you have an idea of when youâll be releasing that?KS: So, on my end, Iâve been done for a good amount of time with it. Itâs very ready to go. The problem is itâs kind of a lot of ‘red tape’ type stuff. Weâve had a vocalist in mind that weâre working with. We have the melody down, we have all the stuff. She had some health problems, unfortunately. Weâre just waiting to get the final recording done and then weâre going to push it out real hard. Itâs very close and Iâve been saying it for such a long time. Iâm so ready to get it out there, but Iâm just going to work on some other stuff while weâre waiting and Iâll kind of come out with a lot of stuff at once. Thatâs where weâre going with that.
HC: Well, those are the last of the questions. Thank you so much.KS: Great, thank you!
Interview by Lia Gonzalez
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