Student by day, DJ by night, Garrett wants everyone to know about his up coming event and a little bit about himself!
Full name:
Garrett Peter Large
Hometown:
I was born in Calgary, Alberta, and lived there for the first four years of my life before moving here to Waterloo. I would consider Waterloo home.
Birthday and Age:
October 30th, 1995. 21 years old.
Year: 3rd
Program: Honours Kinesiology (BA)
Social Media Handles:
Instagram: @garrettpl
Twitter: @garrettlarge – I think I’m hilarious on twitter but that’s for you to judge
What made you choose Laurier?
School spirit. Laurier is small, but very connected, and the students are proud to sport purple and yellow. I caught wind of this when I did my first tour and it turned me away from Guelph and Western.
What is your favourite thing about Laurier?
Probably how well our educators interact with the student population. They understand us and they really do try to set us up for success. I feel like most other schools don’t have that in the same way we do at Laurier.
What is your biggest accomplishment?
I held a World Record time in Mario Kart Wii for about 6-7 months before some 12-year-old in Japan beat it. Whatever, f*ck that kid.
Why did you want to become a DJ?
The friends I made in first year introduced me to electronic music and festival culture, and I was really interested in how some of these electronic musicians performed. Once I started to get an idea of how it was done, I really wanted to try it myself. Throughout that process, I met people who showed me what real DJing is and I became really interested in turntablism. Because of that, I see DJ mixers more as musical instruments, like my guitar or piano, rather than just an over priced music player. There’s a lot of really cool ways you can manipulate music on those things and that’s what keeps me interested.
When did you start and who are your influences?
I started about a year and a half ago, when I bought my first mixer and started playing with different songs and sounds. As my interest grew, I bought books and sought out guidance from some local guys. The first person I approached was Chad Yurkin (DJ Whitegold), he does Phil’s Sundays. He let me watch and ask him questions in the DJ booth. After a month or two, he started to take me seriously and introduced me to Johan Rodrigo (DJ Whiteout) who does Brixton Thursdays and District Saturdays. From the very beginning Johan took me under his wing and taught me just about everything I know; I went to all of his gigs with him and pretty much lived in his basement last year just trying to learn and practice as much as I could. He is the biggest influence on my skill level and style.
Can you tell us about your upcoming event?
For sure, the event I’m running at the Turret is called “Consent is Cool”. It’s a fundraiser for the Sexual Assault Support Centre of the Waterloo region. It’s on April 1st and I think everyone should come.
Why did you want to make this event?
There are a lot of women in my life who have been directly or indirectly affected by sexual assault. I just feel like this is a super important issue that is too easily swept under the rug. Some women I’ve met just try to dust it off and move on because they feel too powerless to do anything about it. That’s wrong and it doesn’t make sense to me how we can just accept that. I shake my head every time I hear, “We can’t go to that bar, the guys there are creepy,” or, “The people there won’t stop touching me”. I created this event in hopes of not only empowering those who have been affected by sexual assault, but also to set the example that mutual respect for each other can be upheld while having a good time in these social environments. The more people that attend, the stronger that message comes across.
What does consent mean to you?
Good question. Simply: no means no and yes means yes, but it’s a lot deeper than that. It starts with recognizing that the other party is a person with their own thoughts and feelings, and when under the influence, they may not be able to make that judgement call. So even though they said yes, maybe they wake up the next day feeling like they meant no. That’s still considered non-consensual and you can avoid that situation by recognizing that you or the other person is inebriated and unable to give proper consent.
What is your favourite bar?
Personally, the Duke of Wellington. It’s a small bar in the plaza beside Valu-mart. A lot of industry people drink there and I enjoy their company the most. However, my favourite student bar is probably Brixton. Their staff treat my friends and I really well and I rarely have a bad night there.
What is your favourite alcoholic drink?
I love rum, I’m convinced my blood is half rum. However, the coolest drink I’ve ever had was a whiskey sour from La Carnita in Toronto. Sounds lame but they make it from scratch and throw some super gnarly ingredients in it. It’s rad as f*ck.
Do you have a favourite meal at Wilfs?
Four Cheese Penne, I’m a fan of cheese.
What do you want to do after you graduate?
You’re starting to sound like my mother. The honest answer is: I really don’t know, I went into my program believing I wanted a career in health science, but I’ve grown and matured since then and I’m comfortable with the fact that I don’t know what career I want to spend my life building. I know I’m a creative person and I’m most content when my task is to create, so something along those lines would keep me satisfied.
Thanks for taking the time to chat! Be sure to check out his great event on April 1st at The Turret!