Surge at Switch (the Berkeley) – photo credit Johnny C, formerly of Afterhours

Eric S., aka Surge, hosts the show on Afterhours on Wednesdays from ten until midnight. Each show he plays one of two almost completely opposite genres: 80s house or liquid funk drum and bass.

GNR: You must be one of only a handful of radio DJs that exclusively use vinyl. In an era where more and more DJs are switching over to CDJs and using MP3s, what is it about vinyl that you love?

S: I love the sound that comes off the vinyl. CDs and MP3s have a metallic tone that’s just not as full in terms of the sound that’s produced compared to vinyl. Every DJ has their own preference, and most of the time it really depends on the DJ’s musical ear.

The other thing about vinyl that I love is the control it offers. CDs/MP3s and CDJs don’t allow for the DJ to come in direct contact with the track as is the case with vinyl. So with a lack of contact, you lose a little bit of control in terms of beatmatching.

GNR: Have you ever played sets other than drum and bass and 80s house on your radio show?

S: Right now I strictly play dnb and 80s house sets. I’ve been interested in moving into other genres like techno and gabber for a while, so I might add some genres to my repertoire before I sign off and begin producing only recorded and live sets upon request.

GNR: How often do you perform at Switch (Tuesday night drum and bass at The Berkeley)? Do you ever try and introduce 80s house to that scene?

S: I perform at Switch once in a blue moon, if you know what I mean. There are so many dnb DJs out there that the “DJ market” is really quite flooded at the moment, so trying to break the pattern and introduce 80s House like I have been is tough to do.

GNR: How long have you been a part of Afterhours on KNC?

S: I’ve been a part of Afterhours at WKNC since 2001. I started training with DJ Spunky, but I never really started spinning vinyl until 2003. By then I had made some friends that DJ’d vinyl, so finding equipment/records was never really a problem, and some of my friends were willing to give away their old records.

Starting out, there was never really anybody there to show me how to DJ, which made things really difficult, since I started out not really knowing vinyl was still being sold. When it comes to mixing, I consider myself a self-taught DJ.