Beau Damion, 24, of Palm Coast, embarks on a pilot electronic night at Club TSI Discothéque every Wednesday.
Approaching his fourth night of computer-instigated dance parties, Damion hopes kids will come out just to hear something different.
“I feel like many dance venues are confined with just playing a lot of top 40s or ’80s, and they’re stuck with those limiting options,” Damion said. “You can’t hear what I play in your car CD player, for one thing.”
The tunes Damion churns out of his dual-routed laptops revolves around 16- or 18-beat loops with lots of drops and subjective samples from artists such as Deadmau5 and Sydney Blu.
He’s been listening to electronic music forever, he said, and his taste began with lots of progressive and gothic-industrial types.
“I have witnessed many nights where someone will request a certain song,” he said. “But with me, I’ll only play a few measures of it and then transform it into something original. They don’t want you to change the song, but I’m not just a human jukebox.”
Damion played violin and piano for 16 years but never samples his own music.
Along with his new resident electronic nights at TSI, he divvies in creating sexually-charged photography and works a day job as an I.T. professional for the greater Palm Coast area.
Never having secured the spot as resident deejay anywhere but TSI, he has performed at clubs around Jacksonville such as Club Eclipse, as well as at venues in South Beach, Orlando and Austin.
On top of all of that, he’s the founder of saysearch.com, a nonprofit search engine Web site that donates funds to various causes every time someone uses the site to surf the Internet.
Damion enjoys life in Palm Coast because of its quiet and private modus operandi, but thoroughly enjoys his time in Jacksonville, he said.
“It seems like a lot of younger folks are always searching for something cool to do in Jacksonville,” he said. “It reminds me of Palm Coast, but with meaner cops.”
He claims that you won’t be able to get what he brings to the DJ booth anywhere else but at TSI. Although he wouldn’t say that electronica is making a revival, he does feel like it’s doing a good job of mixing things up.
“TSI has an extensive wine and beer selection and an excellent sound system,” he said. “Add in original sounds, and it’s a one-of-a-kind experience.”
He invites all UNF students to come out and take a taste.
“Just come see if you like it, if you enjoy yourselves and do some dancing, I’m happy,” he said.
Club TSI resides at 333 East Bay St. in downtown Jacksonville.