From the frat house to the big stage, TJ Kirchoff, who goes by DJ Kurch, is quickly making strides as being one of San Diego’s most sought after DJs. At only 23 years young, Kurch already has worked himself into weekly residencies at some of San Diego’s hottest and most popular venues.

Age: 23
Hometown: “Riverside….mutha F#@ker!”-Sidney Samson
Favorite Happy Hour: Somewhere I can walk in PB. Can’t beat Johnny V’s on a Friday or Dirty Birds.
Favorite cocktail: I love good beer, but a little Rumplemintz or scotch never hurt anyone.
Genre: Best described as electro synth pop groovy hip-hop dance freestyle funkiness. I can play everything, but my favorite is electro house.
Label: Starry Eyed Music
DJ Residency: Thursdays at the Hard Rock Hotel, Sway at the Keating, Wave House and Bar West.
Something only a local knows about San Diego: It doesn’t mean a Whale’s Vagina.

How’d you decide that Kurch was going to be your DJ name?
I wanted something personal, not like DJ Money Shot or something, so I took a spin on my last name. Tim Ortiz helped me out with changing the “I” to “U” because it’s easier to remember and pronounce.

How long have you been DJing and how’d you get started?
About 5 years now. My college roommate at SDSU, DJ Freshmaker, bought turntables and told me if I bought my own needles and records I could use his stuff whenever. So that day I bought needles and started building my vinyl collection. I lived in a fraternity house at the time, so almost every night I’d be spinning for a bunch of drunk idiots. It was awesome practice though.

When and where was your first DJ gig?
Not including the nightly frat and house parties, my first downtown gig was Red Circle. Shout out to Pauli P.

What is your Top 5 records of all-time?
In no particular order: Daft Punk – One more time, Dr. Dre – both Chronic albums (I grew up on gangster rap), Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt/Black Album, any Deadmau5 record, DJ Jean – The Launch

Who and what are your influences?
All my really good friends who keep coming out every weekend and fist pumping in the front row. You know who you are! And my family has always been amazingly supportive…I love you guys.

What gives you inspiration and how does that translate into your music?
I’m inspired to just keep living the dream. I love my job. I knew since I was a little kid I didn’t want to sit in a cubicle all day.  My office consists of awesome people, gorgeous girls, free drinks, and packed dance floors. I put 110% into every show in order to keep the dream alive and see how far I can take it.

How would you describe your mix?
It definitely depends where I’m at, but I always try to keep the energy up. I love mixing in those songs people haven’t heard in a few years, but everyone loves. Sometimes people’s reactions are priceless.

What do you look for in a beat?
With a hip-hop beat I ask myself if girls will dance to it. If you keep the girls happy, the guys will be happy. With house I look for those face melting beats that make you say “eeewwww” when it drops.

From past experience, which song gets the party hype?
Baby Got Back! Na, just kidding….you can’t go wrong with any of my top 5 records or some Michael Jackson.

Do you have any pre-DJ rituals?
That’s x-rated, but a good finger stretch or a shot and a beer definitely helps.

Who is your favorite local DJ?
Every local DJ that’s doing their thing.  Much love and respect to everyone. You can learn something new from any DJ so stay humble.

Where is your favorite venue to play in San Diego?
In my opinion, Spin has the best sound and lighting, Sway has the best staff, On Broadway the best crowd, Ivy the best view, Stingaree has the coolest layout, Hard Rock the hottest chicks….every place has something I love about it and that’s why it never gets old.

Which club/bar consistently has the best DJ talent in San Diego?
On Broadway and Spin have been doing their thing for a while, but I love the direction the SD scene is going in. All kinds of clubs are spending more money on talent and bringing huge names in from all over the world.

What is your best memory to date as a DJ?
Opening for David Guetta at Spin last November. Packed house, Sunday night, best crowd ever.

What’s your least favorite memory as a DJ?
One time all the music shut off because some drunk ass tripped over the power strip and unplugged it from the wall. Of course everyone in the club looks up and boos at me! Just remember people, when that type of stuff happens it’s barely ever the DJs fault.

Do you have any DJ pet peeves?
“Can you play something I can dance to?”, with 300 people rockin’ out on the dance floor. If you are that annoying chick at the club, I don’t care how cute you are, or how fake your boobs are, maybe you can’t dance! Or how about, can you play the song that goes “duh da duh de dah dee dah”. Seriously? Next question….I’m getting pissed off.

What do you like most about DJing?
All the people involved. Everyone from the bartender at the club to the bathroom attendant. But most of all, having complete control over the emotions of the entire room, especially with House Music. I love watching peoples hands go up and the energy rise as a dope track builds. And then when it drops the whole club is like….DAMN! It literally gives me chills experiencing it.

What do you least like about DJing?
Getting to clubs and having to hunt down wires or turntables to set stuff up. But even that could be worse…there’s really nothing I don’t like.

Tell us something about yourself that most don’t know:
I eat sushi probably five times a week. Sushi Deli is by the far the best bang for your buck in SD.

And a more light-hearted question: Have you seen a correlation between your level of success and the quality of the hoes?
(Laughing) I have to be careful with this one because I don’t know who’s going to read it. It hasn’t hurt though, that’s for sure.

What do you like to do besides DJing?
Think about DJing.

What’s in the future for you?
I’m trying to get into more of the production side of things. As far as DJing, I plan on getting more up into LA, OC, and Vegas in the near future. Traveling is one of my major short-term goals.

Do you have any parting words to our readers?
I sincerely thank every one of you that’s ever came to a show or listened to a mix! Thanks to Dadon and the entire Starry Eyed Music crew, Dan Krieg of Encore, Tim Ortiz, Night Access, anyone that’s ever booked me, anyone who works in the SD bar/club industry, and anyone I forgot. Thanks so much for the support!

For bookings email djkurch@starryeyedmusic.com

This article appears in the Jul-Aug  2009 issue of Happy Hour Magazine