Chicago’s own Ron Carroll’s claim to fame has started from his upbringing singing in the church choir to opening up for legendary DJs such as Ron Hardy and Lil Louis. His hits includes Superfunk’s Lucky Star and Walking Down the Street, which remained on the national charts for 8 straight weeks. He has collaborated with other producers such as Bob Sinclair, Axwell, David Guetta, and the Swedish House Mafia.
DJ. Producer. Singer. Songwriter. Remixer. Yes. Ron Carroll is most definitely a jack of all trades. Just dare to call him a master of none.
I’ve put him in the hot seat for his $64K Questions.
Pinkie: What turntable system are you working with?
Ron: Right now I’m working with Pioneer CDJ 2000′s. There the best to me, because you can use CD’s or a USB key to play your music. I hate the laptop world of Dj’ing.
Pinkie: Your big hit (and my favorite song) is Walking Down The Street. Please explain what made you come up with that concept?
Ron: Thank you for that. The concept came from me being frustrated one day with my management who told me to make an entire album of songs like “Back Together” (which was a successful song for m, and I did just that spending countless thousands of dollars to do it, and he could not license it at all. I was completely frustrated. So I when he was going on vacation, I told him that I was going to do something different, and talk about a topic besides love and Lift your hands up, and I saw my sneakers on the floor and thought “That’s It” I’m going to write a song on my Nike’s. And the rest is history…..lol.)
Pinkie: For laughs, How many pairs of Nikes do you own?
Ron: I own 200 pairs. A lot of them are gifts from all over the world. When I perform the song, people just hand me pairs, or Nike companies in that country bring me special designed ones to wear on tours. It’s crazy.
Pinkie: How do you feel about the Chicago sound and its progression since the 80′s?
Ron: The Chicago sound to me has progressed amazingly since that period in time, when you look at it from the perspective of the younger producers that are coming up like: Wasted Chicago Youth, The House Moguls, DJ Bam, Jump Smokers, Mixin’ Marc and so many others that are really doing big things impacting the dance floor world wide. I’m proud of my city.
Pinkie: What was your best and worst event you ever played at and please explain what happened there.
Ron: My best gig ever was an event called “Sensation” held in Santiago, Chile and it had over 40.000 people in all white dancing to my beat and loving any and everything I played. It was pure magic. My worst gig was in Bucharest, Romania. It was a very commercial club, and I wasn’t told about how it was, and I completely bombed. It was disappointing, because if I had know what style of music played. I would have killed it. Oh well, it happens.
Pinkie: What artists/producers you would like to work with in the future?
Ron: To be honest. I am very happy working with the young talent I singed to my label “Electricity”. My artist are: Da G Twinz, Kima’Chelle, Teefa and J-Lyn. Hard working people ready to make the world dance to there beat in 2011. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Pinkie: What future projects do you have in store?
Ron: I have the launch of my Energy drink, Clothing line, Album’s, Compilations and countless collaborations with major artist coming in 2011. I really hope the world is ready.
Pinkie: What advice would you give to upcoming DJs?
Ron: Be yourself. Don’t imitate. People who copy, don’t last long in this music game. Originators set trends, and become legends. Be that legend.
Special shout out to the incredible Ron Carroll for stopping by a party girl’s life! Much love.
For more on Ron, please visit www.mrroncarroll.com and don’t forget to get his new single, Dorm Room, now out on Beatport.
