Entering and winning these types of contests is nothing new for Lombardo. In 2011, his freshman year at WSU, Lombardo entered a production contest hosted by Delta Heavy. After being selected into the top 5 submissions, he won a voting process to take first place, winning him a Skype session with the duo and getting his winning track Soula mastered by the hosts.
https://soundcloud.com/sixfour/sixfour-soula?in=sixfour/sets/originals-89
“To be placed in a top five, with four other producers from around the world, was quite a shock,” Lombardo said. “To know that a renowned DnB duo had thought my tune good enough to win their contest was a huge step for me and cemented the idea that I may be onto something with the whole DJ and production thing.”
The success didn’t end there, as Lombardo would win a 2013 DJing competition, with the prize being the opening slot at the annual WSU Springfest concert for hip-hop artist Mac Miller. Through building up his reputation at shows like Springfest, and throughout smaller house-parties in Pullman, Lombardo also earned the opportunity to open for Adventure Club when the duo performed at WSU last October.
Sixfour pumps up the WSU audience for Adventure Club.
[quote style=”1″ author=”Derek Lombardo”]I had been asking the student entertainment board about opening for Springfest for months prior to them announcing they’d be having a DJ contest. When the announcement came out, I knew I had to give it a shot. Opportunities don’t come knocking in such a big way that often, and if you’re confident in your abilities, why not?[/quote]
https://soundcloud.com/sixfour/adventure-time-part-1
The abilities and influences Lombardo builds his skills around are those of drum and bass legend Andy C, co-founder of RAM Recording Studio.
[quote style=”1″ author=”Derek Lombardo”]He’s the pioneer in the drum and bass world. He’s mixing using three turntables and having an absolutely flawless selection of songs when he plays, constantly being rated number one in the DnB community, and just was named the UK’s best DJ. I admire his unbelievable technicality while still mixing incredibly fast.[/quote]
While admiring Andy C, and others such as Funtcase, Emperor, and Will Sparks, and modeling his abilities after theirs, Lombardo still gives credit to his friends and family who support him.
[quote style=”1″ author=”Derek Lombardo”]I think my success is a combination of confidence in myself as a DJ and support from the people who come out and see me play. The friends and fans I’ve made over the years are a huge inspiration. I’ve been at this for nearly five years now and every time I play or practice I strive to try and do something new or exciting, and I try to carry that creativity into my shows.[/quote]
While bringing that creativity to his shows, Lombardo also brings the energy. Not afraid to get down and jump around, the six-foot-four-inch tall (‘Sixfour’, get it?) DJ has a desire to make people dance.
“If you’ve seen me play you know how much I’m dancing and jumping around onstage and I think that’s really representative of what I’m aiming for as a DJ,” Lombardo Said. “I love feeding my energy into a crowd and feeling them send it right back. It’s an amazing feeling and I chase it as often as I can.”
After enjoying White Winterland as an artist and Resolution as a fan to close out the year, what does 2014 have in store for Sixfour?
[quote style=”1″ author=”Derek Lombardo”]I’d love to get playing at more places and bring Sixfour out from the Pullman area. I’m definitely working full stop on productions over break as well and I’m really looking forward to getting more tracks finished and out to labels. I had a great end of the year signing two of my tunes to Betamorph Digital [The Jitters, Subterranean] and would love to continue the trend![/quote]
At this rate, nobody would be surprised for that trend to continue, and continue for a long time.You can keep up with Sixfour’s latest tracks, mixes, and contest entries by following him on SoundCloud, Twitter, and MixCloud.
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