In the 2010 remake of Karate Kid, Jackie Chan has this great line; “Being still and doing nothing are two very different things.” A wisdom supported by DJ StoneRokk, the buttered half of the “Captians of Industry,” who feels the same is to be said about the difference betwixt DJ-ing and “playing with some new jack microwave laptop running Serato.” Serato, being the software responsible for bringing DJ-ing to the glue huffing hipster masses since 2004.

Thankfully StoneRokk is devoted enough to his anti-software stance to have started a tribute night for his beloved analog vinyl every Monday at LA’s “The Dime.” With the help of cohorts DJ Adam 12 and Mr. Best; “Wax On, Wax Off,”as it has been named, is becoming the go-to spot to listen to music played correctly. It’s also where names like Samantha Ronsen and the Nice-N-Smooth crew stop by when in town to get their fingers waxy. I dropped in for a couple spins and a whiskey with the boys and here’s what they had to say about it.

What am I doing here?

StoneRokk: Adam 12 and I were talking about how the art of playing is lost.  So we started this night as an outlet for us to play songs. But it’s really turned into a big dick swinging contest on who can whip out the best record.

Adam 12: We have been doing this [DJ-ing] for a long time and we wanted to get back to the roots.

Mr. Best: It’s a pissing contest.

Did this used to be a Denny’s?

Mr. Best: Ah man, I was the first person to ever spin a record here at The Dime, like, 8 years ago. It’s were I started my DJ-ing in LA pretty much. Great bar.

StoneRokk: Mr. Best had his relationship with the owners and we thought they would be comfortable enough to let us play whatever the Fuck we wanted to and get away with it. Not the type of spot we have to worry about requests for Lady Gaga or Brittney either.

Adam 12: Tonight I brought Kraftwerk, Egyptian Lover, and some ol’ school LA Dream Team. I saw StoneRokk spin a copy of the “O’ Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack and heard some dope KRS-one along with what I believe was a Pat Benatar loop. Yeah.

You know people have to leave deposits for those milk crates, right?

Mr. Best: I want to let people see what it used to take to be a DJ. You had to know how to spin the records, but you also had to own those records first.

ADAM 12: Part of it is to show people that there is something to be said by those 100 records you bring that night. Not a 10k long song list on ITunes.

StoneRokk: That’s the problem with music now. It’s completely disposable. There is no longer any investment in actually playing the song.

Mr. Best: Part of the talent is what’s in your crate.

What’s at the center of this Tootise pop?

StoneRokk: Our greatest fantasy is to turn it into a brand and do some traveling with it. We want to have people come spin records with us. It’s a nostalgia thing.

Mr Best: I want people who didn’t grow up with records have a chance to listen. We’d like to do our party in other cities and give a listen to what other people spin.

Adam 12: We want to have a night where people can trust a DJ. To let us do our, thing, We know what we’re doing.

If you’re ever in LA-LA land on a Monday night you should stop by.  Because as StoneRokk says “You don’t have to dance. You can just sit and drink a PBR and watch the rest of the crowd sing some shit you’re not supposed too.”

Come celebrate vinyl with StoneRokk and his band of DJ hooligans every Monday night at the Dime LA.

Words and pretty pictures by Dustin Downing