Scratch DJ Academy's Jamie Keogh has four words for Miami's aspiring spinners: school is in session.
"It's kind of hard for someone to get into DJing unless they have a good friend or are connected in the scene in some way," said Keogh, director of Scratch DJ Academy, which was founded eight years ago in New York by Run DMC's original DJ Jam Master Jay. "Any club you go to in Miami, for the most part, you are going to find a DJ that graduated from Scratch Academy."
Known outside the classroom as DJ Immortal, Keogh has spun the turntables of Miami hot spots from Mondrian and Cameo to regular haunts like Buck 15 and Love Hate for over 15 years.
"Every club you can think of, I've probably played at," he said.
The self-taught DJ said the hands-on experience at Scratch -- the only institution of its kind with a copy written curriculum for DJs -- can teach anyone from rookies to mix masters how to throw down beats in the Magic City.
"We help them progress from the very first day of explaining how to DJ, to the very end when I help them get their first gigs" he said. "Something that may take three or four years to learn, you can learn here in a six week course."
And whether headlining clubs, or your living room, spinning alongside A-listers like DJ Irie and DJ Hurricane -- who also instruct classes -- will at least make you feel like a player.
"I felt like a little kid again," said student Fifi Evans after her first class at Scratch. "I left hear more excited than I have been in a long time.
