DJ IV keeps the records spinning on the East Coast

Brian Pelrine, better known as DJ IV, lives for the tiny portion of his time he gets to spend in front of screaming crowds and surrounded by heart-thumping music.

“We live for that three per cent of your day that you get onstage,” Pelrine said. “It’s like a drug that you can’t replicate anywhere else.”

Pelrine is celebrating 25 years as a DJ in the Maritimes, a career that’s taken him to countless clubs and arenas with multiple big-name performers such as the rapper Classified.

“I never expected to have a career out of it, I just did it because I fell in love with and by the grace of God and with lots of practice it’s turned into something that’s very lucrative for me,” Pelrine said.

Pelrine’s interest in DJ-ing started in 1999 when he watched people use their hands to remix vinyl records for dance parties and clubs.

“(I was) just learning and soaking it all in like a sponge,” he said. “We were trained to use our ear and we were trained on vinyl.”

Pelrine said it took a lot of time and “a lot of practice” for him to nail the art of “scratching,” which he described as “the manipulation of records to make different sounds.”

DJ IV is pictured. (Source: Katie Kelly/CTV News Atlantic)Pelrine notes that a good DJ needs to have more than great ideas for songs and nimble fingers; they need to be able to read the room and find out what people want to hear in the moment.

“You can plan a set for a week, show up, and they’re not feeling it,” he said. “There’s nothing better to see that many people reacting to what you’re doing just with your hands.”

Despite rocking countless venues for a quarter of a century, Pelrine is showing no signs of slowing down or handing in his turntables.

“It’s a beautiful thing,” he said. “I love it. I live for it.”