Sharaz: There really isn't a solid network, promoters don't run Yellow Pages ads, they don't run newspaper ads, promoters usually don't show up in those forms so, a lot of it is word of mouth. People tend to be real suspicious in the electronic music business, electronic music fans, tend to be really suspicious of any kind of marketing, so we really stay away from that. So, there are a lot of similarities to a lot of things that are just dissimilar about it as well.
ZD: I read that you're scared of flying, but now are training to be a pilot.
Sharaz: Yes.
ZD: How did that come about?
Sharaz: Well, I guess being afraid of flying wasn't something that just happened overnight. I do 50 to 70,000 miles a year for travel as a performer, so it was just something that sort of developed over a period of time. At first, I don't recall ever being really afraid of being on an airplane, but after about a year or two of touring I started becoming really aware of my surroundings and I was really pretty scared, particularly during takeoff and landing. I didn't like turbulence and I really don't know where that fear came from. It just sort of a phobia that I developed and I thought that one great way to tackle it would be to learn how to fly a plane. So I started flight training and the next thing I know, I really enjoyed it so much that it doesn't bother me anymore to be on a commercial flights.
ZD: How does flying correlate with your work as an artist?
Sharaz: Well the intention is I do a lot of short hop trips from, say from here to Jacksonville by car it's about five hours, and it's very difficult to find direct flights from where I live to some of these cities. Like for instance, Panama City would require a lot of time and it would require two connections to get there. So I'm going four hundred miles north, turning around and going two hundred miles southward on a different airplane, and it might take five hours for that journey. So, a private pilots license will allow me to manage my time a little more effectively. It lessens the hassle with driving because you don't know what you're going to run into when you’re driving sometimes. There have been many times when I've been stuck on I-4 ,which is the main corridor from Tampa to Orlando. I find myself leaving on schedule and then by the time I get there its way past when I'm supposed to be there. Going in a straight line is definitely a lot more efficient to me, but I intend to fly myself on a lot of these short hops, especially after I get my instrument rating.
ZD: Instrument rating, that means you can fly solo…?
Sharaz: Well it's essentially like flying quasi-blind, I mean you're flying with just reference to instruments and no horizon, no visual cues outside of the airplane, so it's a whole separate thing in terms of training. So you get your private pilot's license, then you go on to get your Instrument rating after that. It's all up to you, it helps eliminate spatial disorientation - you have no reference to the ground, or it's dark, and your inner ear tells you you're turning but you're really not and that's how people end up in spins.
ZD: Have you found inspiration in your music from flying?
Sharaz: Not really, No, nothing in particular, but like I said I'm a workaholic, I really have to sort of detach myself from the studio and this was a real good way for me to do it
ZD: Do you tour internationally and if so, or nationally, what are people's reactions to the Florida breaks sound?
Sharaz: Like I said, I tend to carry a lot of different music with me, and one of the things that I like to do when I go out of town, especially somewhere strange is I like to get there a little early and listening to the local guys play, because most of the time the local DJ's are the ones that are there week after week. They know their crowd and, it just depends. A lot people like Florida breaks, I mean a lot of people don't want to do it admit it, but a lot of people do like Florida breaks. But there are certain places I'll go where they're not really all that enthusiastic about it and it pays to really have a good and eclectic collection of, various types of breaks to play. So I guess I really can't give you the answer, because instead of being stubborn and sticking with Florida breaks if I find myself somewhere where it doesn't seem like it's working then I don't always play them.
ZD: Well, at least you're rightly prepared now.
Sharaz: Yes, and that's what makes Final Scratch so good because I can have hundreds and hundreds of songs in different categories in case I find myself in trouble. A lot of this comes from being in a DJ at a mainstream club over a period of years and you get that drilled into you, it's like you’ve really got to pay attention to your floor. Play to your floor and then think about your programming. Then you sort of watch it from there.
