Chase Chandler is a man you’d expect would know how to put together a good party playlist — in part because that’s his job. As DJ Good Vibes, he’s a regular at campus events and house parties in both Eugene and his hometown of Santa Barbara, California. Studying crowd reactions to his music has given him a good idea of how party goers react to changes in music, and as such, he’s got a formula for when he throws parties.
“You need three party playlists,” Chandler says. “If you’re going to do a (pre-made) Spotify playlist, you need to switch the playlist three times. If you pick hip hop, it’s just gonna be hip hop for the whole party, and that’s not good. You need to progressively keep an audience engaged.”
Chandler believes partiers would rather hear songs they know, but he puts a unique spin on things by introducing remixes of those tunes to the crowd.
“Everyone knows a song like ‘Forever’ (by Chris Brown),” says Chandler. “But you gotta keep them on your toes, so you want a new remix of it. When you just put to some electronic song, nobody knows it, but a song like that everyone sings along. It touches on everyone’s emotions.”
The style of song or remix corresponds with the three stages of a party Chandler perceives: the warm-up, the peak and the post-rager kickback stage at the end. These are the ways in which Chandler approaches each.
Stage 1: Deep house/tropical house
“You have the time when everyone’s walking in–that’s the warmup. Everyone’s meeting each other and talking. The music doesn’t have to be blaring, but it should have energy.”
Key tracks:
– Akon ft. Bone Thugs N Harmony – I Tried vs. The Notorious B.I.G. – “Can I Get Witcha (Matoma Remix)”
– Zhu – “Moves Like Ms. Jackson”
– Disclosure – “F For You”
– Alex Metric & Oliver – “Hope (Original Mix)”
Stage 2: Progressive house
“If you keep playing deep house, people won’t hang out. You gotta keep people on their toes. When people are coming in, it’s getting close to being a full house, I’d switch to more progressive house. That’s what Vegas is totally down with.”
Key tracks:
– The Knocks feat. St. Lucia – “Modern Hearts (Dave Edwards remix)”
– R3hab & Vinai – “How We Party (Original Mix)”
– Sam La More feat. Gary Go – “Adrenaline (SCNDL Mix)”
Stage 3: Hip hop
“Once I’m done with progressive house, I put on these classic high school songs everyone knows. There’s a big difference between high school hip hop and stuff that’s coming out now, like Juicy J and 2 Chainz. Some people like that, but it’s more slow, more lyrical, more for kicking back and hanging out. High school hip hop is the stuff our age group listened to in high school, and it’s usually faster.” (Chandler is a senior at UO.)
Key tracks:
– DJ Felli Fel – “Get Buck In Here”
– Chris Brown – “Forever”
– 50 Cent – “In Da Club”