DJ Earworm's Mashup "United States of Pop 2015" is a consumer and critical sensation. (Photos/screenshots courtesy of DJEarworm.com, Youtube)
For an artist who has not monetized any of his 200 million plus YouTube views, DJ Earworm is in a really good mood.
The producer, DJ, video artist and cult favorite (born Jordan Roseman) recently unleashed the latest in his annual mashup franchise, “United State of Pop,” a new track born from the DNA of the top 50 songs of 2015. He subtitled it with an overture symbolic of this year, “50 Shades of Pop.”
Throttled by The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Diplo, Maroon 5 and late-breaking Adele, Earworm is closing in on 5 million views and over 5,000 comments in only a week.
By reinventing many tunes that wore out their welcome and fell off passion playlists months ago, Earworm’s curtain call at the close of the year has rightfully become a sensation in quantifiable metrics and subjective critical praise.
TheWrap met with him in West Hollywood to peel back the curtain and get to know the man behind the annual holiday treat.
I imagine you create the audio track first and then lay the video back on to it afterwards. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. The music drives it. The music is the box.
Earworm DJ’ing at the MLB All Star Game in Cincinnati in July 2015. (Instagram)
You must have an amazing relationship with the labels. Are they feeding you audio isolation tracks? No. I don’t have access to materials that most people don’t have. Every once in a while through something I’ve taken on throughout the year, I may have access to one or two of them. Everything else, was something anyone would have access to. I do a lot of extraction myself where I can try to create my own a capellas and separations.
A lot of times the tracks are floating around the Internet, so I have gotten a lot of them just through searching, but it does not require special access. It’s a very democratic art form, mashups.
The track and video dropped last week. In the final days before release, do you ever get to have a Thanksgiving? I always take Thanksgiving off. It’s always a very nice day because it’s a reprieve. That’s the one day I allow myself. Then, it’s right back to work.
How early do you start working on “United States of Pop” each year? I’m thinking about it all year. I look at the charts every week and I analyze stuff and I listen to whatever is new and make sure I am up to date on what’s happening. Starting in September, I start crunching the numbers and thinking about it, maybe throwing some sketches together in September/October. Once November happens, then it’s like “OK, this is serious.”
For your technical rig, what are your platforms and software of choice? Are you editing the video yourself? This year I did have some help (on the video edit) just to take some of the burden off. I use Final Cut Pro X, which I know isn’t the most pro thing, but I like that it can handle all the formats that I throw at it. It can make things happen very quickly.
For a majority of the audience, they see you as this comet that shows up once a year in December delivering this great work, but I saw you producing opens and performing at the Critics Choice Television Awards and DJ’ing Major League Baseball’s “Home Run Derby.” What’s the rest of the year like? I’m still around the other 11 months. (Laughing heartily). I do college shows … I do shows everywhere. I get a lot of custom production and a lot of work for different musical artists, big corporate gatherings.
I’ve done the opening for the red carpet for E! for the Grammys, but I’ve never gotten in to the actual event. I would love to. About 10 years ago, the awards shows started doing their mashups as a fixture, I’m still waiting by the phone
Earworm playing the chorus to “Drone,” and with Anna Faris at the Critics Choice Television Awards (Instagram)
In terms of rights and strikes, does YouTube leave you alone? YouTube has deals with all the labels so that they are able to monetize it. SoundCloud did not work their deal out with Sony, so they came after them really hard and anything that was Sony or contained their [music] got taken down.
And you get to monetize these videos? I do not. That’s why I’m still in the modest [West Hollywood] apartment.
People seem to love 2009’s “Blame it on the Pop.” Do you have one that you personally like better or you find yourself going back to more?
I can’t say that I go back and listen to them. I hear them enough. When I DJ, I’ll break them up. I don’t listen to them on my spare time.
I do love 2009, not just from the reaction it gets from people but also what it represented in terms of my discovery process. When I got there I feel like I discovered this new cut mech[anism], that was like “Oh, this is what it is supposed to be. This is what it could be.” It took my career from 0 to 100. It was great.
I’ve seen pictures of you in the studio with Will.I.Am. Has anyone you’ve featured reached out to you? The very first “United States of Pop” in ’07, I got contacted by Maroon 5 and their management. I ended up doing some mashups for them and a few remixes. That was really cool.
Let’s talk about your new original single “Drone.” Who is the female vocalist?
She is quite talented and she is anonymous. She is … (pausing) she’s great, she’s beautiful. She’s got some songs of her own. She’s appeared on some other people’s stuff, but she wants to stay unknown.
The whistle on there is so catchy. It reminds of the Max Martin production for Adam Lambert’s “My Heart is a Ghost Town.” Having that extra reverb took it to the old West. It brought up this “gun duel” subtext of the whole thing. I never wanted to treat the drone as a weapon, but having that vibe it kind of brings about subconsciously.
With how much drones are in the news, I would not be surprised to see this synced in a lot of licensing plays. I hope so. I’m waiting … I’m waiting.
Hollywood Holiday Party Report: Christoph Waltz, Dakota Johnson, Jane Lynch Get Spirited With Santa (Photos)
Armie Hammer, Dakota Johnson, and Judd Apatow headed for Aspen on December 19, meeting up at the Caribou Club for Audi's holiday party after snow polo earlier in the day.
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J.B. Smoove smartly waited until Hollywood logged off for the year to throw himself a rowdy, rocking 50th birthday bash at the SLS on Saturday night, December 19. There were choreographed dances (via Farnsworth Bentley), '90s rappers, "Mama Smoove" getting out of a wheelchair to dance with her son, and casino gambling.
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Sherri Shepherd told Fran Drescher (pictured) that doing "Dancing with the Stars" was one of the best moves she ever made and told her to consider it. Fran signed in with a giant version of the Cross pen that VIPs went home with.
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'You better be working on a new season of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' because all this s--t costs money," Smoove told Larry David from the stage.
"I am working on a season...but I wrote you out in episode two," David cracked back. David also left a funny welcome message on the sign in board.
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TV Titans at the Beverly Hilton: Dick Wolf and Chuck Lorre headlined the HRTS' Newsmaker Luncheon on Monday, December 14.
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Passing the TV torch: Incoming HRTS President Eric Schrier (President, Original Programming at FX Networks and FX Productions) with outgoing HRTS President Bela Bajaria from UTV.
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Maria Sharapova gathered her friends around the tennis court, not the Christmas tree, at the first "Maria Sharapova and Friends" tennis event at UCLA on December 12-13. Sharapova and Chelsea Handler wiped Will Arnett and former world #1 Andy Roddick off the court without losing a game.
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Chelsea Handler - surprisingly not bad at all. Porsche and WMEIMG put on the sophisticated wine-and-cheese style event, bringing professional tennis back to L.A. for the first time in years.
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"Does anyone have the gate code?" Will Arnett joked after losing the first game and attempting to drive the new 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera off the court.
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Host Sharapova made a last second change by trading Will Arnett for Handler to convert Saturday afternoon's last match in to a "Battle of the Sexes".
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Earlier in the day, Sharapova took the court with Kei Nishikori and faced off in singles against rising American star Madison Keyes.
Porsche
Untitled's Jason Newman welcomed Orlando Jones (center) to a launch party at the Darkroom on Melrose for the OnCam app, a video calling platform that allows for monetization of online meet-ups.
Mikey Glazer
The original "Creed", Carl Weathers, with members of the DGA’s African American Steering Committee at the multi-organization "Holiday Soul" Party at UTA on December 17.
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Holiday Soul organizers Gil Robertson (President of the African American Film Critics Association), Michele Amor (Co-Chair WGAw Committee of Black Writers), Wendy Calhoun (Co-Chair Committee of Black Writers), and Malik Abbott (DGA African American Steering Committee) at the party that brought together diversity-driven industry organizations for live music and networking over a holiday buffet.
Kat Graham lobbies for a “nice” rating at the Hollywood Christmas Parade.
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Shay Mitchell jetted in for Delta's "Holiday In The Hanger", a gathering for Children's Hospital Los Angeles and P.S. Arts at LAX on December 2.
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Michael Shannon and Kate Arrington jumpstarted the laughs on the red carpet for the premiere of “The Night Before”. The gear is from “Shark Tank” fave Tipsy Elves.
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Evan Handler and Christoph Waltz made a holiday huddle with Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk at the non-partisan, non-profit's holiday dinner party at One West on Saturday night, Dec. 5.
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The Creative Coalition steaks, wine, and holiday dinner staples doubled as an awareness dinner for D.C. Statehood. Tough guy Jonathan Banks (right) added muscle to Senator Paul Strauss' campaign to put a 51st star on the flag (and 2 more Senators in the north chamber of the Capitol).
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One West is The One Group's old STK on La Cienega in the heart of West Hollywood. STK recently decamped for quieter Westwood. The dress was "holiday cocktail" which for Bruce Vilanch means...
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...this. Never a disappointment.
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Hal Sparks is a Creative Coalition regular, and had some strong feelings about the end of "The Soup," the E! series he once hosted. "Twin Peaks" star Madchen Amick, Cassie Scerbo, Quinton Aaron, and reliable party enhancer Tichina Arnold all joined Bronk for the dinner that also benefitted the DC Film Office.
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Meanwhile, the IDA Awards took place on Saturday night December 5 on the Paramount Lot. Paramount's in-house production designers have apparently been busy behind the Melrose Gate.
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Ricky Schroeder would have had a giant inflatable duck pool filled with balls in his house on "Silver Spoons". Alfonso Ribeiro took a dive at Bill Horn and Scout Masterson's "Santa's Secret Workshop" on Saturday, December 5.
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Tori Spelling is a regular at this event thrown by her pals "The Guncles" at the Andaz on Sunset. The invite tells guests to come ready to snap their holiday card photos, like this one.
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Amy Davidson, Haylie Duff, and Ali Fedotowsky at Santa's Secret Workshop, which benefits L.A. Family Housing while providing activities like "Build a Bear", ornament making, food, and some family-themed swag from Mabels Labels, Munchkin, and others.
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"Undateable" star Eva Amurri, host Bill Horn, and Jo Bosley all costumed for the season at the Andaz.
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No mistletoe, no problem. Dot-Marie Jones goes in for a smooch on one of Santa's furry little helpers backstage at the Staples Center in the Sabra Hummus Station during the Jingle Ball concert on December 4.
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Kato Kaelin, Larry King, and Shawn King at the Arclight premiere of “Christmas Eve”. King and Kato are pals going back to the O.J. days when King’s nightly ratings were “through the roof” King recalled to TheWrap.
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Larry King produced the movie starring Patrick Stewart and Jon Heder (pictured) along with King's wife, Shawn King, and Cheryl Hines. Stewart is currently playing an amplified version of a Larry King-type on “Blunt Talk” and Larry called @SirPatStew personally to get him onboard this film.
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Cheryl Hines and James Roday also star in the movie about different groups of people trapped in an elevator on the night before Christmas. They all flew to Romania to shoot the film that seems like it could have been shot in the Arclight itself. It’s in theaters and on VOD as of Dec. 4.
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The Party Report’s Mikey Glazer gives you the inside scoop on how the industry’s biggest stars are getting into the holiday spirit with this continually updating gallery of the best bashes in town