Before COVID-19, you may have spotted DJ RQ Away (real name Jevon Thompson) around town. “My last two ‘live’ sets were DJing the Pelicans versus Lakers game inside the Smoothie King Center (it was so exciting!), and Youth Run NOLA’s 504K the week of March 1,” he says. Outside of client bookings, DJ RQ Away hosted “The Tipping Point” event every Friday at Dragon’s Den, “Happy Feelins “monthly event at Ace Hotel, and “Lagniappe,” a quarterly event at Tipitina’s. He is proud to state, “All of which served the black creative and professional community here in the city.”

Also pre-pandemic, you can add that he toured with Tank and the Bangas as their DJ for most of 2019 on top of hosting corporate, private, and personally produced events.

Now the multitasker is back hosting “Get Down Nola,” a weekly all vinyl radio show featuring funk, disco, jazz, and soul cuts from the 60s, 70s, and 80s every Thursday night at 6 p.m. OffBeat talked to the vinyl master about his show and the beauty of record playing.

What is it about vinyl that you think has a special sound quality that people gravitate towards? Is it hard to play back-to-back vinyls?

For me, vinyl has a warmth, and texture that digital just doesn’t have, it’s experiential. Fresh vinyl is smooth and clear, while well weathered records give you those crackles and pops and even then it only adds to the experience. Hard isn’t the word I would use, challenging at times for sure but because there are more steps in between songs. Selecting digitally happens while standing in place and with one hand most of the time, type in the search bar or scroll, drag and drop and your song is there. Some of my digital setups use turntables so I still have to move the needle but not for every song. Whereas with vinyl it’s to go to the crate/shelf, pick up the record, remove record from sleeve, place record on turntable, physically search for/select your cut with the tone arm, then play, on top of removing and replacing the previous record back to it’s sleeve and storage location. So again harder isn’t the word, just no shortcuts.

In a world with so many options for streaming, what made you choose MixCloud at your platform?

Mixcloud has the best mix of accessibility, and features for me and those wanting to check out the live or recorded set. They have licensing agreements with music companies so all the red tape of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitch is not a problem, they won’t randomly cut you off for playing an easily recognized song, artists that are played get paid, and you can actually share the full recorded set uninterrupted. Plus folks can follow my page and chat during the live stream, and they’ve also added a subscription feature (Mixcloud selects) so those that want to support their favorite DJs during this time can pay a monthly fee and get exclusive content and premium features. I’ve tried all the platforms and this one serves me and my listeners best. I can stream live with all the interaction features and share the set podcast style after.

What are some of your favorite tracks or records to play?

This is tough, but I’ll start with “You Can Do It Baby” by Masters at Work & George Benson, it is the closest thing to my favorite song, and I don’t really do favorites when it comes to music. I was super lucky and found it on vinyl at A-1 Record Shop in New York on a digging trip with my son, Akhil. Outside of that early cuts from Patrice Rushen, Stanley Clarke, Grover Washington, Sylvesyter, Gino Soccio, Jr Walker, Herbie Hancock, and almost anything from Quincy Jones or the TSOP or Salsoul labels.

Do you think that even in a world that promotes digital music, people will continue to buy vinyls?

Yes! As long as the culture is shared and talked about and we support records stores like Euclid Records, NOLA Mix, Domino Sound, Nuthin But Fire, and Disko Obscura (to name a few ) I think people will continue to discover vinyl. It also helps that so many presently recording artist are still producing vinyl. When I started DJing in 2006 I thought I was cheating because Serato had become the new standard and I started out with a hard drive and not a record collection. I would be in rooms and on flyers with cats who were just starting to leave records at home and some who still brought out crates to performances. But I had a lasting, personal appreciation for the experience of flipping through stacks and stacks of beautifully decorated albums, to get to that cut or artist I’m looking for and sharing that with a room full of eager ears and feet. I’ve always bought vinyl with the intention of playing a live all analog party or two someday. I think vinyl versus digital shares the same difference I experience in catching a fish, cleaning it and cooking it into a meal versus getting it from the store or restaurant. The result can be the same, but how you value the experience determines how getting to the result best fits you.

Follow DJ RQ Away on all social media @rqaway. 

Catch his show 6 p.m. Thursdays CDT here.

His Soundcloud is available here.