As the Chicago Fire’s official match-day DJ, Ben Stepnowski, a.k.a. DJ Step, helps keep the stands at Toyota Park moving. And it helps, naturally, that it wasn’t too long ago that he watched the team from those same stands. In fact, Step ascended to his gig with the team after taking in matches after his older brother gifted him with season tickets.
“I wanted to create a video to show my brother how much it meant to me,” he says, deciding to draw on his passion aside from soccer – turntablist-skilled DJing accompanied by custom-mixed-and-cut video mash-ups. “I wanted to show people, hey this is what I do normally -- mix and DJ -- and this is what I’ve followed my whole life – soccer -- so let’s fuse the two together and say thanks to the community for giving me the chance to be involved. After it was released, the club noticed it, and offered me the job. The rest is history.”
This means, of course, keeping things moving at home games, where he creates a soundtrack incorporating classic Chicago artists, iconic music from Fire supporter history, and tracks from the visitors’ city. He also takes requests from both fans online and the team, and takes halftime break to showcase his scratch skills.
But Step’s latest offering reflects one more part of the gig: creating special mixes and video mash-ups for the start of the season and other important dates. This one feels extra-special, he says, because it’s meant to mark 20 years of the club’s history, with the accompanying video condensing some of the team’s top moments along with the soundtrack.
“This year’s mix was really a celebration of the city and community. It’s also our 20th season anniversary so the feeling of a party is central to the project,” Step says. “I wanted this video to show that we’re all connected through music and sport. We integrated the Fire Fanbulance as a representation of that this year, and I wanted to comprehensively bring as many people as possible into the production piece. So many people stepped up and gave us their support. As a d.i.y. Project at it’s core, I’m indebted to those people.”
The video mix debuted at Toyota Park earlier this month, but you can enjoy it online now here, and find DJ Step on Twitter and Facebook.
