DJ/VDJ Beloved
BelovedEntertainment/CJSound/CollectiveConciousnessBrian Botens, aka "DJ Beloved," born May 26, 1983, grew up in North Tonawanda, New York, a very big lover of music. Most of his musical influence came from his father and his close friends, but it wasn't until 1999, when Brian was introduced to the "Electronic Dance Music" (EDM) scene, that he became heavily interested in the whole DJ/Dance culture.
Attending numerous clubs, bars and warehouse parties from 1999 to 2002, Brian started to build his knowledge for the different genres of dance music, as well as becoming a master of networking and a very talented dancer.
Being a lover of pretty much all music, Brian was very excited with all the new styles of music coming out, but there was one genre in partilular that caught his ear more than most. This was the style of Happy Hardcore (later to become known as UK Harcore). Living very close to Buffalo, he was about an hour drive from Toronto; the city that brought the genre into North America after being founded overseas in the United Kingdom. Moonshine recording artist Anabolic Frolic brought attention to the genre with the legendary parties known as Hullabaloo; Brian's first chance to attand one coming in September of 2001. Over the next few years, Brian attended as many of these events as possible, networking with DJs, promoters and fans of the music.
April of 2002 was when Brian decided that his love for music needed to be taken to another level. He wanted to be the one providing the music for the people. First, buying his own set of turntables, he decided to start learning the art of beat mixing. Next, he started scouting DJ's throughout New York and Ontario, Canada. By February 2003, Brian had put together an event, under the name Bitchass Productions, that was well promoted and full of talent, pulling a huge turnout and earning him respect from everyone in the UK hardcore scene. This event, known as "One Love," was the first of a series of Valentine events. Brian's next big event, known as "Symmetrikal Beats," followed in September of 2003.
During 2004, Brian started exploring other genres; understanding that versatility was a key trait if you wanted to become a successful disc jockey. Now, spinning more popular styles such as Trance, House and Breakbeats, Brian was getting more noticed by the whole local EDM scene. By the end of 2004, Brian had landed a job running Saturday nights at a lounge in Buffalo known as 658, which was a regular hangout for the club kids of Buffalo. Not only would Brian spin there as a resident DJ, but he would also book other local and national DJs to play at the club.
The turning point in Brian's DJ career came in 2005. Now of legal drinking age, Brian was able to attend more mainstream style bars and events. Because of this, he realized a whole new world in DJing; DJ's who don't mix. After the years he had spent perfecting his talent, Brian was appalled by the success of the local mainstream DJ's. This gave Brian the ambition to start learning how to mix Hip Hop and R&B. Being a fan of Hip Hop music in his younger days, and already understanding how to format songs to fit together, Brian was quick to learn that he had a knack for mixing mainstream music. Within a few months, Brian was offered a job as the DJ for Ava's Place, a local bar, playing every Friday and Saturday night.
Quickly getting recognition in the area as a mainstream DJ, Brian started finding himself playing more mainstream music than EDM. It was because of this that he decided to do something to keep himself more involved with the EDM scene. With the experience he had in the past as a promoter for himself, he was able to land a job with the now popular Factory Nightlife, distributing flyer's to other events in the area, as well as local record shops, coffee shops, etc. This gave him a way to give back to the music community. The community that had driven him to discover his talent which was now leading him to success.
While working his resident slot at one of the local bars, Brian was approached by a representative from a professional DJ business known as Elite Deejays & Entertainment. Having noticed and recognized Brian's talent, the representative offered to train him to work as a professional DJ doing events such as weddings, school dance's, banquets, and other private events that may need such entertainment. Brian excelled in this business and within a few years was working for numerous companies including Elite Deejays & Entertainment, A Musical Memory, CJ Sound, and Starlite Productions. By 2009 Brian had went on to start his own business known as Beloved Entertainment in which he was not only providing disc jockeys for private events but had partnered with PhotoVid of WNY to provide photography and videography for clients as well. Beloved Entertainment also provides not only sound systems and DJ/MC's for events but also lighting and karaoke/music video capability.
Since the beginning of his music career, Brian has played numerous different styles of music. Because of his diversity in styles, Brian has played at over 20 different Western New York area clubs, as well as many clubs and online radio shows throughout the United States. He has also played along side artists such as Bad Boy Bill, Hatiras, Baby Anne, DJ Fixx, Annalyze, Frisky & Hujib, DJ Spree & MC ADB, plus many more.
In early 2009 Brian became Buffalo's first mixing VJ by learning how to mix music video's. Stemming from this Brian has spent a lot of the recent months in the studio working on music video remixing and now has more than 50 music video remixes under his belt. In the future you can hope to see music video remixes by Beloved online as well as in the clubs and soon to have mixed DVD's available. Brian will continue to run his wedding business as well as continue in the club/bar business playing top 40 music videos. Brian will also soon be working in the studio on making remixes for the EDM music scene taking him back to his roots.
Below are some videos edited by VDJ Beloved: