Q&A with Kilroy’s DJ Unique

Matthew Englert is of celebrity status to the family of Bloomington bar owners, but when he mixes for The Dunnkirk, Kilroy’s on Kirkwood and Kilroy’s Sports, Englert becomes a celebrity among Bloomington bar-goers as DJ Unique. 

DJing since he was just 15 years old, the Bloomington-native DJ is 20 years into the game and considered by some to be the gatekeeper of the B-town bar scene.

“If he likes you, then you know you’re good,” local DJ Goulet said. “He’s the guy that sets the standard.”

Englert laughed at his gatekeeper title but took it as a humbling honor. All he could say was that he loves music, he’s thankful to the people who gave him a chance and he hopes to return the favor to Bloomington’s next generation of DJs.    

WEEKEND: What was your first experience with DJing?
Matthew Englert: I got started at 15. A buddy from home was really into hip-hop, and this guy moved to town from the New York/Jersey area and kind of got us into it. They had two turntables, and I had a CD player. The other kid from Jersey had a mixer, and we used to sit around in their room and make mixes. Eventually, some of the tapes we had made got into the hands of a guy who DJed here in town, and I got a phone call. So I went out and auditioned for him at a little in-house place for about fifteen minutes, and then he asked if I could start that weekend, and it just took off from there.

WKND: What records did you mix for that audition?
ME: I mixed a few samples from Prince tracks, and there was probably some LL Cool J, Run DMC and some classic hip-hop stuff.

WKND: If you had to mix one song three times in a row now, what would it be?
ME: Today, I’d still go classic hip-hop. It would probably be my favorite, (A Tribe Called) Quest’s “Check the Rhime.”

WKND: So how did you go from that first audition to becoming resident DJ at Kilroy’s Sports?
ME: The first bar I DJed at was Mars. Then into college I was DJing at The Upstairs Pub, weekends at The Bluebird between sets of bands and then the entertainment manager at the time at Sports approached me. So I jumped at the chance of doing random Tuesdays and Thursdays there.

I graduated school, and I decided to go to Chicago for a time and was the house DJ exclusively at Joe’s Bar. But (they) eventually asked if I would consider coming back to Bloomington. They had seen the popularity in Bloomington shift to more DJs, and they wanted me to help them out and be a part of it all. They’ve pretty much had me under lock and key ever since.  

WKND: What do you like most about being a Bloomington DJ?
ME: The thing I like most about Bloomington is that the students are always changing. There has been a major shift on campus to where a large part of the students are coming from the Chicagoland area and the Jersey area, so musically they are on the cutting edge. As a DJ, we’re having to keep up with things constantly with blogs and record pools on the internet, but sometimes it still takes awhile for things to trickle down to Bloomington. So, the great thing about them is that they come back and they’ll want to hear the latest, whether it’s house, hip-hop, electro, whatever, so we can ride with that.

Also, just to be a part of the nightlife that I grew up with and being in Bloomington as a huge IU fan makes it so neat.  

WKND: How do you see your role as a DJ in the B-town bar scene?
ME: I have no idea. That’s for others to decide, I think. People go out to these places to have fun, and that’s what I try to give them. If they go home and tell their friends how much fun they had at Sports, or The Dunkirk or KOK, then maybe they’ll come back, and that’s all I want.

WKND: Looking back at your position now, what are your thoughts?
ME: The coolest thing about what I’m doing at Sports now is that I’ve made a complete circle when I was making tapes and mixing for friends. All I wanted to be given was a chance to play at a bar, and somebody gave that time.

Now as entertainment director, I’ve met a ton of kids wanting that shot, and I am doing that for others. It’s been great seeing kids like DJ Kid B or DJ Sleeper, who played and are now in L.A., or DJ Phenom, who is now playing some of the biggest clubs in Chicago. So, I’m going nowhere. The family of bars down here, the Pralls, have been so good to me, and this is where I want to be.

They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself, and I couldn’t be more grateful. And now all I want to do is do the same.