World's best DJ lives in Colorado
9 News Colorado
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WESTMINSTER - Chris Karns is a DJ who beat out the best in the world at a competition in October. He is now considered the world's best DJ.
He puts in the kind of time you'd expect of a great musician.
"Definitely spent hundreds of hours organizing music files," said Karns, whose fingers blur over his turntables as he scratches the records and toggles switches to create sounds that took him years to master.
"I was always just amazed, like 'how do they make those sounds?'" said Karns, who grew up watching hip hop on MTV.
But it was video from the DMC world finals - considered the premier international competition for DJs - that would change Karn's life.
"I was like two inches from the screen, my jaw dropped -- just like, 'I can't believe people just scratch.' This is what they do!" said Karns.
From there, Karns bought his tools, worked on a DJ name, and set his mind to becoming great.
"Practicing ten to twelve hour days - all my friends thought I'd moved and there was a rumor I was gone because I just never came out of the house," said Karns.
He admits getting by as a DJ after high school wasn't easy.
"I've worked at Fazoli's, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, and Safeway - and I couldn't keep a job. I could not keep a job," said Karns.
Thankfully, he got pretty good at working for himself.
He's played during halftime at a Denver Nuggets game and at other shows before thousands of people.
And he lives up to his name - DJ Vajra, which means "lightning" in Sanskrit - at clubs around Colorado.
His best professional show, though, happened earlier in October. DJ Vajra took the stage in London at the DMC finals and won.
"It's a moment that I'll really never forget," said Karns."I walked out from behind the curtain, and the entire crowd was just roaring."
To hear his music and find out about his shows, check out djvajra.com.
