By Tanya Huang, Contributor
Lounging at home in a white terry cloth robe over a gray T-shirt with “SDSU” emblazoned on the chest, Justin Navalle enjoyed a glass of wine with his friend and business partner, Richard Dullaghan, while a remix of “We Are Your Friends” played in the background as they unwound after an eventful week.
These San Diego State graduates collaborate onstage as StirCrazy, the disc jockey duo taking control of San Diego’s nightlife.
“Their sets go from deep house and electro to more surprising material like Pink Floyd remixed,” U-31 event planner and promoter Nicole Novak said. “They always keep me guessing and they’ve got energy for days.”
Last April StirCrazy landed its first gig at The Beauty Bar and then moved on to play at U-31. Now the duo has played with heavyweight DJs such as Benny Benassi, Kaskade, Fedde Le Grand and Wolfgang Gartner making fists pump ‘til 2 a.m. at hotspots such as Fluxx and Ivy.
“We work with Eventvibe because they’re good business people,” Navalle said. “They understand electronic dance music and they understand that it’s a lot about the people.”
“(House music) would not be flourishing in San Diego without Tim’s (Ortiz) effort, without Matty’s (DJ Matty A) effort,” Dullaghan said.
Also former Aztecs, Tim Ortiz is the CEO and president of Eventvibe and DJ Matty A is an event producer. StirCrazy describes the people who succeed in the event industry as animals, which is what inspired the pair’s stage name.
“StirCrazy is fitting because we try to incorporate all types of sounds and we’re definitely from different types of backgrounds,” Navalle said. “We want to play in front of 5,000 people and we work pretty much tirelessly to make that happen.”
“Like animals” Dullaghan added.
Even better than 5,000 people, StirCrazy performed at one of the biggest Halloween events in San Diego, Heaven & Hell, which held a capacity of 10,000 party animals at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
“That’s what I went to college for,” Navalle said. “I want to throw big festivals and that’s what we’re doing.”
StirCrazy is already working hard to prepare for EPIC, the next musical festival on New Years Eve featuring Afrojack.
When asked how long StirCrazy will be working in the nightlife, Dullaghan smiled and said, “There’s no end to this. This is a lifestyle.”
As long as there are animals roaming, StirCrazy will be there to facilitate the zoo.
StirCrazy will be performing this Saturday at U-31. For details about the show visit stircrazysd.com and epicnye.com.
