If you were a DJ, not so very long ago, you were either of two things: an on-air radio host or a forlorn and pitiable figure eking out a living on popular culture's corners, spinning theme records at birthday parties or playing The Hokey-Pokey at suburban roller rinks.

Then came disco. And hip-hop. And electronica. Music for dancing, music that could be shaped, scratched and manipulated solely for the purpose of unabashed rump-shakery. The people behind such manipulation ceased to be wage earners cranking the gramophones of others - they became artists in their own right. In a three-decade blink, the person behind the decks went from afterthought to "star." And Denver has its own constellation.

There are those who spin the uber-latest party hits, those who write, record and perform their own mixes, those who have abanoned vinyl for the ease of a computer. There are hip-hoppers, goth kids, Brit-pop aficianados, breakbeat heads, even a few who sport defunct Macintosh computers on their noggins while performing.

But, differences aside, they all have a few things in common: a passion for music, a desire to get the party started and the simple sleeves-rolled work ethic needed to make it happen. We look at a handful of some of our city's busiest and most influential DJs.

Michael Trundle and Tyler Jacobson

Michael Trundle and Tyler Jacobson don't have a style. They aren't easily boxed as "house" or "booty" or what have you. They don't even have clever DJ names - unless you count "The Denver 3" (now two, since cohort Tim Cook moved on), and we don't. What they have is maybe the most popular club night in Denver, Lipgloss on Fridays at La Rumba.

"We're mostly genre-less," said Trundle. "We play mostly indie rock and Brit-pop. We stay away from the super-standard '80s hits, and from hip-hop, but the only thing we don't ever play is techno/house."

The two have been spinning the likes of Morrissey and Charlatans U.K. together for five years.

"We completely stumbled into it," Trundle said. "I wasn't planning on it going long-term. I don't think any of us thought that it would keep going and going."

Go it did - from its initial home at 60 South (which then became the South Park Tavern) to La Rumba. In between, Trundle managed to finish his master's degrees in Literature and Latin at the University of Colorado/Denver and both developed a strong feel for the realities of a DJ's existence.

"DJing isn't my day job," said Jacobson. "I can't imagine how hectic my life would be if I didn't have an understanding boss. I would probably have to pick between one or the other."

While Trundle's DJ work keeps his bills paid, he, too, recognizes the position's inherent shelf life.

"You can't be a DJ forever. At some point you're going to be the 60-year-old guy and the kids won't want to listen to you," Trundle said.

The practical end, as Trundle put it, is to move into ownership of a bar or club. Given their insight into that confused world afforded by the previous five years of late nights, it sounds like a natural transition.

"All DJs think they are going to be Paul Oakenfold," he said. "And get paid thousands to fly all over. It just doesn't happen."

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Track they can't live without: "It changes. All last year it was Bloc Party's Banquet," Trundle says. "But we're kind of in that transitional phase right now."

• Local DJ they'd pay to see: "Peter Black (Rockstars Are Dead). I do a couple of nights with him," Trundle says. "He's one of the few I see on a regular basis."

• Where they spin: "Lipgloss, Friday at La Rumba. Also a hip-hop night Thursdays (Trundle only) at Traxx with Peter Black."

• Records in their collection: Around 4,500. "60,000 songs, give or take - about 500 albums I carry around for DJing."

• Day job: Trundle DJs full time, while Jacobson is technical support for a Mac-based Web-hosting company, MacHighway. "The result of having a job where I have to wake up at 6 in the morning means that I can't really DJ multiple nights in a week on a regular basis," Jacobson says. "Hence my lower profile on the DJ scene."

• On the Web: www.myspace.com/lipglossdenver3

Emily Amanda Green

Memo to all mandolinists, jazz trombonists, dobro players and other practitioners of the instrumental arts: Keep that up and your kids are gonna become DJs.

"My dad was a bluegrass musician and my mom was a singer/songwriter," said DJ MLE of her childhood in Texas. "Bluegrass is very upbeat, and I was raised to dance to music."

She's dancing these days. In addition to hosting a biweekly radio show on breaksfm - an Internet radio station devoted to breakbeat music - and being a regular on the underground scene as part of the Supabreakz crew, the self-described purveyor of "hard, funky breakbeats" is aiming to make her work behind the tables full time.

Along with a sponsorship from Stanton (maker of mixers, needles and headphones) she's recently hooked up with At Large Entertainment, a booking agency that aims to get her spinning at clubs around the world.

It's a career that almost wasn't: Emily Amanda Green was interested in electronic music before she moved to Colorado in the mid-'90s to attend nursing school, but even after an ex-boyfriend taught her to spin, she saw it merely as a fun hobby. The late-night lifestyle took its toll.

"I got really sick in 2003 and had to stop," she said. "I was ready to sell my turntables."

An invite from her friend Jamie Kent to join the Angelic Crew - a group of local female DJs, now disbanded - changed her life. "It didn't start out as a career," she said. "That's when I realized it was more than just a passion. It was bred into me." "Only a Few by Eskmo.

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• Track she can't live without: "Only a Few by Eskmo. I've been playing it for the last year, and I can't take it out."

• Local DJ she'd pay to see: "DJ Ishe. He's been producing a lot, lately - he's a great breakbeat DJ. I love to watch him."

• Where she spins: "Everywhere. I don't have a set weekly residency. I spin a lot at The Shelter, Tabu- mainly underground parties."

• Records in her collection: Close to 1,000

• Day job: Registered nurse/poison information specialist at Rocky Mountain Poison Center.

• On the Web: www.djmle.com

FRIENDS IN STEREO
orange peel moses, Reggie Lafaye, Colin Chapman

Most successful artistic collaborations aren't the result of careful planning and a well-executed business model. Think Picasso and Braque, or Captain and Tennille.

Local DJ/electronic group Friends in Stereo sprouted from similarly accidental circumstances when vocalist orange peel moses asked fellow DJs PJ Stroller (Reggie Lafaye) and Satori-C (Colin Chapman) to remix his solo track, Jesus Was An Alien Magician.

"We dug it so much we began producing together on a regular basis," Lafaye said.

And it's just that simple. The eternally orange-clad moses' deep pipes form the perfect audial accompaniment to the snaking nest of party breakbeats and electro stompers that has Friends in Stereo quickly ascending the dance music ladder, and not just 'round these parts.

While the three play frequent parties and have appeared at such diverse venues as the country-leaning Bender's 13th Avenue Tavern and dance-music palace The Church, their net is spreading wider by the week.

"We played our first out-of-state gigs this year," moses said. "One in an L.A. nightclub and one at Burning Man. In March, we're hoping to play at the Winter Music Conference in Miami." They also played an after-party at Sundance Film Festival in January. Orange peel plans on releasing and touring behind his second solo effort, tentatively tagged Anatomically Correct.

While national notoriety is certainly on the Friends' to-do list, they aren't complaining about their prospects locally.

"The 'Mile High Club' is a great place for dance music right now," said moses. "Our goal is to take the music as far and wide as possible. Denver happens to be our starting point."

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• Track they can't live without: "Robot Romance by Friends in Stereo featuring vocals by Melinda Dickson."

• Local DJ they'd pay to see: "As far as locals go, Jansten, Kaya, Little Mike (currently working for Beatport Berlin), MLE, Scott Paradis, Ty Tek and Ivy."

• Where they spin: "In Denver, we've played Bender's, The Church, The Funky Buddha, The Gothic, The Loft, Milk, Parallel 17, Red Rocks (2nd Stage), Shelter, Tabu, Via, Vinyl and The Westin Resort in Westminster."

• Records they own: "Combined, thousands of records, CDs and MP3s. But we are primarily a live dance music act that plays 95 percent originals, so we rely mostly on a software platform called Ableton Live. We rarely spin vinyl anymore."

• Day jobs: Satori-C is a lead install technician at ListenUp Audio; PJ Stroller is a senior software engineer at webMethods; orange peel moses is managing editor at Image Magazine

• On the Web: www.friendsinstereo.com

DJ SARA T
Sara Thurston

An economist might identify DJ Sara T as an example of a succesful independent business - a brand, almost - that has thrived through nimble diversification. Of course, that would require said economist to stop shakin' it for a minute.

Easier said than done. Getting people moving is what Sara T (aka Sara Thurston) does, at her regular "Danceotron" club nights - well, that, along with owning and operating a boutique (Chielle), providing a live soundtrack for the play 1001 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, doing design work for www.hookedonnature.com and generally growing her own hip corporation of one.

"I'm always looking for new projects, people to work with," she said. "I just got back from my first East Coast tour, and I'm getting ready for South by Southwest."

From hosting a night at the Snake Pit with KVCU-AM (1190) to playing '50s rock at The Skylark to spinning downtempo and lounge with a local burlesque troupe, 10 years of DJ experience have taught her to understand what an audience wants.

"What I'm known best for is versatility," she said. "A lot of people say that; delivering is the hard part. I think of myself as a librarian of music."

Navigating the shifting seas of underground culture can be tricky - last year's superstar is this year's "who?" - but Sara T's ability to seek out and embrace the new keeps her work vital.

"I have to keep growing," she said. "Denver is shifting and evolving. You have to go after what you want."

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• Track she can't live without:Surkin, Ghetto OBS 2006

• Where she spins: She'll be at the after-party for 1001 Saturday and Feb. 24 at Double Daughters, 1632 Market St.

• Local DJ she'd pay to see: DJ Ivy

• Records in her collection" Approximately 3,000

• Day job: "I have several. I've been self-employed for two years now- I'm not pretending like it's easy."

• On the Web: www.myspace.com/saratea

DJ WYATT EARP
Wyatt Jenkins

DJ Wyatt Earp doesn't need to fly to Ibiza in his own jet or be invited to play some celebrity's birthday in South Beach. He doesn't need to see his name in 50-point type next to a photo of himself in oversized sunglasses. Making late-nighters groove to something new will do just fine, thanks, and besides - he's already lived that life.

"From about 1999 to 2003, I traveled constantly," Earp, nee Wyatt Jenkins, said. "I had a record label (Hochokai), I was selling a ton, going to Brazil, London, South Africa - I got tired of it. Tired of airports, being in different places. It's not my style to be a rock star."

But if any local DJ were a rock star, it would be Earp. He developed into a leading light in Denver's dance scene in the early '90s, spinning at clubs like Rock Island and the I-Beam. He was a member of the now-defunct Casa Del Soul collective, which brought the Mile High electronic scene international attention, and was a founder - and first employee - of online music store beatport.com. And it's that last effort that he finds most important.

"It's like an iTunes for dance music," he said. "iTunes has these iPod-only formats. That doesn't work for DJs. (Beatport) is another outlet - safe, free and legal downloading of MP3s and WAVs. It's the No. 1 dance music channel in the world, here, in Denver."

Still, Earp still spins dance music a few times a week.

"It keeps me in the loop," he said.

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• Track he can't live without: "I play whatever isn't out yet. ... Before Internet shopping there would be that one track that literally every DJ would play. Now it's segregated, disposable. It's all moving at such a quick pace now, I can't remember what was in my set four months ago."

• Local DJ he would pay to see: "DJ Foxx. He's a friend of mine, he's from Chicago. He has soul, just soul - those old roots."

• Where he spins: Saturday nights at 2 AM, 1144 Broadway.

• How many records in his collection: "I've gone completely digital. ... But I probably have 20,000 sitting in the storage area of my house."

• Day job: Director of operations, Beatport.com

• On the Web: www.myspace.com/wyatt_earp_