In any context, the expectations put on the home team to win are immense. Adam Doubleyou felt that sentiment the moment he was crowned Canada’s latest king of Thre3style. Well aware of the legacy left by past champions, Adam knows just how big the shoes are that he has to fill. His determination to set the bar as high as possible is taking him to dizzying heights.

Adam’s winning sets – musically well-balanced, humorous, and full of Canadiana – sent fans into a frenzy, and fellow competitors are full of admiration for him on either side of the country. He will now enter Toronto under the scrutiny of thousands of casual partygoers and DJs worldwide. But the only benchmark he’s trying to attain is the one dictated by himself.

MOTIVATION GOING INTO THIS YEAR’S QUALIFIERS
I didn’t make it past the 2012 qualifiers. I just didn’t approach it properly. I lost to a very talented DJ, Fade Wizard. But still, I didn’t put in the time and effort that an event like this deserves. It was humbling and helped me regroup and come harder.

THE MONTREAL REGIONALS EXPERIENCE
When I found out I had been selected I was over the moon. I have friends and family and really wanted to turn some heads. I cleared my schedule for a month and retreated back into the studio.

All the DJs in Montreal were super hungry. Everybody played incredible sets. It was really interesting how everyone approached it. Some were very DMC-esque. Some were more producer-centric. It was really inspiring to watch.

As well, the Belmont is a great club with a loyal following. It’s just the right size for a vibe to reach a fever pitch when intense stuff is happening.

ADOPTING NEW TECHNOLOGY
In 2011, Hedspin played immediately after me, and while he was setting up, I noticed he had a 16-pad midi controller. And I said, “I didn’t know you could use those,” to which he replied, “Yeah man. Anything goes!” I thought to myself, “Damn, why didn’t I think of that?”

I got Maschine two weeks before the qualifiers, and it had never felt so right. I never used to buy any kind of drum machine. I finally picked one up and it was like, “Yes, this is what I’ve always wanted to do musically.” So many ideas that I already had started were being able to be performed instead of mixed.

If I had come up with something that was even sort of off, I scrapped it. I need to be bang on because Fourcolorzack and Hedspin set a really high standard. They came out with ideas fully developed, and they were masters of them. DJ Enferno also helped to steer my course in the short time I met him.

TORONTO AS THE HOST CITY OF A GLOBAL DJ COMPETITION
Toronto is a city with an amazing, inspiring musical background. It’s the most multicultural city in the world. So what better place to have an event where the format is bringing many genres to a set? Everybody is a fan of more than one kind of music.

PERFORMING AT THE WORLD FINALS
When you’re in the zone and an idea hits, it’s like a lightning rod that comes into the house. I live for that feeling and I’m chasing those moments. I’m excited to perfect them and unleash them. There’s a lot of work from A to B, but you know you have that light in the distance. It motivates you to work more because you have that sketch of what to work towards.

The difficult part of preparing these sets is that often you have so many ideas fighting for space within those fifteen minutes. You have to make hard editorial decisions as to what stays and what doesn’t. At the end of the day, the real goal is to do whatever I do as cleanly as possible.