WHO American DJ Z-Trip can rock a massive crowd. Zach Sciacca has played to nearly half a million people at Toronto’s SARStock in ‘03, played Coachella and Bonnaroo twice and aimed to lift the spirits of — or at least momentarily distract — thousands of US soldiers in Kuwait at Camp Buehring earlier this year as part of a concert streamed live on MySpace.

The Phoenix, Arizona native got his start in 1992 with fellow Bombshelter crew DJs Radar and Emile. Several years before “mash-up” became a buzzword, Z-Trip was rocking the genre-pulverizing style, mixing Metallica, Tears For Fears and Phil Collins with breaks and beats. He grabbed the global scene’s attention in 2001 with Uneasy Listening, a collaboration with hip-hop DJ and DMC champ DJ P that was never officially released but was extensively downloaded and even noted in Rolling Stone magazine. He’s appeared in the dance music doc Scratch and live concert movies such as Brainfreeze and Product Placement alongside friends DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. In 2005, Z-Trip made his major label debut with Shifting Gears, whose first single “Walking Dead” featured Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and charted in the Top 20. Also a sought-after remixer, Z-Trip famously reworked The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and has just posted on his website a “hard as hell” remix of “Mama Said Knock You Out” as a prelude to his forthcoming new mixed set as well as several weeks touring Europe and Canada.

WHAT Z-Trip is inspired by jazz, dub-step, funk, hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, classical, southern rock, metal, reggae, electronic and “anything with bagpipes,” he says. “Having a crowd that is fearless with their taste in music and up for anything [is the best DJing experience] — along with a sound system that can handle anything you throw at it. Also, a couple of good cocktails.”

WHERE Friday, July 11 at Make It Funky with King Sunshine, Big League Chu, Tasc and more. Revival (783 College). $25 advance, more at door.

FAVOURITE RECORD OF ALL TIME Bob Marley And The Wailers, Babylon By Bus

FAVOURITE RECORD RIGHT NOW “Too many to pick just one.”

FAVOURITE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW www.cutewithchris.com. “The most bizarre blog/show in a minute. Suck it, Tonya!”

WHAT IS YOUR MOST SURREAL DJING EXPERIENCE? “The first time I played at Bonnaroo and had the entire crowd [hold their] lighters in the air, and then blow them out like on a birthday cake (check the video clip on www.myspace.com/djztrip). So glad someone caught it on camera, because the moment is too hard to describe.”

DIGITAL OR ANALOG? Both.

WHAT IS VITAL TO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE? Coffee.

WHAT GLOBAL ISSUE CONCERNS YOU MOST RIGHT NOW? Global warming.

WHAT IS YOUR RING TONE RIGHT NOW? Silent.

WHAT IS THE LAST GREAT FILM YOU SAW? Star Wars.

WHAT ACTOR WOULD PLAY YOU IN A BIOPIC? Harry Connick Jr.

WHAT ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? “The in-flight magazines are off the chain.”

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