frontlines
Laying Down The Beats
SpringElation Set
May 28; Raises
Funds For JARC
Michael Higer
JN Intern
A
t age 3, Bradley Levine received his first drum set.
Ever since, he has had a drive for making music.
"I started off as a drummer and wanted to go to
music school" he said. "I also tried ukulele, mandolin and
bass guitar, and that's what really got me into music"
Four years ago, Levine moved from behind his drum set to
the turntables and discovered his passion in DJing. It didn't
take long before he was the opening act for some of the top
DJs in the world.
Levine, 18, entered a contest put on by the Verge Campus
Tour, searching for the next up-and-coming DJ to open for
their show at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.
The winner of the contest was selected based on fan voting,
mix selection and creativity.
When performing, Levine goes by his stage name DJ
BLiNK. He entered his mix titled "Melbourne Bounce Mix
2014" and he and his manager, Spenser Marrich-Simon, got
friends and family to vote and spread the word of the contest
through social media.
"We did a lot of outreach on social media sites like
Facebook and Twitter" said Marrich-Simon, an 18-year-old
senior at Groves High School.
"The last day of the competition we were actually down,
but we wound up receiving 550 votes on the last day, which
brought us to nearly 1,200"
Those 1,200 votes from his family and friends were enough
to put DJ BLiNK over the top in the contest.
Due to a transportation issue, Levine was unable to per-
form at the Johns Hopkins show, but the Verge Campus Tour
made his dream come true by putting him in their lineup
for a show in Columbus, Ohio, on May 5. The show included
performances from popular electronic DJs including Radical
Something, Logic and Krewella.
Prior to the Verge Tour, Levine's biggest performance was
JN CONTENTS
May 15-21, 2014 I
j
DJ BLINK (Brad Levine) at the turntable
for a BBYO-sponsored concert last April. For that show, he
opened for the band Timeflies in front of a crowd of 500 of
his peers. His Columbus experience, however, in front of
more than 2,000 concert-goers was one he will never forget.
"The greatest part was right when I got off stage, people
swarming me, asking for pictures" he said. "It made all the
countless hours of staying inside and mixing all worth it. It
was one of the most surreal moments of my life."
Levine, a resident of West Bloomfield, is currently finish-
ing his senior year at Bloomfield Hills High School. After
graduation, he plans to continue to pursue a career in music.
In the fall, he will attend Columbia College Chicago to study
audio arts and acoustics.
"If I could make it as a DJ that would be my ultimate goal"
he said. "Recording and mixing for movies, like [those by]
Pixar, would be awesome"
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15-21 Iyar 5774 I Vol. CXLV, No. 15
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Danny Raskin
Shabbat Lights
Shabbat: Friday, May 16, 8:30 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, May 17, 9:40 p.m.
Lag b'Omer: Sunday, May 18
Shabbat: Friday, May 23, 8:37 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, May 24, 9:48 p.m.
Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.
44
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ARC, an organization serving
people with disabilities, presents
its 16th annual SpringElation
fundraiser, an all-inclusive family fun
night at the Detroit Zoo from 6-9 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28.
Festivities include a private evening at
the zoo with a picnic dinner and dessert
catered by Quality Kosher Catering, free
parking and access to many of the zoo's
popular exhibits and attractions, includ-
ing a special polar bear feeding, rides on
the Carousel and Tauber Family Railroad.
Live entertainment will be provided by
StarTrax and PAWS, the Detroit Tigers
mascot, will pose for photos. Also look
for crafts and games with prizes for kids.
This year's event will showcase entries
from JARC's second annual SpringElation
art contest; winners will be announced.
SpringElation chairs are Deborah
Kovsky-Apap of Oak Park and Ethan
Gross of West Bloomfield; associate
chairs are Lindsey and Greg Weitzman of
West Bloomfield.
Quicken Loans, Title Source, Bedrock
Real Estate Services, Gilbert Films and
Bienenstock Nationwide Court Reporting
& Video are the official presenting spon-
sors this year.
"Community support is so important
in what we do every day, and this fund-
raiser is key to helping us raise important
funds to be able to provide JARC services
for a lifetime to those we serve" said Rick
Loewenstein, CEO of JARC.
SpringElation is the major source of
private funding for JARC's services for
children and their families. All proceeds
raised will benefit hundreds of children
with disabilities, including autism, devel-
opmental delays and physical and emo-
tional disabilities, and their families.
Community support is critical. For
example, a $100 donation pays for six
hours of respite care in the family home
so parents can work or spend quality
time with their other children. A $250
contribution pays for five hours of advo-
cacy to help families access the mental
health system. And a $1,000 donation
pays for 50 hours of skills instruction to
prepare young adults to move into their
own apartments.
SpringElation is open to the public;
tickets are $25 per guest (children under
2 are free). Individual sponsorships start
at $100 and corporate sponsorships
begin at $1,500. For tickets or to learn
about sponsorship, visit www.jarc.org or
call (248) 538-6611. To volunteer at
SpringElation, contact Melissa Garrett at
(248) 488-7541.
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May 15 • 2014
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