Recording a do-it-yourself process for DJ-producer Rusko

If you are a musician and you finish recording a new song in the studio, then how do you listen to it objectively afterward to determine if it's any good?

In the case of DJ-producer Rusko - performing tonight at Wynn's XS nightclub - he emails a new song to himself, then listens to it on his phone speaker.

"Which is kind of strange," the lighthearted Rusko says. "But I know a lot of people listen to music on their iPhones. You hear so many different weird things you can't hear on the big speakers."

That's not strange, actually. All musicians have their own methods to judge their own work.

If memory serves, I read a story years ago in the music press claiming Prince burned new demos onto a cassette, then drove around Minnesota listening to them. And if he didn't like the songs, he would throw the cassette into a river along his drive.

But let's get back to Rusko, the 27-year-old Brit. He records his mixes in Laurel Canyon, Calif., in a one-room outhouselike studio at his home on a secluded hillside.

"I can make a lot of noise, 24 hours."

So far, he has hit dance floors with original and fun dubstep-drum and bass thumpers "Hold On," "Woo Boost" and "Everyday."

Although, he just left his record label to start his own do-it-yourself label, so he could give fans a quicker delivery system.

"That way, I can make a couple of tracks and get them out to people as quickly as I can, rather than waiting six months for a record label to put it out," he says.

It used to be annoying, waiting for record executives to plan Rusko rollouts.

"They would say, 'The album's finished - it'll be out in six months time,' " he says. "Sometimes when you spin a song on the dance floor, it's a year before it's on Beatport. That drives me crazy!

"The last record I finished in October of last year didn't come out until mid-March. My album! During that time, I made a whole bunch of new songs I could have got on there."

Unlike many DJs, Rusko spins a few new tracks at club appearances in Vegas.

"I use (club gigs) to test out a bunch of my new tracks, because it's an excited, up-for-everything party, and the sound system is so good," Rusko says.

Once those new songs are tested and well-received, he will be able to release them for download as soon as possible.

"I just want it to be as easy as possible for people to get a hold of my music," he says.

He's putting out his new EP, "KaPow," in late October.

"I'm just going to be DIY," he says. And like a DIY punk rocker, he half-jokes about his punk cred: "I've got my mohawk!"

Doug Elfman's column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Email him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.