As I Am The Life & Times of DJ AM

This documentary intros with a voice over from DJ AM indicating that "I like to be happy.  I like to help other people.  I don't wanna hurt anybody."   I would suspect there is a lot more beneath that bassline that I believe As I AM The Life & Times of DJ AM  has tried to spin.

Let me explain.  "I like to be happy."  That actually translates to I like to make others happy.  His time in the DJ booth is about making sure the audience had a good time. DJ AM was the magician of the turntables and the "puppet master of the dance floor".  In other words, he liked to help other people have a good time. 

His desire to "help other people" played out in many other ways.  During his career DJ AM remastered what the salary expectations were for industry DJs.  Then there was his work with Dr. Drew on a show about hard core drug addiction.  He definitely re-mixed what as intervention could look like.  Unfortunately, that desire to help others began to scratch his soul the wrong way.  

Not only was there the desire to not hurt anybody else but it becomes increasingly obvious in As I AM The Life & Times of DJ AM that he wouldn't let anyone see his pain either.  There were so many professional requests of him that there is no wonder he succumbed to a break.  Those with obsessive natures have a very difficult time maintaining anything that remotely resembles a balanced life.  As much as he may have set the bar high for others it had to be reaching a deafening level within his own internal headphone monitor.  

The DJ gods may have just put his life on too intense of a loop.  That's probably why he reached for that one final sample to get high.  His life was on a track that only he could have arranged the outro for.  

As I AM The Life & Times of DJ AM is a great mash-up of audio/visual clips spliced with intense beats that will make you want to hit REWIND!       

HOT DOCS Screening Times
Saturday, April 25, 2015 - 8:00 p.m. - The Royal Cinema
Sunday, April 26, 2015   - 6:15 p.m. - Scotiabank Theatre
Sunday, May 3, 2015      - 3:15 p.m. - The Royal Cinema