PAULSKRATCH

Paul Belen, also known as Paulskratch, is the owner and operator of Skratcher, a global collective of skratch DJs and enthusiasts. We’ve worked together with Paul a lot in the past and we did a deep dive into his life. Below are excerpts from our collabo at the time.

What were some of the activities or artworks that you were interested in as a kid?

I drew a lot. I loved drawing and I used to copy whatever comic books I had; all I collected as a kid were comic books. I lived on East 45th and Fraser and my friends and I back in elementary school used to go all the way to Main, close to Science World. There was this comic book store and we used to bike there and buy comic books.

I’m such a nerd, collecting whatever was related to comic books.

Anyways, back then, they were allowed to hit you. In grade two, I hit this kid with a thick ass branch. I hit him in the face and he had this mark on his eye. I got sent to the principal’s office and I was all like, “Whatever, what are you going to do?” He actually pulled out this thick belt and it was thicker than the iPhone for sure. He was just trying to scare me, I think, and he slams it on his desk, making this loud sound. That should shake a kid, right? No, it didn’t shake me – I just stood there. He said, “Put your hands out, both on top of the other. This is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you.: He hits me. What he didn’t know was that Filipino families hit you anyways, but it was just wild – you would get hit in elementary school. I got sent there often.

What were some of the biggest difficulties in balancing the regular struggles in life with the passions in your life?

I had two jobs at the time and I had a girl at the time who wanted all your attention. It was hard because I would be going from one job to another and then in between, I would picture what I would do once I got home. As soon as I got home, what was I going to do on the turntables without wasting time? It was hard because I didn’t learn anything. I was a scratch DJ and I was trying to learn new techniques and I just couldn’t do it. During that four years of my life, I thought I was done. I thought that DJing was a hobby and I thought I had to do real life stuff.

What was the moment that changed you back to believing that DJing is real life in your life?

I didn’t realize it until we broke up. I moved back to Toronto and we broke up and I was starting from scratch again. I was used to a lifestyle that was about working and family stuff. What am I going to do now? When I left Toronto, I left all my stuff there. The only thing I brought back was my computer, my records and my turntable and that was all I had left. When I sat in my room again, I looked at my turntables and thought, “What am I going to do now?”

Tell us about an important moment in your life

My dad picked me up and he was waiting in the car. He was like, “So what is it?”

I told him I had cancer. My dad and I are close but we weren’t emotionally close. He was a man-man and we don’t talk about love or being happy with each other. He’s a straight up dude. Driving home, he started saying stuff about not worrying about it and how God was going to take care of it. That was the first time in the longest time that I started crying. I started crying in the car. It wasn’t a crazy cry, it was just some tears. But holy shit, I was actually human and I did feel emotional about this.

We got home and my dad went upstairs first. I was downstairs and just trying to grab something to eat. When I went back upstairs, there was a crack in the door and my dad was on his knees praying for me and crying. It was the craziest thing I’ve seen in my life – seeing my dad crying on his knees and praying that his son would be better.

Through all that, what was the greatest lesson?

I see life so differently now. Everything you do, day to day, you have to cherish it more. You know how growing up, all you think about are your friends? Your friends are your new family. But in reality, it’s your mom, your dad, your brother, your sister, your cousin…they are the real family. I look at them differently and I feel different about them. I feel like I’ve taken up so much shit to know that if it does come back, I got to finish all the stuff and goals that I have in life.

After that, dude, I feel like I can face anything. That’s how I came up with the Almighty. You know the saying where people are saying, “FML (fuck my life)”? I’ve never used that term because there are bigger things in the world than that shit. You think your life is garbage because of something small happening in your life? There are other things to think about. Until shit like this happens to, yeah, you’ll look at life differently.

Throughout all these struggles and experiences, it has led to the Almighty attitude. What does this mean to you?

Dream, create, believe. I’ve dreamt about it, going into high school. Then going abouts to create it, you just don’t know what to expect, such as being diagnosed with cancer. You just have to get up and do it, and then believe in it. A, this is my life. I am going to push my life to you as a product, my lifestyle. I was dreaming this as a kid and always had some sort of vision. Now, I’m creating it and believing it.