Three different DJs, three unique styles and an entire planet's selection of music-that's what you get when you bring NuEra Entertainment to your party. This group comes with all the skills and equipment of professional DJs but targets a more localized audience: students. As the group has begun to acquire a name throughout the greater Boston area, NuEra continues to perfect its customized sounds, which range across genres such as dancehall, reggaeton, soca, hip hop, R&B, trance and techno (just to name a few) in order to achieve its mission of boosting Brandeis' party scene to a whole new level.With their versatile approaches to mixing music, DJ Sensation (Johnny Wilson '13), DJ Vicious (JV Souffrant '13) and DJ Ckd (Carl Decoteau '13) will spin you no wrong. Since their first year at Brandeis in the 2008-2009 Transitional Year Program, these three have each developed their own relationship with different genres of music.

Despite the fact that much of NuEra's experience stems from reggae, the group has expanded its interests and fittingly plans to expand its clientele. With over 10,000 songs in their library, the DJs have made parties to be proud of. The group's proudest accomplishments include last year's Culture X after party, the Cinco de Mayo party in Cholmondoley's and a smaller party at Boston College. NuEra recently provided music for ABLAZE in collaboration with Ahora! on campus.

"We don't specialize in anything," Wilson explained in an interview with the Justice. "We play all types of music. I like house-club techno. [Souffrant] loves Baltimore club, which is a form of old school hip-hop with house and techno. And [Decoteau] loves old-school music."

While these sophomores have certainly made their presence known on campus through word of mouth and social media, they have also expanded into Waltham and well into the Boston area. "Right now, we do parties every weekend," said Souffrant. "We do Boca Bar on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We got into Boston, just colleges. Right now the college thing is pretty big."

Wilson elaborated on the entertainment NuEra provides in the area. "[The people perform for] go to schools all over New England, so we have connections at Bentley and Boston?College. We are in the works for Nichols College, and we're trying to outreach to a lot of other bars in Waltham. We just got invited to do the New Landing."

How exactly did Wilson, Souffrant and Decoteau create such an enterprise? The answer goes well beyond the party scene and into the inner workings of this small startup organization. Aside from creating music mixes, the DJs have each taken additional responsibilities to ensure that NuEra continues to spread its name and build a solid reputation. As promoter, Decoteau handles publicity on Facebook and arranges bookings. Wilson specializes in photography at parties and also assists with some promoting tasks. Souffrant, who in his own words does "a little bit of everything," helps publicity efforts and raps as well.

But the meticulously run administrative end tells only part of the story. NuEra's roots go back to its beloved mentor DJ Esquire, a TYP graduate and Brandeis alum known outside the DJ sphere as Darryl David '08. David is currently a teacher at Orchard Gardens, a pilot elementary school in Boston that focuses heavily on social sciences and life skills. All three NuEra members attribute their talent to their mentor, whom they call "Professor Esquire." And like most professors, David made sure to challenge the aspiring DJs, always leaving them on their own to find the path toward the perfect mix.

"At first, he had us search for it. It wasn't something he offered us," Souffrant recounted. "He wanted to see if we were really interested in doing it. So we followed him around, shadowed him, picked up his equipment. He started teaching us, and here we are today."

Before teaching the boys the skills and the equipment, David served as their TYP mentor. At first, David poked fun at these unique members of the new TYP class, calling Wilson "chubby" and Decoteau a "character." But no matter how much the boys irked him by touching his equipment, David saw the leadership capabilities in them and the friendship the boys were forging among themselves. David encouraged them to develop their natural skill and passion for music.

The group pursued the art of DJing with an attitude of determination. Still in novice mode, the group that would become NuEra acquired a MIDI device, a cheaper alternative to mini turntables that could connect to a laptop. They learned gradually how to mix house and Baltimore club music, a complex three-layered song that includes techno and hard bass line.

After practicing with David and learning all he had to teach, the group absorbed not only David's DJing skill but also his prominent role at Brandeis. The members of NuEra recalled David's personal parting words to them as he graduated from the University: "I'm going to leave the school for you. You guys have to take it over now."

Having progressed from David's reggae/reggaeton music style, NuEra has grown more versatile and spins a wide variety of genres. Wilson has gotten into club music; Souffrant has adopted Zuke, or Caribbean-style music; and Decoteau has mastered old school music. They continue to expand their repertoire.

"[Decoteau] told me the other week he wants to do country music. I'm currently learning Bollywood and Indian music," Wilson said.

"Being that Brandeis is such a diverse school, I think NuEra fits perfectly within it. We all come from different places in the world, and we play different music from different parts of the world," Souffrant said.

"We want to do a Pachanga," he added, "We've shown to Brandeis we can do it, but we want to show Brandeis on a larger scale that we can do those types of parties."

While each DJ in NuEra has a specialized style, they all play at the same time, making for a more wholesome group and intricate, exciting music. "That's what makes us unique. You get three DJs in one," Wilson said. "That's what I love about this group. . We share a piece of the pie, and it makes one whole."

"Being thrown on the spot at a party is very tough," Souffrant said. "It takes a certain type of person who really can do the job. It's really difficult. At the end of the day, you have to be willing to do stuff you didn't think you would be able to do."

Wilson echoed this sentiment, saying, "I get nervous when people look at me while I'm DJing." Despite this, the boys claim that on-the-spot performances are key to a DJ's success.

"Sometimes people just admire the work you're doing, and they just keep staring," said Souffrant. "I think the key to being a DJ is cancel out everything except the music and the crowd."

The members of NuEra would not have accomplished what they have in terms of musical knowledge, DJ skill and impressive reputation had they not committed so wholeheartedly to their primary goal. Through DJing, NuEra intends to bring Brandeis into a new era.

"There's a DJ on campus that's just as good or better than DJs in Boston," he said. "We're a powerhouse," Souffrant said.