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Trunkz, dubstep, and DJ diversions: Trojans setter Kilb provides a steady backbeat
October 10, 2012
CALGARY — A hundred and forty beats a minute? Yeah, you could say Justin Kilb’s other passion is every bit as pulse-pounding as collegiate volleyball.
After two years living and studying in Halifax, the 22-year-old Calgarian has returned to the SAIT Trojans men's volleyball team for the first time since captaining the Men of Troy to an Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference title in the spring of 2010.
As the squad’s starting setter, Kilb provides a steady backbeat on the court . . . just as he does as a DJ of considerable repute, composing and spinning his music in the electronic music genre known as dubstep.
“I started DJing four years ago in Calgary . . . it’s not that rewarding when you’re playing other people’s music, so I started making my own. And I chose dubstep, which has a tempo of 140 beats per minute, because it’s so new and it’s easier to get my name out there,” says Kilb, who performs under the stage name Trunkz.
“I’ve never sampled or pulled an audio file and put it into one of my songs. But I’ve done some remixes of classical piano pieces — and since I played piano as a kid, I re-recorded the piano track myself.”
Kilb doesn't aspire to be another Deadmau5 or Tiësto. But during his time in Halifax, a city whose five universities ensure a young, vibrant night-life, he was an increasingly sought-after DJ, performing at shows sponsored by Red Bull.
His music has been played internationally over the airwaves, and presented as a live arrangement, with stringed instruments, before an audience of a few hundred in Poland. And just recently, a Washington, D.C.-based record label expressed an interest in a working partnership, offering to promote his music.
“It does feel pretty awesome, but I really am trying to keep it as just a hobby,” says Kilb, whose music can be heard on his website, trunkz.ca
The Trojans, who have already compiled a 5-0 record in pre-season play, will play host to their own eight-team SAIT Trojans Pre-Season Tournament this weekend. Seven ACAC opponents — the Concordia Thunder, NAIT Ooks, MacEwan University Griffins, and King's Eagles of Edmonton, the Grande Prairie Regional College Wolves, the expansion Olds College Broncos, and the Briercrest College Clippers of Caronport, Sask. — will converge on the Campus Centre from Friday, Oct. 12 through Sunday, Oct. 14.
The Trojans meet the Ooks on Friday at 8 p.m., the Thunder on Saturday at 11 a.m., and the Clippers on Saturday at 8:30 p.m., with the medal round to follow on Sunday.
Kilb is tickled to be back in a Trojans uniform. He'd originally left for the land of the lobster to join the Dalhousie University Tigers men’s volleyball outfit, but a concussion limited his 2010-11 season to a pair of matches, and he did not play volleyball in 2011-12 for a variety of personal reasons.
And while he didn't gain any more experience on the game court, SAIT's interim head coach Andy Hayher says Kilb has undergone a positive change — while, at the same time, retaining his volleyball-friendly personality.
“He’s a quirky character, for sure, but he's also a good leader. I've always said that your setter should not only be your leader — he's also a counsellor and a psychologist at the same time," says Hayher, a longtime Trojans assistant who was part of that 2009-10 ACAC championship team with Kilb.
"He knows the right thing to say to somebody in the right circumstances. When it's a tight match, and guys are pretty tight, he knows how to loosen them up and get them to relax. His body language is never negative.
"And physically, just look at him. He's got to be 35, 40 pounds heavier now than he was the first time he played here," adds Hayher. "That's a testament to him making a commitment in the gym. When he stopped playing volleyball at Dal, it would have been real easy for him to shut it down. But in fact I think he probably went a little bit harder."
Kilb grew up in a volleyball household. His dad Brad Kilb coached at the University of Calgary for 18 years, as well as in Europe and with the Canadian junior national team. His mother, Bonnie MacRae, was a University of Calgary Dinos and Canadian national-team star, and is a member of the Dinos Hall of Fame.
Kilb admits he temporarily lost his passion for the smash-and-stuff life while he was in Halifax. But after returning home, and trying on the old familiar SAIT red-and-white, the petroleum engineering student has rediscovered his joy for the game.
“I’m a lot more relaxed now. I have a better balance in my life, and because of it, I think I play better, for sure. You adopt a different mentality as you get older,” he says. “And I’m so proud to be part of the SAIT scene, academically speaking, with all the expansion and the new (Trades and Technology Complex). SAIT is definitely a front-line option for education.”
SAIT Trojans Pre-Season Tournament
(eight-team men's volleyball tournament vs. ACAC opposition)
Date Visitor @ Home Venue Time
Friday, Oct. 12 Concordia vs. Briercrest Campus Centre 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 12 MacEwan vs. Olds Campus Centre 6 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 12 SAIT vs. NAIT Campus Centre 8 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 12 King’s vs. Grande Prairie Campus Centre 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 MacEwan vs. Gr. Prairie Campus Centre 9 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 NAIT vs. Briercrest Campus Centre 9 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 Olds vs. King’s Campus Centre 11 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 SAIT vs. Concordia Campus Centre 11 a.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 Grande Prairie vs. Olds Campus Centre 2:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 NAIT vs. Concordia Campus Centre 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 MacEwan vs. King’s Campus Centre 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 13 SAIT vs. Briercrest Campus Centre 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 14 3rd Pool A vs. 3rd Pool B Campus Centre 9 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 14 4th Pool A vs. 4th Pool B Campus Centre 9 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 14 2nd Pool A vs. 2nd Pool B Campus Centre 11 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 14 1st Pool A vs. 1st Pool B Campus Centre 1 p.m.
