Mark Katz, associate professor of music at UNC, isn't your typical musicologist.

Students stopping by for office hours have to scoot past the professional turntable rig set up in his office. Among the guest artists he's brought to campus are GrandWizzard Theodore, one of the inventors of turntablism. And his new book, "Groove Music: The Art and Culture of the Hip Hop DJ," will soon be competing for shelf space in the student bookstore with tomes on Schubert and Mozart.

Professor Katz recently took time to chat while preparaing for his part in this week's massive CHAT Festival at UNC. The CHAT fest, which stands for "Collaborations: Humanities, Arts & Technology ," is presenting a series of performances, discussions, exhibitions and workshops focusing on technology in the arts and humanities. For more information, visit www.chatfestival2010.com.

Katz's contribution is part of the music department's Festival on the Hill, which features two components: a series of electro-acoustic performances coordinated by faculty specialist Stephen Anderson; and "The Art and Culture of the DJ," a symposium coordinated by Katz featuring performances, scholarly presentations and discussions.

The festival kicks off with a dance party Thursday in Gerrard Hall, with music and video by a variety of local DJs and VJs.

CHN: How did the idea for "The Art and Culture of the DJ" festival come about?

Katz: I was asked to help organize the Music Department's biennial festival and was given free rein to decide what it would be about. Since I'm writing a book about the art and culture of the DJ I thought a festival on the topic would be a great way to share my interest in the subject with students, colleagues, and the community.

CHN: I'm guessing you're the only musicologist on the faculty with a turntables and a mixer in your office. How are your turntablism skills?

Katz: I can do some basic scratches, like the baby, the stab, and the transformer, but nothing really advanced. If I practiced as much as the great scratch DJs practice, I wouldn't have time to write my book.

CHN: Do you have a moniker? I have some suggestions: DJ Stray Katz. The Katznjammin Kid.

Katz: I like your suggestions, but I've already had one bestowed on me: Scratchdaddy. One day when my daughter was a baby she waving her hands very close to my face, and my wife said, "Anna, don't scratch daddy!" Thenceforth, I was known as Scratchdaddy.

CHN: I understand you recently dug into the videogame DJ Hero.

Katz: It's a lot of fun, and the mixes are great. It's not exactly like DJing, though it's definitely easier than the real thing. I hope people who play the game appreciate the skill required to be a good DJ.

CHN: You're also faculty advisor and a DJ at the student radio station. What is your show like?

Katz: My shows are pretty eclectic. On my last show I played, among other things, Franz Schubert, Curtis Mayfield, and a death metal band whose name should not be printed in a family newspaper. WXYC is one of the great free-form college radio stations, and I'm proud to be its faculty advisor and a DJ there.

CHN: What is it about DJ culture and turntablism that appeals to you as a music scholar?

Katz: As someone who studies the intersections of music and technology, I'm interested by the ways in which DJs use turntables and records to make music. Good DJs don't simply play records or CDs. They create something new and essentially treat the turntable as a musical instrument. I find that fascinating.

CHN: Were you into this stuff as a fan in your high school and college days?

Katz: Not really. Although I liked some rock, I was a violinist and listened mostly to classical music. My idols were Jascha Heifetz and Itzhak Perlman.

CHN: Who are some of your favorite DJs, or hip-hop / dance artists?

Katz: I really like Qbert, Kid Koala, DJ Logic, Rob Swift, and GrandWizzard Theodore, to name a few.

CHN: DJ culture places a premium on things like improvisation, sampling and interesting juxtapositions -- mashing up disparate elements to create something new and extemporaneous. Do you find that this spirit influences you as an educator in the classroom? As a scholar and researcher?

Katz: I definitely enjoy unusual juxtapositions, whether as a listener, teacher, or scholar. In my lectures I sometimes bring together things that normally wouldn't be uttered in the same sentence -- like sonata form and The Love Boat or Anton Webern and Nicolas Cage -- in the hope of illuminating what might otherwise seem obscure or opaque. I do the same thing in my scholarship, too.

CHN: Will you be spinning at the dance party? What can us folks who plan to be on the dance floor expect?

Katz: For the sake of the dancers, no, I won't be spinning. I have a number of excellent local DJs who will be playing some great contemporary dance music, and we'll also have VJs manipulating video images in time with the beats. We'll be starting off with something very special -- artist Francesa Talenti has created an interactive light installation called The Bathysphere, which she calls an "underwater opera and an interactive game."

CHN: You're also a classically trained violinist. Violin plus dance music usually means the fiddle. Isn't it about time someone reinvented the violin for 21st century dance music?

Katz: Yes, and it's being done. Miri Ben-Ari is a hip-hop fiddler and has performed with some of the biggest names in the business. She rocks.

CHN: Anything else you'd like to highlight about the event?

MK: Yes, there are two other components to "The Art and Culture of the DJ" in addition to the dance party. There will be two concerts on Thursday and Friday the 18th and 19th by UNC's Charanga Carolina that will feature Latin dance music with turntables. If you go you will hear new music that I commissioned from Raúl Yañez and DJ Radar. During the day on Friday there will be a series of lectures by prominent scholars various aspects of DJ culture. You can get the complete schedule at chatfestival2010.com.