Richard Quitevis is still moving forward. The famous battle DJ with a score of titles under his belt is today an enterprising man on the cusp of a transformation in music and media.

Where to begin when interviewing Qbert? Well, he has interests in music, media, software, hardware, production, teaching — the list goes on and on. But let’s talk about what is perhaps Qbert’s greatest love, his DJ school, and the recent success an Australian had in taking top honours.

“Well, we're still working on the school and that's still blowing up — it's the third year and it's tracking really well. In fact the third valedictorian for the Qbert school this year was from Perth — he was the best and he's got a sponsorship with Native Instruments now. He's totally amazing!”

Q is also spending as much time in the studio whenever he can, where he has some exciting material in the works. “Yeah, that's correct — right now I'm working on another album and I've got Kool Keith emceeing on there; I did a movie a while ago and we’re doing another animation project so that will be cool as well. Generally, I'm keeping pretty busy with all the touring and school stuff.”

With his DJing skills honed in an analogue age, DJ Qbert is still quick to keep up-to-date with the rash of technology advancements the scene has witnessed. But you can never take the old school scratch out of this scratch DJ. “It's like all these things you can do now with the technology that's out there; you couldn't do that back in the day. For me, I have to say that I love scratching; and I still love vinyl because it is still the most accurate. I mean, now you have stuff like video scratching, which is out there. But like anything that isn't vinyl, there is a tiny delay so it's not perfect and it can never be as accurate as vinyl.

“It's the same kind of issue you have with analogue versus electric or midi guitar — the acoustic guitar will always be the preferred thing. It's the same with pianists — they have classical organs, pianos and stuff. You have regular scratching and digital scratching. It's just a tree that keeps on growing.

“Man, ten years from now, party people will be scratching with their mind and not even touching an instrument — that would be pretty cool! Of course there will still be vinyl scratching, maybe it will be someone thinking of a sound and then putting it in the air and scratching the air,” he says in jest.

“I really think music is a healing thing and people will become more enlightened about it. The world is all about healing right now and people are more spiritually healthy which is a really good thing. Music in Indian culture for example was for healing. The idea behind it was that it was about regenerative energy and the way it fixes your mind.”

Yet for Q, the root of it all is scratching; everything stems from that. “If I work with a theatre company or if I'm talking about spirituality or whatever, I'll learn about stuff that has to do with scratching and how it links back. In Australia, they have the didgeridoo — it is a healing instrument; it vibrates your body into a state of bliss if you know what I mean? So I'm getting out there with all that knowledge and trying to apply it to music.”

Hip hop has always had a conscious slant, and Q is seeing that philosophy through. Finally, he’s excited about getting back to Australia this month. “For the show, I have a new set of pretty crazy music. It'll feature a range of styles of music from funky, dubstep, hip hop, electro bass, b-boy — expect the unexpected! I've also got this champion beatboxer coming down with me; he's like the dubstep godfather so it should be a pretty cool gig. I can't wait to get down there again! I always have a great time in Australia.”

And after all these years, he remains as gifted and relevant as ever.

DJ Qbert plays the Mustang Bar Sunday February 26. The event runs from 4-11pm, and is only $10.