Steve Porter

Steve Porter cracked Internet fame by setting an old Slap Chop food-slicer infomercial to song. Now the DJ is doing work for big brands that want viral attention, remixing video and turning the audio into songs for ESPN, the NFL, IBM, and more.

Case study:

The chorus hook for Porter's "Linsanity" video, commissioned by the New York Knicks

Make a mix

Porter's early hooks were accidental--he just added melody to someone's speech. But he can't count on serendipity on deadline. "Now I approach this like songwriting: taking a clip reel of dialogue, shattering it like a jigsaw puzzle, putting it back together."

Add more than a punch line

Porter can't rely on novelty; everyone's seen a video remix. Instead, his videos tell a story. For Lin, he says, "I picked clips that touched on important points: how hard a road it's been, his nicknames, his amazing plays. Those pillars become part of the song structure."

Praise your client

"Sometimes the client will say, ‘Here's a bunch of stuff, go nuts.' In this case, the Knicks said, ‘We'd love to have something that's not so Lin-centric,' " Porter says. So he highlighted what he knew would make the team happy: that Lin is a product of his team.