Transcript of  DJ interview 

Emmy:  Okay, so, to start off, if you're good to start, Michelle, I just wanted to ask, so what got you into DJing and just like, why do you like it? Could you just give me a brief rundown on it all?

Michelle: Yea, so it started from seeing it become so popular on social media, specifically TikTok, and it was a big hobby of mine. I got a controller, the DJ Flex, for my birthday last year. And I had nothing to do all summer, so I kind of just tried it out and it was pretty fun.

Emmy: Wait, that's amazing. I love that you went on like social media and were like, you know what? I can do this too, because, honestly, that seems like such a cool skill. I find it so daunting because I would love to be able to DJ myself, but so, as you mentioned, it seems like you're kind of self-taught with this and learning it, so what would you say is one of the harder skills of learning or like techniques with DJing?

Michelle:  I think once you figure out all the buttons, realize what like that does versa another that's one thing, but then you have to find like the right songs that mash into each other, like nicely and then that's the most annoying part of it and honestly, like, even now it's just such trial and error and it can be frustrated, but I think it can also be a little bit fun. 

Emmy: Right, right. So how does it work? Do you have a set of songs that you've made already, or how do you go about even making a song, like starting a new project? Like, how does that work for you, your process? 

Michelle: I actually like just finished the first set, like the other day because that's been like the most challenging part of it transition, like one song into the other, but then I'll just leave it at that and I'll just like do something with two songs, but I finally got to the point where I did like, like, make, like a whole, like, playlist of songs that all kind of flow into each other, so that's really cool. But normally, like, I would always kind of just like find two random songs, like, in my day-to-day, like, I'll just be listening to music, and then I'll like this idea, will come to me when I'm not DJing. and then I'll like to text my friends, like, I need to do this or I'll put my notes, and then I'll come back to it whenever I do, actually DJ and try it out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but it doesn't matter, it's fun to try it out.

Emmy: Wait, no, that's really cool. So, when you think of DJing, what is your, like, vibe that you wanna portray to your listeners? Like, what is the intent of the music that you're putting out into the world? 

Michelle: I don’t like to base my music on the crowd. I don't know. I don't know if it's a little controversial, but I just want to make whatever I wanna make for myself. then it's like if you like it, you like it, if you don't, you don't like I was thinking about it like oh, if I ever like like a I like a frat or like a bar or whatever the hell, like, I would not want to play like Taylor Swift hits. I really like techno, and then mashing that in with some good, like house songs. Like I really like house and techno, so I would kind of just pull that, and I think that they would vibe, I think they would vibe.

Emmy: I agree. I think they, like, would sound good together, so just to clear the air, have you performed at that venue before?  cause I know you said you just started or like just in front of your friends? 

Michelle: I have not played anywhere, but I am going to play at my friend's house party in a few weeks. And hopefully I will eventually play in public spaces. I feel like that's a good place to start. It's like a house where, you know, like if it's like you do mess up, it's not like the biggest deal, it's like around people that you know, and you like them, so.  It's a very safe and fun environment.  And hopefully, I will get to the point where I would like to play at bigger parties, like venues or anything like that, like a frat or something. I don't know. 

Emmy:  I agree, yeah, you gotta start small, though, and I feel like you're working your way through the process and everything.

Emmy: Do you have any specific DJs that you aspire to or like, where do you get your motivation from, like for it?

Michelle: I don't have a specific person,  I don't like the way that John Summit does his sets because I feel like he's more like a millennial. But I like black coffee or stuffy, and then DJ Mandy on TikTok because she's kind of fun. DJ Mandy is basically like she started on TikTok, making terrible mixes, but she did it on purpose, but then she like actually like got pretty good so and she kind of just smashes like the lyrics of one song into like the instrumental of another so that's like I that's how I started it off, you know just like mashing two different components of songs. So I get a lot of it from her too.

Emmy: Whoa, wait, that's so cool. Um, would you say that as you were researching DJ or like, like watching or like listening to other people, do you feel like do you find that there's any stereotypes between, like male and DJs or just like any discrepancies along the way? 

Michelle: I feel like whenever I like see the comments of a lot of like female Ds that play, it's more so like because in DJ you can like pre record your set and then just play it or you can mix live where you like actually like mash a songs up like on the board as like time is going and I feel like I always see like a lot of comments like with the days where it's like oh you recorded like this is like which is like kind of but they don't they just receive more criticism. And also females are way more sexualized than men. 

Emmy: Wow, yeah, that's interesting, cause I well that's another kind of question. I was gonna get in because I feel like I've heard a lot of controversy with that when it comes to concerts, for example, like John Summit, people just say like he's just jumping up and down the whole time and his sets are prerecorded, how does that work? or what's the environment like? 

Michelle: like it, honestly might just be that it's recorded, but he won't receive the same ridicule for it. I feel like I mean I've liked others with this one. I forgot her name, but she was getting like the same thing that like it was she was like jumping up but like that doesn't mean that she was pre-recording, you know? But like she was accused of it.

 Emmy: Right, which I feel like it's just not fair. So how do you see DJing as a form of artistic, like artistic expression? I know you said that, you looked on TikTok and you thought this is a cool skill and you're like, wait, I could do this. But like, what do you, like, hope to gain out of it, like, through, like, visual storytelling, and like, your picture perfect world, like, if you were to, like, DJ set like, right now, like, what would it look like? I know you kind of mentioned EDM music and et cetera.

Michelle: if I were DJ my dreams right now, I think I like like jazz and like EDM so I think I would like try to incorporate all the like odd like elements cause like how often do you see like a jazz song being mixed with EDM so I think if I can like I think the beauty of DJing is that you can make like two completely different things sound well together if you just do it the right way. So I think that would be the goal to kind of like tell that like or like I guess like juxtapose.

Emmy: Yeah, no I  agree. I feel like there's so much artistic freedom and expression through it. It's like things that you wouldn't do but they do. It's a cool thing to hear, so I think, like it's the beauty of just putting these things there that are so unlike together and then it works, so yeah. So you're obviously like a college student at Northeastern, like you're a busy girl, so how do you have time to fit in your busy schedule to like practice this hobby/proof profession and get better at it? 

Michelle: I honestly like it because I'm an electrical engineering major, so it's also really time consuming. Yeah, so I kind of like spend some class time like thinking about how like what I wanna do when I get home is just like DJ or just like I just keep thinking like to myself but I don't often have the time to do it throughout the week, but I guess like when Thursday and then the weekend hits that's when all kind of like whenever the end of the week hits and I have nothing to do then I'll do it.

Emmy:  Right. That makes sense cause it's like you're downtime something you enjoy doing. What do you think is your target audience, like who you DJ? 

Michelle:  I think I honestly don't know, people are age? I don't think that I wouldn't even limit it to like people that like EDM because I don't think the songs that are mixed are crazy EDM. So I think just like people are aged that kind of listen to like pop music everyday music because I like the other day, like I mix this one, like random song with like a good like drum/beat, but I mix it into some Charlie XX song you know so I think like I would  incorporate like elements both that, like people know and they don't know. So I think just like people who aren't like college kids, like that just want to not listen to everyday music whenever they go out. 

Emmy: I feel like that's the end goal because then it makes you stand out and be unique and different from the other people around you. Can you just remind me what was your biggest, like, struggle or maybe like challenge learning how to DJ? Was it a specific technique, other than like you were kind of mentioning, that mashing certain songs?

Michelle:  I was honestly really discouraged in the beginning because I couldn't find the right songs and they all just sounded terrible when I would mix them. So I was like, this is not for me like I don't have a good ear for this, but I think like the more I got like comfortable with everything and the more like I got comfortable with the board, it kind of came more naturally and even now like whenever I find two songs and they just don't happen to work like it doesn't discourage me. Is it as much as it used to be? So I guess I just had to get over that, like an initial hill, you know? 

Emmy: Yeah, no, no, that makes total sense. Um, just like one last question to wrap up, what would you say is the most rewarding, like feeling or just like experience through DJing?

Michelle:  Um, whenever I get to play my songs for like my close friends, like I'll either like play for my roommates or I'll like record it and send it to like my brother and my friends and then just like hearing how they feel about it because I think whenever it does work cause even when I find two songs like I still need to like find tune it and make it work so whenever that like finish piece kind of comes together and then I hear the reactions. I think that's like the most rewarding part of it because it's like this isn't something that not like this isn't just something that brings me joy. It brings, like the people around me, joy as well. So, I think that's cool. 

Emmy: I agree. It's definitely an amazing feeling to see, like your hard work pays off, and especially if it's like visibly in front of you, and you hear these people's reactions. Wait, I don't know if you mentioned this, but how long does it take you to say, to make, like one song, like DJing it? Or is it kind of very? 

Michelle: Yeah, I think it's so varies on like what I'm trying to do, because it's it's like, it depends on how you wanna mix the songs in because then I think it's like case to case honestly because there are some songs that can like so easily mash into each other, but then there are other things where other songs were like you have to isolate vocals or you have to like change the tempo of the song it really just depends and then also like mastering it like, okay, you figured out how to do it, but like can you do it again and again and again and again.

Emmy: Oh, okay, yeah, that makes total sense. Wow, that seems like such a hard thing to master, but I'm sure you're doing great at it genuinely. um, thank you so well, that's all the questions I have for you, so thank you so much for telling me your journey and everything.

Michelle: Of course, thank you!!