Many parties nowadays come with pre-made playlists blasting through JBL speakers. However, there’s a new wave of musical entertainment on the rise that has swept through Elon’s campus — DJs.
DJs, also known as disc jockeys, are performers that play and mix pre-made music live.
Shawn Kelly, an Elon senior and computer science major, found DJing during his sophomore year of college. Performing under the name djskelly, he used his musical background and computer science knowledge to teach himself how to mix music.
Elon senior and DJ Shawn Kelly plays at an Elon house party on March 9. Kelly performs by the name 'djskelly.'
Since beginning his journey into making music and performing, Kelly has amassed over 24,000 followers on Instagram, which he attributes to understanding the business side of the music industry.
“That's what I've learned — to really harvest the business side of it and the marketing side and promoting side,” Kelly said. “I've taken almost half of what I've made and put it into promoting myself — put it into targeting advertising and marketing.”
According to Kelly, he is considered a promo DJ, which means he is required to bring an audience with him to all of his shows. To get a large audience to his shows, he uses his Instagram following and automated text messages that he programs himself. Kelly said he typically brings an audience of around 70 to 100 people to his shows.
Not only does Kelly play remixes and commercial music, but he occasionally incorporates an original song into his set. Creating 13 original tracks and 10 remixes, Kelly releases House and EDM music onto Soundcloud. However, he said it's important to understand when it is appropriate to play his own music at shows.
“The key is to mix it in with a song that people have heard before or throw the a cappella of your new song on top of a bass track that people have heard,” Kelly said. “Just kind of teasing with people's ears and like letting them hear it.”
DJs making their own music is not uncommon. Another DJ at Elon, Ryder Klein, whose stage name is Ryisfly, said he thinks being able to produce his own music has set him apart from others in the industry.
“Right now the DJ industry is a very saturated marketplace, so standing out is something that can be a challenge,” Klein said.
Klein, a senior music production and recording arts major, also said it is essential to be in tune with the audience. He plays his most popular song, “Darty,” at most of his shows and said he enjoys creating House and EDM music that isn’t too serious. Although he has released an EP and single tracks, Klein said playing original music is typically uncommon for him at shows.
According to both Klein and Kelly, many people assume their performances are easy to execute. However, Kelly said putting together a set for a show can take weeks or months to complete, and while performing, he is thinking three songs ahead while also trying to keep the high energy of the room.
"Even when you are working and you are locked in,” Kelly said. “Most of the time I am having a great time, but you have to be acting like you are having the most fun time because people will pick up on your energy.”
Both Kelly and Klein are seniors and plan to continue performing after they graduate.
Currently, Klein is focusing on producing his senior seminar project — an album featuring Elon students that comes out in May of this year. Klein said he has an internship lined up after college, but he plans on freelancing his DJ skills on the side in the hopes of making DJing his full-time job.
Kelly said he will be performing full-time in New York City with a residency at a local venue starting in the summer. Additionally, another venue offered Kelly the ability to organize and run his own shows once a month, which would allow him to work with other DJs.
“The whole industry of music has been very collaborative,” Kelly said. “Everybody wants to work together, help each other out, and I love that.”
While he performs regularly in New York City, Kelly said that having a show every Friday night is just another step to achieving his goal of performing around the world.
“I mean, I want to travel the world,” Kelly said. “I want to be everywhere.”