Interview with RaekenLive
How did your career get started?
During my time at Chapman University I gained a reputation as being the DJ that played that made the parties go wild. Although I was pretty amateur at the time I continued to learn the craft of using music to energize crowds and sure enough after some time promoters and club staff began to notice my
talents and that earned me a few opportunities. During my senior year of college I was lucky enough to
secure a weekly residency at a popular venue in Orange County, that’s when I really realized that I now
had a “career” as a DJ.
What was the inspiration behind you starting your career?
My inspiration really just stems from my love of music on a personal level and my ability to share that love with people. Music for me has always meant so much, to me it has always been the one language I felt everyone could understand to some degree. I always wanted to use music to connect with people that hear me play, one day I finally got that first opportunity and the feeling afterward was unbelievable. I used that small taste of success as inspiration to study my craft deeper in order put myself in a position to be a working DJ.
What are the goals for your career?
I feel like I have come a long way thus far but I know I have so far to go. I look at some of the legendarily skilled DJ’s and know I have so far to go and I am continuously pushing myself to work toward greatness like they have. My current goals for my career is to become recognized as a producer of music, I have spent a lot of time producing and can’t wait to begin releasing some of the things I have been working on over the last year or so.
What is your definition of success?
I would be happy if my name and skills were recognizable on a national level, I would love to tour the country and reach people with my music. Obviously there are multiple levels of success but I think the more important thing is having the will to want more, people who are content get left behind.
What motivates you?
My biggest motivator has to be the people who enjoy the work that I do. What other motivation do you need other than the notion that you are able to make someone’s day / week better through something that you love to do? Don’t get me wrong though, I am very much a self-driven person when it comes to music, music is such a big part of who I am that I can imagine myself still doing it even the apocalypse came and I were the last man left on eat.
What music is playing while you are working or getting inspiration for music?
A little bit of everything, I have found that listening to music from the 80’s and 90’s has been good inspiration for producing, it gets the creative juices flowing. If I am on my way to gig I try not to listen to the same type of music that I’ll be spinning that night as way to clear my mind. I have found that doing that is an easy way to clutter your mind and DJing for me is as much mental as it is technical skill.
