G: Helluuuurrr & welcome to GMIX004! Do you want to introduce yourself?
S: Yeah, so I'm Saz. I'm a very, very new DJ :-) 😏
G: I'm gonna go straight into it... You were telling me that when I first met you, that you had a full time job and you were kind of looking for a career change, which got me thinking, because now I saw that you're starting to DJ, and it's going quite well. I just wanted to know what made you change your mind, and what kind of job were you doing before as well?
S: So the job that I was doing before was just a standard kind of office job in tech. I was doing business operations. So you can imagine the type of work that was, it was my first proper job out of uni. Kind of fell into that, but I found myself not really satisfied, and I started getting back into my love for writing and my love for film, and I started attending writing classes. Film is my first passion, and I still write here and there, but I don't know. I guess I was too shy to put my work out there.
G: Definitely, I can relate to that. Leaving any career that you had in mind and put a lot of time into, wanting to start on something else makes you think "erm, is it too late?" it especially feels like this between your late twenties and early thirties.. but I think a lot of people are doing it.
S: When I was at uni, I often saw 50 and 60 year olds just starting anew. So yeah, I've never thought that it's too late to change careers, and I always encourage it.
G:I consume a lot of Tiktok videos and social media in general, and there is a general toxic discourse going on making people feel like 30 is like "too late". Oh my God, you're old, old. But it just doesn't feel that way.
S: In media definitely, you don't really see influencers these days that are over 30, and that's all we're really exposed to. We've kind of forgotten that these are not the people we see day to day.
G:Exactly, yes, it's not real life, right? So this actually brings me to my next question, which I have forgotten because I haven't done interviews in ages.
S: I didn't even finish answering the first question 🫠
G:Go ahead 🤨 🤨
S: So the way I got into DJing was kind of accidental. A friend wanted to start, and I didn't want her to be on her own, so I joined her on the ride and I started going to these, drop-in sessions at the Roundhouse for under 25s and I slowly built my confidence there and found an actual love for it. So it was never like, “oh I want to be a DJ.” It was just, “oh, let me try something new.” And then turned out I really loved it and saw it as a good way to build my confidence.
G:So you're looking at it kind of more for now as a hobby rather than a job?
S: I guess! I'm in between. At the start, I was thinking of it as a hobby, and then I got pushed by one of the tutors at the Roundhouse thing.
G: How difficult is it to get a slot on a radio such as Subtle for someone who's really new, how was that process?
S: I was really lucky in that I had my Roundhouse tutor's recommendation. She heard me play and said I think you'd be really good for this station. So I sent them an email with a mix. I'm pretty sure it got lost in their inbox somewhere, and then Laurie followed up and and said “Hey, one of my students sent you a mix. Have a listen to it.” And turns out they liked it. So I was really lucky! But I think there's so many community radio stations out there, and they're always looking for fresh DJs.
G: Is it pre recorded? Or is it live?
S:All of mine are pre recorded. I've been encouraged to come in and play live, and I'm definitely gonna soon!
G:That's intimidating!
S: Definitely. It's especially intimidating because obviously it's online. It's going to be out there forever, but not so much at the start of your career, because no one's really listening, You're kind of doing it for yourself.
G: Okay, this is more of a personal question. I just wanted to know. Having a Middle Eastern family and living with them, when you stopped the classic nine to five job was your family or close ones asking you, what are you gonna do next? And then maybe you told them, next is a creative endeavour. How did it take that? Was there any judgment? Did they think "Is it a phase"?
S: Definitely, there was some of that. I'm really lucky in that for Middle Eastern parents. My parents are quite liberal, so they were happy that I was out of the job, just for the simple fact that I was miserable. I was like, crying all the time. It was not the place for me.
G: Feel like it's not the place for a lot of creative people.. (hard relate)
S: For sure, you just can't force it sometimes. So they were happy that I was looking for something else. But my parents didn't really know what DJing is, For example when I got my first mixer and told my dad I am starting this new music pursuit and I showed him, and he's like, what is that? What is that? Is that a stove?
G: Not the stove.. 🧐
When you tell them what kind of music you play, if you have gone that far, I don't know if you told them what kind of music you play... I feel like when I try and speak to my parents (my parents are Italian) about me liking clubbing, they just kind of assume that all I'm doing is drugs. So especially when I say I really like techno, I really like electronic music, they're like 🧐 🧐 🧐
I think so, yeah. So the clubbing aspect of it is obviously not attractive to parents the late nights.. they're really not into that, they ask themselves if you want to make a career out of it, do you want to be up that late every day? That's going to f up your body babe.
G: I mean, in a sense, they're actually right maybe.
G:You don't really post that much on Instagram, I wouldn't say that you are looking to be an influencer DJ. Do you think there is some sort of pressure on building a social media persona or like a persona at all, whilst you're trying to get gigs and be on the scene? Will you fall for it or will you just keep truth to yourself?
S: Good question, and I feel like I'm still figuring it out. My Instagram used to have a lot of just stupid stuff on there, like memes of cats and shit like that. And I thought, okay that's not gonna fly if a booking agent or something looks at my Instagram. It has to be a bit more serious, but now I do want to show a bit more of my personality as well..
G: I'm obviously an agent, and even with the models, I always tell them that they can be they should be themselves, and that's what attracts clients. I think you can just start posting your memes again babe.
S: That's actually the most difficult part for me. You just think about it too much and then end up not posting anything 😩😩😩
G: I personally love to see BTS or like getting to know, who are you as a person, even day to day. I think that's interesting!
S: But I think it's so interesting that you mentioned models because models are selling their looks, but as a DJ, you're sort of selling a service as well. It shouldn't necessarily be about how you look, but it is..
G: I don't think it necessarily needs to be about how you look. I feel like clients look for personality and any look is welcome. But I think when you have a unique personality and are okay with displaying it and showing it to the world even through your looks draws in a lot of attention.
S: So are we buying into your mixes and your music and the service you provide? Or are we buying into the persona?
G: That is a big question. I'm trying to figure it out myself 😵💫
I also wanted to ask you, have you had support from other DJs so far, or did you feel some sort of underlying competitiveness? Did you feel like everyone along the way is trying to support you?
S: All women DJs I've met have been super supportive, and they tend to be the ones that know how it feels starting out. They're the ones that give you non patronizing advice. Maybe at the stage that I'm at, I'm just not going to feel any competitiveness, because what is there to compete with when someone's just starting out?
G: Yeah, true. I guess when you work creatively people tend to think there is limited space, that we can't all do the same thing or have the same talents. But I don't agree with that. I think if that's how I want to express myself, why does it affect you?
S: I agree, and I don't think that there's limited space.
G: I know right? And music is such a wholesome outlet 🥺 🥺
S: Exactly. Outlet is the exact word that I was thinking of. And everyone's so unique!
G: Lastly, is there any music within the mix that you provide a for GMIX that you feel like is particularly interesting, that you want to expand on or highlight? What are your favourite bits?
S: Probably the first track, from DJ Gigola's, Fluid Meditations. I was obsessed with that album, it's a really good mix of meditation music, but also dance. So cool.
G: It's such a great opening, and you mostly used women produced music in this mix!!! 🎀 🎀 🎀
S: Which was easy to do! 😏😏
G: I'm so glad that we could make it work and catch you on to the next GMIX!! Thank you Saz!!