When the Coronavirus shut us down, clubs and festivals ceased, and everyone was essentially forced inside with no definitive end in sight, DJ Times wondered: How is our tribe coping? How are DJs getting by? So, we sent out our “Coronavirus Questionnaire” to DJ/producers from all musical genres to find out.
During this period, DJ Times will continue presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our latest entry, this time from the West Coast, tech-house talent Redux Saints (aka Jason Trevor Miller).
What’s it like where you are? Downtown Los Angeles was a ghost town when the “Stay at Home” orders were issued mid-March. Everything was pretty much closed since then, except for essential businesses, like grocery stores. I’ve worked from home for many years, so not much of changed for me, as I produce my music in my office at home. Most of my time is spent on social media, music production, and Deep Tech Los Angeles Records label activities. I’m able to take a few walks daily as I have two large Bernese mountain dogs, Maceo Pup and Luna Rose, who demand my attention. To say we have slowed down in any area would be farthest thing from the truth. It’s business as usual and we’re looking for new ways to reach our fans and audience. Given no gigs to play, we’re making the best of this situation, as we believe there will be some new labels and artists that come out on top during this time.
What income-producing work have you lost? I had over 10 major gigs planned across Miami Music Week, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and others that were cancelled due to the pandemic. Not going to lie, it’s been a bit of a letdown. However, the time has allowed me to focus more on music and developing live streams.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? I’ve been focusing on pushing fans to our streaming platforms on YouTube and Spotify. I learned how to properly use Facebook pixels to have Facebook ads learn your targeted audience. With this new strategy, we’ve seen an increase in growth of followers and increased sales for downloads and streams. By the way, the latest Redux Saints’ single is “Gonna Be Alright.”
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? I’ve been working to create a sustainable blueprint to level up all aspects of my game. This includes music production, social and network promotion, learning from my sins of the past, planning and executing with the right team members to achieve mutual goals. And if we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it is not to take anything for granted, remain humble, don’t cut corners and most importantly, make things happen for yourself.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? Life is precious. No one thought that we’d be facing these challenges… and yet, here we are. As human beings, we need to focus more on what’s important vs. things we think will make us happy.
Are you doing anything online? We’ve launched our branded live stream called Deep Tech Los Angeles Loft Party. These events will take place in downtown Los Angeles in my loft. The idea is to do it in a Boiler Room-style kitchen setting. We’ve been sitting back and observing live-streams since March, learning the best practices on making this enjoyable to watch as well as to listen to.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? I would have to go with “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police as my pandemic theme song. However, I also recently released a tech-house track, providing proper pandemic guidance called “Stay Home,” available on Deep Tech Los Angeles Records.
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? Given the uncertainty of the situation, I’m not sure anyone can predict when we’ll all return to the way things were. My advice is to “hang in there.” We’ll all get through this together. I believe I can contribute to the feeling of normalcy with continuing to release music. Music is what has, and will always be, what gets me through the day. If you don’t stop listening to it, I won’t stop making it!
To check out more Life in Lockdown interviews, click here.
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