We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Armstrong. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I started out writing music as a producer/musician when I was a teenager. My goal was to provide a family friendly alternative to the rap music that was being played on the radio at the time.

After some backlash from critics and me being ostracized in music scenes in my hometown and other areas I’ve lived in, I took up DJ’ing in 2018 under the name DJ Switchbax initially as a business angle to get my music spread out.

Then I moved to Phoenix in 2021 and after 2 and a half years of going back and forth to DJ in the hip hop college scene in Eastern Idaho where I originally started DJ’ing, I started the Arizona chapter of my networking journey in 2023 when I stumbled upon a DJ scene at Mesa Music Festival.

After switching from DJ’ing hip hop to DJ’ing house and another year and a half of networking in Tempe starting with the weekly Brunch House events at Sunbar, I eventually got my first set in October 2024. Since then, my DJ’ing took off and I eventually plan on making Switchbax a house project where I incorporate some of my rapping into my own house music. Basically, I’m still providing a positive message to the world which is my mission overall.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Like I mentioned in the last question, I’m currently DJ’ing house music with the intention of producing it later on. Most of what I play is a wide variety of house music including remixes of other genres, bass house, tech house, progressive house, and I’ve also done sets where I’ve played afro house and deep house.

I’ve also dabbled with other genres such as drum n bass, trap, and a little bit of dubstep as well as hip hop. What makes my sets stand out is that I play a lot of variety as well as current trends in the house DJ scene.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I first started DJ’ing, I was already performing my original music I’ve written (rap at the time) at small venues around the college town I was living at the time. Initially, I was in the scene for myself and at the time it was all about when my next show, performance, or DJ set was.

Shortly after I started DJ’ing, I moved into the Salt Lake City area in Utah and upon trying to get into the rap scene there, I was shunned and ostracized by almost everyone in the scene (some of these people were roommates I was living with).

After going a little further south of Salt Lake, I stumbled upon a networking group that was centered on musicians at the time and the founder was visiting from California when I performed at an open mic. It was through this networking group that I learned the saying “Play It Forward”. It took me throughout Covid to realize what the saying really meant: It’s not about making it into the scene. It’s about how many fellow musicians I can support along the way.

In fact it was through this networking group that I met my friend Stells from Method to the Madness. Upon supporting her and her band for 2 years, she performed at Mesa Music Festival 2023 and it was upon supporting her that I met the first of the DJ’s that I befriended in Arizona. Upon supporting them and building my network, I managed to take off as a DJ.

In a way, I even amazed some of the DJ’s who have made festivals (such as Decadence Arizona) after they worked for years at how many connections I managed to make within 4 months including areas like Prescott and Tucson.

Have you ever had to pivot?

During the Covid-19 pandemic, I was forced to take a break from performing due to the lockdowns and mandates. Instead, I went to writing an EP and producing a music video (both titled Positive Vibes) using my rap alias. I was devastated at the fact that I couldn’t get my music out there due to the low engagement from social media I was already getting and unsure about how my music would get out there. Then, I did an online show on Zoom through the networking group I was in and my music managed to survive the pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @djswitchbax
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/djswitchbax
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@djswitchbax?si=w8Nckl9rXjHvgUdR
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/S3eJJGMdH3JJK1Ps6

Image Credits

Lxstbeatle
Elicia Zway
AnoZira
Myself