We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cesar Barrios a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cesar, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

So growing up I remember always being told I need to have an idea of what career I wanted to pursue by the time i graduate high school. It put a lot of pressure on me and caused me to get a degree I have absolutely no interest in. After graduating college I realized I needed to make a change and pursue something that makes me happy, and decided I’d move to California to chase my DJ career. Shortly after making that decision, the Covid pandemic began and nationwide lockdowns began, and tons of people started to get laid off. I was a bit nervous of the risk I was about to take, but I was determined. Couple months before I left, I entered a DJ competition back home in Arkansas for a chance to win a slot on the Dancefestopia Music Festival lineup with big acts like Zeds Dead, Rezz, and Griz. I had never really performed in front of many people so I really wanted to test myself and prove to myself I could win it. So after a lot of preparation and pep talks by all the homies, I played the competition and won my spot on the festival lineup. That victory gave me the extra push and reassurance I needed before moving out to California to chase my dream.
Fast forward a few years later, I’ve managed play at top-flight clubs and bars in the San Diego like Nova Nightclub owned by Insomniac, Parq, Firehouse, Avenue, and Mavericks. Also locking in residency’s at Bloom Nightclub and Salvatore’s Cucina & Lounge.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Well i grew up in a family that loved to dance every time we had a gathering. I had two uncles who were DJs in Los Angeles many years ago and I always thought that was pretty cool. We’d always put music like We like to Party! By the Vengaboys or songs like Funkytown and I loved the energy in the music and it caused me to fall in love with electronics dance music. Growing up playing sports I feel that it had a big impact on my dedication and discipline to reach the goals I set for myself. I had one of the toughest wrestling coaches my junior year of high school, Coach Sessions. That man was a hard ass and would make us restart an exercise if he caught ANYONE cutting corners. It made us work better as a team and pushed us to finish what we started. That year we won Arkansas State Champions. I’ve carried that discipline with me ever since and I implement it to any goal I set for myself. No half-ass work, you give it your all or nothing.

Now that I have the privilege of creating and playing music for others, I make sure to give it my 110% because my goal is for others to feel what I feel in this music. I just recently finished my first ever self produced track and it really sets the tone for where I want to take my CZR project. It’s House, but also packs some heavy bass which is influenced by the love for harder, heavier music back home in Arkansas. The scene is starting to look a little stale to me now, with everyone dropping music that sounds the same. So with adding my twist of heavy-ness to my sets makes me feel like I can make my set stand out from the others.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

To best support artist is to show up, acknowledge, and help them spread their message. I see it all the time, people support big well known artist but won’t show up a little earlier to support a newer artist who is just wanting to be seen or heard.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing to me from being an artist is when I see people’s hands up or people making stank faces in the crowd when I’m playing. That lets me know I’m doing exactly what I came to do. Getting my message across and them receiving it and sharing that same love for a tune is what makes me feel good.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.DJCZR.com
• Instagram: _officialczr
• Twitter: IAmDJCZR
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/i5iX1Ap3LdYs3Fuv6

Image Credits
Alfredo Lopez