We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daryl Bennett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Daryl, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
In the early days of my DJ business, I was ready to take my business to the next level. I needed lots of lighting and sound equipment to make my vision become a reality. In my music career, I had accumulated a lot of professional guitars, amplifiers, pedals, etc… I sold nearly everything to fund my DJ business. It was scary and sad at first, but I realized that I was evolving as a person, and my priorities were changing. I knew that this was the right move to make to get me to where I wanted to go. It helped elevate my business to where I could produce better productions and attract a different clientele. Since then, I’ve been able to replace my guitar collection with money earned from my DJ business.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I come from a family full of musicians. I always wanted to be like them, playing and performing music. My parents taught me that if I worked hard, and didn’t give up, that I could accomplish anything. I picked up guitar at 15 and immediately started forming a group. I was throwing my own house parties in high school to give myself a platform to perform. It didn’t make me rich, but it created a passion in me for performing live music. There’s a raw energy that’s shared between the audience and the performer(s) that is addicting.
I never planned on becoming a DJ. I was playing guitar in a band that I created and I was loving it. We were performing at weddings, private events, and some of the coolest local clubs. It was in 2017, when an opportunity presented itself to me. A DJ friend of mine asked me to help him set-up equipment for a Halloween party. I quickly realized that DJing opened a whole new world of performance ideas and there were more opportunities to perform. The original idea was to DJ on weekends that the band wasn’t performing. This lasted for about a year until I was DJing so much that I couldn’t do both, so I made DJing my full-time creative endeavor.
I think what’s helped set us apart is we combine the energy of a live concert with the versatility of a DJ performance. Our DJs are on their feet and dancing to the music. We’re bringing some of the coolest lighting and stage effects to really build the energy in the room. We’re able to play a wide variety of music and use exciting transitions that keep people on the dance floor. I love creating the perfect ambiance so that people can have fun and dance all night long. We’re in the business of creating unforgettable memories.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I believe that a single show can change the world. I treat every gig like it’s the most important one of my career, because it is.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
An especially popular myth among creatives is that “if you love something so much, you shouldn’t need to be compensated for it”. A book that I think worth reading is “Profit First”. It makes me sad to see so many creatives hustling hard, but are barely breaking even, or supplementing their “side-hustle” with income from a full-time job. If you make your business decisions with profit first, then your business can start becoming more sustainable. A business will start to feel more worthwhile when it can start paying the bills. It will be more enjoyable when you can afford to purchase the equipment you need, afford to hire out some of the day to day tasks, and start scaling out.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.admdj.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/admproductionsdj/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/admProductionsDJ/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dben41/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/admProductionsDJ
Image Credits
@cecharvard @mitchandmorgen @burlapblossom @kylimccann @paytonpetersenphoto_