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

Deon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories 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.

Just as the pandemic started, I saw a post in a DJ group I belong to on Facebook. They were looking for DJs for an internet radio station (now defunct) called Sound Lab Radio UK.

I answered the post inquiring about what kind of experience they needed. The man who posted, TJ, asked me if I could beat match. I said, “80% of the time. Nooo, better make it 75%.”. I started a two hour show on Sundays shortly thereafter.

TJ went on to start another internet radio station called Ruff Start Radio and asked me to come aboard there. It was there that I started a two hour show called Club Underground, which featured Trance, Drum and Bass, Techno, Electronica, and experimental music.

About six month after, I reached out to BooG at Groove Radio Detroit (I live in Michigan) about playing on his station and Sound House Theory was born. For that show, I played House and House adjacent music.

I also started a podcast called “You Gotta Be…” where I interview woman-identified DJs about their lives and work. And, I’ll be starting a new podcast/show in 2023 called “Cat’s Juke Joint” which will focus on Jazz, Blues, and Classic Soul. Both podcasts are or will be up on my YouTube Channel.

Deon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m late to the DJ game, having started in 2018 doing a few free events around Jackson, Michigan. At that time, I was 57. That said, I was a fixture of the Gay club scene on the West Coast when I started going to the Monastery in Seattle at the age of eighteen.

I would dance all night – – with the help of some “enhancements” (clean and sober for 38 years now) in after hours night clubs. The DJs had the power, through the music they played, to hold you on the dancefloor for hours. I loved it. I loved dancing and I would dance for hours.

I was also lucky enough to spend time at the Trocadero in San Francisco. Those were good times and I wanted to capture that lightning again and be the one to create magic and keep people dancing.

It was also a devastating time, as unbeknownst to all of us young and beautiful night creatures, a virus was lurking.

HIV/AIDS started killing people I loved and in 1987, I started working as a peer educator, educating, basically anyone who would stand still, about how to protect themselves from HIV. I ended up in a 21 year career working in some aspect of HIV/AIDS education or case management.

Long story short, it’s those early days in the clubs when we were so very innocent, that made me decide to start DJing.

Right now, it’s a side gig as I work full time in substance use prevention as a project coordinator, but I’m 63 now and so I am building my brand and relationships so that, when I retire, I will be ready to take on a club residency, an opening act for a concert tour, and play festivals.

You might be surprised that I want to hit the clubs and festivals at retirement age, but I’ve never followed the road most traveled. I got my PhD in medical anthropology at 60 after living and researching in San José, Costa Rica where I also became fluent in Spanish (Pura Vida!) and coached roller derby. I coached roller derby because at the age of 50, I joined a roller derby team, the Kitten Mavens, in Michigan for exercise.

So, what does that tell you about me? I’m curious. I’m open to new adventures. I love to learn. I’m persistent. I achieve my goals. And I’m unique. I also am playful. My DJ name is DJ Auld, which is Olde English for “old.”

None of my closest friends are surprised when I tell them that I’m going to be an international DJ or that I’m going to also write novels in retirement. To them, it all fits.

This curiosity, sense of adventure, interest in learning new things is what also makes me a fun DJ. I love to learn new genres and at last count, I can play extended sets in 31 different genres. I have a list of new genres I’m interested in learning such as Dembow, Hyperpop, and Vina house. I’ll mix jazz with House music and Classical music with Trance just to stretch myself as an artist.

I see what we do as DJs at art, the same way a collage art would use bits and pieces of photos, tiles, and the written word to make their art. My brand is as a multi-genre artist or what I heard recently, “genre fluid.”

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

What I love the most about being a DJ is exploring new music and genres and figuring out the puzzles of mixing two or more tracks together to create an entirely new sound.

I have always loved finding new music and new genres and often would choose a new record or CD based on the album cover. This led me to discovering and falling in love with, for example, Esther Phillips, but also led to choosing a CD because the music (which I hadn’t heard yet) was in Portuguese and I love Bossa Nova. It was definitively NOT Bossa Nova, but some Brazilian speed metal band!

Now I get to discover new music everywhere I go and no tune is safe from my Shazam! Because I’m somewhat improvisational in my approach to DJing, I’ve had some fun, happy accidents when the two tracks I selected had similar words or sounds or the artists had some connection that amused me.

My future goals are to learn how to remix tracks, do mashups, and start learning music production with the intent of writing original songs. As well, I want to learn chords on piano and learn bass guitar. I want to also become an inspirational speaker.

I’ve proposed a collaboration with my friend, Illy Maine, a rapper from Detroit, that will entail some freestyle in the moment artistry for both of us. I’m hoping we’ll have something ready to perform by early summer 2023.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

First, I think everyone has the potential to be creative and sometimes that creativity is expressed by supporting the artists in your life.

Secondly, it is not lost on me that I am writing one of my last chapters in life. The road is shorter in front of me than it is behind me. So, I am retiring, hopefully early enough that I can give wings to my dreams of being an international DJ and a novelist while still nimble enough. This is for those older folks in your audience who maybe have similar dreams. Do. Not. Wait. To. Live. Them. You make have more Social Security by waiting and working a little longer, but you’ll have less time to realize those dreams.

I kind of did everything backwards, but interestingly, the things that I’ve tackled later in life: PhD, learning a language, taking up DJing, also have the added protective factor of keeping my brain healthy and stretching. It’s good to reach past one’s comfort zone. And some of those things can be extra income in retirement. Also, each of those examples I mentioned above have lead to deep friendships with people a couple of decades or more younger than me, which keeps me from growing rigid in thought and action.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mixcloud.com/DJAuld
• Instagram: @djauld_dmc
• Facebook: DJ Auld
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dmcmdr