We were lucky to catch up with Matthew Buggs recently and have shared our conversation below.
Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
When it came to learning the art of being a DJ, I tell people that my first job ever was the building block of for everything I am today. I worked at Sparkles Roller Rink in Gwinnett for almost 4 years, and it was there where I understood the key aspects of customer service, crowd reading, diversity and so much more. I started selling glow items, then worked my way into helping conduct birthday parties and somehow managed to work DJing at the same time on some days. Some would ask “How did all of that help you become a DJ?”. It’s related more than people think, because there are so many business skills that deal with trying to sell who you are and the business, followed by being punctual with their needs and requests of your services but most importantly, working on the fly and going beyond your own limits and expectations. The technical components of my craft didn’t come until after, when I started to learn how to mix music on an iPad I invested in, then worked my way up to a laptop, then eventually a DJ controller, or CDJ Turntables and so on. The best part is, I did it all for free. Yes, free. Because my job allowed me to learn about performances, song choices and honing my skills with customers at no expense of their own, they wanted to see me succeed. Eventually, I started getting booked outside of the rink, doing shows for artists, co-founded UnderDog DJ’s Atlanta, and the rest is history!
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?
Punctuality became a staple of mine all through the latter part of my High School journey playing sports, and eventually helped me propel myself into a 12 year career as an Army Reservist. I juggled on a week to week, and month to month basis of handling gigs, Battle Assembly (Drill Weekend), and working my regular job. I was always on time for each. That discipline alone set me apart from the rest of the pack. For any DJ gig I do, I make it a staple for me to show up almost 2-3 hours early, no matter the type of service I am providing for that day. It could be a wedding, a club, a show with an artist, I make it a statement to be early, rather than on time.
I can’t go without discrediting my musical diversity. Each client I talk to I inform them, they can have James Brown, or Drake, or both. The choice is theirs, and most importantly there are no limits on their wants or needs. Sometimes I have had customers who are nervous at how things will turn out, or even scared because they don’t know how I will perform. At the end of the night I get hugs, tips, and various forms of compensation on how things turned out, and they ultimately leave happy. Part of that is contributed to the type of equipment I invested in, which is top notch, and I have never left with a bad review of how bad my sound is. I make sure not to “over mix”, or try to blend everything I play either, and people say I am smooth in how I operate.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Adhere to the compensation that we request. One of the most cringe worthy things I can hear from someone is “can you give me a discount?”. That alone tells us that we won’t get the support we as artists need financially. The worst part is when we hear this from friends and family…
The biggest thing we want any potential clientele to understand across all industries is that cheap services aren’t always good, good services aren’t always cheap. So long as we are given what we ask for, you can always count on receiving our best.
Have you ever had to pivot?
So interesting enough before I became a Cybersecurity student, I was a Broadcast and Journalism aficionado. I went to school to learn the tips and tricks of the industry after High School in the hopes of getting a job to help me propel a career in the field I wanted. At the time it was sports. I did Public Address for football and basketball, wrote various basketball articles stretching from High School to the NBA, conducted interviews on the sidelines, did morning radio on a small FM station with a few friends of mine and even got an internship with one of the top sports radio stations in the state in 92.9 The Game WZGC. While all of those things were fun and developmental in trying to get a career in broadcasting, the internship did not result in a job. The radio show I was a part of eventually had to fade and there was no clear direction how to get into what I was pursuing. So, at 27 years old, I made a change to the field of IT, to pursue my Associates in Cybersecurity. Fast forward 5 years, I am two classes away from completing my Bachelor’s in cyber, with nearly 8 Industry level certifications to make myself a marketable individual ready for hire at nearly business. Today, I work as an Information Security Analyst and am very close to the next step I desire on the path I am currently on.
Contact Info:
- Website: aegissucre.net
- Instagram: DeroRealDeal
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeroRealDeal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-buggs-6a963583/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DeroRealDeal
Image Credits
Nightlifelink