Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to SKYLAN. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi SKYLAN, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Honestly, it started because I was annoyed.

After COVID, I’d go out and the clubs/ nightlife in general just felt… bad. Overly serious, male-dominated, not that fun, and definitely not centered around women or queer people. I kept thinking, I can’t be the only one feeling this way.
So I had this moment of “okay, if this doesn’t exist, I’ll just make it.”

The next step was super practical. I picked a venue I already trusted (Neptunes Parlour in downtown Raleigh), locked in a date, and built the night I personally wanted to go to. I think I did my first Hawt Mess on a Sunday and I originally just wanted to see what I could pull numbers wise by myself. This wasn’t exactly a theme night, more like a vibe and a space. For a Sunday…. it did fairly well.

From there it was a lot of trial and error. I made the flyers, promoted it myself on TikTok, showed up early, I made sure to get feedback from staff and attendees, and I just paid attention to what worked. Every event taught me something.

After my third Hawt Mess, it went viral on TikTok and people started asking for Hawt Mess by name. They dressed up for it. They brought friends. Venues reached out. That’s when it clicked that this was bigger than just me DJing a night.

I treated this like a business and I believed in it fully from the beginning, but I also didn’t wait until it felt “perfect.” I just kept showing up and refining it.

It’s messy, but on purpose.

SKYLAN, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m SKYLAN. I’ve been DJing for almost three years, producing music for about ten, and I’ve been a singer-songwriter for as long as I can remember.

DJing wasn’t the original plan. I loved making music and I loved going out, but eventually I wanted to know what it would feel like to play my own music in front of people and actually move a room. During COVID, I bought a DJ deck, taught myself, and by 2022 I started pitching themed nights to local bars and clubs, despite having zero real experience. Some of those early events flopped hard. I cried. Then I kept going.

A couple weeks later, a dance party group reached out, and that turned into consistent bookings for the next two and a half years. About six months into DJing, I also started getting booked to open for touring EDM artists, which helped me blend nightlife DJing with my identity as a producer.

Now, I DJ, produce bass-forward electronic music (bubblegum bass is what I call it), and create club experiences like Hawt Mess, a femme-forward, high-energy space built around fun, emotion, and community. I’m less interested in ego and more interested in how a room feels.

What I’m most proud of is building something honest by showing up before I felt ready. I don’t try to fit into existing club culture, I build the version of it I wish existed.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A big lesson I had to unlearn was leading with my ego.

As a producer and DJ, it’s really easy to frame everything around “I.” I made this track, I’m opening for this artist, or I built this night. Early on, I thought success meant constantly proving myself and centering my own accomplishments.

What actually shifted things for me was realizing that, especially as a DJ, you’re kind of a tool. In the best way. Your job isn’t to show people how good you are, it’s to serve the room.

Yes, I created Hawt Mess because I saw a gap, but it didn’t really work until I stopped asking “what do I want to play?” and started asking “what will make people feel good here?” Once I put community first, the energy completely changed.

That ego death was uncomfortable, but it made everything better. The sets hit harder, the nights felt better, and people actually connected to what I was doing. It taught me that the best work happens when you stop centering yourself and start building something bigger than you.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I started posting on TikTok around 2021. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been perfectly consistent the whole time. I took a pretty long hiatus between regularly releasing music and when I first started DJing, and there were definitely stretches where I disappeared.

What I’ve learned though is that consistency really is the difference. Even when videos don’t perform well, they still matter. A lot of my lower-view, “nothing special” posts… like DJ vlogs or behind-the-scenes clips are the ones people mention to me in real life. People tell me they look forward to them. That’s when it clicked that views aren’t everything. You just gotta make something that resonates with people.

My music clips don’t always get huge numbers either, but I’ll still get comments like, “Wait, where can I find this?” That’s how you know it’s working, even if the algorithm isn’t screaming about it.

Building an audience can be really unrewarding at times. It can honestly feel super embarrassing when a post flops. But I’ve learned it doesn’t matter, post it anyway. Someone is always watching, even if it doesn’t look like it.

My first brand deal came from TikTok. I’ve gotten booked for shows from TikTok. None of that would’ve happened if I waited until everything was perfect or only posted when I felt confident.

As for platforms, TikTok is hands-down the best place to start. It’s forgiving, discovery is built in, and you don’t need a polished brand to get traction. But I will say that Instagram is a whole different beast, it’s way more about quality and curation. TikTok rewards showing up.

My advice is simple: just post it, post consistently, and don’t let low numbers stop you. I’ve noticed most people quit right before it starts working.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.skylanmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skylan41
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkylanMUSIC
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU8Cg3GMMfGK5SdVkBnq17w
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/skylan-3
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@skylan411

Image Credits

@createdbyjennylee

Jenny Lee