We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful William (DJ Commish) Lewis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with William (DJ Commish) below.

William (DJ Commish), thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve worked on so many projects over the years so this is a great question. Some of the work I’ve done in the past range from teaching kids how to DJ, charity work in my community and as a huge sports fan, working with organizations like Nike, the WNBA and others to do community outreach. To me, my most meaningful project is always the next project which is my new soca music mix called Soca Vibes. It’s a compilation of the hottest and newest soca music just in time for Trinidad Carnival. It’s meaningful to me because due to Covid, there was no carnival for 2 years. This year, it’s back. Although I can’t make it, this mix will set the tone to the fun that will be had out there. I will be there in spirit.

William (DJ Commish), 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 got into DJing while I was in college at St. John’s University. I was an on-air personality at WSJU and was broadcasting sports at the time. My 1st time spinning at actually in the middle of a college party. I was filling for the DJ while he had to step out. I guess I had a good selection of music at the time because the party didn’t skip a beat so he left me on the set and took a nap. I never looked back. I’ve been doing this for 22 years and been full time since 2007.

I’m known for spinning high profile events, doing mixes and on-air radio work. In addition, I spin corporate events, brand activation, weddings, teach people how to DJ and do music programming for special events, radio and television.

I feel like I’ve built enough integrity and trust with my clients that I get to have more creative freedom than ever before with them. People reach out now and just ask for me to be me. My long time clients are one thing but even the new clients are that way now. I love that.

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

I had to unlearn everything I was told about DJing. I was told that this is just a hobby and that you couldn’t make money or earn a decent living off of this. I was told that from family and friends early on. That weighed on me psychology for a long time. I unlearned that and replaced that with learning to bet on myself.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Covid was huge. As bad as it was across the board, it was somewhat of a blessing for me. At the time Covid hit, I was going through my 4th burnout of my career. Covid forced me to stop. That in itself was a blessing. Financially, it was terrible but overall, I was able to gather myself, get healthy again and figure out what’s really important. The time off gave me a new purpose and new motivation. As a creative, sometimes you need to go off the grid to recharge. We have to learn to be ok with that. Being on all the time is just not sustainable or realistic.

Contact Info:

• Website: djcommish.com
• Instagram: djcommish
• Facebook: djcommish
• Twitter: djcommish
• Youtube: djcommish
• Yelp: djcommish

Image Credits
photoshoot photographer: Pete Monsanto Jr. Action photo: South N’ The City party in NYC