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When did you realize you wanted to be a DJ?

In high school, but never pursued it seriously because my family expected me to become an engineer. After nine years of being an engineer I switched careers and became a DJ.

 

Where are you from?

I am from Goa and I still have my life and connections intact there. It is a quaint Portuguese enclave on the West coast of India; 400 kilometers (250 miles) South of Bombay. In fact, my music inspiration came from Goa being immersed in the Full Moon Rave Parties with 140 BPM Trance Music. Goa Trance or Psychedelic Trance originated in Goa. I was not a House Music DJ until I immigrated to the US and started attending Roxy, Twilo & Sound Factory. I enjoyed this new sound that is set at 128 BPM, which is different from Trance and I started collecting music from the late 90s and early 2000 and added elements of Trance and Tribal to it to bring it up to my liking.

 

What brought you to South Florida?

After the big clubs closed down in NYC in the early and mid-2000s, there was a major lull in the club scene. There were just small clubs playing pop music. I was not going anywhere fast in NY. Miami seemed exciting with all of its big clubs intact and the music with a lot of Latin & Tribal Inspiration which is right up my alley. So it was a natural move.

 

What was your first residency, and how did that feel?

My first residency in US was in Long Island and the club was called Circus. It was a boisterous Wednesday Night Gay Party. My first residency in Miami was at Mova. I immensely enjoyed both.

 

What separates you from other DJs?

I am a remixer on the fly, meaning I use a four deck configuration to marry samples and drops to an existing remix or an original song and take it to another level. If you notice that I am a bit serious in the booth, it’s because mixing in a four deck configuration takes a lot of attention and concentration. Another technique I use is scrubbing. That is getting past the boring parts of the song and giving my audience only the main course and the dessert and skipping tasteless sections and endless loops. I also effortlessly switch between genres. So you will find House music, Circuit Pop, EDM etc. going back and forth to keep it interesting at my weekly residencies. But, in big circuit events, I just stick to the House genre, which is what they want.

 

What are some memorable moments from the DJ booth?

I had tons of great moments at many gigs. But two things stand out in my mind. First, when I was one of the headliners in Miami Beach Gay Pride in 2015. The view of a sea of people dancing to my beats was incredible. I had the good fortune of reliving that similar experience in the recent Pride Fort Lauderdale where I played for 40,000 people. The second memory is back from July 2012 when I played at Manor in Wilton Manors. It was just unreal. It was wall to wall people with electrifying energy and I will never forget the reaction from the crowd.

 

Other than DJ’ing, what do you like to do for fun?

I am an avid Swimmer and a Bicyclist. Put me on a bike or throw me in a pool and I come to life.

 

Describe yourself in three words?

Never Give Up

 

What does the future hold for AJ Reddy?

I rarely put out my remixes as they are exclusively for my live audience. But I may change that in the future and release some incredible mixes I made. Secondly I have produced some trance music tracks before, but it was a wrong choice for this country and my audience. So, I will get back to producing House and EDM tracks. You will see more original music coming from me later this year. I am in the process of setting up my recording studio which I hope will be ready by April.

 

Top 10 this week: 

Cedric Gervais – Higher Love

Tchami – Adieu

Dubvision – Geht’s Noch

Ferry Corsten – Feel it

Chainsmokers – Paris

Disco Fries ft Hope Murphy – Born Ready

Alessia Cara – Scars to your beautiful

Jax Jones ft Raye – You don’t know me

Vizin – Born this way

Anne Marie – Alarm