AJ Christou went from hanging out at Sankys with a fake ID to becoming a resident at the same club, signing with The Martinez Brothers, and playing his first official Miami Music Week set at Wynwood Studios. In this episode, Olivia Mancuso sits down with AJ to break down how a Manchester teenager who hated electronic music the first time he heard it built a career in the global house and tech house circuit.
AJ shares the random chain of events that started his DJ journey: buying CDJs that sat untouched for 6 months, learning to mix for his sister's 30th birthday, and getting his first Sankys slot off a SoundCloud mix. He gets honest about why the "gatekeeping" complaint is mostly entitlement, why he moved to New York to study at Dubspot, and the real difference between Miami Music Week and ADE for emerging producers.
For any new producer trying to figure out where to invest first (music, networking, education, or production lessons), AJ lays out the exact order that worked for him and explains why showing up to the shows of DJs who play your music changes everything.
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👉 Video Editor/Audio Engineer: James Fixx
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00:00 Introduction
00:55 Convinced to Love Dance Music
01:50 Fake ID at 17
02:22 The Decks in the Closet
03:09 Sister's Birthday Debut
03:54 Selling Tickets in College
05:08 First Sankys Gig
06:09 Why It's Not Gatekept
06:58 Moving to New York
08:49 UK vs US Scene
09:49 Phones at Shows
11:53 Day Parties Era
12:21 Sleep Before Space
13:13 The Cost of Music Week
14:54 Music Week vs ADE
17:30 First Official MMW Set
18:24 Why Miami Crowds Hit
19:09 Advice for New Artists
20:08 The Martinez Brothers Signing
21:36 Building a Mature Sound
22:21 DJs as Personalities
23:32 Greek School Confessions
