Rostam’s 30 – DJ Hardy’s Interview

In 2002, after obtaining his first mixer, Hardy’s DJing career began and his life of entertaining audiences took off. Though just a college student at the time, Hardy taught himself how to mix and mastered the techniques of DJing without the guiding hand of a veteran.

After much practicing and self-critiquing, Hardy landed his first residency at a local college bar and soon after landed several other residencies in the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas. Hardy has incorporated visual mixes into his sets with the use of music videos and utilizing the Video Scratch Live plug in. Further refining his sound and technique, he started to perform at various events all around the world.

For more on DJ Hardy, follow him on twitter @djhardy and check out his Facebook page.

1. Full Name: Hardy Shah
2. Stage Name: DJ Hardy
3. Occupation: DJ
4. Genre: Open Format
5. Gender: Male
6. Age: 30
7. Where did your stage name come from? From my real name!
8. Where are you from? The mitten state. Ann Arbor to be specific.
9. Where did you start your career? In the living room of my college apartment.
10. What city do you represent? Ann Arbor, and Detroit to some extent. Go Blue!
11. What gave you that initial push? Love of music and the joy of watching people have a good time.
12. How long have you been in the industry? 10 years as of this week!
13. If you had to give a thank-you speech, who would you thank and what would you say? Obviously my friends and family for supporting me, but also to anyone who has shown me love by coming out to shows or downloading my mixes.
14. What makes you a softie? Funny question for a guy named Hardy, but I would say that I have a soft spot for little babies and puppies. Who doesn’t, though?
15. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? I never expect to fail.
16. What are three hobbies of yours other than what you do? I am a sports fanatic – watching college and pro football, baseball and hockey. I also play tennis, golf, bike, etc. Other than that, I enjoy reading, going to the gym, traveling to new places and cooking.
17. Pepsi or Coke? As of late, neither.
18. Rap or Hip Hop? The way I see it, rapping is just a part of the Hip Hop culture. But based on the everyday man’s definition, Hip Hop.
19. House or Dubstep? I like some Dubstep, but House music all night long!
20. What do you eat a lot more than anything else? Probably bananas or apples.
21. What was the first event you ever played at/put on? Mostly house parties but I do remember first “professional” event being a volleyball tournament in college.
22. What are some of your accomplishments in the field? One of my goals was to play some festivals, and I was able to play three of them last year. But I would say holding a residency for 7+ years (running) has to be a rare feat in the DJ industry and especially at a well-respected venue like Necto.
23. What makes you different than everybody else in the industry? Everyone is unique in their sound. I would say my strongest suits include playing the right music at the right time to energize the crowd and having a very good flow from song to song. I do a lot of other things, but I think those have helped my career the most.
24. Do you produce? If so do you prefer performing or producing? I have been trying to produce songs for a few years now, but I’m not at a level where I’d like to be. They’re both fun in their own way.
25. Who would you love to perform with? I have been fortunate to play with some talented DJs, but I would say Daft Punk would be a dream come true.
26. What’s your longterm goal? To keep improving as a DJ at each gig, continue taking chances with the music selection and play at more festival gigs.
27. When all the partying is over how do you like to chill out? By listening to some chill music while I fall asleep. Usually that means Jazz.
28. Funniest thing that ever happened at an event? There have been a ton! I would say one of my favorite memories is DJing to a club full of 200+ hearing-impaired people who were in town in for some convention. They were requesting songs and getting down, but it was really strange to have no crowd noise to go along with the music.
29. What advice would you give to up and coming artists? To stay true to themselves and play what they enjoy. At the same time, don’t let your ego get in the way of making sure that people at your party are having a good time.
30. What are your goals for 2013? To finish a few original tracks that I can start playing at my shows.