You can tell which DJ is going to make it by how they handle losing.
Someone asked me once how you can tell if a DJ is going to make it. I thought about it before I answered, because there's loads of obvious answers I could have given. Maybe it's the one who makes the best music. Maybe the one with the best technical skills. That's not what I said.
I said you can tell which DJ is going to make it by how they handle losing. Because everyone who gets into this is going to spend more time losing than they ever are winning.
Early in my career I got to play my first ever festival set. I had a set time straight after the headliner — which I thought was great. But the stage manager said I wasn't allowed to go on the stage until the headliner had fully left. It took about five minutes for him to leave, and while that was happening, 90% of the audience left too. So I played my first ever festival set, but it wasn't a win. It was a massive loss. There was no one there while I was playing.
I came off stage fuming. Furious. But I was able to turn that loss into fuel. I decided I was never going to play that set time again. I was going to make sure I became a big enough artist that I'd never be treated like that.
So if you're a DJ — it doesn't matter what level you're at, remember this. You're going to spend more of your time losing than winning. Maybe it's losing because no one streams your song. Maybe it's losing because you're playing in a nightclub and there's no one there. Maybe it's losing because the promoter doesn't want to pay you, just wants you to bring 10 mates. Maybe it's losing because you've only got 100 followers on Instagram.
But everyone loses. You might be losing — but you're not a loser. Everyone loses. The question is what do you do when you lose. Can you turn it into fuel, into what's going to make you incredible? Or do you let the loss take over?
