Interview: DJ Zach Horowitz

I recently spoke with Athens-based DJ and fellow MBUS graduate, Zach Horowitz. We touch on how he gains inspiration, his ‘why’ for being and working in music, and the notion of imposter syndrome. In addition to this, we speak on Zach’s experience as a DJ coinciding with his plans for the future, and how the two compliment each other. Always interesting and extremely talented, Zach was a great interview.   

OK: Hey! How are you?

ZH: I'm good, I'm just getting ready for tonight.

OK: Oh, yeah, I saw you had a show at the Georgia Theater. Are you excited?

ZH: Yeah it should be fun, the performer for the main room cancelled and they had to put my name on the marquee, so that's a little bit of pressure…but yeah, it should be fun!

OK:  That’s great. Let's being with how you originally got started in DJing?

ZH: So I was in eighth grade. And I wanted to do a summer program to get high school credit, so I went to the UCLA summer program. I went and signed up for business and sports management. And then once I got there, I switched one of my classes to DJing and the other one to surfing without telling my parents. And that's how it kind of started.

OK: Eighth grade, I didn’t realize it’s been that long. What would you say is your biggest inspiration for curating sets and mixing? 

ZH: I would say what really influences me is the feeling of having something that nobody else hears and then seeing somebody Shazam something or come up after the set and be like, What song was that? Can you tell me which song that was? Knowing something that other people don't gives me that kind of rush. 

OK: Yeah, definitely. What would you say has been your proudest achievement thus far?

ZH: I’d say the show tonight is my proudest achievement. It's kind of poetic for me because, in terms of coming to UGA, I started doing the whole DJ thing. I’d play at Chi Phi and at bars and whatever, and it turned into me playing more and more. I’d play at birthday parties or gigs with nobody there or nobody there feeling it. So before graduating getting to close out with this feels really good. 

OK: Yeah, definitely. Going off what you said there about having to go through those moments of playing when you feel like maybe no one's listening, do you ever feel as though you experience any imposter syndrome? And if so, how do you tend to combat that?

ZH: Yeah, I definitely do feel the imposter syndrome. And I think it's especially hard when you're not necessarily playing your own music, you're playing other people’s stuff so you kind of have a responsibility of not butchering other people's work, and at the same time, making and building a cohesive set to the point where nobody in the audience should know or feel like you're ever switching songs. You need to make it smooth. 

OK: For sure. As you know, obviously self-promotion is a really big part of making music and becoming successful in this space in general. Do you feel like that's something that comes naturally to you? Or do you feel a little bit awkward putting yourself out there?

ZH: I’m kind of tricky about it, because I don't really like to promote it. I don't really portray myself as a quote-on-quote DJ or artist on social media. I just really do it for the music aspect and just being able to play music at all. I think that's also a good answer for what gets me through those times of no one listening. It's like, well I'm listening and I enjoy it myself. 

OK: For sure, and we’ve talked about the importance of finding the ‘why’ that you’re doing what you're doing, because all the other stuff fades and you’re not going to get where you want to without that intrinsic motivation. 

ZH: Truly it has been such a passion. My ‘why’ is finding music that nobody else has heard yet, to the point where, after I graduate, I'm working in a&r which is exactly that. So it’s all aligning. 

OK: That’s great. So, where do you plan on taking your career from here? What's the ultimate dream for you?

ZH: Yeah, I think the ultimate dream is to find an artist before anybody else and blow them up. To help develop them into someone that's making hits, and I think that's the goal of anybody who works in music. The DJing thing for me, it's fun because first off, it's a side gig where I can make some extra money, and secondly, it's like, I can tell what people like and what people don't like. So it's just like all practice in terms of honing my ear for what's good and what's not.

OK: For sure. A&R and DJing go hand-in-hand in the sense that if you find an artist that you really believe in, you're able to showcase it to people and really get the vibes firsthand. So yeah, that's really cool. Well thanks for talking with me, I really appreciate it, and good luck tonight!

ZH: Of course, thank you!