University student to open for Homecoming act

Kieron Williams/Contributing Writer 

Student Media recently caught up with the winner of the FIU SPLASH DJ Battle, George Arango, whose stage name is DJ George Andreas. This junior criminal justice major will be opening up for DJ Zogg, J. Cole and Zedd at the Homecoming concert, Panthermonium, Oct. 6.

• What’s your DJ name and how did you come up with it?

George Andreas and that’s my real first and last name. I was in between getting one of those corny DJ names or European names, but I decided to go natural.

• When did you decide to give DJing a try?

I started with mutual friends that had equipment during senior year of high school, just messing around, nothing serious. But when I came to FIU I got a Behr controller that I still use to this day, joined [Sigma Phi Epsilon,] and they gave me the opportunity to take it to the next level. Since they gave me that position, I’ve basically been DJing every single day.

• What was the moment when you realized you could DJ for the rest of your life?

I still don’t think that’s realistic, but I hope I can. I had always loved sharing music though, even before I was a DJ. In high school, I would show my friends music I had discovered and see if they liked it too, just because it was all about the music for me. I’d say the first SigEp party that we threw though, called Si Te Cojo Te Mojo, that was my first eye-opening moment where I got to really see people enjoying what I can do. It was my first relationship with an audience. From then on, I knew I could do this for a long time.

• Where was your first set and how did it go?

Let me see if I can remember that….senior year of [Belen Jesuit Preparatory School] – 2011. It was just a small party. I had a little controller connected to a bigger mixer, or something like that. I just went to my friend’s house and messed around with his equipment, putting in my two cents. It was nothing serious, just having fun.

• What is the difference between a DJ and a producer?

Well first off, producers can be DJs as well. A producer literally produces music, whether it’s for himself or someone else. For example, I know Benny Benassi has a producer. He’s a producer as well, but the majority of the music comes from the producer under him. He’s the face of the music, more or less. DJs interact with the crowd. Whether it’s five people or five hundred, they’ll adjust their tracklist; if they’re really good, they can tell a story within their set. They know how to control an ambience and a vibe within their set. If you can transition from song to song pretty well, that’s cool – you can DJ, but you’re not a good DJ. When you know how to connect it all, which key, which tempo, if you can make it all come together, that’s when you’re a good DJ.

• Which DJs or producers are your inspirations?

Producer-wise, Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, the gods – Swedish House Mafia – but individually: Axwell, Sebastien Ingrosso, Steve Angello and Dirty South. I can go on with this, but those are the people I grew up listening to before they were too mainstream. Back in eighth grade, people like Kaskade and Tiesto had their own music, but people didn’t know about them back then. I was already listening to them, though.

DJs, I gotta say Pete Tong. He pretty much does what I aspire to do, he does the electronic shows like the Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1, which is a two-hour mix with the hottest tracks, the newest tracks, guest mixes, all of that. And now he’s brought the Essential Mix to Miami’s 93.5 Evolution and other US stations. But guys like DJ Carnage have helped me cross over to trap music, to hip hop, and how to put it all together into one. I also like the newer guys like Hardwell and Alesso because they know how to connect more. The older guys know what they’re doing, but they don’t bring anything new to the table.

• Do you have anything in the works that we should know about?

Yeah, October’s very busy for me. I’m in talks with a talent agent and I was invited to perform at this Bimini SuperFast cruise with a bunch of other DJs. We leave Friday at 10pm and come back at 6am the next day. I’m trying to get Oktoberfest! Brickell, Bamboo on the beach, [Liv Night Club Miami,] and Life in Color in December. Hopefully all of this will add up. I also have a whole bunch of edits and stuff that I’ve been saving for my live shows to change it up. You can’t just start playing a bunch of new stuff, though, because the audience can’t connect. I’ve got stuff that they’ll recognize, but with a twist that makes it my own. I think people will appreciate that.

• Where’s the next place we can see you?

My fraternity is throwing a philanthropy block party on [Oct. 4] for the Buoniconti Fund, which fundraises for the Miami Project. I’m going to be at Oktoberfest, the day after in Brickell and then on [Oct. 6] I’m going to be opening at the Homecoming show with Zedd and J. Cole and all those guys. But if you can’t make it to that, you can always check my SoundCloud, DjGeorgeAndreas, or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram @DJGeorgeAndreas.

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