Dayton DJ David Michael rolled into the WYSO studios to lay down a set for Club Cuts and to chat with host Barry Leonhard about his origins in electronic music and his brand Passionate DJ.
"Back then in the 80s and 90s the music was generated by electronics on those games, right? It wasn't just playing CD audio or an MP3, it was the beeps and boops of whatever came out of the synth on the unit itself. And so I kind of got a taste for that, for those synth-y, crunchy, weird sounds back when I was growing up. Later, as I became a teenager I got a pirated copy of FL Studio or Fruity Loops," said Michael.
This story of falling in love with electronic music and then taking it up for yourself on the computer is one that many can relate to. So many that Michael started his own brand dedicated to educating and informing all DJs from industry professionals to "bedroom DJs."
"Over the course of the last 10 years or so, I've done YouTube videos, podcasts and events by and for DJs. Our tagline around the Passionate DJ Podcast was 'Together we're becoming better DJs through passion and purpose.' We did 230 something episodes of that show," said Michael.
The brand is now largely centered around the YouTube channel with Michael reviewing the latest DJ tech. However, he does emphasize that DJing isn't something that's meant to be gatekept.
"When I started Passionate DJ, it seemed like all DJs wanted to do was talk about what was and wasn't real DJing." said Michael. "And I was like,'Forget all that. If you're playing pre-recorded music to an audience, you're DJing, right?' Some of those DJs are doing artistic things and some of them are a DJ for hire and that's fine. Some enjoy it as a hobby and some of them make a living on it. We try to cater to all those levels of interest."
