Student Turned DJ Gains Statewide Popularity

Student Turned DJ Gains Statewide Popularity

Mason Meyers, Staff Writer

Events need music, whether it be pre-recorded or from a live performer. Texas A&M University-Commerce student Angel Jasso offers his DJ services all around the DFW Metroplex to bring people a good tunes and a good time.

In the Spring semester of 2013, his second semester at A&M-Commerce, Jasso decided to start playing around with a DJ app he downloaded to his phone. After a few months of playing with the app, friends started to compliment him on how good he had gotten at DJ-ing. One friend, Travis Young, suggested he start DJ-ing at events.

“I’m just a guy who liked to play music,” Jasso said when asked about why he started DJing. “At first I wanted to rap or produce, but my mom said that was a waste of time.”

In the Fall of 2013, Jasso played his first event, sparking interest from people all over the A&M-Commerce campus. Over the next two years Jasso, who now goes by his DJ name, “DJ Ayo,” expanded his reputation and honed his skills as a DJ. Now, Jasso has played places like San Marcos, Tyler, and Southeastern Sate in Oklahoma.

“I generally charge $50 an hour for university events and $100 an hour for Dallas or non-school events,” Jasso said.

When asked how he settled on those rates, he said “Trial and error. Just seeing what worked and what didn’t.”

Jasso said that one of the many reasons he loves DJing is that he has total control over his audience.

“I like being the reason things happen…If two people meet at an event I DJ-ed, and those people later get married, I made that happen. I like being in control of a good situation.”

Jasso also plays events for different organizations. Depending on the audience, Jasso’s playlist might differ. Every year, Jasso DJs a dance for a group on campus, The Fandom Society.

“I’ll play the Pokémon theme song for them, but I would never play that anywhere else,” he said. “The crowd determines the songs played.”

However, Jasso considers his DJ-ing to be a hobby, and claims that it will always be one. That being said, he also has no idea when he wants to stop.

“My love for music is never going to stop, so I have no idea if I’ll ever stop DJ-ing,” he said. “I can’t decide when I want to stop, because I never decided that I wanted to start.”