BEHIND THE SCENES: ADVANCED DJ SESSIONS (FUNDED BY MAES)

November 2022 welcomed the first ever instalment of DJ Sessions for experienced DJs. Last Friday the course finished with a bang, bringing together and shining a light on all the artists with a high-energy showcase!

This two-week advanced course invited seasoned Disc Jockeys to take their craft to next level. Learning advanced digital & vinyl DJ techniques, getting support on their promo assets, and strengthening their network. All working towards grabbing more gig opportunities!

We spoke to Omar, a participant from this session who started their DJ journey with our beginners DJ Sessions course!

Please introduce yourself…

My name is Omar Bala. I’ve been going through this DJ course, which is massive. I studied sound engineering and over the past few years, I’ve been mostly spending my time doing hospitality work. I met lots of musician friends through that, and they introduced me to a lot of new genres I’ve never heard before, which excited me about DJing. 

What are your hobbies and interests?

I’ve always been interested in arts. I studied interior design for three and a half years, a year of industrial design, then three and a half years of graphic design. My biggest passion was photography since 2008. I became obsessed with it. I participated in a lot of workshops, exhibitions, and facilitated a course on graphic design and photography while I was living in Malaysia before moving to Manchester.

I paused [creatively] due to a lot of reasons. I kind of disconnected from myself for a very long period and couldn’t really get creative in any way until very recently.

Describe your personality in 3 words! 

Fluid, dynamic and ever changing.

If money wasn’t a thing, what would you like to be doing full time? 

I’d be making art. Also helping people to be more in touch with themselves and fitting with what they want to be.

What prompted you to get involved with DJ Sessions?

A friend of mine knew about this course and mentioned it. He took a Radio Course before and told me about what kind of an organisation Reform is and what kind of courses they do. It seemed really interesting and suitable for me.

DJing is something that I never imagined actually getting into but I’m so glad that I did.

How did you first get involved with DJing? 

Reform Radio! I DJ’ed for the first time [at the beginners DJ Sessions course]. It was the first time I ever touched a deck. I was nervous throughout, to be honest. But, as I learned more, my confidence built up slowly. The facilitators helped me massively in this department. They gave me constant guidance and also some encouragement and validation, which really helped.

What’s your favourite thing about DJing?

Lifting people’s emotions up with the music that you play. It just connects people. It’s similar to why I love cooking for people. It brings them together, connects them, puts them on the same level, and good things happen.

Let’s throw it back to your first day at Reform versus now, tell me a bit about your first impressions/feelings/emotions in comparison to how you feel now. What has changed? 

I still experienced some anxiety today at the final showcase. It’s something constant for me. I struggle with making mistakes even though I know everybody makes mistakes. First day I was astronomically nervous. Today I was much less, like 5% of that. But yeah, I gained a lot of confidence. I also was socially a bit more open today in comparison to my first day where I was completely shut.

What was the most memorable moment from the course?

I would say the showcase. The beginners course had a bigger group with music that varied to a ridiculous degree. This time the group was a bit smaller, which helped with the flow of learning.

I also learned a lot more than the beginners course, even though I didn’t know anything when I attended that one!

But the most memorable moment from the advanced course, I’d say were the tips and guidance from Gregor and Niall, and the two sessions where musicians came to show us their skills, like the fundamentals of vinyl scratching and the basics of music production.

If you would like to get involved or find out more about any of our projects, please drop us an email at projects@reformradio.co.uk.