Wilfrid Laurier University student Jacob Meyer has an intense love of making music and a long history of involvement with his craft. The philosophy major is a DJ gaining steam and exposure in the music industry as of late.
“I started making music when I was in grade seven, on the computer,” Meyers said. “Some of my friends when I started high school started getting into breakdancing … and I was really awful at it. But I still wanted to be involved and I love hip-hop, and since I was already making music, I got into DJing.”
This initial foray into DJing has now begun to pay off — Meyer recently won the East Coast Canadian DJ Mixing Championships (DMC) DJ battle, going on to win the national competition as well.
Of DJing at a competitive level, Meyer said, “It’s something I’ve been working at passively for a while now. I’m always working on scratching and different techniques. I first competed five years ago and it didn’t go super well, but there were a couple of guys who were really successful Canadian DJs who noticed I had a bit of promise.” It was those homegrown successes that gave Meyer the advice to keep practicing his talents.
“I entered the East Coast competition [in Hamilton], and I won it. I didn’t really expect to,” said Meyer, noting that his music selection was among the obscure at the competition.
“When I did the East Coast competition I was pretty shaky, I screwed up a bit in my routine. After I won the East Coast I got a lot more confidence. When I went to the nationals I was really comfortable,” Meyer continued.
Despite the recent successes Meyer has enjoyed as a DJ, he doesn’t plan on making a career out of it.
“It’s more than a hobby, it’s my passion. I’m really in it for the artistic element of it. It’s something I feel like I’ll do many years from now —probably my whole life. I do competitions but I don’t do clubs. A lot of guys use competitions as a stepping- stone to get into clubs but I’m not really interested in that because 90 per cent of the music played nowadays I’m not really into.”
Competing under the pseudonym “DJ Vekked,” the charismatic DJ shows promise of a fruitful career in the music industry that has only just begun.
