Sunday mornings at home usually had one soundtrack: the humming vacuum, the rumbling dishwasher, and my mom’s shuffling footsteps. But one morning, I jolted awake to what sounded like a 350 pound gorilla stomping in a four on the floor kick pattern. When I got upstairs, I laughed because the “gorilla” was my father, grinning over two battered turntables he had dug out of the basement. As the scent of burning glue drifted from the coil windings, goosebumps rose in sync with the bassline.

That was my first encounter with electronic music. My father’s paused DJ dreams suddenly became my beginning. I spent every afternoon learning to mix, beatmatch, and control the energy of a room, and by sophomore year I had a loyal SoundCloud following for my house and techno sets.

Still, I convinced myself DJing was only a hobby until junior year, when the spark faded. Tracks clashed, my motivation faltered, and college conversations filled me with static. I scrolled aimlessly through TikTok, unable to picture a future with purpose.

One night, a video of John Summit at EDC Orlando jolted me back. I jumped out of bed, loaded a track, and mixed until I felt that old electricity. When the set ended, I searched the web: could this actually be a career? I discovered an entire world of music technology, production, and sound design. My passion did not have to stay trapped in my bedroom.

Soon after, I enrolled in NYU’s Pre College program in Music Technology. Late at night, I stitched together modules, macros, and waveforms to build my own synth. When I mastered my final project, simply titled “Untitled,” the layers of stabs, risers, and a rumbling additive bass built into a drop that sent goosebumps down my arms, just like that first Sunday morning. That was when I understood that passion is the spark, but direction shapes the sound.

Now, when I start a new track, I imagine the drop first and build everything toward it. No mistimed cue or off EQ can shake me, because I know where I am heading. And when someone messages me saying a mix helped them dance, focus, or feel something, I am reminded how far a bedroom made sound can travel.

That feeling, the moment strangers in a crowd link arms and lose themselves in the music, drives me. I want to produce, perform, build a label that lifts new artists, and create spaces where people connect through sound. Just like I did that Sunday morning.