How John Summit Went From Obscure Accountant To World Famous DJ

Forbes

As electronic dance music gains momentum in the U.S., DJ John Summit is showing how artists are evolving entrepreneurs—running labels, festivals and even their own brands. Last year, the 31-year-old's shows grossed some $22 million in ticket revenue.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zoyahasan/2025/11/21/from-tax-tables-to-turn-tables-john-summit-went-from-obscure-accountant-to-world-famous-dj/  00:00 Introduction 00:43 John Summit Origin Story 02:28 Leaving Corporate Accounting To Pursue Music Full-Time  06:01 Turning The Pandemic Lockdown Into A Career Breakout  09:56 Founding The Experts Only Label To Ensure Creative Control  17:26 Scaling The Brand From Club Shows To Massive Festivals  22:01 Balancing A Double Life With Authentic Social Media Strategy  26:52 Monetizing Passion And Expanding To A Global Audience  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Hi everyone, I'm Zoya Hassan and I'm here with one of the biggest rising stars in dance music right now.

00:10He's played on global stages from Ibiza to London to Cancun and in 2024 he was the only DJ to make our Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

00:19And beyond the stage, he's also running his own record label.

00:23John Summitt, how are you feeling?

00:25I'm feeling amazing. Thanks for having me.

00:26Thank you so much for joining. I'm so excited to chat with you and there's so much to break down.

00:33I want to hear all about your summer in Europe.

00:36But before we get into the John Summitt of it all, I want to talk about the John Schuster of it all.

00:43So how did John Schuster become John Summitt? Tell me the story.

00:49Well, so I always loved going to concerts and music festivals, so I always loved electronic music.

00:54But I had to get a normal job first because, of course, it was just a hobby and passion, making music and playing music.

01:02So I went to college for accounting at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

01:07And then I was a bartender at a bar and then they needed a DJ.

01:11So I'm like, screw it. I'm going to begin my DJ career here.

01:13And then, yeah, I was playing a few times a week and it was going very well and it was just a huge passion of mine.

01:20And eventually it got enough words spread out enough that I was all right at DJing,

01:24where I got booked to open for a touring DJ at a concert at the local concert hall called Canopy Club in Champaign.

01:33And my first DJ set was before Cash Cash.

01:37Yeah, so this was over 10 years ago.

01:40But the day of the show, they told me that they were doing like a flyer and then I had to have a DJ name

01:46because at the time I just went by John Schuster.

01:48And yeah, so I love mountains. I love skiing. I love the aesthetic of Summits.

01:53So I just called myself Summit and that was pretty simple.

01:56And I went by that all college, didn't think anything of it besides like just the stupid little logo I put behind me.

02:02And but once I had my first ever release, I knew that I had to make a longer name out of it

02:09because the SEO of Summits terrible because, you know, there's all these Summits that go around.

02:13And then like if I was to release a song, I'd probably be on page a thousand on Google.

02:16So just gave myself the full name, John Summit, and then didn't think of it.

02:21I didn't think it was going to become this crazy double life I'm living between John Schuster and John Summit.

02:26But yeah, I absolutely love it.

02:28Amazing.

02:29And, you know, obviously I read your story and you worked at EY after college,

02:35which is a pretty big deal as an accountant, obviously working probably crazy hours.

02:42What was happening then?

02:44Like you were doing your day job and then when were you DJing?

02:50When did you decide, OK, I'm going to quit this and pursue music full time?

02:54So during the week I would, after work, even if like we got off work at like 9 or 10 p.m., I'd always be making music.

03:00So Monday through Friday, made sure to keep that.

03:03I treated it just as seriously as I treated my job.

03:05Probably a little too much too seriously because I wasn't a very good accountant.

03:10Because, I mean, it is that I mean, that job's tough.

03:13It's like 80 plus hours a week.

03:14And people really dedicate their lives to that where my mind was kind of all in on the music.

03:18And I kind of just did the accounting to fund the music lifestyle, I guess.

03:24But yeah, I did it for a year and a half.

03:26And it was tough because then I was DJing on the weekends.

03:29And then my music was actually starting to blow up and do decently.

03:32Well, in my head it was blowing up at the time.

03:34But to the fact that I was getting booked for like two to three hundred person clubs all around the country.

03:41So I was actually touring on the weekends while still working at Ernst & Young, which was tough.

03:47But yeah, and then I was just trying to save up as much money as possible because I knew one day I'd probably want to go full time with music and just try it out.

03:54So yeah, I saved up enough money that I could do music full time for six months and then see where I'd go from there.

04:01I thought I was probably going to have to go back to the accounting world.

04:04But luckily it all turned out pretty good.

04:07And here I am now.

04:09Here you are.

04:10But that's still a huge like leap of faith to take.

04:12You know, music is a really competitive industry.

04:15There's so many great musicians, whether it's pop or whether it's dance music.

04:21So how did you feel at the time?

04:24Well, yeah, there's tons of competition.

04:27But when I was doing, so I started with just doing Tech House.

04:31And at the time there wasn't many Americans doing it whatsoever.

04:34So even though Tech House wasn't getting played at the main stage and wasn't getting booked for huge parties, there was like a big demand for it, I guess, in the smaller clubs.

04:42Because it's very, it's more intimate type of music.

04:44Because this is before I even used vocals in my records.

04:46It was pretty underground where I played clubs where there's no lights, like people wouldn't even know I was on stage.

04:52I was very much in the background versus now, which is kind of funny because now it's like a pop star element to it.

04:57Which, and we can talk about more later, but I think social media has really brought that too.

05:03Because it was very, DJs used to be very faceless, I feel like, back in the day, even like 10 years ago.

05:09Besides the ones that made big pop music.

05:11But yeah, so I just knew that worst case, I could always just follow back on the accounting.

05:17And I was young, single, and like no kids, which I still am now.

05:24I think because that was the time to take risk in all my life.

05:27It's no different than people who, after they graduate college, I think, you know, go travel the world for a year before they settle down.

05:33And yeah, so, but I just had to work the job first to be able to save up enough money to be able to do that.

05:38And then, yeah, when I'd DJ other people's places, I'd be couch surfing everywhere.

05:42And it was actually the most fun ever.

05:43Having no money is the most fun, because nothing matters.

05:47Yeah, I know.

05:48So when did, what was the breakout moment?

05:50When did everything kind of start changing?

05:53When did it start clicking that, oh my God, maybe this can be my full-time career?

05:59I don't have to go back to accounting.

06:01So I booked, so there's a thing called My Music Week every year.

06:03It's around Ultra.

06:04And there's lots of parties going on.

06:06And that, this is March 2020.

06:09So I booked like five parties for that week, which is a very big deal for me at the time.

06:13I'm playing a bunch of different record label showcases and everything.

06:15I thought that was going to be my big break.

06:17And then, because I was almost at zero money at the time, too, because I really needed that.

06:22And then COVID happened, which kind of ruined everything, because every single party stopped

06:27and then had to move back in mom's house.

06:31But what was nice about that is because I was just living at home.

06:35I could just sit at home, just make music all day, every day.

06:38Kind of like felt like a kid again, because, you know, no one could leave their house or

06:42anything.

06:42It wasn't.

06:44And then, so then I just, I think I made like over 100 records that year and then just sent

06:48them all out to like all my favorite record labels.

06:51Defected was the record label that signed this record called Deep End in June 2020.

06:55And that one just went viral ASAP online.

06:59And then that's when I realized, I was like, oh, like I can really make music a career.

07:04Because then all the record labels were hitting me up for more records.

07:06All the agencies were trying to sign me.

07:09You know, managers are trying to poach me.

07:11I'm still with my same managers from day one.

07:13Where, no, Parker, Mellatone's the absolute best.

07:16But it's just funny, like when you get on the map like that, you're like, oh, like this

07:19opened up a whole new world.

07:20And then by the time I could start touring again, it's been just nonstop ever since.

07:25Yeah.

07:26What makes a John Summit record, a John Summit record?

07:30Well, first it starts with, I think, the beat in the production, where it used to just be

07:34a Tech House production, which is kind of just more stripped back house music.

07:39It's like Tech House is a mixture between techno and house.

07:42But now it's kind of very much evolved to having kind of intricate melodies and also big

07:48kind of catchy vocals, big emotional vocals.

07:51And I love to find vocalists that, I guess, aren't super huge or kind of find kind of

07:58more raw hidden talent than working with kind of the obvious people.

08:01So, yeah, I think it's a mixture of just good house music production plus just very

08:06catchy emotional vocals that I think really resonate with people.

08:10Yeah.

08:10Do you think there's like fans out there that could immediately tell that this is a

08:14John Summit song I'm hearing right now?

08:15Yeah, and there's like nerdy sides of it where it's like little things like I do

08:19like on a drop, I have this triple kick I normally use, and just the certain drums

08:23I use.

08:23So I have like kind of a go-to sample pack where if you're like an OG Summit fan, you

08:28can tell if you're in a hi-hat or kick that like it's a John Summit drum.

08:34But then, yeah, I guess there's multiple layers to it because now I think you can tell with

08:38the songwriting and the use of melodies and all that too.

08:40So there's a lot of different elements that I think you can pick up on.

08:44What's your creative process?

08:45Like what's like an environment that you thrive in when it comes to like producing your music?

08:52Well, it kind of depends.

08:54So it's like if I'm going to go to a session with other singers, usually I like to start

09:00out with like just an eight bar chord pattern, chord progression.

09:05So it's something to like sing off of immediately because it could just be the most simple progression

09:10ever because I can make it more intricate later on.

09:11But then you just put that in a loop and then you just think of lyrics and you just kind

09:14of go back and forth to the vocalist.

09:17Or they come to me with like a studio with a vocal idea they have and then I try to write

09:21around it.

09:21So it's a very collaborative process though.

09:23There's no right or wrong way.

09:25The main thing with music is you just got to start because I think too many people just

09:30think too much and sit around and don't act.

09:32Where I think for like my album, I did 25 sessions in the month of November, 2023.

09:39And I think I made a song out of every single session.

09:42So I feel like just making as much as possible is the key.

09:46And then of course, choosing from a lot of my music I make sucks.

09:50So then from there you choose what's actually good.

09:52Yeah, and you seem to be very like hands-on in the process.

09:56And I think that shows with also you founding your own label, Experts Only, and then signing

10:02other artists on there.

10:04What made you want to do that?

10:08Well, there's multiple things.

10:10The way I first got kind of put on the map was by signing to other artists' labels such

10:16as like Gene Ferris' Ferris Wheel, E. Foss' Repopulate Mark's, Mark Knight's Tool Room.

10:21And then I just always thought artists' labels are just so sweet because the artist that

10:26owns the label is in full creative control of it and helps A&R and really be a part of

10:30it.

10:30It's not like just a big major label of just like faceless names that you never will even

10:36meet.

10:36You know, it's very artist, I don't know, friendly in that regard.

10:41And it's just sick that as a DJ that I play so many other people's records to be able to

10:45actually sign the records I play.

10:46So it's all kind of all part of this Experts Only world.

10:50Yeah.

10:51What's the, what's like the business process behind it all?

10:56Like what did it take to actually set up your own label, then sign an artist and build a

11:00team?

11:01Give me like the story that happened with starting Experts Only.

11:05Well, so we first, to do all like the distribution, we first distributed through Defected.

11:10Um, and now we work with Darkroom for that, but, uh, they were really instrumental in helping

11:16us set up right away because I was like the first big record I had, it was deep end through

11:20Defected.

11:21And they kind of show me like kind of the team we needed to have, whether it's, you

11:25know, a radio plugger on the team, a label manager to help do with all the contracts and

11:29go back and forth to the other artist managers and stuff and negotiate, you know, advances and

11:33all that stuff and splits and all that.

11:35Um, and then you have to have where I kind of, you know, in full creative control with

11:41that most of my time is spent A&Ring, like we're sent over a hundred demos every single

11:45day and I try to go through those all through them all.

11:48But now I have hired a couple extra people to help me go through because otherwise I'd

11:52literally just spend my entire day every day just going through records I'm sent.

11:55So usually they'll kind of narrow it down for me and then send me kind of the ones that

11:59like really stand out.

12:00Um, kind of like if you're like, you know, like a Hollywood producer and you're get sent

12:05like a million scripts every single day, you can't read them all.

12:08So, and then, but then I, and then I'm very hands on with the marketing of it too.

12:12Cause I think just by having me play out these records and then posting clips of it is like

12:18bigger than, I think it's bigger than radio play nowadays, to be honest.

12:22Cause like back in the day, if you can get a big radio host, I mean, to play one of your

12:26records, it's like, then that would break the record where I think now, especially with

12:30all the clips online and everything too.

12:32If I, if there's one viral clip of me playing someone's record at Tomorrowland, it's like,

12:37you know, that's going to be like the, I feel like one of the biggest dance records overnight.

12:40Absolutely.

12:41And I want to come back to social media, but before that, I want to ask, how do you kind

12:45of select who gets on the roster of experts only?

12:48Um, so I'm not too picky about like the, it's really just about the quality of work, to be

12:54honest.

12:55I know like a lot of labels just try to sign artists that are already viral or make sure

13:00they're like, I don't know, like, you know, based on their look and all of that, where

13:05I don't really care about any of that.

13:08Cause that doesn't really matter for the record label, as long as it's truly, if they make

13:12records out, love to play in a set or just listen to it at home or anything.

13:15Um, and then from there kind of, it gives them a platform and it's how they want to choose

13:20to deal with it.

13:21Cause I feel like some DJs are more behind the scene and not like trying to be as front

13:26facing as like me, for example.

13:27And then other DJs are trying to be huge stars.

13:30I mean, uh, like one, one artist we signed earlier this year, Disco Lines, this wide open

13:36track.

13:36And then I Don't Trust a Soul later this year too.

13:39Um, he's ever since like Coachella, he's super blown up and he's becoming like one of the

13:43next big stars.

13:44And it's awesome to see that.

13:45So it's cool to see, uh, to see, uh, sign artists from all backgrounds and all ages.

13:51It doesn't really matter who they are.

13:52Absolutely.

13:53And obviously you have this big platform and you're playing at all these different festivals

13:58and now your own, um, and you're playing these artists records.

14:02So they, the benefit of them signing to experts only is obvious, but tell me how it benefits

14:10you as an artist, as a business to have your own label.

14:14Uh, I guess there's multiple things.

14:17The main thing for me is full creative control.

14:21And, um, and I'm also in control of my own release schedule and stuff.

14:24Like imagine if you, if you sign an album to a major record label, they have, they're

14:30in full control of whether they released the album or not.

14:32So I've heard so many horror stories and I'm not going to say the label name, I'm not

14:35going to say the artists, but I'm sure you've heard them where, you know, they think they've

14:38signed this huge deal, they get this big advance and then they make a whole album.

14:42Um, the record label says no, then they make another one.

14:45Um, and then so, cause, but for me, if I made an album, I can just release it whenever I

14:50can make a song and release it tomorrow.

14:51If I want to, I can fund my own music videos.

14:54I can do my own art direction and everything like that.

14:56And to be able to let artists kind of have the same thing as well, too.

15:00Um, I think it's pretty sweet.

15:01The only thing that's tough now is cause now I get sent so many demos and there's so many

15:05artists that it is pretty backlogged.

15:07But, um, no, like for example, sign Lane Giordani, who's going to be playing the festival.

15:12And then he makes so many amazing, uh, demos and make so many amazing records.

15:17I can't release all of them.

15:18And then he like could, he was releasing a drum crowd and stuff as well, too.

15:21But he just started his own label called Mad Minds, which is sweet because now he's in

15:25control of his own release schedule too.

15:27So it's like, but it's all part of the same ecosystem.

15:31So I love just seeing people like, I don't know, grow and do their own things while still,

15:37you know, playing each other's events and everything.

15:38Yeah, absolutely.

15:39And you mentioned, you know, I can fund my own like music videos.

15:42How do you actually fund, how do you fund the label?

15:45Like what was it?

15:47Well, with my touring business.

15:49So, uh, yeah, you know, like I got, you know, I play a lot of shows outside of, uh,

15:56Exports Only where so I feel like Exports Only is the passion project, but of course, I mean,

16:00it's becoming a very, you know, big business in itself.

16:03And I think there's big long-term value with Exports Only, but I think, you know, you

16:08look at, let's say Facebook, for example, they weren't profitable with their first seven

16:11plus years and that's pretty much every startup.

16:13So I'm in the startup phase with it.

16:15So when we started in 2022, so 23 years old and now we're throwing our first festival.

16:20Um, and then, you know, obviously there's like the beasts like Ultra, Tomorrowland, EDC,

16:25Insomniac.

16:25And if you look at their origins, they all started very humbly and then, you know, by

16:31growing their team, growing artists and, you know, become huge over years.

16:36So I think that's the path we're on.

16:38Is there an artist who's like, you know, obviously there's so many artists who have done this

16:43before.

16:43Yeah.

16:44Is there one or, you know, a few that you really draw inspiration from?

16:47Um, uh, well now we're kind of entering a league of our own a little bit.

16:53So, I mean, Tyra, the creator has his own festival and then, so that's very successful

17:00in his own label and everything to J. Cole as well.

17:02But in the electronic space, not too much because it's kind of either you're an artist

17:05or a promoter, not really both at once.

17:08Um, that, what does make that very tough is because it's very time intensive because it

17:13is like almost a full-time job if I only did experts only, which is why I have to really

17:16grow the team and have people outside of just me, you know, running things.

17:21So, uh, yeah, but it's still a pretty tight, close-knit family right now.

17:26Absolutely.

17:26Tell me about the festival.

17:28What motivated you to build your very own, replacing Izu on Randall's Island, which is

17:34a huge deal.

17:35Yeah.

17:36Well, so my last event in New York was Madison Square Garden.

17:39Like, it was so much fun.

17:41It was one of the best nights ever.

17:42Did a five-hour open and close set there.

17:44But, um, I don't want, like, I'm not trying to be like Harry Styles and do like 15 Madison

17:50Square Gardens.

17:51I want to do something like, kind of like, I don't know.

17:53It just, it doesn't really excite me just doing my own thing every single night.

17:56We're doing this.

17:58It feels like a whole family affair.

17:59And like, we have this amazing, wonderful team and all the artists are signed on the

18:02record label.

18:03It feels like a whole celebration of the label and just like a whole community event

18:06versus like a big John Summit pop star type show.

18:09Uh, and, and it's just sweet to be able to throw this in massive fuel.

18:13It's 50,000 people.

18:14It feels like it's something bigger than myself.

18:17So, uh, yeah, I feel like that's the inspiration behind it.

18:20Yeah, absolutely.

18:20And 50,000 people, Randall's Island, replacing a festival that was removed because of a lot

18:27of supply demand issues.

18:28How did, how, how did you guys manage that?

18:31Like logistically and all of that.

18:33That's a huge undertaking.

18:34Well, I don't know if they were removed with supply demand issues.

18:36I'd say more financial issues.

18:38Yeah, it was kind of both.

18:39I remember like I went, um, I was supposed to go the first day, the last time it happened

18:44and like they couldn't get the stage up in time and whatnot.

18:48There's issues with the workers and everything there too.

18:50I think, and then, yeah, I remember coming back to New York a couple months later and the

18:54build was still built up from the, so they didn't even have the breakdown or thing.

18:58Um, yeah, so gotta learn from the mistakes of others, right?

19:02And then it's a lot of logistics, logistics involved.

19:05And it's also choosing the right partners.

19:07Like we're partnering with Medium Rare on this who helped produce the One Bite Pizza Festival

19:11the week prior with Portnoy.

19:12So they have, um, I guess a good track record in throwing events at this location, everything

19:18that too, and making sure, I mean, it's been a lot of prep a lot, the months leading up

19:22to this to make sure everything runs smoothly, but now everything's set up very well.

19:26So I don't think there's going to be any mistakes.

19:29Yeah.

19:29Did you, did you feel like you had to like really promote this event and, um, you know,

19:35push your fans to buy tickets or did it just, you know, now you've grown such a brand,

19:40especially on social media that like.

19:42Well, I did have to really promote the event cause we kind of leaned more on the experts

19:45only branding than John Summit branding.

19:47Like you look at all the flyers, there's my face is not on a single flyer.

19:50I'm not playing a single after all the after parties sold out.

19:53I'm not in a single one.

19:54I'll still show up to them and still get on the decks, but it was kind of like a proof

19:58of concept though, that it's bigger than just me because otherwise, and I am still

20:03headlining both nights, but the longterm future is that it's not a hundred percent

20:07dependent on John Summit being there because otherwise it'd just be John Summit shows.

20:11That makes sense.

20:12Um, so yeah, it was a little bit cause we, and we had to start brand new pages,

20:17experts only festival pages.

20:18I didn't really, I didn't post it through John Summit at all.

20:21So, uh, yeah, that's been really fun cause I've grown the marketing team outside of just

20:27me because when it comes to John Summit, I'm a hundred percent hands on.

20:30I don't want anyone to touch my accounts cause I want to make sure it's straight through

20:33me.

20:34But, uh, I think the team has had a lot of fun and excitement and a lot of, uh, ownership

20:39of it themselves too.

20:41So to let them have fun with it.

20:43Like, for example, the way we kind of teased the festival is we've got this graffiti street

20:47team to tee or to, uh, graffiti double diamonds all over the city.

20:51If you saw that.

20:52And then that started like going viral online cause people were like, cause they recognize

20:56the brand and they're like, oh, does that mean there's a festival coming or event?

21:00Um, so yeah, it's been fun getting creative with it.

21:02Absolutely.

21:03Um, between like experts only and then touring and playing all these festivals, how do you,

21:08what's kind of the ratio?

21:09How do you balance both or, you know, how are you spreading both of those out in your

21:14calendar year?

21:15It's tough.

21:16So, uh, I mean, last, uh, weekend I had my biggest international show, uh, today at the

21:24O2 arena in London.

21:25And that was like three plus months of work just making that show.

21:28Cause that's brand new production.

21:30I had dancers, five singers there.

21:32It was a true show.

21:33And so I'm just kind of a DJ set.

21:34But, and then normally I think an artist would, you know, take a break after that, but then

21:38immediately re-rolled into doing this festival, which, uh, I don't think it's tough doing

21:44a huge job cause we're still a hundred percent speed with John Summit and then also a hundred

21:48percent speed with experts only.

21:50So there's not much downtime in my day whatsoever, but it's cause it's all passion projects and

21:55it's something I truly love.

21:57It's like, it's all I think about anyways.

21:59So, uh, yeah.

22:01How do you, how do you, how does John Schuster feel?

22:06He's a little tired.

22:08No, but it's incredibly fulfilled though.

22:10It's amazing.

22:11It feels like I'm just like running this great race that we keep picking up new, um, I don't

22:16know, I feel like I'm just like on this crazy quest and it just keeps going right so far.

22:20And then everyone is just so excited and so hungry on the team.

22:24I think everyone's passion kind of feeds off on each other.

22:27So we all stay excited.

22:28Yeah.

22:29Are you still like living a double life or do you think you're mostly John Summit now?

22:33Uh, I love a double life.

22:36Hannah Montana.

22:37Yeah, it does feel like that.

22:38It's the best of both worlds.

22:40But, um, I mean, for example, like with all the workouts and stuff, I use Strava and I

22:45go by John Schuster on that.

22:46And I feel like that's where I kind of ground myself and I do my runs every morning and have

22:50like really have time myself where I don't touch my phone in all the first couple of

22:53hours every day.

22:55Um, so that helps.

22:56And then just cause I've been with the team, uh, I feel like since day one, we all, no

23:03one treats me any differently or anything too.

23:05It's like, so I think just the home life and stuff is so normal and balanced that once

23:10I'm on stage, that's really when I'm John Summit.

23:12Cause I'm not normally like a huge entertainer like that.

23:16Yeah.

23:16And I feel like, you know, I follow you on social media.

23:19I feel like you're very much a, a normal person on social media.

23:23And that's, I see it as really helping your brand because you've built a real like fan

23:30base.

23:30That's like obsessed with you as a person, not, not just your music.

23:35Yeah.

23:35It's kind of wild because I do feel like I treat, cause I treat social media.

23:39Like I'm just like talking to my friends on FaceTime.

23:41Like I treat like my story.

23:42Like it's a close friend story kind of thing where I think other artists are super curated

23:46and they make sure everything's like incredibly professional and they don't really show the

23:50real version of themselves much where I love.

23:53Um, and it's just taking so much pressure off me that I can just truly be myself.

23:56And then the fans actually do like it.

23:58Cause at first I, I, I kind of avoided doing that and cause I thought like I had to be a

24:03super serious, cool DJ that, you know, it was only very like edgy and all of that.

24:07And then, then you're just like kind of like playing a character.

24:10You're not being yourself at all.

24:11Um, and that's no fun.

24:13Yeah, absolutely.

24:14But I still like to, of course, get like serious, especially with the music and do really

24:17cool artistic music videos and stuff.

24:18But I've always been kind of like a film kid in that regard.

24:21So yeah, it's fun to get creative.

24:23In that sense.

24:24What's the timeline?

24:25Was it music blowing up and then social media blowing up or was it you going hard all in

24:31on social media and that helped your music blow up?

24:34Um, well, I think the first four years of releasing music, it was music only, which was very important

24:39because you get a lot of credibility and respect by other producers and other DJs.

24:43Um, I, I kind of advise not to go like, cause it's tough when people go like full influencer

24:48and then they start doing music and there's a lot of successful examples of that.

24:52Um, so I'm not saying like, you can't do that, but, um, I think focusing on just the music

24:57first and then getting like just the music fans.

25:00And then I started having fun with it and started getting fun with the posting and all

25:03of that.

25:05Um, so there's no right or wrong way to do it.

25:07But yeah, I think it wasn't until, like I said, during COVID and I stuck at home, I'm like,

25:12I'm just going to post all these stupid videos.

25:13Cause it honestly was just entertaining myself.

25:15Yeah.

25:16Like the first way I marketed a record, I was like, got some Heelys, if you remember those

25:21at all.

25:21And it was just healing all around my neighborhood.

25:24And it was like stupidest video ever, but it did a good job at marketing the song.

25:27No, absolutely.

25:29And, um, 2020 was also like the time when like TikTok blew up.

25:33So it was like almost fate.

25:36Yeah, I know.

25:37No, it was so wild because, and that's actually when I started using vocals too, because the

25:41records I made before 2020 were just very underground driven because obviously I was in a club every

25:48single night and like, you didn't want to do these big, it would kind of ruin the vibe

25:51of the party if I'm in a warehouse and you heard this big vocal.

25:54So, uh, but then once you're at home, just you're on your phone and stuff, I think that's

25:58when really catchy music started becoming a thing.

26:01And, uh, yeah, then I, I got just really good at making the catchy music.

26:05Yeah.

26:06And has that developed into, um, you know, brand partnerships too?

26:11Like I see you, you know, working with like Don Julio, Lululemon and all of that.

26:16Why is that important to you?

26:18Like I just did this ad with Tinder, which I thought was hilarious, you know, cause I'm a

26:21single guy and they, they wanted someone to rep it and I'm like, okay, I'm

26:24I'll try this app out and, uh, that like really caught on that TikTok ad of Tinder

26:29has like 30 million plays right now, which is, uh, I think it's just all fun.

26:33So I like doing, especially what's fun with working with these brands that my main thing

26:38is like creative freedom, just like with the record label and the festival where they're

26:42like, Hey, we want you to make an ad for Tinder.

26:45I'm like, well, can I make it myself and do it how I want?

26:47And they're like, yeah.

26:47I'm like, okay, I'll do it.

26:48If I have to read this script that I don't want to read, I wouldn't really want to do it.

26:52Yeah, absolutely.

26:54And I know you said, you know, this is all right now passion and passion project.

26:58And, but you know, as Forbes got to ask like, what's the money look like?

27:04You can monetize passion though.

27:05Cause I think every great business starts and feeds off passion because then that's

27:11going to put your, like want to put a lot of work into something.

27:13If I'm not passionate, I'm going to put good work into it.

27:15That's why I got fired and got to be an accountant.

27:17And they're like, you're not very good at this.

27:20It's like, well, if I think I, if I liked it, I would be good at it.

27:24But yeah, I mean, so just the demand for me to play events is very high.

27:29And the time I have is very small.

27:30I can't be everywhere at once.

27:31If I could, I would.

27:32So, you know, if they're like, John, you know, we really want you to play in Ibiza or something

27:38tonight.

27:38It's like, well, I got offers from London, Chicago, New York, literally every single place

27:44in the world right now, every single night.

27:46So I think that causes, the money gets pretty high because of that.

27:50Yeah.

27:50Cause everyone, it just becomes a giant bidding war.

27:52Right.

27:53Yeah.

27:53Did you spend the entire summer in Ibiza?

27:55Is that?

27:56No, I did six dates out there, but that was kind of the home base.

27:59Okay.

27:59Cause, uh, it's, it's just awesome there.

28:01It's a little paradise.

28:02So when I'm, I, I spent two, two and a half months in Europe this summer.

28:05So usually during the week I'd spend it in Ibiza, actually breathe a little bit, go to

28:10the beach, hang out.

28:11And then, you know, do all, I did pretty much all of Europe this summer.

28:14Yeah.

28:15And dance music has been huge in Europe for a long, long time.

28:19I think in the United States, and I was, you know, I was talking to a music analyst who

28:23had shared this with me, but in the United States, it was mostly like David Guetta and

28:28like, just like what made dance music big in the United States was adding pop to it.

28:34Um, but now we're at a stage where dance music is really thriving.

28:39Um, and some of it has to do with the fact that people just have access now to like software

28:45and like tech that can make it easier to produce music.

28:50Yeah.

28:50Um, so how have you kind of used tech in your, I think it's that, but I also think that niches

28:57can grow bigger, especially because it's, there's no centralized source for music where

29:02the radio, let's say 10 years ago, they, we'd have, have to have a certain type of song.

29:07You had to be written a major key to have to have a certain structure.

29:10You know, the chorus comes 45 seconds in, it was like, everyone followed this like Max

29:14Martin style, type style pop production.

29:17And then I feel like all, if you look at the songwriters of all those records is all written

29:20by kind of the same guys.

29:22Um, so I think now there's more, I don't know, artistic freedom and that people are, were

29:29bored of that formula.

29:31It's kind of like how Marvel took over and that's everyone watched.

29:34And then eventually people I think got, I don't know if they got sick of it or got bored

29:37of it or what, but they wanted something new and now like A24 is like the most premier

29:42studio in Hollywood where I feel like kind of indie earlating stuff.

29:46I mean, you have someone like the biggest artist to blow up outside of, out of COVID

29:50I think was Fred again and he brought kind of a unique like approach and production to

29:55music that wasn't the kind of the stereotypical style.

29:58What's your like mode of production?

30:00Oh, what's my mode of production?

30:01Okay.

30:01Is that, well, I use Ableton.

30:03I've been using Ableton since day one.

30:04And it was literally just because I saw the most, when I started DJing, I knew I had

30:08to produce and the most available resources for music production on YouTube was Ableton

30:13and, uh, downloaded, uh, pirated software of it.

30:17I bought mine now, so I, but I didn't, I was just a broke college student.

30:21So I just, I just pirated everything at the time, which I don't recommend because my computer

30:26did fry because of that.

30:27And I got a bunch of malware and bugs and everything, but, um, gotta do what you gotta do at the beginning.

30:33Right.

30:34Uh, but yeah, so then I use Ableton and I'm pretty much all in the box there.

30:37Cause every synth there's like a digital VST version of.

30:42So even like the analog ones, like it sounds like I cord it on an actual hardware sense,

30:48but in reality, it's just all in my computer.

30:50Absolutely.

30:51Okay.

30:51Um, but you are now going global.

30:55Like you were playing Europe, Mexico, everywhere, but what's it take to really make it global?

31:02Because there's tons of, some of the biggest names in dance music come from Europe, right?

31:07Like people are already established there.

31:09So how does an American John Summit make it big?

31:14What's, what's the plan?

31:16You have to have big records that they play everywhere.

31:18Um, a great example of that is like kind music.

31:21Like they did their run record move last year.

31:23That was just, you couldn't go anywhere without hearing it.

31:25So you can get booked all over the world.

31:27Um, language doesn't really matter too, because there's a lot of things in English,

31:31but also Spanish and anything, as long as it has a good melody to it.

31:34So it, the music is first and foremost, but then even when I didn't have big records,

31:39I was still touring all over Europe.

31:41I was going everywhere and just like putting my face out there.

31:44So even if it was a 200% club, I'd play it.

31:46So it did start small and organic.

31:48Like you're not going to be tomorrow main stage overnight, tomorrow and main stage overnight.

31:52So yeah, it's having the big records, but then also making sure you put your time in touring,

31:57I think too.

31:58Okay.

31:58What's 2026 look like for you?

32:01What do you have in mind?

32:02What are you looking for?

32:03I'm working on another album right now.

32:05So hopefully it'll come out in 2026, but that's the goal right now.

32:08Okay.

32:09And with experts only, what can we expect in the next year?

32:13Well, assuming the festival goes very well, we're going to do year two and then also expand

32:17to other places and hopefully take it internationally as well too.

32:20But I'm only 31, so I want to take my time and I'd rather make sure that the festivals

32:24and the events we have are amazing before we overexpand.

32:27Cause you know, so many businesses, I feel like when they start to, you know, an amazing

32:31restaurant, but then they make 10 other versions or 10 other locations, the quality goes way

32:35downhill because you know, the owner can't micromanage everything and make sure the quality

32:39standards are great everywhere.

32:41So I think taking our time and making sure the events that we are doing are amazing

32:44and eventually we'll just keep growing.

32:46Absolutely.

32:47With all your growth, all that you've achieved at only 31, can you leave me with a piece

32:53of advice to the other aspiring 18 year olds out there who want to become, who want to

33:00become big DJs, who want to become John Summitt?

33:03Just keep working.

33:04Don't get discouraged.

33:05It's very tough making music and you're going to think you suck a lot at times.

33:09I still do.

33:09And I still have very bad days, but if you keep having fun with it and you just keep

33:13going, every artist I know that has had a failed career is just because they stopped.

33:18But every artist I know, and it's usually not the most talented ones, but if they just keep

33:22going, they eventually reach success.

33:25Amazing.

33:25Well, thank you so much for joining me.

33:27Awesome.

33:28Thank you for having me.

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