00:01I get into the booth and I'm thinking about challenging the room you should
00:07play like one song that people know one song that people don't know maybe one
00:11song from an artist but a deeper cut and in that process you can really see
00:15what the music taste of the room is and what you can do with that energy but
00:20especially when it's my own party I'm definitely gonna do me I'm honey bun and
00:25I am a DJ for a living so it's 9 p.m. and I'm putting my makeup on getting
00:40dressed we have to be at the club in like 30 minutes I'm Samantha I go by the
00:47name honey bun I've been DJing for about five years now but this has been my
00:52first year as a full-time DJ every weekend sometimes during the week I was
00:58born in New York City when I was around five years old we moved back to Texas
01:02where my family's from Texas is a very conservative place and I found myself in
01:07a lot of situations where I was the only black person black kid mixed kid my mom
01:13worked in music industry throughout my whole childhood so she really exposed me
01:17to things outside of my immediate environment and we were able to travel a
01:21lot I was able to go to a lot of concerts with her go to award shows in LA and
01:26do a
01:27lot of really fun things that allowed me to just sort of expand my mind outside of
01:32a very limiting environment the things that were playing my house were either
01:35Sade or like Tibetan monks singing my mom's like very meditative so it was either
01:44like really beautiful soulful R&B or this world music that was just very meditative
01:51and calming I got to choose my own major in college I was in an independent study
01:59program through that I was able to discover this idea of Afrofuturism there's
02:03many different definitions floating around but for me it's really just this juncture
02:08between art technology and black culture because I studied Afrofuturism I really
02:15like to stick to playing as many black producers as I can so it's something that
02:19I feel is really important for me to honor and educate on I love playing house of
02:23techno for those reasons after college I was working in fashion and then from
02:29there I moved on to become an associate producer at a media company I worked more on
02:34the music side of things so I was able to meet a lot of artists and learn more
02:38about the journalism side of music unfortunately my freelance contract was
02:42not renewed which is code word for absolute off but it's okay because while I
02:49was in all these different jobs I was developing my DJ career and so I feel
02:53really lucky that when I did get laid off I just went into emergency mode and lined up
02:59a bunch of gigs for myself and just went for it yes there was a need for
03:04money but I also saw it as an opportunity to really put myself out
03:08there believe in myself it was a natural evolution and it was what was going to
03:13happen either way I have this spreadsheet that I've created where I track all of my
03:18gigs I track all of my invoices I have a little notification set for myself to
03:23remind people who may be late on paying me as any freelance artist you're always
03:28chasing down your check I have a little section of sort of like financial goals
03:32that I want to meet for myself in my previous role as an associate producer at a
03:36media company I made about sixty eight thousand dollars a year this year as a
03:41full-time DJ I have made just about that much and maybe a little bit more and I'm
03:46really proud of that fact so this is what I'm wearing for my intergalactic space
03:51age themed party at mood ring tonight get into it I play so many different types of
04:00music so many different genres of music I think that's kind of what I'm becoming
04:05known for maybe in New York and some might call it open format which is a
04:09style of DJing where you play multi genres if you look at my schedule and see the
04:13sort of gigs I'm playing it's super varied so one night I will be in a dark grimy
04:18underground basement party banging out techno and another night I may be in a
04:23cute little cocktail bar doing a little deep house set I just love music and I
04:28don't want to limit myself I think it's better to explore a lot of genres and
04:31figure out really what is the sound that you like to play out because there is a
04:35big difference in the type of music you like to listen to at home and the kind of
04:39music that you're good at playing out and curating for a crowd a club I think I'm
04:43definitely still in the phase of figuring that out for myself which is why I
04:47like to play all these varied sets right now I organized two different parties one
04:53is called soul connection and I organized that with my friend and fellow DJ lovey
04:58her and I met on the lot radio we're both residents there and we connected a few
05:03years ago because one we were two of the only black women on the station and we
05:07both share a common interest in creating more of a safe space on the dance floor
05:12for women especially black women oftentimes clubs and dance floors are
05:17very male-dominated in soul connection we curate lineups consisting of only black
05:22femme DJs we make it a point to invite black women onto our dance floors to
05:26experience that and yeah we're just really fighting against these very toxic
05:31masculine concepts ideas environments that exist in dance music my other party is
05:37bun topia that is the same name of my radio show on the lot radio after
05:42having the radio series for about three years I wanted to turn it into an actual
05:46party it's a little bit more futuristic electro leaning and it's held it smaller
05:52more intimate clubs so tonight is my party bun topia at mood ring it's also
05:58Halloween and it's my birthday so celebrating a lot of things and my set
06:03time is at 12 30 but the party starts at 10 and I have to be a good host and
06:08be
06:08there on time I try to arrive to my set at least 30 minutes before and in that
06:19time I'll definitely like check out who's there I'll get on the dance floor I'll
06:23listen to the sound system and see what music is sounding good and what's not
06:27sounding good so in that process I'm really thinking about okay what's going to
06:31work for this room and then my set time comes I get into the booth I'll do
06:36another check of the room but I'm also thinking about challenging the room
06:43something that I have learned from another DJ in New York named DJ MoMA is this
06:49idea of when you start your set you should play like one song that people know one
06:54song that people don't know maybe one song from an artist but a deeper cut and in that
06:59process you can really see what the music taste of the room is it varies you know
07:04depending on what sort of party it is but especially when it's my own party I'm
07:08definitely gonna do me
07:15from there it's just a journey and I can really feel a connection with the dance floor
07:27some of the challenges of being a DJ for me honestly this year has been the schedule adjustment
07:33getting used to the hours they can be tough especially being in a city like New York you
07:39should expect to be out till at least 4 a.m. some people really don't realize that especially when
07:44you're just dancing at a party and you're looking at the DJ being cool and hot and mysterious you
07:49don't realize that they're they're stressed their back is hurting their feet hurt and being a full-time
07:55DJ full-time artist freelancer I've definitely learned the art of advocating for myself it's
08:02been a challenge but I have so many great friends and sort of mentors around me that have given me
08:07advice helpful tips my parents have also been very supportive of me in this very unconventional career
08:16path I surround myself with so many great friends and fellow DJs I call them like my colleagues my
08:24peers I always encourage people to try DJing it's such a great way to explore music engage
08:30with music and especially in a city like New York there are so many places that need DJs and need
08:36good
08:36DJs and especially women queer people DJing I think we bring the best sound the best flavor the
08:43best energy I want to learn from other cultures I want to bring the New York flavor to other cities
08:50around the world and have this transaction of culture and sound others honestly I just want
08:57to keep collecting more and more music and learning more about the history of music I just have
09:03experiences that I know are waiting for me you can go to any city in the world and there will
09:07be
09:07this group of people and dance music and DJing and we all just understand one another and we have
09:12music to share with one another I think that's one of the beautiful aspects of DJing and that's
09:17something I aspire towards
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