DJ Paroma Opens About The Challenges In DJ Industry

When did you start DJing – and what or who were your early influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you into it?

DJing was not my initial professional choice. I was working as an airhostess before. I had a great, perfect, glamorous job which was taking me places, literally. But I somehow felt underutilized, and I felt I have so much more potential. I always knew I have a great knack for Music, and I had a lot of friends who were in the DJing industry. The popular EDM artist DJ’s Armin Van Buuren and David Guetta were my greatest influencers, I absolutely loved them and their music. EDM music took me into a different world and I wanted to make it big in the industry someday like them. I took professional training from the best in the industry Mr. Bob Omulo. I worked hard and got into small projects, and slowly climbed up the ladder and I am performing at both, local and international gigs today.

How would you describe your own development as an artist and the transition towards your own creativity? What is the relationship between copying, learning and your own creativity?

True creativity according to me is built by taking chances, taking risks, applying trial and error methods and coming up with new ideas or recreating an existing concept in a very different manner. The ability to rectify existing music presenting it in a better way is also an art according to me. I follow all of this, and I feel it has helped me grow as an artist and gather a fan following. I take feedback, both positive and negative in good spirits. Hence the relationship between copying, learning and adding your own creativity to it is all inter related.

What were some of the main challenges and goals when starting out as a DJ and how have they changed over time? What is it about DJing, compared to, say, producing your own music, that makes it interesting for you?

When I began DJing, I faced a lot of criticism. It was first of all, not really considered a woman’s profession, and neither was it considered noble in the society. There were safety issues and concerns with the night life working environment being a girl. There were also financial stability concerns as there was no regular fixed income involved. And now when I look back, I think getting into DJing really changed my life. It is a great profession from which one can earn decent (if you do well) , and I know of many DJs today that are women and are doing as good as the boys. Making my own music is definitely my ultimate goal, but I love the fact how I can give my own twist to music and its tunes while DJing.

Could you take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work? Do you have a fixed schedule? How does life and creativity feed back into each other – do you separate them or instead try to make them blend seamlessly?

In my world, my nights are my mornings, and my mornings are my nights (laughs). My day begins at 12 noon, as I need to get my sleep after my gigs at night. I use my afternoons to chalk out my entire schedule for the day/week/month post lunch. I check my mails, attend to my queries and also do a bit of social media handling and co-ordination. I spend my evenings to prepare for the night gig. Whenever I have some free time on me, I use it to spend with my family, my loved ones and at times I pamper myself as well. I do try to maintain a work life balance, as my family as well as my work is important to me. I do try to keep my professional preferences and personal separate like a thorough professional, but somethimes they do tend to get mixed. Its funny how our emotion take control sometimes, you see. All in all , in certain occasions, blending of professional and personal life does work at times .

 Who are your inspirations in the field?

I’ve been following (Dutch DJ, remixer) Armin van Buuren, DJ Snake, Beyonce, etc. I also like (Norwegian music producer) Kygo. In India, I have been blown by artistes like Nucleya. Though I’m not inclined to drum and bass or dubstep (genres of music),bu I really get inspired by my friend Indira Kanawade aka Smokey who specialises in these genres. She’s emerging big time now.