It all started his freshman year of college at a house party with a laptop. Two years later, he’s performed as a disc jockey over 100 times at parties and bars.
“I started my senior year in high school trying to figure out what DJing is,” said Austin Antoni. “I was introduced to an software from a friend.”
Some people may know him as DJ AD2A.
“It’s an old nickname I had a long time ago. I had a coach that always said ‘All Day Double A’ and it stuck to me,” he said.
What some people don’t know is that he is a student on this campus. Now as a senior, Austin Antoni is running his own DJ business. He is an average Joe with an active agenda. He’s said he’s a jack-of-all-trades from DJing at bars and house parties to weddings and formals. He performs at the D Luxe, Brothers and Be Here Now. He is even part of his friend’s DJ group called Chicken and Waffles.
“I did a Halloween gig with them, which was the first time to be out of my element because I worked with a group of friends instead of by myself,” said Antoni.
Antoni has been DJing for six years. He said he makes a decent living with his part-time job being a DJ. He spends about 18 hours a week DJing.
Even though he is a DJ, he is a full-time student first with a campus job as well. He’s a senior in the Honors College studying business administration with minors in Spanish and theatre. He has never taken a music or technology class, and instead does independent work on his own time. He combines music and beats, and sometimes has his friends over to put music together.
“I know at the end of the day, I am an honors student first. I know I have certain requirements and I’m not afraid to turn down a night for a test,” he said. “I taught myself to be open to anything because you don’t know what will happen.”
That mindset extends to his future. While he’s always been a performer, he knows continuing to DJ after graduation will take money and effort.But until then, he’ll enjoy the feeling that comes with making someone’s night. He said he’s often recognized walking around campus or in class.
While he said some people might think of DJing as dancing, he feels it’s more about connecting through the lyrics.
“That’s the type of thing I do. I like to connect things that people know, in terms of one thing and bringing in a new beat. That ways it works with the flow,” said Antoni.
When he’s about to play a certain track that he knows will make people excited, he said it’s like “sparks that fly in my head.”
“I wouldn’t change this for the world,” he said.
