Conversations with SVNDAY DRVR

Hi Andrew, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I started getting into the EDM scene as a freshman in college at the University of Arizona when I attended my first music festivals: Dusk Festival and Decadence NYE. This was in 2017. At the time I had no idea how far my journey would take me or how close to the inner workings of the EDM community I would get. These festivals piqued my interest and my time started to be absorbed by exploring new music and discovering what EDM was. (I used to be quite the hip-hop head and wrote tons of rap lyrics through high school and into college).

An upperclassman in my fraternity lent my suitemate and I his old DJ Controller and we started teaching ourselves how to use it. It was all very experimental and trial-and-error. We thought we were sounding good but it’s kind of funny now looking back on the videos. This became a huge hobby of mine, overtaking lyric writing. I’ve always been the creative type and music has been a huge part of my life since I was a young kid. I took classical piano lessons for about 6 years, I was involved in my high school choir and in a 6-man acapella group called “The Blenders” where we wrote our own arrangements, and have written hundreds of lyrics. Sometimes during my sophomore year, I got my very own DJ Controller, a DDJ-SX2, and a 4-channel intermediate board. I spent hours using it playing to no one but myself at home, making mashups, or recording mixes that have never been shared. As I got better I DJd a few house parties and fraternity socials but was really only playing for close friends.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, the bars in PIMA county were closed or heavily restricted, but about 15 minutes north of campus in the next county over, restrictions and mandates were a little laxer. Plenty of students were itching for somewhere to congregate and party and some friends and I found a solution. We started promoting one night a week at a dive/pool bar called The Edge where we brought our fraternities event production equipment (speakers, lights, etc) my buddy’s DJ controller (an XDJ-XZ) and I DJd. I was paid and the bar saw sales they probably hadn’t seen in years and if I’m honest probably won’t see again. A few hundred students would go to these events.

In my 4th year at university, when things had opened back up and were at least back to semi-normalcy, I got a gig as a resident DJ at Gentle Bens, a club on University Blvd at the school. (one of the popular spots). I worked there as a security guard for a few semesters prior. I was usually playing a few sets a week there. At the time it was still just for fun and I wasn’t really trying to take it any further than that.

I had to take an extra semester of classes, and my minor was only offered in the summer time so I stuck around Tucson for a 5th year or a “victory lap” as some like to call it. 2021-22. This was the year things really started happening for me. I knew I was a good DJ and finally thought to myself I might as well try to get booked for stuff and put some more effort into trying to get on a stage and show people what I could do. I felt it was foolish to not at least give it a shot.

I joined a team of ambassadors called UP&UP Music Festival, a subsidiary of Monster Music by Monster Energy. Our mission was to compete against other ambassador teams to sell presale tickets each semester to win a show for our school. That first semester I joined we hosted Subtronics at the Rialto Theatre, the next semester we hosted Peekaboo at the same venue. I played support for the Peekaboo show.

I got booked to play my first ticketed event with a headliner in the fall of 2021. The Headliner was Al Ross at the Rock Tucson hosted by Halfmoon Events. The guy putting it on I had met the prior year when I was an ambassador for his UA team of LVIN promoters. LVIN organizes college-oriented all-inclusive trips for spring break or other similar things (similar to Just College). My second event ever was also with him that year it was YAKZ b2b Codd Dubz with special guest Blankface at the same venue.

In November 2021 I played my first festival on the local stage at Dusk festival. This was the first festival I ever attended in 2017 and my first real taste of the EDM scene. It was cool to see things come full circle, though that was not the end of my journey!

A couple of months after joining UP&UP I saw that the event production company Specto Entertainment, which hosted EDM shows in Tucson and Honolulu Hawaii was hiring promoters. I applied, was interviewed, and was hired as a promoter! A few weeks after onboarding and working with them the company was acquired by Relentless Beats, the largest EDM event production company in Arizona. Relentless Beats puts on shows and festivals in AZ, Albuquerque, and Honolulu. After the acquisition, I was grandfathered in as a Relentless Beats Promoter.

The original Specto team still ran the Tucson shows for the most part and I became friends with them through my involvement in the clubs as security and DJ, and now event promoter. I started to play more clubs around Tucson. Hifi Tucson, Omalleys, and No Anchovies among others. I also developed relationships/friendships with the promoters, directors, managers, etc. of these establishments.

Fall 2021 was also when I started learning music production. I knew that SVNDAY DRVR could only go so far just as a DJ; I needed to produce original tracks. A little over a year later I self-released my first single “Devil’s Game” on all platforms. It has gotten some good attention so far, with almost 4,000 SoundCloud streams in the first month.

After I finished school and my lease ended I moved back to Phoenix where I am originally from. Doing this I kind of uprooted everything I had going for me in Tucson in terms of connections and gigs, but I persisted. They were not lost but were not as readily available to me since I’m no longer living in Tucson. I was worried that It would be difficult to get involved and get booked in Phoenix since the market is so much bigger and there is so much more competition. I just tried to get involved wherever I could and kept up my promotion and involvement with Relentless Beats, attending shows, and supporting other local artists. Since moving I’ve played Goldrush Festival, and two shows at Sunbar Tempe; opening for Jessica Audiffred with special guests Blood Thinnerz and Blankface, and SAYMYNAME. I also opened for MARAUDA, Infekt, Tape B and Executioner at the Van Buren.  I have another show with Relentless Beats on April 1st at Darkstar supporting LOUIEJAYXX and RZRKT with another local artist 2SOON and the following week I am playing the local stage at Phoenix Lights Festival.

On my journey so far I’ve opened for 27 headlining acts and have had 4 festival bookings.

In summary, I tried to get involved in the scene wherever I could. Be that attending shows, promoting, or interacting with other local artists. Anything involving the event production or the entertainment industry, I did anything I could be involved in. Through that, I met many colleagues and people with similar interests and mindsets, many of which have become good friends. I also have good people around me, friends and family that support my music and my dreams. I definitely would not be where I am today or have the opportunity that I do without them. There also has been a good bit of luck involved or the right place right time, so to speak. I haven’t followed any formula and I’m not sure there is one, but instead, I’ve trusted my gut, gone with the flow, and kept working hard to make my dream a reality.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road, but no one part was overly difficult in itself. I think the hardest part of it all is kind of piecing it all together. There are a lot of moving parts in the music industry.

It’s easy to do what you love, anyway. Getting people to care or to listen is the hard part. It really comes down to the effort and time you’re willing to put in.

An opportunity has presented itself to me along the way, but that was not for lack of seeking it out too. Other times I made my own opportunity (ie. the edge).

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Riddim/Dubstep producer and DJ. I am also an event promoter and have experience promoting for clubs.

This kind of goes hand in hand. I’ve been DJing for 6+ years and producing for 1+. I am very good at curating sets to fit any particular show. I am familiar with many genres of EDM. With my experience as a club DJ, I can confidently mix house music, popular music, and hip-hop. My focus recently has been dubstep and this is what I have become known for. Within the last 6 months, I have really started to realize my sound and narrow down what SVNDAY DRVR is and what I bring to a lineup: energy, head-banging, high knees, and moshpits.