Today we’d like to introduce you to Axel Morales.
Hi Axel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My career as a DJ almost never became a reality. After graduating high school and needing money for college my dad suggested becoming a DJ as he saw my passion for music, but my passion was in production and I was ignorant about the art of Djing and thought it was boring to just play songs.
Regardless the idea of playing music and getting a paycheck sounded easy enough so I bought my first DJ controller at the age of 19. But since I didn’t know the first thing about how to get gigs, I never even bothered practicing and that poor old controller sat in my closet gathering dust as I went through college, switching majors, not knowing what I really wanted to do for about three years.
One day, a hookah lounge opened up in downtown Palm Springs, CA, where I was living at the time, and my friends suggested checking it out. When I walked into the lounge, I realized they didn’t have a DJ yet so I asked the owners if they were interested in hiring me. They agreed and the next weekend, I was there for my first gig ever! After that first night, I was hooked and I don’t know why or how but they loved the way I played so I became their resident Dj for the weekends.
I loved the feeling of making people dance and I dove into the DJ culture and became obsessed. I learned that Djing was more than playing music, started learning how to scratch and how to blend and looked up to these great DJs such as DJ AM, Atrak, and DJ Craze, that didn’t just play records, they would manipulate them and mix them uniquely and creatively. I became so obsessed that I would practice for hours and became so good that the word started getting around town and eventually other bars and clubs started hiring me.
It got to the point that I was DJing 6 days out of the week. I eventually dropped out of college and sold my pool cleaning business and was making way more money than I ever had just Djing. After just 7 years, I had played and held residencies in all of the bars in my area and became bored with playing the same places so I took the leap of faith and moved to Nashville in September 2021.
In the half-year that I have lived in Nashville, I have been blessed to play so many great places already including ACME, Hard Rock, Lucky Bastards and so many more.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t all been peaches, working at clubs and bars every night and drinking is definitely not the best thing for your health, and saying no sometimes can be hard especially when you are supposed to be the life of the party and you are a shy and quiet person when sober.
Another struggle I’ve encountered is trying to get to play at some of these venues and management overlooking you because they already have their DJs and they really aren’t looking for anyone new.
Some DJs have held residencies in venues for years and their ties with management are so strong that you might be waiting for years to be able to play at certain venues.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in rock clubs and bars creating a vibe, reading a crowd, and if possible turning the party from a 1 to a 10.
I’m most known for my technical skill and scratching and it’s what sets me apart from most DJs, especially in this day and age.
I’m most proud of how many places I’ve been able to play in such a short career and being able to move across the country not knowing anyone and being able to thrive off of DJing alone!
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I think it’s listening to music that my dad used to play not knowing I would later use all that music knowledge to further my career.
Contact Info:
- Email: djax760@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.officialdjax.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealdjax/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therealdjax
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiINnRe13rdHOucXdIZO8kg
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/djax760
