By Josh Heller
Staff Writer
Music is an important aspect of the average person’s daily life. Nic Echenique hopes that he can incorporate it into the rest of his career, and he hopes that his D.J.ing will help to push him in the right direction.
Echenique, known as “Shaggy” to his friends, is a 19-year-old Saint Rose freshman who was born in Boston. When he was 4 years old, Echenique’s father, Andres, got a job offer in Syracuse, and his mother wanted to move closer to her family in New York. So, Echenique and his family moved to Western New York, where he attended school until college.
At 16 years old, Echenique went to a Datsik concert in Syracuse. When Echenique saw Datsik, a popular electronic dance music artist, he knew he had fallen in love with D.J.ing.
“I loved everything he was about,” Echenique said. “I want to do that, that looks like so much fun.”
From then on, Echenique knew D.J.ing was going to be a part of his future.
Once Echenique returned from the concert he got to work on kick-starting his D.J. career. He started with UpstateShows.com, and continues to book through them. The company has found success advertising on social media. When people want to book a band or D.J., they ask how many tickets can be sold for the event.
According to Echenique, payment for a gig can range from $20 to $80, depending on how many tickets are sold for the event. Most of Echenique’s gigs are at local Syracuse venues, and he typically does a party every two or three weekends. One party usually lasts one to two hours, and they are not all fun- a lot of work goes into a party.
Echenique usually arrives a couple hours prior and gets to work, setting up his turntable, laptop, and tons of power cables- all of which Echenique values at around $1,500. He said it wasn’t that hard to gather all of the equipment. You can buy all of the equipment online or in music stores, but his wallet restricts him.
Echenique’s least favorite part of being a D.J. is the setup. “Cables annoy me,” Echenique said. “Trying to untangle them in the worst. Setting up is annoying.”
Usually, when doing a party, Echenique will D.J. for one to two hours, then leave an auxiliary cord for the guests to use.
At parties, Echenique uses beats that he has made. But if he is opening for a bigger name band or artist at a concert, Echenique doesn’t use any of his own beats.
The largest crowd Echenique has ever D.J.’d for in the three years since he began his career was about 80 to 90 people. His favorite part of D.J.ing is making sure people have a good time.
If there was one negative, Echenique said, it would be not getting paid right away. Sometimes there are barriers before getting paid, such as others not paying UpstateShows.com as soon as requested.
Echenique is currently working to get his music industry bachelor’s degree. His career goal is to become a recording engineer. A recording engineer is similar to a music producer, as they both edit and mix audio.
Echenique said that earning his degree would help him to achieve his career goals. In addition to turning tables, Echenique plays the cello, bass drums, guitar, and he is currently learning the piano. He took lessons for cello and piano, but taught himself how to play the drums and guitar.
Echenique’s father lives in Syracuse but his mother lives in Florida. When finished with school, Echenique wants to find a studio job in Miami, and D.J. around there.
While in Syracuse, Echenique was in a band with his brother Alec, a 21-year-old computer science major at Syracuse University. Echenique always had music around him, as his father used to be in a band and currently plays music as a hobby.
When Echenique chose to enroll at Saint Rose, he decided to participate in the A.O.E. program, the Academic Opportunity Experience. It allows future students to come to campus before all students arrive to get further acquainted with the college life.
“Nic is talented, which is vital to being a successful music student,” said Jessica Brouker, Echenique’s A.O.E. coordinator. “Beyond that, he has a positive attitude and dedication that not only helps him to maintain a solid GPA but to excel in both his personal and professional life.”
Echenique lives on the first floor of Lima Hall, where he tries to balance school with music, D.J.ing, and practicing his cello.
“He’s always practicing making music in his room and he seems really dedicated to his work and seems to really like it,” said Alec Arroyo, Echenique’s roommate in Lima Hall. “He studies for his classes a lot and works hard to make music. He’s a cool guy.”
Echenique has grown fond of the Pine Hills region, except for one detail. “The music scene isn’t the best. Not many good bands are around here.”
But this only pushes Nic harder towards being the best that he can be.
Echenique’s favorite artist is J. Rabbit, who is also the first artist he opened for. Echenique says that he wants to model his D.J.ing after Datsik, because he loves Datsik’s presence on stage and his music. Echenique’s favorite genre of music is EDM, while his favorite hobby next to music is video games.
Balancing school and work can be extremely challenging, especially for someone who is still a teenager.
“It’s hard to find time to practice D.J.ing while practicing cello for two hours a day,” said Echenique.
But achieving your dream isn’t supposed to be easy, and it’s what is hard that is worth doing.
