This week’s DJ LIFE Mobile Monday DJ spotlight brightly shines on DJ Ryan Wilson from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
DJ Ryan Wilson is this week’s DJ LIFE Mobile Monday spotlight, a mobile DJ based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ryan Wilson’s journey to becoming a full-time DJ started his senior year of high school, when he discovered the art of DJing while working lights at a bar. Since then, he has built a career bringing high-energy party environments to venues big and small, all while balancing family life and the demands of being a mobile DJ.
With a love for his craft, a simple yet powerful setup, and a dream to expand his lighting game with Astera tubes and moving heads, Ryan is a true example of someone who’s turned passion into a profession.
When DJ LIFE spoke with Ryan regarding all things mobile DJ, here’s how it went down…
DJ LIFE: How did you get started as a DJ?
DJ Ryan Wilson: I used to work lights for bands at a bar my senior year of high school. One night the band had a DJ fill breaks and the end of the show and watching what he could do with music was amazing. I went home that night and found out the software he was using was free and started teaching myself everything I could!
DJ LIFE: What does being a mobile DJ mean to you?
DJ Ryan Wilson: To me, being a mobile DJ means being versatile and capable of brining a party environment to anywhere that doesn’t typically have one. I always go back into the venue after the event once I am completely loaded up. I am one making sure I have all of my gear and didn’t leave anything behind. But also, It is awesome to look at a room after everything is gone and look back to the party that just took place!
DJ LIFE: Can you tell us about your current DJ setup?
DJ Ryan Wilson: My current DJ setup is pretty simplistic! I use two 15 EV Subs and two EC 12 Tops on speaker poles. On each of those speaker poles is a Chauvet Par9FX light that are linked via DMX. On the table I use two turntables and a Pioneer S7.
DJ LIFE: What would your perfect or dream setup look like?
DJ Ryan Wilson: I love my current setup, but I grew up running lights, so I think I would keep my current sound and turntable setup. But the dream would be to add trussing with both Astera tubes and a mixture of moving head lighting.
DJ LIFE: Do you have any favorite or new gear that you’re currently using?
DJ Ryan Wilson: I had recently purchased a Pioneer Rev-5 to have something quick and accessible in my office. I originally bought it thinking It would just be good in a pinch, and I would really only use it in the office. I ended up loving that controller far more than I thought I would and have used it at some smaller events and its now the go to controller for any nightlife venues that don’t have gear as well.
DJ LIFE: What are some of the biggest pros and cons of being a mobile DJ?
DJ Ryan Wilson: The pro for me is being able to pay my bills and support a family while doing something I genuinely love. Being able to go to and from work happy everyday makes you feel like one of the luckiest people alive. This career has also led me to meeting a lot of really great people, Some of whom have become lifelong friends!
The negative to me is not having the same time off as most other people. I have missed a lot of birthday parties, weddings, events that family and friends have hosted over the years because I commonly work the same days as most of those events.
DJ LIFE: Do you have any DJ-related pet peeves?
DJ Ryan Wilson: Right now, I think my biggest pet peeve is just the way people make requests. Its either approaching me and making a demand; then coming back every 5 minutes to remand me that I haven’t played that song yet or shoving a phone in my face while I am trying to work. I know that I am not the only DJ out there that experiences this or goes through it. I just feel like there has to be a far more respectable way to approach requests than how I get approached most of the time.
DJ LIFE: How has being a DJ impacted your personal/family life?
DJ Ryan Wilson: When I was working a full-time job while also DJing, It was really hard. I would spend all day at work, come home and spend the off time prepping for events during the weekend. Then I would normally get home Friday afternoon, leave and work that night at a bar. Saturday I would normally be gone the entire day at an event and have Sunday to recover. Working a schedule like that never left a lot of time to spend with my family. I am blessed to have had a wife during that time that could see how much I loved DJing and never gave me a hard time about doing it. But DJing full time has been a blessing, I am still incredibly busy and still have those times where I am gone most of the week. But when I have a day off during the week, I have been able to make time to spend far more time with my family, which I cannot be more thankful for.
DJ LIFE: What is the most important life lesson you have gained from your experience as a DJ?
DJ Ryan Wilson: DJing has taught me how to change course and pivot quickly. Things at events change on the fly as things happen. You can plan for an event for 100 hours and it just takes one person being sick, or not being in the right place at the right time to change something you planned for. But events still have to go on and things still have to get done, regardless of whether it is necessarily getting done how it was planned. Not everything in life goes as planned so to me that’s a fantastic life skill to be able to have. To be able to take situations and think through them quickly without getting rattled.