Jeffrey Hsiao is new to the game. Hsiao began mixing at the beginning of this year, and is a relatively new addition to the swath of DJs on the UCLA campus.
After winning the Cultural Affairs Commission’s 2013 Bruin Bash DJ Competition, Hsiao will have his biggest chance yet to introduce people to his blend of trap and house music.
Hsiao, a second-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, picked up his first mixer, or an instrument used to mix musical tracks, in January, but Hsiao said it wasn’t merely on a whim.
“I’ve been an ardent fan of (electronic dance music) for a long time, ever since I was in middle school,” Hsiao said. “But I never really got a chance to mix music before. And when I got exposed to (the Electronic Dance Music Club) here at UCLA, I was introduced to all these producers and DJs, so it made me think I could just do it myself.”
Hsiao moved to the United States last year to attend UCLA. He is Taiwanese by birth, but was raised in Malaysia in the state of Penang.
It wasn’t until he came to UCLA that he began to explore mixing. For his style, Hsiao professes that his DJ sets are partly a product of trends in the EDM scene as well as musical interests that stem back to his early teenage years.
“I’ve always been interested in hip-hop. When I was in high school, I used to listen to a lot of underground dubstep as well. And, then, the EDM scene started to shift toward the trap scene, a style of hip-hop,” Hsiao said. “Artists like gLAdiator or Luminox started to become popular. So I started going with that trend as well. I decided to mix that type of music.”
Unlike his decision to purchase a mixer and his intrinsic musical interests, Hsiao’s decision to enter the 2013 Bruin Bash DJ Competition was very much spur of the moment.
Rasheed Tulay, a fourth-year philosophy student and fellow producer with the Electronic Dance Music Club, said Hsiao beat out the other contestants because of the unique blend of styles that accompanies his set.
“In terms of EDMC, the type of music he’s playing is not really that popular. It’s hard to mix hip-hop and house together and not make it sound corny,” Tulay said. “That’s why people like it … because he does it well. Most DJs are playing trance, but he’s focusing on trap music like 2 Chainz.”
In making his mixes, Hsiao describes his process as improvisation rater than intense planning and analysis.
Despite the excitement of being picked to play at Bruin Bash, Hsiao stresses that his musical interests are only a hobby, emphasizing that his goal to go to medical school will not be disrupted anytime soon.
“I’m definitely really excited and my parents are happy for me, my friends as well,” Hsiao said. “I’m still focused on being a doctor. That’s my dream. I want to stick with my pre-med career.”