Meet Gxldxn | Director/DJ/Event Planner/Musician/Photographer/Sound Engineer.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gxldxn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gxldxn, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
In all honesty, every business I’ve started came out of, I don’t want to say necessity, but because it was just the next logical step in my growth & exploration into all the things creative. For instance, I started doing music because I already had a love for it & was into DJing & just loved rhythm, so I wanted to explore more. Start creating my music. I just needed an outlet. I was very depressed at the time & music was that candle in the dark for me if you will. Eventually, that led to sound engineering because I was making instrumentals & I was meeting all these talented artists & they trusted me & felt comfortable with me so naturally, I started recording their songs for them & it became a decent hustle & it was fun I was genuinely enjoying it. Eventually, that led to organizing small shows because, well, I was recording and befriending lots of talent & they needed a way to share their work so I took upon myself to find a way to give them a platform to express & The Mixer was born & it took off too thankfully. Now I’ve done 5 Mixers & many other shows I’ve been a part of. I was already DJing local gigs & so I started buying my sound setup & started renting out local venues wherever I could & would throw shows. COVID hit & we had to stop for a bit right when things were moving so that was a bit discouraging but I took that time to keep gathering equipment like lights and more speakers. Stuff to enhance the show experience you know. I spent every stimulus check on new gear haha. Don’t regret it. Now 8 years into this I went from DJing little house parties with my little 5-inch studio monitors to have a 6 speaker setup and all the accompanying junk so I’ve definitely come a long way & look forward to where it can potentially go. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some key players in the scene like Kor Capital, owner of Valley Club Records, that saw something in me & gave me a hand & collaborated with me on a few different projects & became good business partners & even friends I’d say. One line I always keep in my head is from the movie Robots, haha, but it’s “See a need, fill a need” & that’s really what it boils down to. I tell everyone the same thing, you can have talent & ideas, but it takes a certain type of crazy person with confidence & vision to take it further & make it bigger & more meaningful & out of necessity if had to be me because if not me then who you know? It takes someone with pure love & intentions to create something special.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m just proud to even be here. To have made it this far & I haven’t even blown up like that yet but, locally I have lots of respect & influence so, to have that is a gift in itself & I wouldn’t do anything to ruin that. All a man has is his word & his reputation & I hold those near & dear. It’s been a long journey but, it’s been fun & I’ve been blessed to be a part of things most don’t get to at such a young age. To be out here all over the state making things happen all while under 25 is not very heard of. I’m 26 now & I’ve been through lots of ups & downs in my personal life so, my work life was something that always got me through & made me realize that there are more important things to me & I should chase that love. It wasn’t easy but, it could’ve also been harder so, I’m blessed that things continue to work out for me but I believe it’s because I have honest intentions & I’m not looking to come up off anyone else but myself & my hard work. It’s all a learning experience. You learn with each event you throw or each collaboration. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but you apply it & try again. Tweak it as you go. I come from nothing. I don’t have parents, so I built this on my own for the most part. I’m hungry though & constantly looking to outdo myself so, I got to go get it. I just want everyone to know that I really do this out of love for my colleagues & community & just to have fun in this lifetime. I think the reason I’m still here is that I enjoy it so, it doesn’t feel like work. I’m just making a living off my passions. To quote the great Jim Morrison, “I want to have my kicks before the whole s**thouse goes up in flames.” Haha.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them on the light rail & just get off wherever they want to check out haha. Take them through Phoenix, Tempe & Mesa. Downtown Phoenix itself is my favorite. I love the city vibes & buildings & culture. I still take the light rail & bus to all my gigs, to be honest, haha, so if you ever see me on public transportation say what’s up. I’d take them out to all my favorite spots. Bar hop all over haha.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All my team to start. Eloy Gabriel, Dagger Devs, Shinjikaze, Fool’s Revenge, Gloxotic, the Wrekroom boys, which is a podcast we do, all the models that I’ve shot with, Terronica & everyone at Good Morning Management, & of course my mom for believing in me from the start. RIP momma. Love you always. I have a solid group of friends & colleagues that would do anything for me & support me till the end & it’s mutual. We all benefit from one another. We all complement each other’s traits. Behind every successful person, there is a team of equally important people. I’d also like to thank LilBabyKatBat who is a dear friend of mine & a local exotic dancer & model & she helped me get started with my photography. She was the first to allow me to shoot her nude & that blew the door open for me because she has friends & I have friends & they saw those photos & saw that I could shoot those types of photos & be professional & not make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe in any way & that did so much for me so much love to her always. Kor Capital is also someone that I owe a lot to & respect so much. I view him as a mentor. He saw something in me & chose to collaborate with me on the first annual Courtyard Campout which was a collaboration between Valley Club Records, Homeinvazion TV & myself, and friends & it was a success. It was so beautiful & we made some decent money. That was my first real payday off any music stuff & it felt good to finally have some payoff. Looking forward to whatever else the future holds for Gxldxn & Valley Club.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gxldxn_95/