Liv Dulong has always had aspirations of sharing music with a larger audience, but the self-taught DJ never thought she’d earn a spot on the Royale nightclub stage as only a junior in college.
The Suffolk student and Suffolk Free Radio (WSFR) program director will be sharing the same stage as Grammy-nominated rapper Tory Lanez when she opens for him at the Student Government Association’s (SGA) fall concert on Nov. 11.
“I’ve always really liked playing music for people and giving people music, so DJing is definitely a good way for me to express my love for music and giving that to other people and having them enjoy it,” said Dulong.
Dulong recently started paving her path into the world of DJing this summer. She spent her time off from classes experimenting with a mixer and playing music for incoming freshmen during orientation sessions. When the fall semester began, she performed at the Welcome Back Bash and student involvement fair in the Boston Common.
With a heightened passion for DJing after playing at school events, the young artist is ready to perform at an off campus venue. Dulong was asked by SGA in September to be an opener for Lanez, an opportunity she said both thrilled and terrified her.
“I didn’t think I’d be doing this at 20 years old…I honestly thought it would take me like 4 years. I thought it would be something I’d pick up after college,” said Dulong.
Her set lists usually contain a solid combination of upbeat throwbacks and current pop chart toppers. For her Royale debut, however, she plans to play a mix of rap music to get the crowd hyped for Lanez’s set.
As the concert date creeps closer, Dulong has been spending more time practicing behind the soundboard. Time flies when she shuffles through music in her apartment, seeing which tracks fit and which ones don’t.
“My roommate probably hates me for it, but I was just playing music for an hour trying to pick out good songs that I’d want to put in the set list,” the artist said. “It’s just a big process of what I think is going to go over well and what I think people wouldn’t want to listen to.”
Dulong said that everyone has an individual style of DJing, and she has steadily been figuring out hers. She has been in the zone preparing for the fall concert, constantly on the lookout for new tracks in record pools, fiddling with different software and researching more about the craft.
“What’s funny is that months ago I really thought DJing was like picking up music from Spotify and mixing it and whatever. Then I took the whole summer really to just work on DJing and figuring out different software and different programs to use,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot more complicated than I thought it was, but I feel like I’ve gotten used to it fairly quickly.”
Dulong’s upcoming set at Royale is more than a one night only show. With a supportive crowd and friends cheering her on from the dance floor, the set will help her break into the nightlife scene.
“It’s definitely going to be a good transition for me to go from doing school events to stepping into a club and being on stage, and actually playing music that people want to dance to,” she said.
Although the night is sure to be nerve-wrecking, Dulong is ready to use this performance as a push in the right direction to help her branch into more local clubs and venues. In the near future, she hopes to DJ as much as she can around the city.
“For now I’m cool with sticking with the Boston clubs and bars and DJing there and seeing where that takes me,” Dulong said. “Who knows? Maybe someone will pick me up on the way.”
